Hooper has clearly demonstrated in his captaincy for Guyana, that his cricketing brain has matured to a very high level and that with his people skills, he will make the perfect West Indies captain at this juncture.

It was though a bold decision by the four MEMBER West Indies panel, particularly as it was clear that there was still a lot of doubt over the dropping of a former West Indies captain in Jimmy Adams.

Perhaps though in all of this, the West Indies selectors are giving those of us who believe in freedom of choice a chance to express ourselves as Hooper's bat and his bowling arm have both shown a quality never seen before in West Indies domestic cricket.

There are a lot of people, particularly those from Jamaica who will believe that just another son of the soil, Courtney Walsh was mistreated so too is Adams, but these persons need to look beyond their parochial glasses and examine what is the best for West Indies cricket. We would hate for a repeat of the reception given to Brian Lara to be castigated on Carl Hooper when he leads out our West Indies team against South Africa at Sabina Park, Kingston, Jamaica. We must take pride in the West Indies team because when they do good we all feel a jump in our step and a pride in our smile.

While there may be doubts about Hooper's departure in 1999 from West Indies cricket, he is certainly back to stay and in acknowledging this, the West Indies selectors have been very brave in the face of fire from several of the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) executive team all over the region.

Journalists too have sought to tarnish the selectors name and Hooper as well to suit their needs, In particular Tony Becca of Jamaica has once again allowed himself to be cast as an insular personality with his cries to ignore Carl Hooper's brilliance in 2001, thankfully the selectors ignored his uttering. It is sad that more professional thought is not given to the interest of the many (West Indian Public), rather than the few who feel threaten by the loss of power of the West Indies captaincy. But don't be surprise to read that Becca's tirade will be continuing.

Even Tony Cozier of Barbados has fallen pray to this by suggesting mistakenly that the West Indies selectors would have to consider doing the honourable thing and resigning because there was not enough support for ratification of their nomination of Hooper from the WICB. There was no need for Cozier to raise this obvious red herring when it was clear to all and sundry with even an iota of brains that Hooper was not only the people's favourite, but also probably our only saviour. In the first place, the selectors resignation would have been a backward and not forward step for our cricket and certainly not honourable but rather cowardice, which these four men of steel do not have. Our sports need more of this in all areas.

We must also acknowledge the fact that with Adams out of touch and with Lara not interested in the post, the choices were limited to Hooper or Ridley Jacobs and at this time, Jacobs has no captaincy experience and we would hate for him to lose his form, focus and fighting spirit because of the burden.

Hooper too has to be admired because he allowed his performances and his smooth style to dominate the headlines and to bombard the cricketing public of the Caribbean with a touch of class rarely seen at the regional level.

The Selectors have recognized more than most that Hooper has matured, his marriage to a lively, intelligent and religious Australian and the birth of Carl Junior, have acted as catalyst for Hooper's momentum both on and off the field.

West Indies cricket longs for his class and his cool but tough calculating temperament. Hooper has turned around a generally immature Guyana team before the West Indies players arrive into a fighting coordinated unit, that give their all and fight all the way.

In the selectors decision to furnish this West Indies with youth to add to Lara, Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Hooper, we are witnessing the mixture needed to obtain success. It will not be easy to defeat South Africa as they have a powerful team arguably the second best in the world, but Hooper and his bunch of positive thinkers have something to prove after the 5-0 loss in South Africa, three years ago.

Hooper when asked about the job of captaincy has always maintained, he will only do this job if both players and administrators can follow the necessary directions to obtain success. Ideally what those details are only Carl will know and will no doubt show, but we welcome him with open arms and wish him well.

West Indies cricket needs something to smile about and now is the time. TIME COME.

"I came back to the West Indies, as you know to give back something to the people and now that I have been given this great honour it is a privilege and I will give of it my best in all areas,I know though that we have a lot of work to do, as South africa are going to be tough opponents"he told this newspaper.

34 year old Hooper retired from West Indies cricket in 1999 having played 80 tests scoring 4,152 runs at an average of 33.76 which included nine test centuries and eighteen half centuries, he also captured 93 test wickets with his off spin at an average of 47.01, when he was the vice-captain of the team.

