Excerpts from an interview:

How realistic are West Indies' chances in this World Cup?
I think the West Indies have got as good a chance as any. We all know in the World Cup, any team that plays well can win the tournament.
If they play consistently in all departments of the game, they can win the World Cup.
A lot of players have been playing one-day cricket off late ufffd Chris Gayle, Kieron Pollard, Dwayne Bravo.
I believe the team is in a very good position to do well.
It's now up to the guys to gel; to play to potential and there is a possibility of that happening.

Would you say the biggest hurdle for the WI would be conquering sub-continental conditions?
A lot of the players would have played in the sub-continent before. The one-day series in Sri Lanka ahead of the World Cup will be good for the players who haven't played a lot of cricket in the sub-continent.
The tracks are generally very good in international cricket today and it shouldn't take very long to acclimatise and adjust to conditions.

What do you make of Darren Sammy as captain?
Sammy hasn't been captain for very long, but he has the potential to motivate a team and get his guys to play really good cricket. The most important thing is for the guys to support him, rally around him. I believe he will do well.

Your memories of the 1996 World Cup ufffd
I honestly believed we were going to win. We had a hiccup against Kenya and that was very disappointing. But we bounced back after that only to lose to Australia in the semi-finals where I think we were complacent. I was very disappointed. Had we beaten Australia and got into the final, I believe we would have beaten Sri Lanka.

You were the first West Indies batsman to be dismissed in that game against Kenya...
I got a very slow in-swinging delivery (from Rajab Ali) and I didn't play it as well as I should have. It was just a bad day for all of us. For some reason, the team wasn't clicking. Maybe, we underestimated Kenya, but we played very badly. It was very, very strange. (WI were bowled out for 93)

Does that defeat still hurt...
I wouldn't say it hurts me, but I don't like to talk about it.
It was very disappointing, but there is nothing I can do about it. It's history.

West Indies are in a tough group now with India, South Africa, England...
As I said, if you play to potential, anything is possible. Every match is a game of cricket between two teams and it is a matter of how well you play on the day.
If you play well, you should be able to beat anybody.
My approach has always been positive and I hope the players have the same attitude.