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VOLUME 2, ISSUE #9

APRIL 2023

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RESTORING JUSTIFIABLE PRIDE IN CARIBBEAN CRICKET!

PUBLISHER

Contents VO L U M E 2 , I S S U E # 9 . A P R I L 2 0 2 3 4. Kirk McKenzie: Bangladesh Bound!

TONY MCWATT

EDITORS

6. Weekes Headley Tris Series Averages!

DAVID JACKSON

8. CPL 2023 Schedule Announced.

MAGAZINE EDITOR

10. April Laurels & Darts.

JOSEPH REDS PERREIRA

CONTRIBUTORS

11. BCA Bim Bits; April Bites!

DAVID JACKSON, TONY MCWATT, RAY FORD

PHOTOS

12. Jackson’s Jury Bangladesh A Team Tour Offers Player Recognition Opportunities 16. Ray Ford: Closing The Loop!

CRICKET WEST INDIES

WI WICKETS IS A MONTHLY PUBLICATION OF TMAC ENTERPRISES Tel: 647 669 9320; Email: [email protected]; wi.wickets.tel Publisher

Tony McWatt

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s the saying goes “all good things must eventually come to an end!” That truism now seems to have become applicable to the publication of Wickets magazine’s monthly online Issues. This April Issue will now most likely mark the commencement of the magazine’s impending publication cessation. The July 2023 edition, the final Issue of this year’s Wickets’ fifth volume, will most likely be its last to be published!

read and distributed cricket magazine ever to be produced in Canada, if not all of North America, have abandoned their involvement just as quickly as it was begun. Even with advertising pricing having been reduced to almost bottom line, insignificant profit generating, margins just three to six Issues has usually been the association duration of most advertisers who have ventured to provide their financial support to Wickets.

As a result of decisions made recently by the “powers that be,” as of this coming May 15, 2023, I will no longer be directly involved in Canadian cricket. My non-involvement will most unfortunately, also have a negative economic impact on Wickets. The financial support that was associated with my direct involvement and which was used largely to support the publication of Wickets’ monthly Issues will now, by consequence, no longer be available.

Insufficient experienced returns on their investment has usually been the reason behind advertisers exiting just as quickly as they had come on board. Justifiably disappointed as they would have been by the absolute lack of any reciprocal support from Wickets’ readers for their advertised products and services.

For a variety of reasons, primarily those surrounding the admittedly limited effectiveness of its flawed distribution, Wickets has never quite managed to maintain advertising support during its now almost five-year existence. Rather than enjoying a necessary sustainable foundation of advertising support, the magazine’s experience has been that of a revolving door. Advertisers attracted by Wickets’ commendable content, very enticing design layout, as well as its very real potential to become the most widely

The sad reality that has been the backdrop to such an eventuality is that for all its superior content induced popularity among readers who have received copies of its monthly Issues, the actual numbers of those doing so have been far too few. There are over 30,000 individuals, males, females and juniors supposedly officially registered as being active cricketers within Canada. Yet as Cricket Canada’s “official,” monthly online magazine, Wickets five years into its existence is still totally unknown to the greater majority of such individuals, arguably as many as 80-90% in actuality. When Wickets was started back in August 2018, as Cricket Canada’s Official Monthly Online Magazine,

Wickets Winding Down! the deal was that I would provide a publication of the highest possible quality. The editorial content of which would publicize the activities and initiatives of the country’s active cricket Leagues. Except for the Shiv Persaud-led Scarborough Cricket Association, at no stage of its now almost five-year history as Wickets ever received significant consistent support from any other League. My repeated requests for Leagues to provide information on their respective activities to be used as editorial content in Wickes monthly Issues has been almost completely ignored. Even more so my suggestions to the Leagues that they should seek to leverage Wickets’ availability as a promotional vehicle, with potential direct exposure to all of their registered players, as means of attracting increased corporate sponsorship for their activities. For all of its popularity among those who have been featured within its pages and the kudos received in relation to its commendable content and outstandingly attractive page designs, the production of Wickets monthly Issues has been a financially unrewarding, very often frustration inducing labour of unrequited love on my part as its Publisher. When an individual’s services are deemed to be no longer required, however, and their contributions considered to be of no value, the only alternative left available is for them to exit gracefully. As such so it shall be.

