He has the potential for sure. I hope he can stay focussed and work hard. It would be good if one of the former great bowlers could mentor him.
CW
· 1 year ago
Must say I totally agree and it depends on his continual improvement. Love the way even his batting has improved. Shows he is paying attention to the game overall
coverdrive
· 1 year ago
Same here cw, he is developing into the complete player, its good that we have someone batting low who can bat for long periods of time. would like to see him from time to time get an early slog though, based on his application to the game he will make runs there.
i was listening to michael holding last night, had alot of positives to say about the the team and chris and his leadership., its a different style more calming and rendering confidence in his players abilities rather than being a tough marshall. also talked about the team spirit, and players accepting resonsibility for their positions , really positve stuff, stuff that make s u proud to be a west indian fan.
coverdrive
· 1 year ago
looks like big face bought the shares for the dog house
CW
· 1 year ago
Is a dog pound now... once u check in you cant leave
American
· 1 year ago
If Taylor continues To work on his overall game he will certainly becoMe one of the top. His batting is undervalued- I like the way he bats and I reckon he is a candidate to become a genuine alrounder-
Go Jerome Go.
shekar (srtt)
· 1 year ago
The guy is obviously our best bowler in the Caribbean! He has all the attributes of living up to Gayle's prediction. Also, when i look at this guy bat, i honestly wonder why he doesn't average more than say ....30!!! He looks a better composed batsman than some of our so called "openers"....
WI
· 1 year ago
His batting have gottten better too lower down the order. And he is one of the best bowler we have around.
victor
· 1 year ago
I would like to call out to the WICB at this time to spearhead clinics and practice drills to our fast bowlers and spin bowlers. Please have bowling practice in place to improve techiniques and mechanics and to work out length and line before the Aussies get down to the Caribbean. Please have the sessions in place with our past fast bowlers being the coach overlooking these practices. Nothing but a decisive and overwhelming win over the Aussies is going to be tolerated and accepted Come on WICB, now is the time to build momentum !.
Cricketer
· 1 year ago
Vic:
I admire your positive spin (pardon the pun) on Windies cricket, but I will settle for any type of win against the mighty Aussies. I do agree with you where engaging the services of our past representatives, as surely the likes of Ambrose, Walsh, Holding and Garner can offer a lot of help to the current crop. I must admit that I am not surprised at the development of Taylor, as he has demonstrated a willingness to listen and learn from his school days at STETHS in JA.
victor
· 1 year ago
Yea, Cricketer, we the fans are on the sidelines and we must give all the encouragement to this crop of fellas who represent all the future dreams of the Caribbean. We have to keep clapping our hands to make and ensure our cricketers understand the importance of us winning the tournament with the Aussies or winning all the encounters with anyone else. With this said, I would like to applaud Mr. John Dyson for building and keeping our cricketers integrity and focus on winning the Sri Lanka series. Also, hats off to all the unsung heroes who stood in the background and helped the team come up with a few good win. I make a resounding applause to each and all of you. Another thing I would like to see, is the making of a film or clips showing the heroics of our cricketers like Chanderpaul, Bravo, Edwards, Sarwan, Gale,Viv Richards, Ambrose, Lara and others in dire straight situations and pulling out astonishing victory, This film should be shown in all the Cinemas and all the schools in all the Caribbean, to let the young ones identify and grow up knowing that they have THEIR OWN HEROES and CHAMPIONS. And Cricketer, if you know of any little piece of history in JA that would shed good light on the fellas who made it to Windies team I (we) would appreciate hearing from you.
jrod
· 1 year ago
Did he say what he will be ranked number one in the world at.
Diving perhaps?
Water Polo?
Foosball?
Cricketer
· 1 year ago
jrod:
One may have mistakenly assumed that you knew you were on a cricket blog.
ding
· 1 year ago
Here's some good words of wisdom, Ryan. Cheer up man, Don't look so down!
Confucious Says
Virginity like bubble, one prick - all gone.
Man who run in front of car get tired. Man who run behind car get exhausted.
Man with hand in pocket feel cocky all day.
Foolish man give wife grand piano, wise man give wife upright organ.
Man who walk through airport turnstile sideways going to Bangkok.
Man with one chopstick go hungry.
Man who eat many prunes get good run for money.
Baseball is wrong: man with four balls cannot walk.
Panties not best thing on earth, but next to best thing on earth.
War does not determine who is right; war determine who is left.
Wife who put husband in doghouse soon find him in cat house.
Man who fight with wife all day get no piece at night.
It take many nails to build crib, only one screw to fill it.
Man who drive like hell bound to get there.
Man who stand on toilet is high on pot.
Man who fish in other man's well often catch crabs.
Johnathan
· 1 year ago
Jerome Taylor is a thinking bowler. He uses his head and you can see that he is not just running up and let go off the ball but he seem to have a plan and knows what he wants to do. If he is discipline and continues, he will become one of our great cricketer. I remember his first test match against Sri Lanka when he late cut Murali for 4. And from that shot I know he must have some ability with the bat. So, he will score some half centuries with the bat in test also.
KP
· 1 year ago
Shouldn't the training squad for the Aussie be named now and in training for the up coming series. perhaps in Ja. where there is a semi pro league going on, thus, there being cricketers to assist with the training. When Aussie first beat us in 15 yr they were in training for months at an army facility. What about our planning, Sril lanka & the Aussie are 2 different cup of teas. Over 2 D WIBC, so then god help us.
