By Ronald Austin
Bonhomous, witty, intelligent George Stephen Camacho, who died shortly before his 70th birthday, was a Guyanese test cricketer and administrator who distinguished himself in the latter area of activity. In a life devoted mostly to cricket and business, he won the respect and the praise of those with whom he worked and associated in the cricket community and fraternity. The respect and praise accorded Camacho was based on the fact that he acquitted himself with comparative skill and competence.
Stephen Camacho seemed destined to become a great West Indian cricketer. He was a product of what Professor Clem Seecharran has called “muscular learning,” a combination of academic learning and cricket development. It was a system, inherited from the British, which produced some of the most remarkable schoolboy cricketers in Guyana. Though invidious to do so, I wish to refer to such personalities as Bruce Pairaudeau, Horton Dolphin, Rupert Roopnaraine and his brother, “Fishy,” who, incidentally, is still the only schoolboy cricketer to score a triple century in a first-class competition. Steve Camacho was a product of this system, being a student of Saint Stanislaus College, for which institution he made his early foray into the world of cricket in Guyana.
Camacho came from cricket royalty. His grandfather, GC Learmond, had played for the West Indies at the turn of the century. And while his father, George Camacho, had not risen to these heights, he too had played for and captained British Guiana. As a boy I saw Camacho’s father play late in his life. He could still, on occasion, hit the ball with great power. The older Camacho was also very much involved in the administration of the game for the Georgetown Cricket Club (GCC) and was not unhelpful to those who sought his advice on the game nationally.
Stephen Camacho was an admired schoolboy cricketer whether playing for Saint Stanislaus College in the local competitions or demonstrating the art of batsmanship against Queens Royal College in the Regional Jacob Cup competition. Such was the quality of his play, especially his technical ability, that no one was surprised when he was selected to play for British Guiana against the Australians in 1965 at the age of 19. We all trooped to the Bourda cricket ground to watch him from the Schoolboys stand, situated in the Northern section of the ground.
Came the day and Stephen Camacho emerged from the pavilion with Horton Dolphin to do the duty of opening batsmen. Both were bespectacled. The former decided to take first “strike.” Camacho facing the first ball had us all riveted to the impending action and apprehensive about the about the possible outcome.
I remember it as if it were yesterday. Big Neil Hawke bowled the first ball to Camacho. It was a perfectly pitched leg cutter; it struck Camacho on the pads. It looked pretty adjacent to us. We looked at each other, and, in the words of the great English poet John Milton, “Read his own dismay.” Fortunately for us, as we looked up in hope, in answer to Hawke’s vociferous appeal, Umpire Kippins shook his white cork hat in vigorous rejection. Taking advantage of this reprieve, Stephen Camacho went on to score one of the finest centuries seen at Bourda. He played all of the great strokes in reaching 165. On this day, Camacho was aggressive and stylish, his timing impeccable. He seemed afterwards the perfect candidate for selection for the West Indies team. Camacho eventually won his cap for the West Indies in 1968 when the MCC toured the region.
But the moment he entered the realm of test cricket he changed the nature of his game. Camacho became a defensive player. Only once did one see a fleeting glimpse of the freedom and aggression, which formerly marked his batting. Against England in Trinidad in 1968 he freed himself of restraint briefly and scored an impressive 81. Yet his career did not take off. Camacho’s performances against England in 1969 and India in 1971 were modest. And when he was struck painfully on the jaw by Andy Roberts in England during 1973 it was the last time he represented the West Indies. Camacho’s test foray did not match expectations. He played only 11 test matches and his record can hardly be said to have been a stellar one.
Since the establishment of the West Indies Cricket Board in 1928, Guyana had earned a reputation for providing administrators of the highest quality who served on its various committees and other organs. These would include such persons, in modern times, as Kenny Wishart and Clyde Walcott. Camacho, by virtue of his knowledge of the game and understanding of the personalities involved, on and off the field, was seen as an heir to this tradition.
Camacho became Secretary and then the first Chief Executive Officer of the West Indies Cricket Board as well as Manager and Assistant Manager of West Indies cricket teams. His service to West Indies cricket coincided with that unprecedented period of success for our cricket. Naturally, he was not happy about the decline of the West Indies cricket team and the manner in which the game was administered. Reportedly, he was reluctant to watch matches that the regional team played in Antigua where he had made his home.
I met him in St Lucia in 2007 and he was not mystified by what was going on in West Indies cricket. But he made his views known with restraint and dignity. Not for him the abuse and demeaning of persons and institutions. I found him in the same frame of mind when he was invited to deliver a speech for the Guyana Cricket Board a few years ago. Camacho spoke brilliantly. He made a case for improving the local game without descending to the language of abuse and ad hominem attacks. What stood out was his plea for strengthening club cricket so that the game could be improved at the regional and national levels. I remember the evening on which Camacho gave this speech because in conversation I noted how much he remained true to himself and how much he wanted to see cricket reclaim the attention and focus of both players and administrators.
In recent times Clive Lloyd had confided to me that Stephen Camacho was not well and might not be long for this world. Yet, when the news came that he had passed away it was something of a shock. We never quite adjust to close friends dying even if they have been ill for a long time. And so it was with Stephen Camacho.
I will miss him as I continue to miss all those who have enriched and ennobled the game of cricket in Guyana and the rest of the region. The community of cricketers and administrators is poorer for the passing of Stephen Camacho. Most of all his intelligent, wry understanding of our dilemmas on the cricket field and off of it and his ability to formulae them without recrimination and abuse will be sorely missed.
