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From the boundary
Published: Thursday | March 17, 2011
Lance Neita, Contributor
WAITING UP for World Cup cricket at 11 p.m. is a challenge. You are never too sure whether to catch two hours sleep before the first ball is bowled, or to stay awake until the scheduled time and attempt the Marathon going into the late morning. I hope there are not many more 11 p.m. starts, but so far it has been well worth the while.
This series is shaping up to be the best ever in terms of performance, and perhaps the most dramatic in terms of surprise and upset.
Up to Wednesday of this week the West Indies had returned to favour, with some diehards swearing that they are on their way to a World Cup win.
Those who had publicly disowned the Windies are now, under cover of darkness, of course, staying up all night to cash in on the action.
I have childhood memories of the entire village in my part of the country crowding the schoolroom at nights to listen to West Indies playing overseas.
The broadcasts were carried on a Phillips radio, perhaps the only one in the district, and the adults followed every ball and greeted every run with much excitement and vigorous commentary.
First-class field
If ever there was a village brought up on Cricket, that would be Four Paths in Clarendon, said to have been the cricket centre of the island in the 1940s and '50s. We were in the middle of the sugar belt, surrounded by cricket playing estates Monymusk (WISCO), New Yarmouth, Sevens, Parnassus; and Innswood and Bernard Lodge in nearby St Catherine.
So every Saturday it was family day at the Glenroy grounds. The Four Paths Cricket Club boasted records going back to 1932 when the Lawson brothers Alvin and Gifford, famous citrus producers, built a first-class cricket field beside the railway station that brought thousands by train, truck, bus and car for public-holiday picnics and cricket matches on the green.
The records describe a carnival atmosphere in 1947 when a team including five West Indies and Jamaica cricketers were invited to Four Paths on New Year's Day by Rudolph Burke (JAS), W. Quintin Williams, and U. Theo McKay.
The 'Internationals', skippered by Dr Hugh Lloyd of Jamshipco and including George Headley, Neville Bonitto, Dickie Fuller, Ken 'Bam-Bam' Weeks, Donald Aitcheson, the veteran O.C. Tommy Scott, and the 'Evergreen' C. A. Isaac Henry were bowled out for 142.
Fortunes fluctuated for the home team with the only serious opposition coming from Johnny Wong Sam, Osmond Howe and Boysie Thomas, but to no avail, as the team went down for 104.
Never mind the loss, Four Paths partied that night, with many missing the diesel train headed back to Kingston.
Four Paths also boasted one of the few Ladies' cricket teams in the island at that time.
Dilemma
My father, who was a distinguished Nethersole Cup umpire, once faced the dilemma of having to answer to an appeal from his wife, the wicketkeeper, at one end, and his daughter Cecile, who was bowling from the other. As he hesitated, my mother repeated sternly "Howzat Teacher", at which time he must have realised that his Sunday dinner was at stake. For the records, he made the right decision.
Four Paths not only made its mark in cricket, but in the socialising of its residents through the district community club, which was the parish hub for the Jamaica Social Welfare Commission movement founded by Norman Manley in 1937.
The minutes of the 1935 annual general meeting are enlightening, and set an example for our political leaders who need to recapture and emulate the values and passion of those pioneer community leaders who laid the foundations for nation building in earlier decades.
In a rural schoolroom and reading by lamplight, the secretary noted that "Out of our meetings we have learned the art of exchanging thoughts and broadening the views of each other in a civilised and respectful manner. It is through this medium that we learn to respect each other, and to help to realise the goals of upliftment socially, morally, intellectually and spiritually for our club, community, and country."
Lance Neita is a public relations and communications professional. Comments to columns@gleanerjm.com or lanceneita@hotmail.com.
http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/2...cleisure3.html
Published: Thursday | March 17, 2011
Lance Neita, Contributor
WAITING UP for World Cup cricket at 11 p.m. is a challenge. You are never too sure whether to catch two hours sleep before the first ball is bowled, or to stay awake until the scheduled time and attempt the Marathon going into the late morning. I hope there are not many more 11 p.m. starts, but so far it has been well worth the while.
This series is shaping up to be the best ever in terms of performance, and perhaps the most dramatic in terms of surprise and upset.
Up to Wednesday of this week the West Indies had returned to favour, with some diehards swearing that they are on their way to a World Cup win.
Those who had publicly disowned the Windies are now, under cover of darkness, of course, staying up all night to cash in on the action.
I have childhood memories of the entire village in my part of the country crowding the schoolroom at nights to listen to West Indies playing overseas.
The broadcasts were carried on a Phillips radio, perhaps the only one in the district, and the adults followed every ball and greeted every run with much excitement and vigorous commentary.
First-class field
If ever there was a village brought up on Cricket, that would be Four Paths in Clarendon, said to have been the cricket centre of the island in the 1940s and '50s. We were in the middle of the sugar belt, surrounded by cricket playing estates Monymusk (WISCO), New Yarmouth, Sevens, Parnassus; and Innswood and Bernard Lodge in nearby St Catherine.
So every Saturday it was family day at the Glenroy grounds. The Four Paths Cricket Club boasted records going back to 1932 when the Lawson brothers Alvin and Gifford, famous citrus producers, built a first-class cricket field beside the railway station that brought thousands by train, truck, bus and car for public-holiday picnics and cricket matches on the green.
The records describe a carnival atmosphere in 1947 when a team including five West Indies and Jamaica cricketers were invited to Four Paths on New Year's Day by Rudolph Burke (JAS), W. Quintin Williams, and U. Theo McKay.
The 'Internationals', skippered by Dr Hugh Lloyd of Jamshipco and including George Headley, Neville Bonitto, Dickie Fuller, Ken 'Bam-Bam' Weeks, Donald Aitcheson, the veteran O.C. Tommy Scott, and the 'Evergreen' C. A. Isaac Henry were bowled out for 142.
Fortunes fluctuated for the home team with the only serious opposition coming from Johnny Wong Sam, Osmond Howe and Boysie Thomas, but to no avail, as the team went down for 104.
Never mind the loss, Four Paths partied that night, with many missing the diesel train headed back to Kingston.
Four Paths also boasted one of the few Ladies' cricket teams in the island at that time.
Dilemma
My father, who was a distinguished Nethersole Cup umpire, once faced the dilemma of having to answer to an appeal from his wife, the wicketkeeper, at one end, and his daughter Cecile, who was bowling from the other. As he hesitated, my mother repeated sternly "Howzat Teacher", at which time he must have realised that his Sunday dinner was at stake. For the records, he made the right decision.
Four Paths not only made its mark in cricket, but in the socialising of its residents through the district community club, which was the parish hub for the Jamaica Social Welfare Commission movement founded by Norman Manley in 1937.
The minutes of the 1935 annual general meeting are enlightening, and set an example for our political leaders who need to recapture and emulate the values and passion of those pioneer community leaders who laid the foundations for nation building in earlier decades.
In a rural schoolroom and reading by lamplight, the secretary noted that "Out of our meetings we have learned the art of exchanging thoughts and broadening the views of each other in a civilised and respectful manner. It is through this medium that we learn to respect each other, and to help to realise the goals of upliftment socially, morally, intellectually and spiritually for our club, community, and country."
Lance Neita is a public relations and communications professional. Comments to columns@gleanerjm.com or lanceneita@hotmail.com.
http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/2...cleisure3.html