Cynthia
· 1 year ago
I want to see my boy grow to his fullest potential. I would like to see him remain focused and to take WI cricket to a new level
teacher jones
· 1 year ago
Cynthia, it's all about hands and eyes coordination. Also, if he is wired correctly mentally (in the head) to let the brains take over from the eyes, then your boy is on his way. The last piece of the puzzle is to raise your energy level to another notch on game day, this is the domain of al the GENIUS of the game who always play at this level. But it can be learnt, by clean living, meditation, praying to your GOD constantly and staying in a state of grace and integrity. Not everyday can one remain in this high state of energy level unless one is a trained monk or mystic which takes years to master. But as a cricketer trying to reach full potential, I see no difference here between a monk and a cricketer. It's all about having the DESIRE to work hard to reach that level and to attain that ultimate goal. It's about listening and learning from those who have succeeded in that game. And it's all about having fun and enjoying the game without wilfully and deliberately trying to hurt anyone. You have got to be one of his best supporters guiding him to reach his potential when things begin getting rough, dashing and drowning him on the rocks of despair Then he's got it made and on his way - and funny enough someone is going to ask you how did he get to be like that, was he born with that gift ?
ding
· 1 year ago
I copied this article from the Trinidad Guardian, so that all cricket fans of the Caribbean could get a chance to relive an era of our glorious past of what excitement and adoration really was like....... While reading this, let these songs go through your head: Platters - Am I just a dancing Partner and Mighty Sparrow's - Jean and Dina, and Ten to one is Murder. Enjoy Mr. Barthlomew insight !
Professor Courtney Bartholomew was, from his earliest boyhood, an ardent fan of cricket and jazz. He played cricket with the style and attitude that was the very essence of the sport.
As time went by and he grew in confidence and responsibility, cricket took second place to education but he never lost interest in the great game. He also became quite friendly with many of the great players.
Here he gives a look into some of the more personal side of three of our great players and their place and struggle not only in the game on the field but also in the circumstances that forced them to struggle off the field against conditions that sought to keep them in their places.
But difficult as those might have been, the glory of the sportsmanship and the performance of Andy, Sir Everton and of Sir Frank Worrell shines through what could have been a difficult period.
Their example for the youth of their period can not be overestimated and one hopes that some of our youngsters would read and think of what is written here.
“It was the best of times; it was the worst of times. It was the age of wisdom; it was the age of foolishness.” So began my favorite novelist Charles Dickens in his Tale of Two Cities. Indeed, as far as the British West Indies was concerned, it was the best of times, a time when we truly could have said, for example, that Trinidad was a paradise and so were the other islands.
I am referring specifically to the 40s and 50s. It was also the age of great characters, local philosophers and town criers in Trinidad like Briton, Political Harris, Rolly Blackman, Parks of Casual’s fame, S Clarke and mile-a-minute, the Chinese marathon walker around the savannah, who only knew two words in English: “Salt nuts.”
But it was also “the worst of times.” It was the colonial era when Britain, although admittedly providing us with a good educational curriculum (and we must give Jack his jacket - even the Union Jack), ensured the separation of the classes, headed by a so-called elite privileged class.
The situation was bad in T&T but much worse in Barbados. In fact, that was the environment and ambience which irked Frank and led him to say: “It is not that l loved Barbados less but I hated insularity more.” And so, beyond the boundary of the playing field another play, unappreciated by many cricket fans, was being enacted off the field.
And who would know that better than Sir Everton Weekes and Andy Ganteaume, who were present at the Sir Frank Worrell Memorial function at the Queen’s Park Cricket Club (QPCC), last Tuesday?
Now, Luke in chapter eight, verse 25 once remarked in wonderment: “But what manner of man is this.” Somewhat perhaps, in like manner, one may well ask the same of a man, who in 1948/1949 scored five consecutive centuries plus what is less appreciated, seven consecutive 50s, both Test records.
In fact, in the sixth innings of this sequence of centuries, he was run out when 10 runs short of another century. To be blunt, he was not run out, but robbed out. Unfortunately, there was no third umpire in those days.
He was a very disciplined player and I am proud to say that he and I had one thing in common. We both hit only one six in our careers, one of which was quite undistinguished. So said, in my case it was a fluke but in his it was quite deliberate. In fact, it was a no-ball. You see, he simply did not like hitting the ball in the air. One could get caught out that way. As the Jamaican George Headley used to say when he saw a rash stroke: “But why him doh like to bat.”
Everton also had a partnership of 338 with Frank Worrell against England in 1954 and also made three consecutive centuries against New Zealand in 1956.
Indeed, in Jim Laker’s opinion, Worrell was the most elegant, Clyde Walcott the hardest hitter but Weekes the most devastating, and twice in 1950 and in 1956 he was rated the best batsman in the world.
Of the 3Ws, Everton is still very alive and not out, and seems to be aiming for another 100. And so, from the longevity point of view, he also has the highest batting average among the three.
And then there is Andrew Gordon Ganteaume, affectionately called by our mutual friend Harold “Boobool” Burnett, “Andino.” Andy was one of Frank’s closest friends.
In 1948, he was the first cricketer in West Indian history to make a century in the first innings of his Test debut. This was no mean feat, especially with the stresses and strains of the prejudicial selections of that era.
But in certain ways nothing has changed over the years. The present-day Government Awards Committee, not through malice, but totally through carelessness and youthfulness, has never honoured this great sportsman with a national award. It is not, mind you, that at this stage of his life, Andy wishes or is at all interested in any other honour.
However, as was bestowed upon my other good friend and benefactor, who got me into a top teaching hospital in London, Lord Constantine of Maraval, I now personally dub Andino, Lord Andrew of Belmont.
Now, as Everton frankly and unabashedly wrote in his autobiography Mastering the Craft: “The West Indies Cricket Board was the bastion of the rich and powerful in the region and saw players such as myself in a way that estate owners saw their field hands. We were called to work, to receive a stipend on which we could not live (about five pounds a week), given a uniform that made us look the part and when the job was done we were sent packing until required for the next year’s crop.
In Barbados the cricket team was dominated by the professional and property-owning classes. I was a bit of an odd ball in that sense, and for some people I was the rabbit that came out of the hole and ran across the field.”