CHAPTER DONE, BOOK ABOUT TO BE CLOSED!

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Bangladesh West Indies A Team Bound Kirk McKenzie!

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82 runs scored from 10 innings batted in 5 matches played for an average of 38.20. Arguably, not exactly the sort of statistics any Selector worth their salt should be looking for a batsman to be included in an upcoming West Indies A Team tour to Bangladesh. That aggregate, however, included a highest score of 221 made for the West Indies Academy in its recent second round match against Team Weekes during this year’s inaugural Headley-Weekes Tris Series that would definitely have caught the Selectors attention and most certainly have booked Kirk McKenzie his seat on the flight for the scheduled West Indies A Team May 16 – June 2, 2023 Tour to Bangladesh. Opening the batting for the Academy McKenzie played a number of handsome shots on both sides of the wickets. He’d raced to an unbeaten half-century before rain brought an early close on the second day of the Academy’s match against Team Weekes. McKenzie struck eight fours from 80 balls in the just over two hours at the crease it took for him to reach his first fifty. That, however, was only the appetizer to the main course entrée that was to follow the very next day. Resuming on the morning of the third day, McKenize batted undefeated until the close of play. Enroute he complied a majestic, maiden first-class double century. In partnership with Kevin Wickham who scored a composed, maiden first-class hundred, the

pair helped the Academy to reach 378-4 in reply to Team Weekes’ posted first innings total of 401. At the close of play on the third day, the left-handed McKenzie was undefeated on 209 and Wickham was on 104 not out. McKenzie reached his doublecentury milestone from 340 balls when he punched a delivery from left-arm spinner Veerasammy Permaul through cover for his 25th four. By then he had cracked 25 fours and a six from 365 balls during his seven hours and 40 minutes stay in the middle. Kirk McKenzie added only 12 to his overnight score on the morning of the

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match’s fourth and final day. He eventually fell for 221 in the 10th over of the day, having batted for 502 minutes, faced 386 balls, and struck 26 fours and one six. He also shared a record 259-run partnership for the fifth wicket with his overnight partner Kevin Wickham. A maiden double-century in only his sixth first-class outing by the still only twenty-year old Kirk Sanjay Alexzander McKenzie, born in Jamaica on November 9, 2000. As an ambidextrous left-hand batsman and right-arm off-spinner McKenzie made his first-class debut for Jamaica against the Leeward Islands in June 2022, He has also represented his home-country Jamaica Tallawahs in the Caribbean Premier League’s annual T20 tournament having made his T20 debut against the Trinbago Knight Riders on September 5, 2021. With the West Indies Academy added to the ever-growing list of teams Kirk McKenzie has now represented, he will be seeking to be making further entries very soon. First off now almost certainly the West Indies A Team later his month, Followed by, who knows, possibly even a West Indies Senior Team Test debut in the not-too-distant future. If he continues scoring superlative double-centuries like he did against Team Weekes, you certainly wouldn’t bet against it! No one in their right mind should!

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Headley – Weekes Tri Series Most Runs Top 20!

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Headley – Weekes Tri Series Most wickets!

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Five Venues To Host CPL 2023!

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he 2023 season of the CPL will be played across five countries in the Caribbean from August 17 to September 24.

