Locating Our Cricket Heritage
SPORT LOCATING OUR CRICKET HERITAGE AN APPRECIATION OF THE GREATS, BY FAZEER MOHAMMED Lara’s greatest irst things first. While this is an golden anniversary of political independence appreciation of the contribution from Britain occurs at the time when another regret, despite outstanding cricketers from Trinidad and spin wizard from this country, Sunil Narine, the mountains FTobago have made at national, regional has enjoyed a meteoric rise in stature due to his and international level in the 50 years since the exploits with first, his homeland, then for the of runs and twin-island nation’s Independence, it would be West Indies and, in keeping with the flourishing assortment of negligent not to acknowledge the significant role interest in the lucrative and popular T20 format, played by a number of pioneering personalities as the “Player of the Tournament” in his debut records, is that on the field of play before 1962, from the fast season in leading the Kolkata Knight Riders he was never bowling tandem of Woods and Cumberbatch to their first triumph in the 2012 season of the at the turn of the century and the flamboyant Indian Premier League. part of an all- daring of the legendary Sir Learie Constantine Such prowess in spin bowling should really be conquering (who, in addition to his achievements on the field no surprise for it can be argued that, before the was the first Black man to become a member emergence of batting superstar Brian Lara as the West Indies of Britain’s House of Lords), to the elegance of nation’s one and – so far – only global cricketing team Jeffrey Stollmeyer and all-round virtues of Gerry icon, and the rise of Tony Gray and then more Gomez, to the emergence of the match-winning significantly Ian Bishop as world-class fast mystery spinner Sonny Ramadhin from the bowlers from the mid-’80s to the end of the ’90s, sugarcane heartland of rural Trinidad.
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