Andy was no less expressive about this “age of foolishness” in his My Story. These two books are “must reads,” especially by the present West Indian team and indeed all cricketers.
Now, much has been written about Frank as a batsman. Indeed, from the moment he walked out of the pavilion onto the grounds, carrying the bat in his left hand, there was something overtly elegant but quietly authoritative about him.
But while as a batsman he was magnificent, he was even greater as a captain. As Gary Sobers, the greatest all rounder of all, wrote in his autobiography: “Frank was the best captain I ever played under. He was able to motivate people. He not only knew the game but he said things in such a diplomatic way that if you had enough sense you would understand what he was trying to put across to you.”
He was also the essence of decorum and the quintessence of cool. If Frank, for example, had made a record-breaking score, there would have been no extrovertish display of celebration.
He would, as usual, simply raise his bat, elbow at waist level, and coolly acknowledge the applause. As Everton wrote: “On the common practice of players hugging and kissing when a wicket falls, it is a good thing to see such celebrations, however, Frank did not believe in it. He felt it gave people the impression we were not accustomed to success.”
Coincidentally enough, Andy also recorded Frank’s feelings about this in his My Story. He wrote: “He would have been appalled at the excessive celebration of any success during play.”
Somewhat related to this, I am sure that Andy would agree with me that 20/20 cricket would not be his concept of the game.
As another measure of his cool, when in one Test match he was relaxing while reading a book, Alfie Valentine was a bit confused and said to him: “Frank, you know you are the next man in?” Frank calmly replied: “Just taking an opportunity to do a bit of studying. My finals are coming up soon.”
Now, it is well know that while he was a professional in England and studying at Manchester University, he asked for a humble fee of 300 pounds for the tour to India, however, the West Indies Cricket Board, the Establishment, turned him down and he was not in India for that tour.
As Everton wrote: “The focus on his university studies helped him to weather the storm. I believe he was motivated to acquire academic knowledge because he wanted to work after cricket in helping under-privileged West Indian people.” True, but may I add, not only the underprivileged.
What did Everton think of Frank as a cricketer? It was best expressed with this paragraph in his book.
“While I was racking up the centuries (four consecutive centuries in India), images of Frank batting at the other end would flash through my mind.”
But perhaps the loudest testimony of his great regard for Frank was when he added: “C L R James admired Frank and so did I. This made us friends!” This says it all.
The year was 1946. At that time I was still in short pants in St Mary’s College and got to the Queen’s Park Oval by tram car. It was the inter-colonial game between Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago and the second appearance of the 3Ws in Trinidad. Everton, was bowled out for a duck by Gerry Gomez and there was boisterous jubilation by the 10,000 or more Trini spectators, not including the stormers, who were another 1000 or so. However, we were soon witness to a massacre as never before seen in the Oval. It was “the worst of times” for us.
All hell broke loose. It was as if, like the three musketeers of France, the three musketeers or should I say “wusketeers” of Barbados vowed: “One for all and all for one. You bowled out Everton for a duck and we will now take care of you.”
So said, for a whole day the Trinidad team toiled and sweated in the sun, making frequent frustrating trips to the boundary as Frank and Clyde entertained the crowd with a display of elegance and style on the one hand, and ruthless “willowing” on the other.
What a coincidence it is that there was also a famous American novelist and physician named Frank Slaughter because it was Frank’s slaughter of the bowling that day. It was, as we say in Trinidad, “advantage.”
Coincidentally, the year 1946 was also the 30th anniversary of the Roaring Lion’s road march: “Advantage could never done...”
Captain Tom Pierce eventually declared Barbados’ innings closed at 619 for 3. Walcott was 304 not out and Worrell 255 not out. This led the popular TriniBarbadian Rolly Blackman to exclaim in the stands: “Is a good thing God made night because if he didn’t Frankie Worrell would still be batting.”
Much has been said about the historic 1948 Test series against England, exactly 60 years ago, with the Test debut of the 3Ws. As for the second Test match, as Andy wrote in his autobiography: “I was convinced that the Establishment did not want me on the team, however, I was determined to make a century. Frank joined me at the crease at 76 and after a partnership of 80 runs, I reached the century, which I had set out to make.”
It was said by the Establishment that Andy batted too slowly and he was therefore dropped from the following Test squad. Would you believe it! What an injustice. But ironically enough the centuries made by England’s FC Griffith and JD Robertson in that same match were not significantly faster than Andy’s 112. But only Andy can describe the pain and emotional distress from that injustice. He did not bat slowly but he was certainly slow in writing his side of the story. It took him 60 years to do so.
It is against all this background that the 1950 West Indies tour to England was of immense socio-political importance. It was our first visit to England after the war. It was then that the 3Ws gave the West Indies the commanding position they were looking for. As Everton wrote: “Frank was magnificent. His innings of 261 has been hailed a classic in stroke play. I can verify this because I was at the other end. My own 129 was in support of Frank, and it was a real pleasure batting with him once again.
“It was the first time we had defeated the English in England and we were aware of the implications of the victory in terms of its history and politics. It was the end of the Empire as far as we were concerned. London Bridge had fallen down.”
That historic 3-1 victory was at that time our greatest feat. To plagiarise Winston Churchill and apply it to cricket rather than to the Royal Air Force, one may well say that ‘never in the field of cricketing conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.” But debatably the greatest event in West Indian cricket history in my opinion was yet to come.
Two years later, in 1952, while I was a Custom’s officer, I was invited to join Maple and how well I remember the Old Year’s night celebration of that year, held in the well-appointed club house and grounds at the top of St Vincent Street.
In those days our tuxedos were cream jackets, black trousers and bow tie. With some measure of youthful pride and swagger, I escorted a certain belle just out of Bishop Anstey High School. Soon after we entered the club house, we saw standing out in the crowd, a most handsome man dressed differently. Unlike ours, his tuxedo was all black. It was Frank Worrell at age 26.
