| By Jamie Lillywhite |
Sir Viv Richards believes the World Cup in the Caribbean could lead to a regeneration of West Indies cricket.
"The atmosphere is phenomenal, everyone is in position and the West Indies is just ecstatic about what is about to take place," he told BBC Sport.
"It's important the whole Caribbean realises cricket means so much to us.
"It's up to us to run with this when it's a success - not if - when it's a success. No host country ever won it so we have a wonderful opportunity."
Since the halcyon days of the 1970s and 80s when West Indies dominated world cricket, performances have deteriorated spectacularly and the calypso kings are now ranked towards the foot of both the Test and one-day standings.
A popular theory is that young West Indians have been lured towards the more lucrative worlds of American sports, such as basketball.
But Richards is adamant that cricket is still worshipped as much as ever in the West Indies.
"We had basketball way back in the 70s and 80s and even people like Michael Jordan couldn't convince us we should all change to basketball," he said.
"It's just for us to try and get certain things in place, our preparation, our development programme.
"If we can deal with all these things to give an avenue for these young individuals to play, an opportunity to enjoy it and make a decent living out of it, then we could be back again."
One of the major reasons why West Indian cricket has declined is the absence of genuine match-winning bowlers.
For a decade from 1976-86, the West Indies produced a stream of world-class pacemen, including Michael Holding, Malcolm Marshall, Joel Garner and Curtley Ambrose.
"We had a pool of individuals who came at the same time. We'd have loved some of these great fast bowlers to come along at a different time - like now!
"But you can never change the cycle of life. Our fast bowlers were 6ft 9 and they used to be so intimidating - just seeing the presence of these huge guys was so intimidating - now they are so short they look more like jockeys."
Now, two legendary figures are back at the forefront of West Indian cricket, Gordon Greenidge as chairman of selectors and Clive Lloyd as team manager.
And Richards, an ambassador for Johnnie Walker's "Know Your Boundaries" responsible drinking campaign, is delighted.
"It's great to have these guys who know what it's all about involved and hopefully some of the wisdom can be passed on," he said.
Having reached the final of last year's Champions Trophy, optimism is beginning to return in the Caribbean and Richards believes West Indies have a "realistic chance" of winning the World Cup.
"I would love to see Brian Lara accomplish his goals - he would have had a hard ride. The driver's seat in the West Indies when you are captain and the team is not doing well is never comfortable!
"It would be ever so fitting because of the wonderful innings we have seen from Brian Lara - a magnificent player - it would be nice to see him end that wonderful career by holding up the World Cup."
Richards, who celebrates his 55th birthday on Wednesday, played in four World Cups, but does not think there is a clear favourite this time.
"This is going to be a pretty open World Cup, There are seven or eight teams who have a good chance.
"Australia's pride has been dented and I don't think they have the depth they had in the past in order to create that fear. They are reachable, beatable and it just depends whether you want it or not."
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