Imagine the pride and joy of my family, my district and my schoolmates when, as a sixteen-year-old, I was selected to represent the Barbados Under-21 cricket team against Jamaica in the third and final round of a regional tournament being played in Barbados.
Already in the team was another sixteen-year-old friend who was performing well and the captain and another player from my school; I was therefore in good company and not unduly worried. Rain played a part in the game and much time was lost as a result. Jamaica, with future test players Lawrence Rowe and Uton Dowe, had to win the game outright to win the tournament so they pushed and pushed to achieve that result.
On the final day, we were set a target but with an impaired pitch, we lost wickets quickly and were heading to a certain defeat. Going to the wicket as the last man, all hope was lost but it seems that I had other ideas. I became busy; I consulted my partner on numerous occasions, I went down the pitch to level any area that was uneven because of divots and when the opposition began talking to me, I moved away from my batting position until they stopped.
There was much urgency on their part while we went about our business very casually. Of course things got very heated and words that I had never heard before and did not understand, were said to me and my partner. We survived and the game ended in a draw so Jamaica missed out on winning the tournament.
On my first day back to school, I was summoned by my Games Master to explain what happened in the game and why I used such delaying tactics. He was not amused and there and then I was given a one match suspension, presumably to preempt the Cricket Association from giving me a greater punishment! I served my ban and luckily, there were still many games to play before the end of the season.
On reflection, what happened earlier in the year made a mockery of the decision to suspend me for even a game. In the fifth test at Bourda, England were fighting to stave off defeat and win the series after the first three tests were drawn and England won the fourth test in Trinidad. Set 308 to win, England were reeling at 41 for 5 but a partnership between Colin Cowdrey and Alan Knott restored some respectability to the score. When Cowdrey fell for 82 and still 140 runs adrift, it was left to Knott and the tail to negotiate the bowling until the end of the game. In order to negate the spin bowled by the West Indies, Knott used his full armory of tactics and saw England survive the time and achieve a draw. He was heralded as a saviour as England won that series.
It is said that cricket is a game of glorious uncertainties and that is truly so but we must also add that it is a game that develops friendships that often last a lifetime. In subsequent years I met members of that Jamaican team, mainly through cricket, and our friendships grew and grew and of course we talked and even laughed about the happenings of that fateful day when they were denied victory and the championship, a badge of honour in the region. Any result, win, lose or draw, should not have to define a player or a team.
Memory added on July 4, 2021
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