But Frank was not only a man’s man. He was also a lady’s man, and that night I observed that my young female companion was showing progressively less and less interest in me as she continually kept looking over her shoulder while dancing to see who were the lucky dancing partners of Frank.
That was the beginning of the end of that budding romance.
The following year in 1954, I tore myself from Maple and the Custom’s football team and left Trinidad for medical school in Dublin, Ireland and soon founded a team of West Indian students from the three universities in Dublin, Galway and Cork, who were cricketers at some level or the other. We played friendly matches on weekends against various Irish teams.
Now, Frank, while studying sociology and economics in Manchester University, had a contract with Belvedere College in Dublin to coach the students there. This was when a deep friendship was born.
Frank used to come to Dublin every year for the whole month of August and almost every day we were in each others’ company for some time. He was always such easy company. He always looked forward to playing with us on weekends and made us feel that it was with the same enthusiasm with which he played for the West Indies.
We thoroughly enjoyed those weekend games in Ireland, especially those outside County Dublin. How well I remember one game when Frank opened the bowling and hit the Irish batsman plump in the middle of the wicker with his first ball and shouted: “How’s that!” The Irish umpire immediately retorted: “Not out. He is my son!” Frank replied smiling: “Sorry, Sir, for appealing.”
The match continued amiably but that night the local pub not far away from the playing field opened many hours after the official closing time of midnight and it was only after 10 or more Guinnesses later that we wended our way back to Dublin. By the way, the umpire owned the pub!
Frank and I saw eye to eye on many things and we talked about a variety of subjects, including university life. I remember our discussions on his ever so strong desire to respond positively to the request of black South Africa to bring a West Indian team to play in their league.
It was in the height of apartheid. He was quite aware that no deference was going to be given to him and his team and that they would have to stay in second class hotels, among other things. But that mattered nought to him. He had a social conscience and badly wanted to go.
We discussed the pros and cons and felt that there were more pros than cons. Indeed, as a final year medical student, I wrote a letter to the Editor of the Guardian on behalf of the West Indian students in Ireland supporting the tour to South Africa.
Of course, there are various aspects to that story. As you know, the tour was eventually not approved by the West Indian Cricket Board.
The year 1950 was great history but, in my opinion, the 1960/61 tour of Australia in certain ways eclipsed it. You must also remember that at that time Australia had a restricted immigration policy and it is in this context that the series must also be viewed.
For the first time Frank was captain of the West Indies team. By the way, Everton eventually became captain of Barbados in early 1960. The times were changing and these were the pioneers.
It started with the first Test in Brisbane. When everyone else was getting excited and things were happening, Frank was an oasis of cool.
Wes Hall was about to bowl the last ball and Australia needed only one run to win and the last batsman was at the crease. It could not possibly have been more tense.
As Garfield wrote in his autobiography: “Frank walked to Wes with his usual slow gait and effortless swing of the arms, and said to him: “Now Wes, if you bowl a no-ball, you know you would never be able to go back to the West Indies again, not to talk about Barbados. They would hang you!” It was the perfect lighted-hearted comment but with an underlying message for Wes to think about as he walked back. That was the type of man Frank was. He always seemed to have the right word for the right moment.”
It was not a no-ball. Ian Meckiff hit the ball and started to run for the winning single when Joe Solomon brilliantly fielded the ball and threw it straight to the wicket from square leg. It was the first and only Test tie in cricket history. It was pandemonium. Thousands of Melbournites raced across the ground shouting outside the pavilion: “We want Frank.”
The unforgettable ticker-tape send-off in Melbourne was cricket history. As Keith Miller himself wrote: “It was a salute to Frank Worrell. Never seen before, I doubt if it will ever be accorded again to a visiting captain.”
Frank and Gerry were sitting on the edge of the back seat of the uncovered first car in the parade followed by the other cars with the rest of the team.
Everton was not there. He had already retired prematurely from Test cricket, shall I say, on a matter of principle. Gary was there, Rohan Kanhai was there. But why did I say that this was perhaps the greatest event in West Indies cricket at that time? You see, in 1950 we won the series in England but in Australia, while we had marginally lost the series 2-1, we won the hearts of every Australian and indeed the world. That’s the heart of the matter.
Finally, the year was 1967. I was in a postgraduate speciality program in McGill’s University Hospital when I received a telephone call from Jamaica.
It was from Professor Owen Morgan, professor of medicine, who played with our West Indian university team in Ireland. I had not heard from him in six years, however, knowing my close friendship with Frank, he tracked me down in Montreal to tell me that Frank had just died in the University Hospital in Mona. It was “the worst of times.” It was unreal. It was devastating
It was a rapidly fatal leukaemia that took his life. Owen then related to me how elegant and popular a patient he was.
It is recorded that one day in his weakness, he looked out the window and saw a blue Jamaican-sky and softly said: “How good it is to be alive.”
They tried to keep him alive as long as possible with intravenous drips but his debility worsened with time and he eventually said to the nurses: “Please remove the drips. I am tired, very tired.” He died the next day. And so, the captain declared his innings over and retired hurt before he reached his 50. He was 42 years.
The king is dead. Long live the king!
I congratulate the passionate Kirk Perreira and his Frank Worrell Memorial Committee for keeping the memory of the king alive - lest we forget, lest we forget. With this thoughtful gesture, it is once more “the best of times.”
Devon L Wilson
· 1 year ago
Ding you cannot post the entire article, because of copyright materials. Just post a portion of it.
NY1
· 1 year ago
Revealing,educational and wonderful.Thank you
ram
· 1 year ago
Gayle, has been ruled out of the Indian Premier League after suffering a hairline fracture, this will be a blow to the upcoming series against Australia next month. He was taken to a private hospital in India and has been advised to undergo surgery; the recovery period after surgery could be between 6-8 weeks. From the last series (sri lanka), WI was on a surge of winning. Can Sarwan lead the team and continue from where Gayle left off? Seems like we can’t get a break.
coverdrive
· 1 year ago
wait till american hears about this ram
ram
· 1 year ago
Someone needs to inform that idiot not to come here and mention Ganga for captain.
coverdrive
· 1 year ago
i think, sars will do it until gayle gets better., ganga has not done much to help himself lately.
