FROM DUGARD TO THE WORLD

[dropcap]I[/dropcap]n my teens, I was invited by the late Sir Vincent Floissac to serve on the Saint Lucia National Sports Council, as assistant secretary. At the time I also sat on the Saint Lucia Cricket Association with such persons as Benton George, a well-known cricket umpire. In addition to Castries, only Vieux Fort and Soufriere organised regular cricket competitions then. Still, there were problems getting the better batsmen from Soufriere such as Evans and Hippolyte, to play trial matches in Castries. One could therefore say that cricket was not a national sport in Saint Lucia as it was in Barbados, for example.

From the late 1960s to early twenty-first century the island had made such progress that cricket has emerged as a national sport ranked second only to football. It did not surprise those who had witnessed the many talented local cricketers who were knocking on the door of West Indies selection that one such as Daren Sammy would finally emerge. Saint Lucians had previously played for the Windward Islands cricket team, but none had gone on to greater glory. Martial Francis and Ignatius Cadet and Charles had made the West Indies President’s eleven, a sort of junior test team.

Sir Frank Worrell, may he rest in peace, had predicted to an adoring cricket crowd at Mindoo Philip Park in Castries, that the Windward and Leeward Islands would one day produce West Indies test cricketers of merit. We have seen Sir Frank’s vision materialize in Richards, Richardson, Ambrose, Shillingford, Arthurton, Murray and others like Sammy who brought joy to the lesser-known cricketing islands of the Caribbean.

Many talented young batsmen and bowlers had emerged from Saint Lucia in the 60s. Time and fortune had, however, conspired to pluck from the little known community of Dugard, the person who was destined for the superior cricket arenas of the world. Local cricket aficionados may have judged him harshly, insinuating that he lacked the smooth elegance and stylish stroke-play of Worrell or the patience of H. Bristol, and cover drive of L. Clarke, B. Mauricette and R. Polius. But there was sufficient in Daren Sammy to indicate that time and expert coaching would smooth the rough edges and that travel and socialization would beat his tongue into malleable classic Caribbean English.

The inescapable fact for those who can see past the physical was that Daren Sammy was specially selected by God. Unfortunately, those who have no belief in a spiritual force will miss this crucial point. For example, how many other West Indies cricket captains have led the team in the three formats of the modern game? How many West Indies cricketers, besides Sammy and Russell of Jamaica, possess the quick eyes and hand co-ordination that allows them to hit a cricket ball in the style of a professional US baseball player?

Now that he has retired from representing the West Indies, thanks to the insecure idiot who heads Cricket West Indies, Sammy has further cemented his association with Digicel in an effort to give back to the game he loves. To that end, he has set up the Daren Sammy Foundation, one which he hopes will deliver world-class cricketers from across Saint Lucia.

In the modern era talented cricketers are paid handsomely. This means that when they retire there are likely to be more resources to invest in the youth, if they so choose. A number of past and present West Indian cricketers have started foundations in the country of their birth. Darren Ganga, Chris Gale, Ronnie Sarwan and Desmond Haynes come to mind. These foundations do much more than coach young cricketers. They provide school books and gear to needy children together with scholarships and other equipment.   

Sammy has joined the likes of Keith Atherton, Junior Murray, and Kenny Benjamin in starting an academy to coach young cricketers. In recalling Sammy’s efforts, one must remember the tremendous work that Alton Crafton and John Eugene have done in their respective academies, coaching young cricketers. 

It was drawn to my attention that neither the Alton Crafton Academy nor that of John Eugene is registered. These gentlemen need to inform the Permanent Secretaries in the Ministry of Sports and Ministry of Education that their academies exist. They ought therefore to help synchronize the development work of these Ministries  for the benefit of the youth. In such a small space as Saint Lucia, it is in all our best interests to pull together on issues such as sports and games by following the same national sports development agenda.

One must pause a moment here to recall that in the distant past, when cricket was in its infancy here, there were persons who offered coaching tips to youngsters out of love for the game and the desire to see it grow.

It is likely that the Daren Sammy academy will replace the efforts of the Sandals Cricket Academy, whilst Sandals pursues an even more ambitious path of organising under-nineteen youth cricket competitions island-wide. The emergence of young cricketers from the Daren Sammy and Alton Crafton academies progressing to the Sandals under-nineteen cricket competitions is the ideal path for developing future Saint Lucia, Windward Islands and West Indies cricketers.

Every sports enthusiast, whatever his or her sporting discipline, would therefore join me in wishing many blessings and good luck to  Daren Sammy and his friends at Digicel for the work they have set out to do.

We look forward to hearing from Johnson Charles on what his cricket plans are for his community. Johnson may aim to set up the best playing pitch and pavilion in his place of birth, as Sarwan has done in Wakernam, an island the size of Barbados in the Essequibo River, in Guyana where Sarwan was born.
We anticipate positive results from Sammy’s foundation and academy and look forward to many talented youngsters emerging from his efforts.

Post script: I wish to thank Joseph “Reds” Perreira for his input in this article.