Rohan Kanhai played the most influential innings that I have seen in a Test Match. The series in 1963 resulted in a 3-1 victory for West Indies. Quite a convincing margin, you would think. Yet until Kanhai turned the tide on the last day of the concluding match at the Oval, England were well place to win the match and square the series 2-2. It was that close. Nobody who was there that day could forget the stroke-play of the young Guyanese genius.
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SIR GARFIELD SOBERS. When he passed, just two boundary hits days short of his 90th friend, the world lost a Friend. Yes, it lost a Legend as well, but the overwhelming response was that we lost somebody whom we accounted as a friend, one of the company of people we knew. When Sobers batted, bowled, fielded cricket fans everywhere, in their hearts, batted, bowled, fielded with him. The main media outlets, and commentators, have recorded his outstanding performances, his character, and his status as the greatest cricketer in my lifetime – in any lifetime. Here, and in the piece I contributed to The Voice newspaper, I have tried to adopt a personal note. And if I have missed out anything, as I have surely done, please remember that editorial space is limited – whereas Sobers’ achievements were not. In a week or so I intend to return to the subject why there cannot be another Sobers, or any of his illustrious contemporaries, in the game which cricket has now become. Read more …
When Alvin Kallicharran mugged Dennis Lillee …. West Indies were masters of the first World Cup in 1975. Yet they had been in danger of going out of the competition in the preliminary round. After a squeaking past Pakistan by one wicket they faced the might of Australia, the favourites, at the Oval. Alvin Kallicharran’s stroke-filled assault on fast bowler Dennis Lillee put the issue beyond doubt, and their domination of the Australians here gave West Indies a decided psychological advantage for the final against the same opponents a fortnight later. Read more …
Letter from Natalie ……
Our correspondent NATALIE MAXIMIN has received an award for her peer support programme performance. Here she shares with us in a particularly poignant piece about the hardships and challenges she has faced as a single mother bringing up a neuro-divergent son who is now 18 years-old. Natalie’s articles for Caribcommx – Letters On Loneliness – have been well received by readers and a selection of their letters and comments have been posted on a special page in the section marked People. Now let us read what Natalie has to tell us. Read more …
JOIADA LARTEY, 29 years old, is seeking to extend Ghana’s successful tradition in the forthcoming Miss Caribbean & Commonwealth title. Born and raised in London, she has close ties with her cultural homeland and believes that she has the correct motivation of empowerment, dedication, and hard-working attitude with empathy and respect to meet the credentials of the panel. Joiada is a primary school teacher with contest experience and enjoys visiting new places and meeting new people. Read more …
ELIZABETH DONALDSON is the first of this year’s contestants to offer her challenge for the forthcoming Miss Caribbean & Commonwealth pageant. At 57 years old, she is on a mission to enhance the profile and the opportunities of older women. Proud to be representing Jamaica, the island of her birth, Elizabeth lives now in London, where she currently runs a small event decorations business and raises her family of three sons and a daughter. She has success already in Miss Elegance UK 50. Read more …
LEILA PACEY, 24 years, takes encouragement from a tradition of family pageant success and a diverse international heritage in her bid to become Miss Caribbean & Commonwealth – a title which her mother, Michelle, won in 1991. Born in East London and resident for most of her life in Essex, she is also an accomplished musician which, she believes, gives her a unique perspective and versatility in her quest. Leila is confident that her cosmopolitan outlook, and enhanced Asian background, makes her an ideal candidate to represent contemporary England and also be representative of the cultures of the Caribbean and Commonwealth. Read more …
Colin Babb remembers the West Indies cricket tour of 1976. It was hot, hot, hot – just like the UK has experienced this year. There were runs, wickets and memories of heroic deeds. And Colin has picked out the word which set the tone of a good-natured summer but with a lacing of tension. “Grovel” – the England captain, Tony Greig, who had been born in South Africa – added that edge of spice. West Indies were determined not to grovel …. and Colin tells us how it all worked out Read more …
Roland Butcher made his Test debut for England against West Indies at the Kensington Oval, Bridgetown in Barbados – in his home country and against the region in which he was born and grew up. He was the first black West Indian to represent England in Test cricket. It is appropriate, therefore, that the title of his auto-biography, written with Dr Sasha Sutherland, should be called Roland Butcher (Breaking Barriers – Barbados to England – and Back). There is much, too, to Roland’s career after he retired from playing the first-class game. He broke many barriers and establish a legacy that is probably unique. The only question, though, is whether the biography, the story of the man, which illustrates that legacy through achievements, should be in the same volume as the academic/social interpretation.
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Eric McClymont, a steward at Lord’s, believes British School Tours hold the Blue print to rescuing Jamaican cricket. In his position Eric has the opportunity to meet many of the players and the journalists covering the game – on which he can build an informed opinion. Read more …
SOME SCRIBES – AND A FEW PHARISEES
Clayton Goodwin, seen here with wife Hopelyn, looks back on his debut in the Lord’s press-box 65 years ago as a messenger for Hayter’s agency. He recalls some of the famous cricketers he met then – Frank Worrell, Keith Miller, Lindsay Hassett, Ray Lindwall, Denis Compton, Godfrey Evans – and the journalists he has inter-acted with along the way – some are well-known E.W. “Jim” Swanton, E.M. Wellings, David Frith – and others were also important in their time – Ron Roberts, Tony Becca, Tony Cozier, Murray Hedgcock, Brian Bassano, John Figueroa. And, inevitably, he quotes from the famous poem by Francis Thompson Read more ….
Marcia Sey broke the 100 metres hurdles British championships record in 12.65 seconds. Now the World Championships and Olympic Games are within her sights – says Lorna Boothe MBE, OLY, tutor and former Commonwealth Games gold-medallist. Lorna has taken time off from her own duties to tell Caribcommx readers about her own enthusiasm for the prospects of the young South London of Ghanaian parentage. With the European Championships opening in Birmingham, this already exciting summer athletics championships still has some way to before it reaches its conclusion in September. Read more ….