On this day in history, in 1953, at Sabina Park, Jamaica, Clyde Walcott completed a century against India to become the third of the three Ws, along with Frank Worrell and Everton Weekes, to hit a hundred each in the same innings. Ah, those were the days…
On this day in 1976, British astronomer, Sir Patrick Moore, told BBC Radio listeners that a unique alignment of two planets would result in an upward gravitational pull making people lighter at precisely 9.47 am that day. He invited his audience to jump in the air at that time to experience “a strange floating sensation.” It is reported that dozens of listeners phoned in to say the experiment had worked.
On April 1, 1992, it was announced on National Public Radio in the USA that Richard Nixon was running for president again, under the campaign slogan, “I didn’t do anything wrong, and I won’t do it again.” NPR received many calls from outraged citizens who could not believe that Mr Nixon could contemplate such a move after having been impeached. But, of course, anything is possible in politics.
From the sublime to the ridiculous… It was heard today that both the West Indies Cricket Board and the West Indies Players’ Association consider that, since both the West Indies and England suffered 10-wicket losses to exit the Cricket World Cup at the quarter-final stage, ipso facto, the West Indies must be as good as England. And since no one in England is calling for skipper Andrew Strauss’s head, both the WICB and WIPA have fully endorsed coach Ottis Gibson’s view that there is no reason for Darren Sammy to be sacked as captain. After all, if heads were to roll, where would it all stop? Heaven forbid that we should be on the verge of a purge reminiscent of the Terror of the French Revolution, when Madame la Guillotine ruled supreme, all to satisfy the bloodlust of the baying mob.
No, that just would not do. Thus, the regional public has hailed Mr Julian Hunte’s exemplary display of selflessness in allowing himself to be re-elected unopposed to the post of WICB President, when clearly nobody else wanted such a thankless job entailing endless first-class travel away from home and family, countless nights spent in luxury hotels and ceaseless opprobrium for presiding over the seemingly terminal decline of a once mighty team and the dissipation of a proud legacy.
More welcome news: the heads of the WICB and WIPA, recognising their joint responsibility, have agreed to subsume their egos, abjure hidden agendas and eschew clichéd platitudes about the health of West Indies cricket.
On this day too, word has reached us that Caricom heads, taking their cue from cricket, have already decided, in advance of their retreat in Guyana next month, to give the lie to the recent outpouring of criticism in the region that they are incapable of bold and decisive leadership. In addition to approving a menu featuring local delicacies, they have agreed to stop shouting at each other in the media and to instruct their recalcitrant public officials to desist immediately from shameful practices at their countries’ ports of entry that subject Caricom citizens to hurt and humiliation.
Some have even been heard to say that enough is enough and that when they take decisions at Caricom summits, these must be implemented forthwith lest their critics and detractors believe that they are either insincere or lack authority in their national jurisdictions.
It has also been rumoured – though serious analysts dismiss this as farfetched – that the heads will appoint a new search committee comprising Sir Shridath Ramphal, Sir Ronald Sanders and Rickey Singh, all Guyanese of course, to draw up a shortlist, for the consideration of the retreat, of three eminently qualified non-Guyanese men and women as candidates for the post of Caricon Secretary General. The basic criteria for selection would be a record of professional and academic achievement, executive management experience, political and diplomatic skills and unassailable personal integrity.
And in the spirit of openness, truthfulness and transparency prevailing today, the major political parties in Guyana are preparing to say their respective mea culpas, bury the hatchet of racial discord, forget the divisiveness of the past and put Guyana and Guyanese first, as we look ahead to the next general election and a future of unity and prosperity for all.
Yes, folks, you read it here today, of all days. Tomorrow is, of course, another day.
