The day was April 21st, 1965. It was the final day of third test of the 1964/65 series for the Sir Frank Worrell Trophy between the West Indies and Australia captained by legends Sir Gary Sobers and Bobby Simpson respectively at the Bourda Oval, Guyana. Lancelot Richard Gibbs, one of test history’s premier off-spin bowlers playing in only his second test in front of his home crowd at the time following a seven- year hiatus and at age 31, produced one of his best spells of his illustrious 17-year career from 1958-1975.
Against the opposition in which he claimed the largest portion of his 309 test victims; 103 scalps in 24 tests, the former world-recorder holder for the most test wickets was the chief architect behind Australia being routed for 144 in their fourth innings due to his mesmeric and metronomic display in the art of off-spin bowling for figures that read – 22.2-9-29-6. This victory propelled Gary Sober’s West Indians to a 212-run triumph and an unassailable 2-0 lead in the series they eventually won, which aided that first great West Indian team to maintain their tag as “unofficial” world number one.
Fast-forward 47 years a few days on from the exact date and the cricket landscape in Guyana and the region is not that rosy.
The West Indies, under a computerized ranking system don’t hold such a lucrative tag. Bourda Oval, the home of Guyana Cricket from 1930-2005, has been abandoned for the New Providence Stadium. The state of Guyana cricket is in turmoil due to well publicized squabbles between the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB), Guyana government via its creation of the Interim Management Committee (IMC) and the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB). With these issues ripe, Stabroek Sport spoke to Gibbs during the second test between West Indies and Australia in Trinidad in the ongoing 22nd edition of the Sir Frank Worrell Trophy to gauge his assessment.
Although the well-spoken 77-year-old candidly admitted from the inception that he had not been keeping himself 100% au fait with the situation in Guyana – the 1972 Wisden Cricketer-of-the-Year, still was willing to articulate his views on the current Interim Management Committee (IMC) vs Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) vs. West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) charade, that has had more cringe-worthy twists and turns in the last year than a typical roundabout in Barbados.
Gibbs, who is also the cricket Ambassador for West Indies official sponsors Digicel, commenced by stating that he hopes a quick finish can be found to the current impasse.
“I would hope what is transpiring in Guyana would be sorted out pretty quickly. As you know governments are not really supposed to be involved in the running of cricket, but whatever it takes the faster the situation is dealt with – the better,” stated Gibbs. When asked if that statement meant he was against the government of Guyana getting involved with the cricket imbroglio, he said: “No I’m not opposed to them getting involved, but as I just said I’m simply for whatever solution and process that can be made to get the problem sorted out as soon as possible.” He continued: “I haven’t had the chance to really stay up to date with all the various rulings out of courts etc. that have come out particularly given my schedule, but I am aware of how it all started a few years ago. So essentially for the sake of cricket in Guyana, I would hope the respective county boards in Demerara, Essequibo and Berbice and the various other relevant affiliates can come together for the betterment of Guyana, the cricketers they produce,” said Gibbs in a somewhat measured tone. Like the majority of great Guyanese players still alive, with the exception of Basil Butcher who lives in Linden, Gibbs who played six of 79 tests in his native Guyana, now resides overseas – in Miami. In his view the IMC has a very capable chairman, in his younger cousin Clive Hubert Lloyd who was at the Queen’s Park Oval as well with Gibbs in the corporate box, enjoying the ambience of watching cricket in the twin island republic.
“You have a very capable individual in Clive Lloyd who should be able to work this out because he has been through the mill in attainting vast cricket expertise as a player and administrator. We briefly had dinner the night before the game and he told me things are progressing in the best positive way. My simple advice to him was to stay focused on behalf of Guyanese cricket public and I hope at the end of this all, harmony will prevail.”
