Last evening the Hand-in-Hand Group of Companies officially launched the History of Cricket in Guyana, Volume One written by renowned local historian Professor Clem Seecharan, at Cara Lodge.
The ceremony was chaired by Howard Cox, Fire Manager/Director while chairman of the hand-in-Hand Group of Companies John Carpenter delivered the welcome remarks.
The book boasts 482 pages of historical research on Guyanese and West Indian cricket, spanning the year 1865-1897.
The ceremony, though lasting for a little under two hours, attracted a number of high profile personalities not only in sports but in other spheres of life.
The event was graced by the presence of numerous cricket enthusiasts and stakeholders such as musician Dave Martins, members of the diplomatic community including the British Ambassador to Guyana James Quinn, famed author and poet and longstanding Stabroek News’ columnist, Dr. Ian Mac Donald, current and past Guyana/West Indies players such as Roger and Mark Harper and Steven Jacobs as well as female West Indies star Tremayne Smartt, former Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport Dr. Frank Anthony, famous West Indies cricketer Joe Solomon, former West Indies Cricket Board representative Claude Raphael, former Director of Sport Neil Kumar, and a host of others. Dr. Mc Donald was tasked with introducing the guest speaker which was none other than former West Indies wicketkeeper and Vice-captain Deryck Murray.
In introducing Murray, Dr. Mc Donald let it slip that whilst having dinner with Murray the night before he asked Murray if he remembered his 1975 semi-final World Cup knock against Pakistan with Andy Murray which saw the West Indies snatching victory from the jaws of defeat only to be told by Murray that if he had the time, he would regale him with the exploits as he, Murray remembered every ball that was bowled.
Later Murray and then Minister of Education Dr. Rupert Roopnaraine during their respective feature remarks, lauded Guyana’s most sovereign insurance company as well as Seecharan for leaving their footprints in the path of Guyana’s cricket history.
Both Minister Roopnaraine and Murray took a moment to recognize the contribution of the late Tony Cozier ton West Indies cricket.
Cozier passed away on Wednesday last at the age of 75. He was a renowned historian, journalist and commentator over the past three decades and was universally acclaimed as the top cricket journalist/broadcaster in the region. Minister Roopnaraine also hinted that he will be seeking and audience with President David Granger in order to honor the fallen cricket icon with a National Award for his service in the sport and Stabroek Sport later learnt that Guyana’s Joseph `Reds’ Perreira will also be honoured possibly with the naming of the media centre at the Providence National Stadium after him.
Meanwhile, Murray in his feature address, said he was happy to be a part of the book’s launching while openly calling for the dissolution of the current West Indies Cricket Board (WICB).
Murray said that while cricket has played integral roles in the lives of the Caribbean people since the 1800’s, books such as Seecharram’s give great insight into the forgotten days of cricket and as such we should now seek to pave a better way for the future of the sport.
He called for a more competent group to lead WICB and its players back to the number one spot which they occupied a long time ago.
See tomorrow’s edition for more stories.
