THE arrival of the West Indies takes me back to 1991 when one Graeme Hick made his long-awaited England Test debut.

Had it not been for an alteration in the international calendar, the 'Windies' would have arrived the following year and Hicky would have had the chance to bed down against the rather more comfortable Indian attack -- how different things might have been.

Then, Graeme, playing for Worcestershire scored a peerless century and passed 1,000 runs before the end of May, a feat unlikely to be repeated with the modern fixture list.

This time, the Windies arrive in June directly from a home series against Pakistan and Graeme is away playing for England against Zimbabwe.

Much has changed in the domestic and international calendars, but one thing re-mains the same -- Ambrose and Walsh will be there again when the Tests start, the old nemesis and the game will be on.

West Indies cricket has undergone a difficult time, sharing some of our problems. Poor pitches and the lure of other, apparently more glamorous pastimes, many beamed in from America, have stretched their playing resources.

You only have to look at where the overseas players are coming from to see where the power of the game is currently. Where once the West Indies attack would feature four fast bowlers schooled in English conditions and then lead off with Greenidge, Haynes, Richards and Hooper, last year only two counties employed West Indian professionals. By contrast there are 12 Australians playing county cricket, of whom only three are Test match regulars.

However, like England, the West Indies are fighting back and will bring with them their usual excitement based on the pace of their bowling and the flamboyance of their batting.

Season their relative inexperience with the genius of Lara and the last guileful lashings of Ambrose and Walsh and you have the makings of a good series. I wonder if any of Worcestershire's young batsmen will provoke the present tourist's special attention as a young man did in '91?

Meanwhile, Worcestershire follow England to Trent Bridge for the prospect of the first un-leashing in county cricket of Shoaib Akhtar.

Following the Windies, he will provide a further test of the greater resilience of Worcestershire's batting this season. McGrath ag-ainst Akhtar will make an interesting comparison. The pitch is unlikely to receive a lot of attention with a rain-affected Test match directly preceding it so a result seems likely.

A win would confirm Worcestershire's excellent form since the B&H debacle.

This form has been extended into their one-day cricket. Duckworth-Lewis was needed again against Northants, but the game was won by the quality of the cricket rather than the maths.

Paul Pollard's runs covered for Hicky's enforced absence and Kabir Ali gave notice that he is not resting on the laurels of his early season man of the match award.

Powerful cricket and I look forward to more.