Cricketer
· 1 year ago
If Sarwan is asked to lead the team for the Aussie seriesand does so successfully, I would like to see him continue for subsequent series with Gayle as vice-captain. The point I am making is that these two are inter-changeable at those positions of responsibility.
coverdrive
· 1 year ago
why whats wrong with what gayle is doing? thats not stability.
Cricketer
· 1 year ago
coverdrive:
Nothing is wrong with what Gayle is doing; I am making my suggestion based on the fact that Gayle's injury puts him out of the team. This is no different to the situation when Sarwan was injured and Gayle was asked to step in as captain. We all saw what transpired and rightfully so Gayle was asked to lead the team in the SL series.
ram
· 1 year ago
Cricketer, I agree with you on the last part of your comment, “that these two are inter-changeable at those positions of responsibility”.
victor
· 1 year ago
That would indeed be a very good gesture, Cricketer. WICB, I hope you are listening !. You have groomed Sarwan and Gayle for handling the captaincy. Both are capable of carrying out this responsibility. And both men can be inter-changablet. Lots of us West Indians would like to see how Mr. Sarwan would fare in his deportment and denouement in handling the team under his leadership. This is the time WIBC, to help strengthen harmony, structure and culture to the West Indies society and many people are looking at you for fair play and guidance.
NY1
· 1 year ago
POETIC JUSTICE.i.e If Sarwan is appointed Skipper.
NY1
· 1 year ago
Ganga as Asst. Skipper
omar
· 1 year ago
taylor is the best thing that happened to west indeas cricket since ambrose
Joe Kurup
· 1 year ago
That's a good shout. Saw him play for Leicestershire Foxes last year and his all round game improved> And too think he was not picked to play in the last 2 tests against England prior to his move. By far the most improved player in the W.I team.
brook
· 1 year ago
Taylor is performing well day by day. His is showing his talent in every match and being a winning part of his team.
ARE YOU CRAZY.DID YOU SEE HE BOWL IN TORONTO ? HE WAS HIT TO THE POINT HE DID NOT WANT TO BOWL.
JOE
· 1 year ago
CHRIST GAIL HAS NO WAY OF IDENTIFYING TALENT .HOW HE BECAME
CAPTAIN IS BEYOND THE IMAGINATION. Now we know why west indies cricket is in
such a mess.
sonny
· 1 year ago
ur such an ass ur born from one
blackjack tournaments
· 1 year ago
He has got the talent, he has got the skills and surely he is going to make a history coz, the spark in his eyes shows his determination which will lead him towards the zenith of success.
della
· 1 year ago
congrats jerome on hitting your maiden test century way to go keep it up
All Comments
someone batting low who can bat for long periods of time. would like to see him
from time to time get an early slog though, based on his application to the
game he will make runs there.
i was listening to michael holding last night, had alot of positives to say
about the the team and chris and his leadership., its a different style
more calming and rendering confidence in his players abilities rather
than being a tough marshall. also talked about the team spirit, and players
accepting resonsibility for their positions , really positve stuff, stuff
that make s u proud to be a west indian fan.
Go Jerome Go.
Please have bowling practice in place to improve techiniques and mechanics and to work out length and line before the Aussies get down to the Caribbean.
Please have the sessions in place with our past fast bowlers being the coach overlooking these practices.
Nothing but a decisive and overwhelming win over the Aussies is going to be tolerated and accepted
Come on WICB, now is the time to build momentum !.
I admire your positive spin (pardon the pun) on Windies cricket, but I will settle for any type of win against the mighty Aussies. I do agree with you where engaging the services of our past representatives, as surely the likes of Ambrose, Walsh, Holding and Garner can offer a lot of help to the current crop. I must admit that I am not surprised at the development of Taylor, as he has demonstrated a willingness to listen and learn from his school days at STETHS in JA.
We have to keep clapping our hands to make and ensure our cricketers understand the importance of us winning the tournament with the Aussies or winning all the encounters with anyone else.
With this said, I would like to applaud Mr. John Dyson for building and keeping our cricketers integrity and focus on winning the Sri Lanka series. Also, hats off to all the unsung heroes who stood in the background and helped the team come up with a few good win.
I make a resounding applause to each and all of you.
Another thing I would like to see, is the making of a film or clips showing the heroics of our cricketers like Chanderpaul, Bravo, Edwards, Sarwan, Gale,Viv Richards, Ambrose, Lara and others in dire straight situations and pulling out astonishing victory, This film should be shown in all the Cinemas and all the schools in all the Caribbean, to let the young ones identify and grow up knowing that they have THEIR OWN HEROES and CHAMPIONS.
And Cricketer, if you know of any little piece of history in JA that would shed good light on the fellas who made it to Windies team I (we) would appreciate hearing from you.
Diving perhaps?
Water Polo?
Foosball?
One may have mistakenly assumed that you knew you were on a cricket blog.
Confucious Says
Virginity like bubble, one prick - all gone.
Man who run in front of car get tired.
Man who run behind car get exhausted.
Man with hand in pocket feel cocky all day.
Foolish man give wife grand piano, wise man give wife upright organ.
Man who walk through airport turnstile sideways going to Bangkok.
Man with one chopstick go hungry.
Man who eat many prunes get good run for money.
Baseball is wrong: man with four balls cannot walk.
Panties not best thing on earth, but next to best thing on earth.
War does not determine who is right; war determine who is left.
Wife who put husband in doghouse soon find him in cat house.
Man who fight with wife all day get no piece at night.
It take many nails to build crib, only one screw to fill it.