Compared to the five venues that hosted matches last season across four countries - there were two venues in Trinidad & Tobago - this year’s CPL will also have matches played in Barbados; the island wasn’t in the schedule last time. The CPL will start with defending champions Jamaica Tallawahs taking on St Lucia Kings in Saint Lucia before the action moves to St Kitts & Nevis, Barbados and Trinidad & Tobago, before concluding in Guyana. All venues will host six games each. The venues in Trinidad & Tobago are yet to be named, while there will be no games in Jamaica this time too. The Daren Sammy Stadium in St Lucia will kick-off the first leg of matches, from August 16 to 20, with the home side playing four of the six games. Warner Park in St Kitts & Nevis will be the next venue for the games from August 23 to 27, with four matches for the home team - St Kitts & Nevis Patriots - there. Barbados’ Kensington Oval will host the next leg, for the first time since 2019, from August 30 to September 3, with home side Barbados Royals playing four of the matches. The tournament will then move to Trinidad & Tobago for games from September 5 to 10, again with four matches for the home team, Trinbago Knight Riders. Guyana will host the final leg from September 13 to 24, including the playoffs and the final from September 19 to 24. “We are very pleased that the tournament will be staged in five countries in 2023,” Pete Russell, the CPL CEO, said in a statement. “As ever, the CPL is a chance for fans across the region and around the world to enjoy world class cricket. And for the players from the Caribbean it is an opportunity to showcase their skills and further their careers.”

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For the third consecutive year, the CPL will overlap with the Hundred, the 100-balls-a-side competition in England that runs from August 1 to August 27 this year. At this stage, Sunil Narine is the only West Indian men’s player who will be involved in both competitions; he is expected to play around five games for Oval Invincibles before leaving for the CPL.

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WI Wickets April 2023 Laurels & Darts!

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ommencing with this April Issue, WI Wickets monthly editions’ center-pages will be dedicated to respective laurels and darts listings of those currently involved or associated with West Indies cricket that are deserving of such awards. Laurels will be awarded to those whose activities within the governing past month have been deserving of the highest kudos. Likewise, darts will conversely be thrown at those whose conduct has been most unbecoming. There will be five laurels awarded each month but only three darts will be thrown. April Laurels: The West Indies Academy Team and Coaches for their outstandingly encouraging performances in their two played matches in this year’s 2023 Inaugural Headley-Weekes Tri Series. The Academy team scored a resounding surprising win over the far more experienced Team Headley in the opening match of the tournament. They also secured a draw in their second-round encounter against Team Weekes. Most impressively, three of the five centuries scored during the tournament’s first two rounds were by Academy batsmen. Jamaica’s Kirk McKenzie 221, Guyana’s Kevlon Anderson 153 and Barbados’ Kevin Wickham 121 all scored impressive centuries under the Academy’s banner. There were also some equally impressive and encouraging performances by the Academy’s young bowlers. After two rounds of competition, Academy bowlers occupied eight of the top ten positions in the leading wicket-takers standings. Skipper Nyeem Young was at the top of the chart with 6 wickets followed by Joshua Bishop 6, Johann Layne 5, Ramon Simmonds 3, Kelvin Pitman 3 and McKinney Clarke 3. Well done lads! Berbice Cricket Board (BCB) President Hilbert Foster for his unselfish dedication to duty. Stricken by a life-threatening illness this past February and warned by his doctors that cricket administration related stress could potentially cause his demise, Foster was nevertheless back in full command of the BCB’s affairs during the month of April. Under and as a direct result of Foster’s astute leadership, the Berbice Cricket Board now ranks as arguably the most dynamic cricket administrative Board in the entire Caribbean! The Caribbean Premier League for its typically early announcement of its 2023 schedule, months before the tournament’s August 16 commencement. The CPL has also announced that this year’s

tournament will be staged on the banner of its new tittle sponsor, the Caribbean-based Republic Bank. Jatin Patel the India-born, USA-based host of the Cricket Show and Founder of the Cricket Hall of Fame, for his tireless dedication to the further promotion of West Indies cricket. Mr Patel scheduled and hosted an April 25 episode of his Cricket Show specifically towards the further promotion of Alvin Kallicharran’s recently published Guyana’s Pocket Dynamo Illustrated Children’s Storybook. As a non-West Indian Mr Patel’s meritorious act of kindness was in stark contrast to that of the host of the Caribbean’s self-acclaimed most popular cricket Radio Show who had earlier scheduled an appearance for both Kallicharran and the book’s author Tony McWatt only to subsequently withdraw his invitation without notice or explanation!

