Some of the great names of West Indies cricket, including Sir Viv Richards, have gathered in Trinidad for a coaching workshop intended to revive the team's fortunes.

The two-day meeting will, it is hoped, lead to the drawing up of a definitive coaching manual to be used all over the Caribbean.

Other luminaries due to attend include former fast bowler Wes Hall, now president of the West Indies Cricket Board, Sir Everton Weekes, Gordon Greenidge, Seymour Nurse, Jeff Dujon and Colin Croft.

"Cricket means so much to the people of the Caribbean and we could not haver a workshop like this one without inviting persons of this calibre.

"We are looking forward to having their input," said Dr Michael Seepersaud, head of the WICB's development unit.

"Our hope is that at the end of the workshop, we can come away with a plan that clearly charts a course for the way we do things in the Caribbean, so that we can see a strong revival of West Indies cricket in a short space of time."

West Indies dominated world cricket from the late 1970s, through the 1980s and into the early 1990s, under the captaincy of Clive Lloyd and then Richards.

They have declined in recent years, especially away from home, and lost 3-0 in Sri Lanka and 2-0 to Pakistan in Sharjah in recent months.

Richards has acknowledged the need to "beef up" the coaching regime in the region.

"The West Indies are going through a sticky patch, but we have to face up to the challenge," he said.

Australian coaches Ashleigh Byron and Tim Coyle have been brought in to help draw up the WICB's coaching manual.