Man who drive like hell bound to get there.
Man who stand on toilet is high on pot.
Man who fish in other man's well often catch crabs.
You have got to be one of his best supporters guiding him to reach his potential when things begin getting rough, dashing and drowning him on the rocks of despair
Then he's got it made and on his way - and funny enough someone is going to ask you how did he get to be like that, was he born with that gift ?
While reading this, let these songs go through your head: Platters - Am I just a dancing Partner and Mighty Sparrow's - Jean and Dina, and Ten to one is Murder.
Enjoy Mr. Barthlomew insight !
Professor Courtney Bartholomew was, from his earliest boyhood, an ardent fan of cricket and jazz. He played cricket with the style and attitude that was the very essence of the sport.
As time went by and he grew in confidence and responsibility, cricket took second place to education but he never lost interest in the great game. He also became quite friendly with many of the great players.
Here he gives a look into some of the more personal side of three of our great players and their place and struggle not only in the game on the field but also in the circumstances that forced them to struggle off the field against conditions that sought to keep them in their places.
But difficult as those might have been, the glory of the sportsmanship and the performance of Andy, Sir Everton and of Sir Frank Worrell shines through what could have been a difficult period.
Their example for the youth of their period can not be overestimated and one hopes that some of our youngsters would read and think of what is written here.
“It was the best of times; it was the worst of times. It was the age of wisdom; it was the age of foolishness.” So began my favorite novelist Charles Dickens in his Tale of Two Cities. Indeed, as far as the British West Indies was concerned, it was the best of times, a time when we truly could have said, for example, that Trinidad was a paradise and so were the other islands.
I am referring specifically to the 40s and 50s. It was also the age of great characters, local philosophers and town criers in Trinidad like Briton, Political Harris, Rolly Blackman, Parks of Casual’s fame, S Clarke and mile-a-minute, the Chinese marathon walker around the savannah, who only knew two words in English: “Salt nuts.”
But it was also “the worst of times.” It was the colonial era when Britain, although admittedly providing us with a good educational curriculum (and we must give Jack his jacket - even the Union Jack), ensured the separation of the classes, headed by a so-called elite privileged class.
The situation was bad in T&T but much worse in Barbados. In fact, that was the environment and ambience which irked Frank and led him to say: “It is not that l loved Barbados less but I hated insularity more.” And so, beyond the boundary of the playing field another play, unappreciated by many cricket fans, was being enacted off the field.
And who would know that better than Sir Everton Weekes and Andy Ganteaume, who were present at the Sir Frank Worrell Memorial function at the Queen’s Park Cricket Club (QPCC), last Tuesday?
Now, Luke in chapter eight, verse 25 once remarked in wonderment: “But what manner of man is this.” Somewhat perhaps, in like manner, one may well ask the same of a man, who in 1948/1949 scored five consecutive centuries plus what is less appreciated, seven consecutive 50s, both Test records.
In fact, in the sixth innings of this sequence of centuries, he was run out when 10 runs short of another century. To be blunt, he was not run out, but robbed out. Unfortunately, there was no third umpire in those days.
He was a very disciplined player and I am proud to say that he and I had one thing in common. We both hit only one six in our careers, one of which was quite undistinguished. So said, in my case it was a fluke but in his it was quite deliberate. In fact, it was a no-ball. You see, he simply did not like hitting the ball in the air. One could get caught out that way. As the Jamaican George Headley used to say when he saw a rash stroke: “But why him doh like to bat.”
Everton also had a partnership of 338 with Frank Worrell against England in 1954 and also made three consecutive centuries against New Zealand in 1956.
Indeed, in Jim Laker’s opinion, Worrell was the most elegant, Clyde Walcott the hardest hitter but Weekes the most devastating, and twice in 1950 and in 1956 he was rated the best batsman in the world.
Of the 3Ws, Everton is still very alive and not out, and seems to be aiming for another 100. And so, from the longevity point of view, he also has the highest batting average among the three.
And then there is Andrew Gordon Ganteaume, affectionately called by our mutual friend Harold “Boobool” Burnett, “Andino.” Andy was one of Frank’s closest friends.
In 1948, he was the first cricketer in West Indian history to make a century in the first innings of his Test debut. This was no mean feat, especially with the stresses and strains of the prejudicial selections of that era.
But in certain ways nothing has changed over the years. The present-day Government Awards Committee, not through malice, but totally through carelessness and youthfulness, has never honoured this great sportsman with a national award. It is not, mind you, that at this stage of his life, Andy wishes or is at all interested in any other honour.
However, as was bestowed upon my other good friend and benefactor, who got me into a top teaching hospital in London, Lord Constantine of Maraval, I now personally dub Andino, Lord Andrew of Belmont.
Now, as Everton frankly and unabashedly wrote in his autobiography Mastering the Craft: “The West Indies Cricket Board was the bastion of the rich and powerful in the region and saw players such as myself in a way that estate owners saw their field hands. We were called to work, to receive a stipend on which we could not live (about five pounds a week), given a uniform that made us look the part and when the job was done we were sent packing until required for the next year’s crop.
In Barbados the cricket team was dominated by the professional and property-owning classes. I was a bit of an odd ball in that sense, and for some people I was the rabbit that came out of the hole and ran across the field.”
Andy was no less expressive about this “age of foolishness” in his My Story. These two books are “must reads,” especially by the present West Indian team and indeed all cricketers.
Now, much has been written about Frank as a batsman. Indeed, from the moment he walked out of the pavilion onto the grounds, carrying the bat in his left hand, there was something overtly elegant but quietly authoritative about him.
But while as a batsman he was magnificent, he was even greater as a captain. As Gary Sobers, the greatest all rounder of all, wrote in his autobiography: “Frank was the best captain I ever played under. He was able to motivate people. He not only knew the game but he said things in such a diplomatic way that if you had enough sense you would understand what he was trying to put across to you.”