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The Antigua 4Knights, Sir Andy Roberts, Sir Vivian Richards, Sir Richie Richardson and Sir Curtly Ambrose to whom heartiest congratulations are in order following the April 29 Official Launching of their long-awaited Academy. Conceived way back in 2014 by Antigua’s then Sports Minister EP Chet Greene, the 4Knights Academy has endured several stops and starts during the now almost nine years that have passed since then. Kudos, therefore, to each of the knighted gentlemen, deservedly recognized internationally as four of the greatest cricketers ever produced by the West Indies and seen by the rest of the world, for having persevered in their belief of both the Academy’s necessity as well as its viability!

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brightest rising stars of West Indies cricket and many of whom were making their first-class debuts were denied the privilege of doing so in front of not even a handful of spectators. The Jamaica Tallwahs, for the now officially confirmed reports of their incomprehensible decision to trade their Caribbean Premier League 2022 title winning captain Rovman Powell to the Barbados Pride for this year’s tournament. If Powell’s reported forthcoming exit does indeed become a reality, it will make him the third international marquee T20 Jamaican-born player to have left the Tallawahs within the past five CPL seasons. Powell’s exist will follow the acrimonious exits of Chris Gayle in 2020 and Andre Russell in 2022.

April Darts: Cricket West Indies for embarrassingly shoddy, apparently almost non-existent, marketing promotion of the 2023 Inaugural Headley-Weekes Tri-Series first and second round matches. Both matches were played in front almost completely spectator empty stands at the CWI Headquarters Coolidge Cricket Center. A travesty given the prestigious title attributed to the tournament as being sated in honour of two of the greatest batsmen the West Indies has produced and the world has ever seen. It was also an abomination that the Academy players, some of the

Andre Russell for indirectly and unnecessarily disrespecting both his country Jamaica, as well as the wider Caribbean region during a recent India Star Sports interview. Russell was gushing in his praise of the India Premier League Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) for its exemplary treatment during his now nine-year longstanding association with the franchise. In so doing, however, Russell also threw both Cricket West Indies and his Caribbean Premier League Jamaica Tallawahs under the bus by indicating that KKR’s provided treatment has been much superior to that which he has received from any other cricketing board. Talk about ungratefully biting the hands that raised you!

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BCA’s Bim Bits:

April Bites P

layoff Dates for T20 Cup, Shield and Plate Tournaments Announced.

BCA has released the playoff dates for this year’s 2023 scheduled T20 Cup, Shield and Plate tournaments. The BCA’s T20 Cup Playoff quarterfinal matches will be held on Saturday May 20, the semi-finals on May 27 and the Final on Sunday June 4. May 21, 28 and June 24 are the respective Reserve Days. The quarter-finals and semi-finals for the BCA’s T20 Shield Tournament will also be held on May 20 & 27 respectively. The T20 Shield Final will, however, be held on Saturday June 3. May 21, 28 an June 24 will be the respective Reserve Days.

