President of the West Indies Players Association (WIPA) Dinanath Ramnarine in his address at the funeral service for the late West Indies and T&T batsman Runako Morton said, the player was deserted by the sporting associations he represented in his hour of need.
Ramnarine was speaking to a packed Open Bible Church in San Fernando yesterday. The 33 year old Morton died just over a week ago when his car crashed into a pole just shy of the Chase Village flyover.
Morton who was born in Nevis got married in Trinidad and decided to play for that country. In his first season with the national team, he was arrested and charged together with three other persons for the possession of marijuana. This was the middle of a regional game and hence he was dropped from the national team. Over a few days before his death, he was freed of the charge.
According to Ramnarine :” When Runako got into trouble many instituitons he represented deserted him.” Ramnarine asked :”Did Christ cast away the wayward sheep? Did the father throw away the prodigal son?”
He then went on to praise the Queen’s Park Cricket Club who stood by Morton’s side through his ordeal. “Queen’s Park must be commended by what they did for Morton, WIPA also assisted him and we will continue to assist his family. On the Monday after his death I was to send a legal advisory to the T&T Cricket Board (TTCB) as well as the Ministry of Sport indicating to them that he was cleared off his charge and ready to fully resume his career.”
Also on hand to say a few words was batting legend Brian Lara. “Morton was a true Warrior, a great team man. A true Warrior does not have to be the most talented someone who works very hard and this is what Morton did. He knew that in order to get into the West Indies team he had to work hard and he was not afraid to do that.”
