This two-volume work provides an analysis of the ebb and flow of West Indies cricket fortunes. This first volume examines the short-lived first rising of West Indian cricket supremacy, associated with the Worrell-Sobers axis and which, the book argues, sent a clear message to the world that the newly-independent nations of the West Indies were able to lead world cricket with certainty, purpose and poise. The book then examines the second rising under Lloyd and Richards, which he views as seminal in the context of West Indies cricket and in the global history of the game. In addition the book examines the roles of political ideology and anti-colonialism, the contribution of gender and the women's game, and the influence of the anti-apartheid struggle in the Caribbean and abroad.