May 20, 27 and June 4 will also be the respective dates for the BCA’s T20 Plate Tournament’s quarter-finals, semi-finals and Final. May 21, 28 and June 24 will again be the respective Reserve Days. BCA U19 Squad For Sir Everton Weekes Tournament Selected. The Barbados National Ladies Selection Panel has announced the BCA Ladies Under 19 squad that will participate in the Sir Everton Weekes Under 23 tournament that is set to be played during the May 2-31, 2023 period. Miss Trishan Holder will captain the squad with Miss NaiJanni Cumberbatch as the vice captain. The full squad is: Trishan Holder (Capt), NaiJanni Cumberbatch (VCapt), Elecia Bowman, Eboni Brathwaite, Asabi Callendar, Zaliya Campbell, Dicyrah Collymore, Erin Deane, Theanny Herbert Play in each of the 35 over per side matches is scheduled to commence at 11:00am. Pickwick Juniors Retain BCS Under-13 Title! Pickwick Juniors retained their title with a 55-run win against Empire Juniors in the My 1 Final of the Barbados Cricket Supplies (BCS)

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Under-13 limited Queen’s Park.

overs

Tournament

at

Jones, Harte Star As Green Team Captures Keith Boyce Memorial Title!

Led by 51 off 32 balls with seven fours and one six from captain and opener Justin Parris, Pickwick Juniors made 177 all out in 30.3 overs after winning the toss. Niako Patterson took two for 13, Kieron Gittens, two for 16 and Charles Wood two for 26.

Left-arm spinner Matthew Jones grabbed six wickets and Kemar Harte hit a half-century as K&R Variety Green Team brushed aside Shannon by seven wickets in the Final of the Keith Boyce Memorial 35-over Tournament at Diamond Corner today.

Following an opening partnership of 96 in 14.4 overs between Kelani Clarke and Azari Small, Empire Juniors collapsed sensationally to 122 all out in 25 overs. Clarke scored 45 off 49 balls including six boundaries before he was first out, bowled by Parris. Small made 17. There were three run outs. Player Of The Match Tyler Narine took two for four off three overs and Tyshawn Franklyn, two for 28.

Sent in, Shannon were bowled out for 129 in 24.5 overs after tottering on 35 for six by the eighth over. Shaquille Cumberbatch top-scored with 40 off 33 balls including four fours and two sixes at No. 9. His Empire teammate Kevin Stoute made 38 off 37 balls with one four and two sixes at the top of the order. Skipper Zion Brathwaite contributed 22, featuring in an eighth wicket partnership of 43 in seven overs with Cumberbatch after putting on 35 in 6.2 overs with Stoute. The Richards brothers, Demetrius and Demario, were among four batsmen who failed to score. The others were Stefon King and Tahj Tavernier.

SUMMARISED SCORES: Pickwick Juniors 177 all out (30.3 overs) (Justin Parris 51 – 32 balls, 7 fours, 1 six; Jahrone Forde 21, Ashere Branford 16, Tyshawn Franklyn 14, Shai Thorne 12, Jon-Ross Gittens 12 not out; Niako Patterson 2-13, Kieron Gittens 2-16, Charles Wood 2-26). Empire Juniors 122 all out (25 overs) (Kelani Clarke 45 – 49 balls, 6 fours; Azari Small 17; Tyler Narine 2-4, Tyshawn Franklyn 2-28).

Player Of The Match Jones took six for 24 off seven overs and his Gladiola teammate, medium-pacer Korie Miller, three for 42 off 6.5 overs. Green Team romped to victory in 15.3 overs. All-rounder Harte, another Gladiola player, led the way with 63 off 32 balls including three fours and six sixes at No. 3. He added 95 in 10 overs for the second wicket with Shane Howard, who made 27. SUMMARISED SCORES: Shannon 129 all out (24.5 overs) (Shaquille Cumberbatch 40, Kevin Stoute 38, Zion Brathwaite 22; Matthew Jones 6-24, Korie Miller 3-42). Green Team 131-3 (15.3 overs) (Kemar Harte 63 – 32 balls, 3 fours, 6 sixes; Shane Howard 27, Chad Puckerin 13 not out). Toss: Green Team. PLAYER OF THE MATCH: MATTHEW JONES.

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West Indies A Team to play a two-match Test series in Bangladesh. Good opportunities for players to strive for selection to the West Indies senior team.

