Walsh keeps the vultures waiting

"As long as I wake up in the morning and I’m enjoying it I’ll continue playing. A lot of people said Curtly and I would be gone by now but we’re still here." Sounds familiar? That was Walsh, a few months before the 1996 World Cup.

He would probably say the same again today, as he prepares for the upcoming tournament – his fourth – in England.

Few would have forecast on Walsh’s debut in 1984 that he was destined to become the most successful West Indianwicket-taker of all time.

Initially, he was seen as little more than a fourth seamer, large lungs and tireless legs his greatest assets. The team’s workhorse, he was brought on whenever the likes of Michael Holding, Joel Garner and Malcolm Marshall wanted a breather.

Last November, however, Walsh took his 377th Test wicket in the first Test against South Africa in Johannesburg to surpass Marshall’s national record.

In March, he claimed his 400th victim and after the home series against Australia he had reached 423. Only two men have taken more, and both Sir Richard Hadlee (431) and Kapil Dev (434) are now well within Walsh’s reach.

If Walsh stays fit and has enough fun at the World Cup, he will surely be prompted to continue long enough to write his name in the record books.

Recent leg and knee problems, however – he was carried off on a stretcher in the recent home series against Australia – as well as Walsh’s reported antipathy towards Brian Lara, his successor as West Indies captain, mightaccelerate his departure.

The uncertainty over his immediate future was compounded in recent months when Gloucestershire, his English home for 14 long years, withdrew an offer of a new two- year contract when it became clear he would be absent during the World Cup.

Walsh, who took 106 wickets for the county last season, was livid, claiming: "I am possibly bowling as well as I ever have … I know I have at least two good seasons of first-class cricket left."

That may be a mite optimistic. What is clear is that the West Indian selectors Will be left with a gaping chasm when Walsh and Ambrose finally give in to aching joints and creaking bones.

Pace bowling is the most punishing discipline cricket has to offer. Top exponents normally near their sell-by date at 30. These two are nearer 40 and still out-performing the next generation. If they carry on much longer, even the vultures will have flown home.