"Yes there has been a lot going on, but my idea was to come back here to the Caribbean and score runs and take wickets and I have done that, there is still the final though to go,"he added

" I am not taking the captaincy for captaincy sake. I want to know that I am moving in a direction with a bunch of players, who are going in the same direction, so that even if we don't improved and you are not going to get overnight success, it might take a year, it might take two years, but I have got to know that everybody, selectors, the board, the players moving in one direction,"

"Which is to get West Indies cricket back where it belongs, we have just lost 5-0,England beat us 3-1, there has been no improvement, I cannot see any,"

In reference to problems within the team being the cause for the West Indies poor performances, a determined Hooper stated," When I played there certainly were some attitude problems; there is no question about that.....I can say about now, because I have been out for a while but certainly when I played it was there."

Hooper says the senior players," Need to show the youngsters the right way, we know that we hear about players getting in trouble with the Board and making headlines for the wrong reasons, we need to set a better standard, and I am not dealing with cricket or figures, bowling batting or runs but as an individual,"

Hooper continues to reiterate his view that the days of Four West Indies Fast bowlers is over," Gone are those days of four prong pace attack, that is not working.... it is about variety, Australia can pick four good fast bowlers, but you must have bowlers that might suit certain conditions."

"I would certainly like to score some hundreds against South Africa, especially as me like some of the players was on the tour of South Africa when we lost 5-0, we would certainly want to try and pay back."

Hooper still believes that he has nothing to prove," I don't owe anybody anything, if anything I have to prove it is too myself, anything I do on the cricket field now is for me."

"Playing one day cricket and test cricket are different, but we in the West Indies use to be good at both and we need to do this again".

Hooper played 182 one dayers for the West Indies scoring 4,612 runs at an average of 35.47 with six centuries and captured 163 wickets at an average of 34.03.

Hooper currently lives in Australia, but he says that due to this test series against South Africa and then the tour to Zimbabwe in June if selected, he will work out his living arrangements," Of course it has just happened, and I know there will be a camp, it will all depend on whether there is enough time for me to fly back to Australia for a few weeks and then come back to the camp,"

"I will be able to work around it, I do not have a house in Guyana, but I have a home in Trinidad and Tobago (Maraval), so I can stay there during the time, so there will be no question of travelling. I wish to assure everyone that this is a long term plan of mine to play again for the West Indies, My wife (Constance) and my son (Carl Junior) are giving me the strength, I have a lot of faith and this has kept me going,"

"We still now have to discuss a lot of other details, but at this moment Trinidad and Tobago will most likely be my base for the time being. My family and I will sit down and discuss the details much further,"he added.

"I guess I have to admit that I was in some sort of denial before with the question of being so close to Maurice, I was hearing all of these people saying that, but I just did not believe it," Boldon told this newspaper, days after collecting his fifth WITCO Sportsman of the Year Crown in six years.

"Yes, while I am cognizance of the fact that you have to be looking at this whole relationship, it is not as simple as that, because at the end of the day, Leave John an all that and go where,"

"Second thing is that I have given myself this year, so if at the end of the year, I sit down and look back, for instance this year I am going to worlds and if it is a disaster lets say, Then I can now make a decision because I am not injured but healthily this year and so it means this is not working for Ato."

"This happens in the workplace, people have a big job, then the next year the job plateaus and they cannot go anywhere, in my case I will take whatever steps to get myself to the next level, so while the HIS is like family to me, I feel on the athletic front you don't sacrifice yourself for your family," he added.

"It is very likely that I will leave, and it is not only Trinidadians who have been saying this, but my wife (Cassandra) as well, she has not been telling me to leave, but rather drawing comparisons that Joe Frazier and Muhammad Ali never trained together. She has given me an objective perspective, and telling me that don't feel I would be nothing without them. But like I say I love everybody at H S I, they are family. At the same time, that is all well and good as long as it is beneficial to me,"

Boldon who has earned a huge salary with H S I admits," Last year, I earned a six figure salary and certainly that would be in jeopardy, but I have made a lot of other difficult decisions before in the past, and I have survive and I believe that I can again,"

"This year I just don't want to make a big deal about this, to put any pressure on me, I just want to be healthily and look back and then say, okay I have had enough, this is the final straw things are not working in the camp, and I will be moving on," he stated

"I will be in South Africa in March and Australia later this year, so I will not away from the training with Maurice, but the fact is that in the past it benefited each other for us to train together."