By David Jackson

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n Monday, April 24th, Cricket West Indies (CWI) announced the match schedule for the upcoming Men’s “A” Team Series in Bangladesh. According to the schedule the West Indies A team will arrive in Bangladesh on the 11th of May, 2023. The team will play three four-day “Test” matches against Bangladesh “A”, at the Sylhet International Cricket Stadium. The first “Test” will be from May 16th to May 19th, the second from May 23rd to May 26th, and the third and final “Test” from May 30th to June 3rd. All matches will have full first-class status. This series will undoubtedly provide good exposure for several players who are striving for selection to the West Indies senior team. The players will surely gain much-needed experience which would help to develop them, sharpen their skills and work out areas of weaknesses. Some players are still struggling to correct major deficiencies in their batting techniques, but we are now beginning to see more players putting in good performances at the First Class level. We have also seen some rather good performances in the Headley Weekes Tri-series and expect to see several of these players in the squad named for West Indies “A” Team tour to Bangladesh this month. Alick Athanaze continues to perform well at the First Class level. He just has to maintain consistency. He is almost certain to be selected for the “A” tour to Bangladesh and will surely be in the West Indies Test squad to play the Test series against India in July/August. I will go even further say that he is likely to be in the final X1 for the first Test, once his good form continues. It was also great to see West Indies White ball top order batsman Brandon King returning to red ball cricket. He showed his capability in this format with a solid knock of 92 from 148 balls, representing Team Weekes in the Tri-series. King’s last four-day appearance was in March

2022, at the Brian Lara Stadium in Trinidad, when he made a solid 119 for the Jamaican Scorpions against the Windward Islands Volcanoes. His form has fluctuated over the years ever since he was included in the West Indies squad for the 2014 U-19 World Cup. In recent years he has worked hard to correct technical flaws in his batting and has now developed into one of West Indies’ leading batsmen in the white ball formats of the game. A Test call may not be too far away if the continues to impress. It is good to also see young players like Kirk McKenzie, Kevin Wickham, and Kevlon Anderson putting in some creditable performances. And what about Darren Bravo, who showed glimpses of good form in the First Class season this year? Age is definitely not in his favor. At 34, Bravo will find it somewhat difficult to get a Test recall. He is still one of our better players of spin, but it seems that his ‘ship has long sailed’. I doubt he will even be selected for the “A” Team tour to Bangladesh. Nkrumah Bonner is another batsman who will find it difficult to make it back into the Test team, after being dropped for the last Test series. He seems to have lost all confidence in himself and didn’t help his cause much with his performances with the bat in the last FC season. Looking at the West Indies batting unit at present there needs to

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be at least three or four changes. I cannot see us going into the Test series against India with Reifer as our no. 3 batsman. Blackwood, Chase, and Mayers are too inconsistent and should be dropped. Some will probably say that Jermaine Blackwood is the vice- captain and should remain in the team, but he is just not consistent enough. Mayers on the other hand is best suited to the white ball format. But would the selectors share my views? In the bowling department, 22-year-old Nyeem Young is developing into a promising Right-arm medium-pace bowler. Akeem Jordon is another good bowler; definitely one for the future. We need more of our young promising bowlers to put in greater effort and work harder to take more wickets, as they attempt to maintain good ‘line and length’. We wait for the return of Jayden Seales from injury. It must have been heartbreaking for the talented 24-year-old. The knee injury that he suffered, after being selected by Sussex, ahead of the County Championship season, ruled him out of the Championship. The injury required surgery and the recovery time is expected to be about four months. He would have gained valuable experience which would have helped him to improve more as a bowler.

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Closing The Loop! By Ray Ford

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t times, we make grand announcements, and then after that, not a whisper can be heard. I do not want to be counted among those. And so here I am, back again. It was back in January 2020 when I told our esteemed editor of my plans to run for the office of Cricket West Indies President and I did. And so here I am to announce, that I finished the race. Finishing races is important to me, because at KC, ‘Billy’ Miller was one of my idols. And he always ran through the tape and left the judging to the judges. I don’t know what got into me probably something similar to running into a burning house without a fire-suit, to rescue a child. Sometimes, win-loseor-draw, some things must be done.