He was also the essence of decorum and the quintessence of cool. If Frank, for example, had made a record-breaking score, there would have been no extrovertish display of celebration.
He would, as usual, simply raise his bat, elbow at waist level, and coolly acknowledge the applause. As Everton wrote: “On the common practice of players hugging and kissing when a wicket falls, it is a good thing to see such celebrations, however, Frank did not believe in it. He felt it gave people the impression we were not accustomed to success.”
Coincidentally enough, Andy also recorded Frank’s feelings about this in his My Story. He wrote: “He would have been appalled at the excessive celebration of any success during play.”
Somewhat related to this, I am sure that Andy would agree with me that 20/20 cricket would not be his concept of the game.
As another measure of his cool, when in one Test match he was relaxing while reading a book, Alfie Valentine was a bit confused and said to him: “Frank, you know you are the next man in?” Frank calmly replied: “Just taking an opportunity to do a bit of studying. My finals are coming up soon.”
Now, it is well know that while he was a professional in England and studying at Manchester University, he asked for a humble fee of 300 pounds for the tour to India, however, the West Indies Cricket Board, the Establishment, turned him down and he was not in India for that tour.
As Everton wrote: “The focus on his university studies helped him to weather the storm. I believe he was motivated to acquire academic knowledge because he wanted to work after cricket in helping under-privileged West Indian people.” True, but may I add, not only the underprivileged.
What did Everton think of Frank as a cricketer? It was best expressed with this paragraph in his book.
“While I was racking up the centuries (four consecutive centuries in India), images of Frank batting at the other end would flash through my mind.”
But perhaps the loudest testimony of his great regard for Frank was when he added: “C L R James admired Frank and so did I. This made us friends!” This says it all.
The year was 1946. At that time I was still in short pants in St Mary’s College and got to the Queen’s Park Oval by tram car. It was the inter-colonial game between Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago and the second appearance of the 3Ws in Trinidad. Everton, was bowled out for a duck by Gerry Gomez and there was boisterous jubilation by the 10,000 or more Trini spectators, not including the stormers, who were another 1000 or so. However, we were soon witness to a massacre as never before seen in the Oval. It was “the worst of times” for us.
All hell broke loose. It was as if, like the three musketeers of France, the three musketeers or should I say “wusketeers” of Barbados vowed: “One for all and all for one. You bowled out Everton for a duck and we will now take care of you.”
So said, for a whole day the Trinidad team toiled and sweated in the sun, making frequent frustrating trips to the boundary as Frank and Clyde entertained the crowd with a display of elegance and style on the one hand, and ruthless “willowing” on the other.
What a coincidence it is that there was also a famous American novelist and physician named Frank Slaughter because it was Frank’s slaughter of the bowling that day. It was, as we say in Trinidad, “advantage.”
Coincidentally, the year 1946 was also the 30th anniversary of the Roaring Lion’s road march: “Advantage could never done...”
Captain Tom Pierce eventually declared Barbados’ innings closed at 619 for 3. Walcott was 304 not out and Worrell 255 not out. This led the popular TriniBarbadian Rolly Blackman to exclaim in the stands: “Is a good thing God made night because if he didn’t Frankie Worrell would still be batting.”
Much has been said about the historic 1948 Test series against England, exactly 60 years ago, with the Test debut of the 3Ws. As for the second Test match, as Andy wrote in his autobiography: “I was convinced that the Establishment did not want me on the team, however, I was determined to make a century. Frank joined me at the crease at 76 and after a partnership of 80 runs, I reached the century, which I had set out to make.”
It was said by the Establishment that Andy batted too slowly and he was therefore dropped from the following Test squad. Would you believe it! What an injustice. But ironically enough the centuries made by England’s FC Griffith and JD Robertson in that same match were not significantly faster than Andy’s 112. But only Andy can describe the pain and emotional distress from that injustice. He did not bat slowly but he was certainly slow in writing his side of the story. It took him 60 years to do so.
It is against all this background that the 1950 West Indies tour to England was of immense socio-political importance. It was our first visit to England after the war. It was then that the 3Ws gave the West Indies the commanding position they were looking for. As Everton wrote: “Frank was magnificent. His innings of 261 has been hailed a classic in stroke play. I can verify this because I was at the other end. My own 129 was in support of Frank, and it was a real pleasure batting with him once again.
“It was the first time we had defeated the English in England and we were aware of the implications of the victory in terms of its history and politics. It was the end of the Empire as far as we were concerned. London Bridge had fallen down.”
That historic 3-1 victory was at that time our greatest feat. To plagiarise Winston Churchill and apply it to cricket rather than to the Royal Air Force, one may well say that ‘never in the field of cricketing conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.” But debatably the greatest event in West Indian cricket history in my opinion was yet to come.
Two years later, in 1952, while I was a Custom’s officer, I was invited to join Maple and how well I remember the Old Year’s night celebration of that year, held in the well-appointed club house and grounds at the top of St Vincent Street.
In those days our tuxedos were cream jackets, black trousers and bow tie. With some measure of youthful pride and swagger, I escorted a certain belle just out of Bishop Anstey High School. Soon after we entered the club house, we saw standing out in the crowd, a most handsome man dressed differently. Unlike ours, his tuxedo was all black. It was Frank Worrell at age 26.
But Frank was not only a man’s man. He was also a lady’s man, and that night I observed that my young female companion was showing progressively less and less interest in me as she continually kept looking over her shoulder while dancing to see who were the lucky dancing partners of Frank.
That was the beginning of the end of that budding romance.
The following year in 1954, I tore myself from Maple and the Custom’s football team and left Trinidad for medical school in Dublin, Ireland and soon founded a team of West Indian students from the three universities in Dublin, Galway and Cork, who were cricketers at some level or the other. We played friendly matches on weekends against various Irish teams.