"I was told that during the campaign when the whole matter of Gypsy and Chaitan came up, that there was this certain politician who in some speech or some discussion on the radio said, Why is all this fuss being made over these two when all yuh big time hero Ato Boldon has a US passport, that is what I heard,"Boldon told this newspaper

"If that comment was made, then I have to say that the things that people would say that they may think would upset me, or would really bother me, don't. In other words I pass through Port of Spain, and people are saying Ato, when you are going to beat Greene, or you can't beat he, but those kind of things roll off my back, but you see when it comes to Ato and my patriotism, I don't play with that," he added.

"Because I understand that at the end of day when you write my life story, it has to be written in red, white and black. Because every decision I have made in my life and in may career has always centered on how it will affect Trinidad and Tobago,"

"So for some 2 by 4 person, if it was said, for somebody to make the most ignorant comment ever about me, is a source of real anger for me. Real Real Source of anger because first of all, don't bring me up in no politics, I am on a totally separate part and everything I am doing is for this country. Like Guy Boldon (his father) likes to say when Ato Boldon is out there running, it is not Boldon on his chest, it is Trinidad and Tobago. ,"

"So to me that is utter, utter disrespect, and it just lets me know keep your friend close, but keep your enemies closer, because I don't even understand how that might appear on somebody's platform, and not to mention the fact that it is absolutely untrue."

In October 2000 Boldon was awarded a -Diplomatic Passport - by the Government after his two medals so as to facilitate his easier traveling around the world as he still uses his Trinidad and Tobago passport during the international running meets.

"What bothers me even more, is that people did not stand up at the time and say that Ato does not have any US passport, because I think most people in this country know much how I love this country, so it hurts." he noted.

There is far too much involved, there is far too much people involved, there is far too much families involved, there is the welfare of the horsing population, not only at the race course in Arima, but at all the breeding farms in this country.

As it stands now, this seems to be more a personal matter between the Minister of Trade and Industry, who now that he has been loaded with Foreign affairs, seems to be finding the weight too heavy and is straining under the burden. He needs help and will not admit it, so let us get someone to help him.

If it is that there is a problem on a personal nature between the Minister and the President of the Arima Race Club, the designated leader of the National Racing Commission and the Bookmakers. Then we need for them to rent some space somewhere and slug it out, if they cannot meet and have dialogue, in the meanwhile we will continue racing until, the last man is standing.

In uncivilized countries where matters cannot be solved by dialogue and consultation, then force is used and enemies battle each other to the end until one submits, and while this country cannot AS YET be classified as in the category of some African and Eastern Europe nations, there are signs that some of the people who lead this country are of that mind-set.

Let them get it off their chests, let the Minister put out his anger on the delay in the implementation of the National racing Commission, not on those who sought to have it overturned under the last administration, but instead on those who have successfully raised the promotion and sponsorship of racing in less than two years.

Let the Arima Race Club President, revert to his family training and delve into his kickboxing books to come up with more records rather than worry about the record achieving success his rule has brought about on the sport of kings. In the meantime, the CEO can continue to make more money for the sport than of his predecessors ever dreamt and all this with professionalism and thought rather than favoritism and bribery which is so commonplace in sports administration.

Perhaps that is what is wrong, because even as horseracing changes their administration over years looking for some stability integrity and honesty to the sport, in football and cricket, it is the same old song and old faces over and over and nobody ever seeks to change them. There must be a reason for this and it could be that all of these associations are not seen, as revenue earning, as is horseracing.

It is a shame that one man could be allowed to dictate so much to the sport, because no man is an island this sort of atrocity by anyone or any group should be disallowed, personality has no place when it comes to the welfare of the sport and of people who make a living from the sport.

In all of this, one hopes that the National Racing Commission (NRC) understand that all that is happening is not going to assist the legitimacy of the NRC in so far as it concerns the eventual acceptance by the public and stakeholders.

The NRC must understand that without the participation of the stakeholders, that is the owners, trainers, jockeys, grooms, breeders and the public to name a few, there will be no NRC, because there will be nothing to control and monitor, this why dialogue is so fundamental.