But nobody has ever been able to tell Ray Ford anything. Because, he like to give people and institutions, the benefit of the doubt. But in the end, my suspicion was confirmed - that I was an outsider, and pleaded my case, as such https://barbadostoday. bb/2022/11/11/btcolumn-west-indiescricket-the-case-for-the-outsider/ . And being an outsider proved tons of fun. How can an outsider be thrown out? Besides, it’s much more fun being on the outside - stoning them with rotten meat, when compared to dining-in with them, on the same! Bone china has never impressed me all that much. Coal Stove in New Kingston, had always been good enough. All that I wanted to say, I have already said. And so, as Vinnie Isaacs would say: “Let it soak!” But what a pleasure it was, ‘drinkingjuice’ with Sobers!

These days, people weigh-up the chances of favorable outcomes. I didn’t. Some people are dead scared of failure. I am not one of those. Besides, success almost always, never teaches lessons. Failures do. And I’m a student of and for, life. I like to learn.

“Do me a favor,” many months ago Sir Gary asked. “Just call me Gary!” And every time I backslid into ‘Sir Gary’, he would remind me not to. What a man!

Sometimes, suspicions are harbored, but never confirmed. And we generally fear confirmations, because they run cross-grained to what we want to continue believing. But, would I rather not die a fool? For sure. And so, run I did. It’s no use being swallowed into the belly of the beast, spat-out through the tail, living to tell the tales, and then not tell them.

“You know, ‘Collie’ and I were like this,” said the greatest of them all, crossing his two index fingers. At which I quickly pulled him back up. “These things do happen,” was the only thing I could have said. And I said it.

West Indies cricket is like a labyrinth of underground pipes, which I thought I knew, but did not know. And so: “What of cricket, did you think you knew (or so such a thing)?” asked C. L. R. James.

“I remind you of ‘Collie’ (Smith)?” I at one stage asked.

“So why didn’t you tell him that you were running for president?” Sir Wes (Hall) asked me the day after I had met with Sir Gary this past October. “Why draw Sobers into this?” I in-turn asked. Spending an afternoon shooting the breeze with Sir Gary, was like spending time on an oasis - sequestered from the cut-n-thrust. And what did I learn?

To be genuinely interested in people - to make them feel bigger than they think of themselves. These days, people hardly have time for people. But Sir Gary had time for me. And the topic of cricket hardly came up. I thought it best not to bring up that Saturday back in February 1968 at Sabina Park. Everybody suspected that Sobers would be batting that day, and I was among those who piled in. From the overflow seating section just north of the Kingston Cricket Club pavilion, I heard the little green gate creak as he pushed it. I could even hear the pad-flaps slapping against his thighs. The collar was up, and so was the sun. Talk about the regal splendor of Test cricket! That was it. But one ball. And Sobers was out. Ducks tu raass! Sabina was numbed into stillness. How could this have been?

