Logie slams cricket purists

West Indies captain Brian Lara has won the coveted Trinidad and Tobago “Cricketer of the Year” award.

The announcement was made at the 2003 prize giving ceremony of the Cricket Board on Saturday at the Bureau of Standards Premier Quality Services Auditorium, Macoya. Lara who led the West Indies to a series victory over Sri Lanka last month scored three Test centuries including a double and two One-Day International hundreds during the season. The other “Cricketers of the Year” were Daren Ganga, who got back to back hundreds against Australia; Imran Jan, Dinesh Ramdin and Aneil Kanhai.

The “Youth Cricketer of the Year” was Ravi Rampaul who had an outstanding season for the senior team as a fast bowler. His best performance was a spell of ten wickets for six runs against the Rest of Americas at the last regional Under-19 series in Jamaica. The other “Youth Cricketers of the Year” were Dwayne Bravo, Amit Jaggernauth, Dinesh Ramdin and Lendl Simmons. Former West Indies Test player Gus Logie delivered a sterling feature address and called on the youngsters to be more than just cricketers and concentrate on self-development. “Firstly, to be successful you have to love the game, love the battle, love the challenge and be prepared to defy the norm.”

Logie, newly appointed West Indies team coach also slammed  the purists of the game, saying that in these times we are too obsessed with technique. “I remember a young man crashing a four to the boundary and the coach pointing out to him where his feet were. He in return pointed out where the ball was,” said Logie. This recollection brought tremendous laughter from the crowd as was the case throughout Logie’s address. On the point of self-development he said players have to prepare well and be well-rounded individuals. “If you ever visit some of the players’ hotel rooms, stuff is thrown all over the place. They are very untidy with the upkeep of their room. If you enter the room there isn’t even place to change your mind,” he said.

Logie also revealed that he bakes a lovely chicken and one day while in the process of making dumpling and chicken he got stuck. “Everytime I put the dumpling into the pot it was coming out. So I called my goodly wife, Lisa who was studying in London at the time and she told me to check the pack and see if it was self-rising flour. Lo and behold when I checked it was and we all had a good laugh. But my point is although you are playing cricket you must also develop other skills,” the Sobo Village, La Brea-born Logie said. Logie urged the cricketers to be ambassadors for their country and represent their people well.

TTCB HONOUR ROLL 2003
Cricketer of the Year: Brian Lara.
Five Cricketers of the Year: Brian Lara, Daren Ganga, Imran Jan, Dinesh Ramdin, Aneil Kanhai.
Youth Cricketer of the Year: Ravi Rampaul.
Five Youth Cricketers of the Year: Ravi Rampaul, Dinesh Ramdin, Lendl Simmons,
Amit Jaggernauth, Dwayne Bravo.
National league Cricketer of the Year: Keith Arthurton.
5 National league Cricketers of the Year: Keith Arthurton, Devindra Krishna,
Vinoo Ramdhanie, Suruj Ragoonath and Andrew Gonzales.
Club of the Year: Ceramic Trinidad Merryboys.
Administrator of the Year: Sonnylal Batchu.
Sponsor’s award: Prestige Holdings.