If Education brings with it sense and sensibility, then there is a need to check the background of some of these people who are supposed to have been educated in a foreign country such as England and the United States. It is clear that all of their educational training and a lot of their intellect have been ignored in the sake of pure ignorance. Ignorance has no place in a business industry because there is already then the supposition, that people want to do things in their way and are not willing to listen to the views and opinions of others.

On Saturday February 17th, 2001, those punters who recalled my comments, three ago, when I chastised Dale Whittaker for poorly riding out -Vaquiero- when he finished second after going wide for no reason, would have witnessed the same Whittaker intelligently biding his time with Vaquiero before unleashing a winning run in the second race.

There also seems to be some sort of spell over -Trini Online- as this horse again was in the news for the wrong reason, when it seems that the jockey lost his irons or his saddle slipped as he fell away in the fourth race which was surprisingly won by 16-1 outsider Early Idol.

South African team manager Goolam Rajah arrived back from the West Indies with physiotherapist Craig Smith after a ten-day reconnaissance mission to the West Indies which revealed, as with all touring destinations, some good news and some bad. "It's going to be a tiring, mentally taxing tour, that's for sure," Rajah told a South african Newspaper .

"Just the fact that you have to clear customs and immigration every time you travel to a new venue makes the process so much longer. Then there is the currency issue - a new currency for every Island. The US dollar is acceptable everywhere but you still get change back in the local currency so you're always trying to cash just enough to live on before moving on!"

"It really is an expensive tour for the players, and you guys (the media) too, I guess. I had fish and chips and a pineapple juice in Jamaica and paid $20 (R152) in the hotel," Rajah said. "Obviously you can eat more cheaply outside the hotels but there are problems with doing that, obviously." The health and security of the players remains, as always, Rajah's prime concern.

"Actually we felt it was pretty safe, to be honest. We were told about the dangers of Kingston, Jamaica, but Craig and I took a leisurely stroll down the main street and felt quite comfortable. Maybe it's because we are South Africans!"

Food prices and potential muggings aside, Rajah's greatest concern after the trip was the lack of adequate practise facilities. In fact, the lack of any practise facilities.

"Trinidad is the only Test venue with any practise nets although they claim to be laying six nets at the venue in Antigua, so we remain hopeful.

Otherwise we do have guarantees from the people concerned that they will organise nets and facilities at nearby clubs. generally, however, the training facilities are not of a high standard and it is a serious concern," Rajah admitted.

One thing has definitely changed as a result of the journey made by Smith and Rajah - Shaun Pollock's team won't be going the same way!

"No way. We went via New York and the journey lasted for ever. When we leave for the tour we will now fly via London and catch a connecting flight from there to Barbados before connecting to Guyana. We did eight cities in nine days which is obviously much more hectic than when we are on the tour, but even so, London is the way to go."

Expensive taxis, friendly people who welcomed them at every stop and, generally, very good hotels indeed were amongst Rajah's other observations, but on Thursday afternoon his only concern was...to get an early night!

South African play their first match in the Caribbean from March 3rd, with the first test due to start in Guyana from March 9th.

IAustralia, South Africa, Sri Lanka and Pakistan will be the first four teams in rankings as per the new system. India will be ranked sixth in the next cricket World Cup, which is slated to be held in South Africa in 2003, according to a new system announced by the International Cricket Council.

This Newspaper understands that the new system, announced on Wednesday, will seed teams in terms of their performance in the last World Cup in England in 1999 and recent performance in One-day cricket. According to some reports, the organisers could draw India into the inaugural tie with South Africa to attract crowd, keeping in mind the Indian emigrants.

A Pakistan-Australia inaugural match is unlikely considering that both teams played in the 1999 finals. Group 'A' would comprise Australia, Pakistan, England, West Indies, Zimbabwe and a ICC Trophy qualifier. Group 'B' will have South Africa, Sri Lanka, India, New Zealand, Bangladesh and a qualifier.

Seeding: Australia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, England, India, New Zealand, West Indies, Zimbabwe and Bangladesh.