Now, Frank, while studying sociology and economics in Manchester University, had a contract with Belvedere College in Dublin to coach the students there. This was when a deep friendship was born.
Frank used to come to Dublin every year for the whole month of August and almost every day we were in each others’ company for some time. He was always such easy company. He always looked forward to playing with us on weekends and made us feel that it was with the same enthusiasm with which he played for the West Indies.
We thoroughly enjoyed those weekend games in Ireland, especially those outside County Dublin. How well I remember one game when Frank opened the bowling and hit the Irish batsman plump in the middle of the wicker with his first ball and shouted: “How’s that!” The Irish umpire immediately retorted: “Not out. He is my son!” Frank replied smiling: “Sorry, Sir, for appealing.”
The match continued amiably but that night the local pub not far away from the playing field opened many hours after the official closing time of midnight and it was only after 10 or more Guinnesses later that we wended our way back to Dublin. By the way, the umpire owned the pub!
Frank and I saw eye to eye on many things and we talked about a variety of subjects, including university life. I remember our discussions on his ever so strong desire to respond positively to the request of black South Africa to bring a West Indian team to play in their league.
It was in the height of apartheid. He was quite aware that no deference was going to be given to him and his team and that they would have to stay in second class hotels, among other things. But that mattered nought to him. He had a social conscience and badly wanted to go.
We discussed the pros and cons and felt that there were more pros than cons. Indeed, as a final year medical student, I wrote a letter to the Editor of the Guardian on behalf of the West Indian students in Ireland supporting the tour to South Africa.
Of course, there are various aspects to that story. As you know, the tour was eventually not approved by the West Indian Cricket Board.
The year 1950 was great history but, in my opinion, the 1960/61 tour of Australia in certain ways eclipsed it. You must also remember that at that time Australia had a restricted immigration policy and it is in this context that the series must also be viewed.
For the first time Frank was captain of the West Indies team. By the way, Everton eventually became captain of Barbados in early 1960. The times were changing and these were the pioneers.
It started with the first Test in Brisbane. When everyone else was getting excited and things were happening, Frank was an oasis of cool.
Wes Hall was about to bowl the last ball and Australia needed only one run to win and the last batsman was at the crease. It could not possibly have been more tense.
As Garfield wrote in his autobiography: “Frank walked to Wes with his usual slow gait and effortless swing of the arms, and said to him: “Now Wes, if you bowl a no-ball, you know you would never be able to go back to the West Indies again, not to talk about Barbados. They would hang you!” It was the perfect lighted-hearted comment but with an underlying message for Wes to think about as he walked back. That was the type of man Frank was. He always seemed to have the right word for the right moment.”
It was not a no-ball. Ian Meckiff hit the ball and started to run for the winning single when Joe Solomon brilliantly fielded the ball and threw it straight to the wicket from square leg. It was the first and only Test tie in cricket history. It was pandemonium. Thousands of Melbournites raced across the ground shouting outside the pavilion: “We want Frank.”
The unforgettable ticker-tape send-off in Melbourne was cricket history. As Keith Miller himself wrote: “It was a salute to Frank Worrell. Never seen before, I doubt if it will ever be accorded again to a visiting captain.”
Frank and Gerry were sitting on the edge of the back seat of the uncovered first car in the parade followed by the other cars with the rest of the team.
Everton was not there. He had already retired prematurely from Test cricket, shall I say, on a matter of principle. Gary was there, Rohan Kanhai was there. But why did I say that this was perhaps the greatest event in West Indies cricket at that time? You see, in 1950 we won the series in England but in Australia, while we had marginally lost the series 2-1, we won the hearts of every Australian and indeed the world. That’s the heart of the matter.
Finally, the year was 1967. I was in a postgraduate speciality program in McGill’s University Hospital when I received a telephone call from Jamaica.
It was from Professor Owen Morgan, professor of medicine, who played with our West Indian university team in Ireland. I had not heard from him in six years, however, knowing my close friendship with Frank, he tracked me down in Montreal to tell me that Frank had just died in the University Hospital in Mona. It was “the worst of times.” It was unreal. It was devastating
It was a rapidly fatal leukaemia that took his life. Owen then related to me how elegant and popular a patient he was.
It is recorded that one day in his weakness, he looked out the window and saw a blue Jamaican-sky and softly said: “How good it is to be alive.”
They tried to keep him alive as long as possible with intravenous drips but his debility worsened with time and he eventually said to the nurses: “Please remove the drips. I am tired, very tired.” He died the next day. And so, the captain declared his innings over and retired hurt before he reached his 50. He was 42 years.
The king is dead. Long live the king!
I congratulate the passionate Kirk Perreira and his Frank Worrell Memorial Committee for keeping the memory of the king alive - lest we forget, lest we forget. With this thoughtful gesture, it is once more “the best of times.”
From the last series (sri lanka), WI was on a surge of winning. Can Sarwan lead the team and continue from where Gayle left off?
Seems like we can’t get a break.
help himself lately.
thats not stability.
Nothing is wrong with what Gayle is doing; I am making my suggestion based on the fact that Gayle's injury puts him out of the team. This is no different to the situation when Sarwan was injured and Gayle was asked to step in as captain. We all saw what transpired and rightfully so Gayle was asked to lead the team in the SL series.
I agree with you on the last part of your comment, “that these two are inter-changeable at those positions of responsibility”.
You have groomed Sarwan and Gayle for handling the captaincy. Both are capable of carrying out this responsibility. And both men can be inter-changablet.
Lots of us West Indians would like to see how Mr. Sarwan would fare in his deportment and denouement in handling the team under his leadership.
This is the time WIBC, to help strengthen harmony, structure and culture to the West Indies society and many people are looking at you for fair play and guidance.
----------
Brook
Shreevysh Corp
CAPTAIN IS BEYOND THE IMAGINATION. Now we know why west indies cricket is in
such a mess.