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Page No - 17 Not giving up on my hero, I came back to see him bat in the second innings. And in scoring a century, Sobers was brutal, and so, forgiven. But it was his bowling that more impressed. Loping uphill from the press-box end - my end - Sobers made the new ball sizzle. I wanted to bowl like him. But never could. He came in ‘over’. I preferred ‘round’. But now it was time to moor - watch TV, muse at the world’s problems, and sip a few beers. “One more?” Sir Gary asked after my third. “Just as cheap,” I said with a shrug. Ray Ford has never been known to refuse another beer. So why start at this stage in life? And who was I, to turn down another beer from Sir Gary, when beyond his gate, the barbarians laid in-wait? Here what Garth Wattley writing in the Trinidad Daily Express had to say about Ray’s candidacy for president of West Indies Cricket: The West Indies couldn’t win a second OneDay match against South Africa. Disappointing as the four-wicket defeat yesterday would have been for those expecting a 2-0 series win rather than a 1-1 stalemate, yesterday’s outcome was really right in line with the way West Indies teams now play. Inconsistent play, from inconsistent, illequipped players is now the WI cricket status quo. And in the Caribbean, we don’t like to mess with the status quo. The experience of Ray Ford, who failed in his bid to become president of Cricket West Indies, was therefore highly predictable. Ray, a writer on West Indies cricket of long standing, was a rank outsider. Not part of the territorial board establishment, or one with WI legend credentials, he didn’t even get on the ballot. So, with Billy Heaven declining to challenge Kishore Shallow for the presidency, Ricky Skerritt’s former vice-president will assume Cricket West Indies’ highest office by default, so to speak. Ford may not have been the best man to take over the wheel of this listing vessel that is West Indies Cricket. But the cricket-loving public will never know for sure. The outsider was not given due consideration. It was as if a silent code kicked in with cricket people.

That is the sense one gets from some of Ray’s writings — as published in this newspaper — on his attempt to be considered. Read him again: “My run to lead West Indies cricket began when during the WI-India Test match at Sabina Park in August 2019, I pushed back my ice cream chair and made the grand announcement, so unbearable was the sloven I was seeing below me. Not long after, I went upstairs to the TV/radio quarters got the ear of a former West Indies player and whispered, ‘Let’s team together and overthrow the thing!’ Twenty-nine years before when I was just getting out of business school, Jordan D. Lewis’s Partnerships for Profit had hit bookstores. And my thinking was to form a strategic alliance with a CWI insider or a former West Indies cricketer with currency, to shake the thing up. But alas, it was as if I was talking Greek. ‘I’ll soon be back,’ I remember the former West Indies cricketer sheepishly saying to me. But he never did return, to continue the conversation. Right there and then, I knew that I was embarking on a journey virtually all by myself.” He continues: “On the morning of January 10, 2008 - the first day of a WI-SA Test at the Sahara Stadium in Durban, South Africa, and after a long overnight flight the day before, as soon as I arrived groggyeyed in the press quarters, a Caribbean cricket commentator saw me and pounced. ‘Ray, join me on-air at lunch time,’ I remember him saying. The same thing happened to me at Kensington Oval last October when I turned up as a guest to watch the BCA Super Cup 50 Over Final that Sunday the 16th. How come these people were so keen

to talk to me on-air, and yet during my campaign, none would say a word publicly, on my behalf? In fact, on the preceding Tuesday, I had spent all day preparing for what I thought was an agreed-upon radio interview. But during the program, my phone never rang. Would the host have stood-up Johnny Grave or Dominic Warne?” One more from him: “I have a record of sending my interest in running for the post to a specific nominator – a CWI director. But yet a few weeks ago, when the said nominator was asked on-air, if he had received any other requests for consideration besides the one from Dr Kishore Shallow, he said no. And to me, that was a mischaracterisation of the truth. Also, on a Caribbean cricket radio programme of February 21 last, when a Guyanabased journalist mentioned my name, the host bolted from the mention, swifter than Usain Bolt could have.” Taken all together, those anecdotes suggest either that some people didn’t see Ford’s bid as being of any merit, or that they did not want to be associated with a maverick. I was glad to give Ray the space to have his say; to make his case for how he would try to revive the game in the region. Maybe his bold and sincere attempt would encourage more discourse about a different approach to how WI cricket is both approached and managed. He may motivate others to try. Make no mistake though, history is showing us that the current set-up is failing the game, regardless of who sits in the hot seat at Coolidge. However, I suspect the Ray Fords in WI cricket will continue to be kept out of the reckoning. WI only want to bat a certain way, no matter how often WI keep losing. SO LOSE WI WILL

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