Efforts to contact the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) for a comment on this matter proved futile especially in light of the fact that the West Indies are set to hold the World Cup in 2007. If the West Indies continue this lowly position in cricket it is questionable how successful the tournament will be in the Caribbean and in fact there has been talk of the 2007 World Cup being shifted.

"There is already a plan in place if this sort of form continues by the West Indies as several of the leading countries are questioning whether the West Indian public would come out in their numbers to support a tournament where their team is under performing so much," a close source at the WICB told this Newspaper.

"We have to remember that there is a lot of money involved and there are those at the International Cricket Council who do not like the way things are going, they are already talking on England or Australia as easy alternatives where not much will have to be done, Naturally though the West Indies Cricket Board will fight this very hard," he added

"That is why it is so important to have this situation with the team's performances addressed immediately , and that is why they are so concerned to make so much changes even to the orgainstation of the WICB,"he noted.

"To lose the World Cup in 2007 would be a bitter pill for the WICB, although they would be paid some compensation , maybe a percentage of the profits if it was held elsewhere because of the circumstances,"

According to newspaper reports a Trinidadian identified as "R Stollmeyer" angered a prominent environment association after he cooked a leatherback turtle. Emergency room workers can't always save the patient. But at the Miami Seaquarium, it turns out they ate the patient. Several employees of the Seaquarium, which cares for injured sea turtles, consumed meat from an endangered leatherback turtle after it died from injuries suffered in a boat collision.

According to the Sentinel newspaper the meal has led to disciplinary action by the Seaquarium and an investigation by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission."This is just the absolute height of stupidity," said Russ Rector, president of the Dolphin Freedom Foundation and a Seaquarium critic. "We're changing the name to the Miami Seaquarium & Barbecue. They say they love animals.

Maybe they only love the ones that taste good."Andrew Hertz, executive vice president of the Seaquarium, issued a written statement describing the consumption of a "small portion of the carcass" as an "unfortunate and isolated incident.""When management learned of the incident, immediate disciplinary action was taken," he wrote. "The improper disposal of the body of any animal is strictly against park policy."The incident took place in April. It has come to light now because Rector obtained the reports of the state investigation.

The leatherback was brought in April 8, 2000, suffering from severe injuries. It died that day. The next day, after an examination to determine the cause of death, an employee asked Dr. Maya Dougherty, the veterinarian, whether he could take some of the meat home. The employee, identified in the state's investigation as "R. Stollmeyer," is from Trinidad and Tobago, a Caribbean nation in which the consumption of turtle meat is common, according to a written statement issued by the Seaquarium.Dougherty said it was all right to take some meat, and Chris Plante, the animal care supervisor, agreed, according to the state's investigative report.

But the other employee present, Meghan Conti, a turtle keeper who has since left the Seaquarium, thought they were joking."I was invited over for some stew, and I declined, still under the impression that it was a joke," Conti wrote in a letter to the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission that touched off the investigation.

"On my way back to the necropsy, I observed the employee who had been talking about making stew with three large, clear plastic bags of what appeared to be turtle meat. I later asked whether or not that was turtle meat in the bags, and was told that it was indeed meat from the leatherback sea turtle."The next day, the employee brought in turtle stew. Several employees ate it at lunch.

Leatherbacks, which are among the rarest sea turtles, are protected under the federal Endangered Species Act.State wildlife officials investigated the incident but filed no charges, issuing only a warning to Robert Rose, the Seaquarium's curator. The Seaquarium holds a state permit to handle endangered sea turtles, and the permit was simply too vague about what should be done with dead ones, said Lt. John D. West, of the state Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission's Division of Law Enforcement."Most definitely it was unethical," he said. "But the permit was vague.

The permit didn't specifically state what was to be done."After the incident, the Seaquarium moved to tighten its handling of dead animals."All animals within our care, both living and/or deceased, will always be afforded the same professionalism and respect," wrote Robert Martinez, Seaquarium's general manager, in a memo to staffers after the incident. "Additionally, each of you is charged with the enforcement and observance of all park and industry standards. Any deviation from these protocols will result in disciplinary action and/or termination."The Seaquarium placed letters in the personnel files of both the veterinarian and the animal care supervisor, stating that they had displayed "poor judgment."

It was not stated whether Stollmeyer lost his job over the incident.