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STATEMENT FROM THE VICE CHANCELLOR: Tribute to Sonny Ramadhin

For Release Upon Receipt - March 3, 2022

UWI


The UWI Regional Headquarters, Jamaica. Thursday, March 3, 2022—The following statement is issued by Professor Sir Hilary Beckles, Vice-Chancellor of The University of the West Indies, on the passing of Sonny Ramadhin, renowned cricketer of the 1950s, and the first of phenotypic East Indian descent to represent the West Indies. 

“The Caribbean world celebrates the life of Sonny Ramadhin whose contribution to its civilization and its emergence as an integrated sovereign nation is matched by few and therefore greater than most.  

Plucked from rural ‘South’ Trinidad as a result of the eagle eye of national selectors who also solicited the opinion of Frank Worrell ‘The Wise’, the spin genius from a colonial village was unleashed in 1950 upon the imperial cricket centre.  

There could have been no timelier an intervention in the West Indian search for dignity and self-determination, having been crushed by the military might of Britain during their revolt against colonialism in the 1930s.  

The cricket tour to Britain was the first since West Indian blood was shed by imperial soldiers throughout the archipelago. The multi-ethnic cricketers infused with the common ideology of detachment from the oppressive scaffold were determined to use the red ball in the battle for social justice and racial respect. 

A young boy, just 21, and not exceeding 5’2”, was summoned from ‘South’ to lead the charge and the secret weapon. It was the most dramatic entry upon a world stage by one with no prior experience but filled with courage, consciousness, and commitment.  

The historic tour revolved around many performance pillars but none more dramatic and spectacular as the Trojan strategy of unleashing an Indian youth upon the English elders. In Christian parlance, it was a David and Goliath narrative in which the peasant devastated the prince and took the crown.  

Sonny was the shining son of the Caribbean dawn. He provided a new and innovative bowling technology driven by a compelling performance philosophy that gave West Indies a considerable competitive advantage. The Indo-Trinidadian community had risen to its height in delivery for West Indies a special, superlative hero. Sonny, the diminutive debutant tore down the Bastille of Babylon with the maddening mysteries from his mind. 

With his partner, Alf Valentine of Jamaica, Mr. Ramadhin led the charge that took down the ‘evil empire’ and gave West Indies a shot at the Aussies the following year for the world title. He symbolized the metaphor that spoke to West Indian demand for social justice as the unplayable bowler with a message from the masses. For the next five years, Sonny drove the upward journey of West Indies cricket and laid the foundations for the sustained excellence of the next decade. 

The University of the West Indies salutes the life and contribution of the little giant from ‘South’, a genius of his generation, and celebrates him as a hero of the Caribbean intellectual tradition.” 

-End- 

About The UWI

The UWI has been and continues to be a pivotal force in every aspect of Caribbean development; residing at the centre of all efforts to improve the well-being of people across the region.  

From a university college of London in Jamaica with 33 medical students in 1948, The UWI is today an internationally respected, global university with near 50,000 students and five campuses: Mona in Jamaica, St. Augustine in Trinidad and Tobago, Cave Hill in Barbados, Five Islands in Antigua and Barbuda and its Open Campus, and 10 global centres in partnership with universities in North America, Latin America, Asia, Africa and Europe.  

The UWI offers over 800 certificate, diploma, undergraduate and postgraduate degree options in Culture, Creative and Performing Arts, Food and Agriculture, Engineering, Humanities and Education, Law, Medical Sciences, Science and Technology, Social Sciences, and Sport. As the Caribbean’s leading university, it possesses the largest pool of Caribbean intellect and expertise committed to confronting the critical issues of our region and wider world. 

The UWI has been consistently ranked among the top universities globally by the most reputable ranking agency, Times Higher Education (THE). In the latest World University Rankings 2022, released in September 2021, The UWI moved up an impressive 94 places from last year. In the current global field of some 30,000 universities and elite research institutes, The UWI stands among the top 1.5%. 

The UWI is the only Caribbean-based university to make the prestigious lists since its debut in the rankings in 2018. In addition to its leading position in the Caribbean, it is also in the top 20 for Latin America and the Caribbean and the top 100 global Golden Age universities (between 50 and 80 years old).  The UWI is also featured among the leading universities on THE’s Impact Rankings for its response to the world’s biggest concerns, outlined in the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including Good Health and Wellbeing; Gender Equality and Climate Action. 

For more, visit www.uwi.edu.

(Please note that the proper name of the university is The University of the West Indies, inclusive of the “The”, hence The UWI.)

 

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