THE LATE SIR FRANK WORRELL, the first black man to take the West Indies team on a tour, has been selected by thousands of people across the Caribbean for the Sticky Wicket West Indies Cricket Hall of Fame.

Sir Frank, one of the legendary Three Ws, was selected in the region-wide balloting along with retired wicket-keeper/batsman Ridley Jacobs.

Jacobs, 37, amassed 2 932 votes, while Sir Frank received 2 114 votes. Results were verified in Antigua by chartered accountants C.A.S. Hewlett & Co. Ltd.

Over 25 000 votes were received from spectators at cricket grounds in Guyana, Trinidad, Barbados, Antigua and Jamaica, and from Caribbean Star flights and check-in counters around the region. Voting was also available via The Sticky Wicket website and Cable & Wireless text messaging.

Overwhelming response

Stanford Financial Group director of corporate communications Keva Margetson attributes this overwhelming response to the involvement of official Hall of Fame spokespersons Sir Vivian Richards, Andy Roberts and Michael Holding, as well as the efforts of media practitioners from the Caribbean, United Kingdom and South Africa.

The media's extensive coverage of Press events hosted by the Hall of Fame PR team generated widespread public interest in the balloting process.