14th test defeat out of 16! Heard with resignation that West Indies had tumbled to yet another loss against New Zealand. That too after being 140-odd for no loss at one stage. Just over 100 runs to win with all 10 wickets in hand and still the Caribbeans couldn't hold their nerve.

Contrast this abject surrender with Caribbean Kings on ESPN. Clive Lloyd's pace battery in full pomp in 1984 sending England scurrying for cover. The impossibly tall Joel Garner, 'Whispering Death' Michael Holding and the relatively short but menacing Malcolm Marshall. Not to forget those rasping square-cuts of Gordon Greenidge, the swagger of Viv Richards and the calm of Larry Gomes.

When I started following the game in 1987 the Windies were still tenuously clinging on to their number one mantle in tests. ODI supremacy they had lost out on by then but they did eke out their share of wins.

And the pacemen were still being churned out. Patrick Patterson, Winston Benjamin, Tony Gray all emerged with the hint of promise. Holding and Garner had quietly faded out but Marshall was still there. And in England in 1988 Marshall's incisiveness was very much in evidence as he gobbled up 30-plus wickets.

Of course Ambrose and Walsh became a potent force and equally menacing was the Bishop with no hint of mercy - Ian Bishop. The cup of pacemen still seemed filled to the brim.

But the cookie crumbled and how! As the years flew past, it became just Ambrose and Walsh. Leaving me with a lot of what ifs. If only Ian Bishop had not been ravaged by injury. If only Patrick Patterson had lived up to his promise and taken much more than the 90-odd wickets he ended up with. If only Winston and Kenneth Benjamin had not been swallowed up by their volatile temperaments. And much later, if only Franklyn Rose had carried on with the form he showed against India in 1997.

What do we get to see now? Military medium operators like Ian Bradshaw plying their wares, hoping for some crumbs. It's painful to see a popgun attack getting mauled by all and sundry. Maybe India might still oblige them this summer with yet another inexplicable collapse abroad. Four years back, the likes of Mervyn Dillon and Pedro Collins had pummelled India into submission. For all you know, India might just be what Fidel Edwards needs for a welcome boost of confidence.

The return of pace may not be the only answer to the ills plaguing West Indian cricket. But it will be a pleasure to view once again speed merchants at both ends making life miserable for the batsman. Hoping against hope that I won't be reduced to banking on Caribbean Kings to view a West Indian pace battery operating.