The West Indian . May 21, 2016 . Page 52 COMMUNITY PROFILE of The Week By Dr. DHANPAUL NARINE Tony Cozier: Painting Cricket Pictures With Words! e was the chap next door, There was a rest day in in 1974 that the women’s battle: Snow is in to bowl of the day’ but it did the Bourda Test and a game had a bright future to Sobers; he reaches not get a wicket. How Hthe neighbor you could trust. game was scheduled for and he must have been his mark, hair fl opping. could Tony describe But there is more. He was armed the members of the press. pleased to report on their Sobers stands guard, what a ‘wicketless ball’ as with a wealth of statistics that Tony was keeping wicket. World Championship could he be thinking? He beautiful? This was He must have bent down win. shuffl es slightly as Snow Tony the artist at his were stored in his memory bank. too low because the Cricket has grown delivers. Sobers goes best. He was describ- Each fragment contained bowlers, legging of his pants was into big business and so down the track and bangs ing the trajectory, the split in a certain place. has the technology to him through the covers fl ight, the ball landing batsmen and fi elders. We knew There was great hilarity. promote it. These on the surface through him who kept the bowl- Tony to his credit realized days one can sit and deviating ing tight and who were the master that the joke was on him in the comfort of leaving the and asked fans for a pin the living room batsman non- blasters. This icon gave life to dry to fi x it! and watch the plussed. It was numbers and left us wanting more. Tony spoke to a games in high the art of the group after the game and defi nition. The action, rather The passing of Australian media. When the conversation was nat- internet means than the result Tony Cozier has creat- England toured West urally about West Indies that cricket can that mattered ed a gash, a dent in the Indies in 1974 the Bourda cricket. But what was also be seen on and Tony was already deep wound Test was all but washed remarkable was that a smart pocket-sized able to appre- that is West ciate this in a Indies cricket. game in which In his fi nal days there was speed he had become a like fi re! trenchant critic Tony be- of the admin- came a staunch istration of the critic of the game in the West way in which Indies. His writ- cricket was ings ruffl ed the managed in the feathers and he West Indies. dared to express He had seen what the ordinary and reported on person thought the glory days about the game. when West Tony wrote with A youthful Tony Cozier as he Indies ruled the fl air and an ele- embarks on a career in cricket roost. But he gance that could broadcasting. could not stay only be derived silent on the as a student that for four. There is growing distance be- sat at the feet of no catching that! tween the WICB and the cricket sages Snow glares at the players. Tony was and was unafraid Sobers with hands harsh on the players to speak his on hips and returns that lacked discipline mind. to his mark. as he was on the Board For the fans Tony Cozier, the consummate professional at home in newspaper, radio, and television journalism. Unlike some for refusing to change cricket heaven of his contem- with the times. He was to have John out as Roy Fredericks group of women cricket- technology. But this has poraries Tony had the wanted West Indies to Arlott, Brian John- was given out caught ers was on hand to meet not diminished the role of ability to move eff ortless- remain as a nation and ston, Trevor Bailey on 96. It was Tony who with him. Tony encour- the ball- by- ball com- ly between radio com- for the players to be and Tony Cozier in told us that the catch was aged them to take up the mentators. Their views mentaries, television and great ambassadors of the same box and controversial and in those game because he saw a from the box happen to newspapers. He wrote for the game. with Freddie Trueman days without instant re- bright future in women’s be one of the remarkable publications in Barba- Cricket has lost chiming in with ‘ I plays one could conclude cricket. Women’s cricket features of the modern dos and England and his a great friend whose don’t know what is that Fredericks was given in the West Indies has had game. In a new defi ni- stories were syndicated. name is spoken in the going on out there!’ a raw deal. It was Tony its share of problems and tion of simulcast fans are Whatever the format same breath as the For those that fol- that saw the emergence of it was fi tting that Tony known to turn down the Tony saw the beauty in great players. Tony lowed the fortunes of a world-class team under was around to pen its volume on their TV sets cricket and he reveled Cozier reached daz- West Indies cricket it Rohan Kanhai and the pinnacle. and up the volume on the in it. He saw artistry in zling heights and he was Tony that told it command of Clive Lloyd In one of his last radio to watch and listen fl ight rather than in balls has left a rich legacy. in his unique style. He in later years. It was Tony articles Tony said that the to the live action. thundering into stumps. There will be competi- described the drubbing that brought us the intri- women have captured the There was a time When Australia toured tions, trophies and lec- West Indies encoun- cacies of Kerry Packer public’s imagination. He when the cricket fan the West Indies in 1965 tures in his honor. But tered in Australia in and the duplicity of Allen stated that, ‘ the spotlight would curled up with Tony was in his element. the most rewarding 1975-6 and the emer- Stanford. shone brightly as well on a transistor listening to In one of the Tests Aus- will be for West Indies gence of a new star in It was on that En- Stafanie Taylor, captain Tony and the other broad- tralia batted for the most cricket to return to its Viv Richards. glish tour that I met Tony of the triumphant wom- casters as they painted part of a day without former dominance. It was Tony for the only time. It was en’s team. The achieve- pictures with words. losing a wicket. This would make Tony that told us about the a brief hello moment. He ment by her and her team You close your eyes and Charlie Griffi th, happy as he watches description of the was friendly; I forgot the was in many ways even could ‘see’ the bowler toward the end of the day, the action from his West Indies players as questions and was happy more signifi cant than that returning to his mark bowled a ‘beautiful ball, beloved Kensington ‘happy hookers’ in the just to be standing there. of the men.’ Tony told us and Tony describing the the most beautiful ball Oval in Barbados.