EVERY Monday in The Cairns Post we run a column called the Inner Sanctum.

It’s where we ask local sports identities some harmless questions so readers can get to know them better.

Until force ’em backs and brandy are recognised as genuine athletic pursuits, I’ll never feature in one.

With that in mind, I'll tell you the answer to my favourite question from the Inner Sanctum: "What is your favourite sporting moment?"

It’s Australian batsman Steve Waugh and West Indian paceman Curtly Ambrose squaring off at Queens Park Oval during the Frank Worrell Trophy of 1995.

The series was being televised on Channel 10 and I remember waking up in the early hours to watch the legendary confrontation.

Normally in disagreements I have a policy of backing the person holding the bat, metal pipe, crowbar, taser and so on. Back then I also had a non-sexual crush on Steve Waugh. He was my idol and I thought he was capable of anything.

I still do.

Hell, send Waugh to Afghanistan with his lucky red snot rag and he’ll deliver Osama bin Laden with his trademark: "Guess what Osama? You just dropped the War on Terror."

But could he have taken big Curtly? I’m only 30 but Ambrose is the best and most intimidating bowler I can remember at Test level.

The Antiguan never said much. He didn’t have to.

When you're 2m tall, can extract throat-bruising bounce from any pitch and boast a glare capable of giving Jack the Ripper the heebie-jeebies, respect is granted without question.

But thanks mainly to the intervention of West Indian captain Richie Richardson, I think it’s fair to declare the exchange between Waugh and Ambrose a draw,

Wikipedia shows the West Indies won that Test but Australia the series 2-1. It was the start of Australia's dominance of world cricket and the end of the West Indies’ aura of invincibility.

I miss the latter.

At their peak, the West Indies had flamboyance, charisma and a touch of arrogance about their play.

I never liked it when Australia lost to them but the bravado of players such as Viv Richards and Brian Lara made the defeats easier to cope with.

If you’re going to watch your team get flogged, best be entertained while you’re crying.But the need for tissues is long gone.

The West Indies have been in decline for more than a decade and will tour Australia this summer.

Thankfully, a pay dispute has been resolved and the West Indies will field their strongest team.

But will it be enough to avoid a thrashing? Probably not.

Still, I live in hope.

I live in hope there is a raw and unknown Barbadian behemoth in the West Indies squad, who is capable of unleashing 155km/h thunderbolts upon the Aussie batsmen.

I live in hope there is a cocky youngster with the elegance of Lara and the aggression of Richards in the First XI, who announces himself as the next batting maestro with a dazzling century in the opening Test.

Then I might have a new favourite sporting moment to contemplate.

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