Dear Editor,
Thank you so much for offering a most inspirational gift in the publication on December 25, 2020, on the history of a champion cricketing son of the sugar industry – Rohan Kanhai, particularly coming after the recent paean to a Port Mourant brother, Joe Solomon, of Australia/West Indies’ ‘Tied Test’ fame.
To say that the combination of articles was by no means too long. Reading it was such a delight. Perhaps the one sadness it aroused is that the current generations would have hardly experienced, if at all, any such poetic descriptions of West Indies cricket over the last decade or more. Certainly there has been no such inspiration seen or heard in either written reports or oral commentaries. The prevailing brevity of most competitions hardly excites more than bare statistics – at ‘maximum’.
Meanwhile, Cricket West Indies is in deep search of leadership and talent, off and on the field. Just perhaps they may consider awakening their slumbering managers and players by initiating immediately the availability of the Kanhai and Joe Solomon stories, followed by other great literary commentaries portraying those gilded images of West Indies players (more than those selected by the Cricinfo panel for the all-time West Indies XI).
In the end one hopes that the Minister of Sports has been paying attention to SN’s Sports stories relating to Kanhai and Solomon – erupting in 2020 – and would consider the presentation of appropriate anniversary awards.
Meanwhile also the new management of the sugar industry should pause and reflect on the history of its sports, sportsmen and women and their contributions to community development; the motivation it served to workers, who not only struck for wages, but boundaries to win games when playing as teams along with managers. It was a most positive morale building experience.
As a Personnel Manager at Blairmont Estate in those halcyon 60’s, it was as a member (opening bowler) of the Blairmont Estate team in the Davson Cup Competition that I discovered Roy Fredericks. (The wicket-keeping Captain Sipchand was caretaker of that Community Centre).
I introduced him to Clyde Walcott, then Sports Advisor to employer Bookers Sugar Estates Ltd. Reluctantly Clyde, also a selector, agreed to invite Roy to a trial match at Bourda. Roy made a century on that first occasion he was ever asked to open an innings. He continued in that position for the rest of his career. For example just ask Lillee and Thomson, Australia’s outstanding pair of fast bowlers how he treated them.
But then there were only red cricket balls – a colour to which the recent generations of West Indies cricketers appear to be blind.
On behalf of Ian McDonald, Clem Seecharan, those unnamed Berbician national cricketers, of whom the fast bowler John Trim was their first test player, here is the humble submission of a Port Vivant award to Messrs Kanhai and Solomon from the sugar industry in which we all matured.
Yours faithfully,
E.B. John
