News Releases

UWI Vice-Chancellor’s Cricket Match Honours West Indies Greats

For Release Upon Receipt - July 27, 2018

UWI


Cricket talents past, present and future converged at the world-famous Sabina Park as the 19th annual Vice-Chancellor’s XI Cricket Match hosted by The University of the West Indies (The UWI) unfolded on Thursday, July 19. The tradition which celebrates the historic partnership between the University and the West Indies Cricket Board of Control (now Cricket West Indies) honoured West Indies cricket greats, Chris Gayle and Patrick Patterson.

In his opening remarks at the match presentation, Vice-Chancellor of The UWI, Professor Sir Hilary Beckles, himself a former league cricketer (in England) and author of several cricket books, including “The Development of West Indies Cricket: Vol 1 and 2”, noted that The UWI had long played an active role in promoting cricket, recognising the sport’s contribution to the regional integration process.  “We, understandably, take great pride in the fact that the current West Indies captain [Jason Holder], and wicketkeeper Chadwick Walton are UWI alumni, among others.”

Vice-Chancellor Beckles is also founder and director of the CLR James Centre for Cricket Research, and was founder and Chairman of the West Indies Cricket Board’s Cricket High Performance Centre.

Honoured this year, were fast bowler Patrick Patterson and superstar batsman Chris Gayle. Patterson was unable to attend, but another West Indies great, and current Bangladesh coach, Courtney Walsh accepted the accolade on his behalf. Over the years, The UWI has used the occasion of the friendly cricket match to honour West Indian players deemed to have made outstanding contributions to the game.  Other West Indies legends such as Michael Holding, Sir Vivian Richards, Gordon Greenidge, Jeffrey Dujon, Desmond Haynes, Andy Roberts, Curtly Ambrose and Courtney Walsh are among some of the past honourees.

The acclaimed “World Boss” Chris Gayle accepted his citation, and brought several of his protégés from his Chris Gayle Academy to the event. Gayle said he was thrilled with the honour and to provide a model for the youngsters just coming into the sport. “I’m proud to be part of this great tradition of West Indies cricket, and to be recognised by The UWI for my contribution to the development of the sport and the region,” he said.

The Vice-Chancellor’s XI took on the Bangladesh international touring team in a pulsating 50-overs day/night match, but Bangladesh earned a wicket victory in reply to the Vice-Chancellor’s XI score of 227 for 9.

Among the Vice-Chancellor’s XI were current West Indies Test players Rovman Powell and Andre Russell – who are also students of The UWI - as well as O.J. Shields, Oshane Walters, Amir Jangoo, Yannick Ottley, Jarlani Searles, Vikash Mohan, Nicholas Kirton, Kavem Hodge, Jermaine Levy and Gilon Tyson. The team was captained by Chadwick Walton, a current West Indies player as well as a UWI graduate. 

-End-

Notes to the Editor:

Photos available via:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/theuwi/albums/72157699368534954/with/42905819165/

More about the honourees and The UWI Vice-Chancellor’s Cricket Match:

Chris Gayle

Considered by many to be the greatest batsman in limited-overs cricket, Chris Gayle has set records across all three formats of the game, but specifically in T20. He is one of only four players who have scored two triple centuries at Test level: 317 against South Africa in 2005, and 333 against Sri Lanka in 2010. Gayle became the first batsman in World Cup history to score a double-century, notching 200 off 138 balls against Zimbabwe during the 2105 tournament. He is one of the five players to score a double century in ODIs, and in March 2016, Gayle became only the second player (after Brendon McCullum) to hit two T20 hundreds, scoring 100 not out against England. Gayle plays domestic cricket for Jamaica, and also represents the Kings XI Punjab in the Indian Premier League (IPL), the Karachi Kings in the Pakistan Super League, and the Rangpur Riders in the Bangladesh Super League.

Patrick Patterson

Patrick Patterson is regarded as one of the most fearsome of West Indies fast bowlers. He took seven wickets on debut in 1986, against England. So devastating was his spell that seasoned England batsman Graham Gooch subsequently confessed to being “frightened” by the right-arm fast bowler. When Michael Holding was contemplating retiring from the sport in the summer of 1987, those in the West Indies cricket circle were not losing sleep on replacing him as the young, lanky fast bowler Patterson made his debut for Jamaica. With a father and grandfather who played district cricket themselves, Patterson acquired the right traits at an early age. Tales of the pace he generated at the time of release and off the turf (apparently inherited from his grandfather) travelled like a wildfire, even beyond the shores of the Caribbean islands. Before he donned the national colours in 1986, Patterson was already roped in by Lancashire in the English County Championship and Tasmania in the Sheffield Shield. Here was a bowler, they believed, who was on par with Holding and Marshall.

About The UWI Vice-Chancellor’s Cricket Match

The UWI Vice-Chancellor’s XI Cricket Match has been a tradition in regional cricket which celebrates the historic partnership between two tangibles of West Indian integration—The University of the West Indies and the West Indies Cricket Board of Control (WICB); now Cricket West Indies (CWI). It was the brainchild of the late Sir Frank Worrell; who as a student counsellor and administrator at The UWI’s Mona campus in the mid-1960s, customarily organised matches between touring test teams and combined staff-student teams of The UWI. In so doing, he set a precedent for a noble tradition of engagement between sport and scholarship, which The UWI is proud to continue. This is the 19th staging of this event, the first match being at Sabina Park in 1996 against the visiting New Zealanders. This partnership between the University and CWI continues to support the development of The UWI’s cricket programme while also recognising the contribution of West Indies’ cricketing legends.

About The UWI

For the past 70 years The University of the West Indies (The UWI) has provided service and leadership to the Caribbean region. In 2018, The UWI celebrates its evolution from 1948 as a university college in Jamaica with 33 medical students to an internationally respected regional university with near 50,000 students. Today, The UWI is the largest, most longstanding higher education provider in the Commonwealth Caribbean, with four campuses in Barbados, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, and an Open Campus. The UWI has faculty and students from more than 40 countries and collaborative links with 160 universities globally; it offers undergraduate and postgraduate degree options in Food & Agriculture, Engineering, Humanities & Education, Law, Medical Sciences, Science & Technology, Social Sciences and Sport. Its seven priority focal areas are linked closely to the priorities identified by CARICOM and take into account such over-arching areas of concern to the region as environmental issues, health and wellness, gender equity and the critical importance of innovation. The UWI has been a pivotal force in every aspect of Caribbean development; residing at the centre of all efforts to improve the well-being of our people. As the regional institution commemorates its 70th anniversary milestone, it will celebrate its students, faculty, administrators, alumni, governments, and partners in the public and private sector. The anniversary commemoration will focus on reflection as well as projection for the future with an emphasis on social justice and the economic transformation of the region. Website: www.uwi.edu and www.uwi.edu/70 . (Please note that the proper name of the university is The University of the West Indies, inclusive of the “The”, hence The UWI.)

 

Contact