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UWI TODAY
– SUNDAY 7 APRIL 2019
WINDIES GREATS:
“we made the game our own”
B Y G I L L I A N M O O R E
Windies wisdom. Philo Wallace speaks with a student.
HISTORY FEST 2019
Gillian Moore is a writer, editor and singer-songwriter.
Cricket is one of the most iconic parts of our colonial
history.
Yet despite colonialism’s negative connotations,
few aspects of West Indian life are as linked with our sense
of self, of nationhood and pride.
This topic was discussed at The UWI’s Alma Jordan
Library on February 14 when the Department of History
hosted a panel discussion: “Experiences of Cricket,
Colonialism and Nationalism”. It was part of “History
Fest 2019”, a series of events and activities hosted by the
department from February 11 to 15 under the theme
“Sports, Resistance and Nationalism”.
Dr Claudius Fergus, former Head of the History
Department, introduced guest speakers Deryck Murray
and Philo Wallace, saying the former West Indies players
represented the emergence of the spirit of Caribbean
nationhood.
Fergus traced the 200-year history of the game in the
region, noting that “it was the domain of white elites before
the African working class” were allowed to participate. Even
so, recognition was slow in coming.
“Cricket represented British culture and authority,” he
said. “There was always a white captain.”
He said CLR James was among those at the forefront
of calls for a black player to lead the region. Frank Worrell
took on the captaincy in the 1950s.
Murray recalled that during his early moments with
the team he had dreamed of joining, a young Worrell
admonished: “If you want to be considered equal to the
English you will have to be twice as good.”
Fergus traced the development of the game in the
islands, saying, “Trinidad was critical in breaking the
hegemony. Teams like Queen’s Park Cricket Club and Stingo
Club were pioneers in desegregating sport.”
The clubs were also beacons of regional integration, as
“many players came fromother islands to Trinidad.” He said
through their play, they developed “a sense of Caribbean
identity”.
Murray said there was a “real linkage between
colonialism and cricket,” but noted that we had “adopted
and adapted the game to our own style”.
He said through playing the game we had “developed
our own nationalism and regional pride that drove us to
become the best”.
He linked the rise of the game and themixing of athletes
from different islands to the push for regional Federation
around 1960.
He said West Indies Cricket and the University of the
West Indies were the twomain institutions that had survived
as unifiers in the Caribbean.
He contrasted the “glory days” of the regional game
with the recent struggles of the team.
“When we lose, it hurts.”
“It appears to be a lack of pride.”
Murray lamented the fact that politically we had not
yet had the leaders who could bring us together more
meaningfully, but said, “one day that will come”.
Held annually by the History Department, History
Fest celebrates our Caribbean past and contemplates its
legacy today through panels, workshops, tours, school
competitions and book launches, all open to the public.
This year’s History Fest included a cricket competition
between history staff and students, a lecture on the 100-year
anniversary of the 1919 protests by Professor Kelvin Singh,
a lecture by Professor Brinsley Samaroo on the 150-year
anniversary of Mohandas Gandhi’s birth, a tour of Queen’s
Park Cricket Club Museum, and a screening of the cricket
film Fire in Babylon.
Speaking at the panel discussion, PhiloWallace recalled
the immense honour he felt after, growing up inHaynesville,
Barbados (and emulating Windies great Desmond Haynes,
for whom the town was named), he joined the team.
“It was my dream to represent the great nation of the
West Indies,” he said.
He too said Caribbean pride meant the old “colonial
masters’ were the team to beat: “When we beat England, we
beat that entire mindset.”
“We have come a long way in breaking the status quo.”
Wallace said he was encouraged by the team’s recent
Wisden victory and hoped the success would continue: “We
have talented people. We need to support them.”
He alluded to his post-cricket administrative and
academic career, saying, “We have to face reality, cricket is
not a (long-term) job.”
Aiming his words at current and future WI players, he
asked, “are you just going to take home your pay packet, or
do you want to take a pride?”
He noted that sponsorship had become harder to come
by because of poor performances.
“Everybody wants to be part of something good. If the
product is not good nobody will want to come on board.”
Wallace encouraged young players to “strive to be
number one. If you are not number one you are not good
enough.”
Both Wallace and Murray bemoaned the fact that
administrators seemed to be actively discouraging today’s
young players from seeking advice from their predecessors.
They encouraged this interaction as a vital piece of the
WI pride puzzle.
“Come to me now,” Murray said, “while I am alive.”
“Murray recalled
that during his
early moments
with the team
he had dreamed
of joining, a
young Worrell
admonished: ‘If
you want to be
considered equal
to the English you
will have to be
twice as good’.”
Deryck Murray
PHOTOS: ARNALDO JAMES
