Hall salutes Windies heroes

CASTRIES: The West Indies celebrated 75 years in Test cricket yesterday by posthumously honouring their first squad of 1928 in a ceremony at the Beausejour Stadium on the rain-hit fourth day of the first cricket Test against Sri Lanka. West Indies Cricket Board president, Rev Wes Hall, saluted “the pioneers” before special presentations were made to relatives of Cyril “Snuffy” Browne, George Challenor, Learie Constantine, Maurice Fernandes, George Francis, Herman Griffith, ELG “Teddy” Hoad and Clifford Roach, the last to pass away in 1988. “I am so happy to pay tribute to the pioneers of that 1928 team and am very ecstatic to welcome the eight family representatives of those great players who really graced the field at Lord’s in 1928,” said Hall, himself a former Test fast bowler of the late 1950s and 1960s. All but Hoad were in the West Indies’ first official Test eleven which played against England at Lord’s in London on July 23, 25 and 26, 1928.

The West Indies lost that match by an innings and 58 runs, but it paved the way for the success that followed. “Those great men of 1928 were the hinges that allowed our cricketing door to swing wide open and expose our tremendous talent to the world for the past 75 years,” Hall added, mentioning George Headley, Sirs Garfield Sobers and Viv Richards, and current captain Brian Lara. “Cricket, as you know, is an event. It is a social culture. It is a nation builder. It is also a unifying force. It is something that excites our imagination,” Hall said. Karl Nunes of Jamaica, the West Indies captain on the 1928 tour, along with the other eight members in the touring squad, will be honoured during the Second Test between the West Indies   and Sri Lanka in Jamaica next weekend. Relatives of Nunes, his tour vice-captain Vibart Wight,  Ernest Rae, OC “Tommy” Scott, Frank Martin, Lawson Bartlett, James Neblett, Wilton St Hill and Joseph Small will collect the WICB awards.