It was cricket, enjoyable cricket

Tony Becca, Gleaner Writer

To many a man, and woman, football is the beautiful game – the game of speed, ball control, deft body movements, slick and accurate passing, and sometimes powerful laser-like shots.

To many others, however, there are other sports which are equally beautiful, and while some will talk about one called golf or another called tennis, there are those who will forever sing the praises of cricket – the game of subtle and varied skills, the game which, like other games, admittedly, teaches some of life’s more important lessons, the game which, like golf and its drive off the tee, produces the sweet sound of bat hitting ball.

Cricket is such a game that even though the skill level is different, vastly different at that, it does not matter whether it is a Test match or not, whether it is the mighty Viv Richards or the elegant Lawrence Rowe batting, or whether it is a ‘curried goat’ match with the likes of myself or one whose skills are nearer to mine than that of Richards or Rowe is in action, the enjoyment is the same, the sound of bat hitting ball just as sweet.

Exciting matches

For three days, between last Sunday and Wednesday, at the Mona Hockey Field, at Melbourne Oval, and at LIME Sports Club, there were two competitions, and they were not between the West Indies and Australia, or between Jamaica and Barbados.

The competitions were between the visually impaired (blind) and the mixed disability (physical and learning disability) teams from the Jamaica Crusaders and the Pirates from the United Kingdom and although, obviously, there was no one like Christopher Gayle or Shivnarine Chanderpaul, like Ricky Ponting or Michael Hussey, none like Ryan Hinds or Dale Richards, Danza Hyatt or Marlon Samuels in action, the cricket was good, it was enjoyable, and although the scores suggest that the matches were one-sided, it was also, at times, exciting.

For the players, even for those who were totally blind, it was excitement and nothing but excitement from start to finish.

At Melbourne Oval, for example, they cheered incessantly and they made noise by beating empty drum tins with stumps as they greeted every run enthusiastically.

Based on the camaraderie, it was an exciting time for everyone involved, including the officials.

I enjoyed every day, and with only the members of the British High Commission, headed by Deputy High Commissioner Graham Glover, the Courtney Walsh Sports Foundation, headed by vice chairman Billy Heaven, Brian Breese, Michael Thompson, and Monica Williams, the Jamaica Paralympic Association headed by Mrs. Suzanne Harris-Henry, and the Jamaica Disabled Cricket Association, headed by president Christopher Samuda present almost every day, my only disappointment is that cricket fans, the real cricket fans, including members of the Jamaica Cricket Association, never came out, not only to support an event of such importance in the social arena of this country, but also to enjoy the game.

Spectacular catch

Had they done so, they would still be talking about the catch which Jenard Williamson of the Jamaica Crusaders visually impaired team took at Melbourne Oval on Monday.

Fielding at short mid-on and in a wheelchair because he cannot walk, the man with only three fingers on each hand dived out of his chair, fell on the ground, and came up with the ball after a drive by one of the Pirates opening batsmen.

At that stage, the visitors were well on the way to victory, they had passed the 100 mark without loss, and that would have handed the home team wicket number one.
Unfortunately for the Jamaicans and for Williamson, it was a no-ball.

The competitions ended with the Jamaicans winning the visually impaired contest 3-0 and with rain affecting the last match, the visitors winning the mixed disability contest 2-0.
Somehow, however, the result did not seem to matter.

What mattered, it appeared, was the occasion, that every one enjoyed themselves, that some friendships were formed, and that everyone, players and officials alike, were looking forward to the next time.

At the end of a reception at the British High Commission on Tuesday afternoon, a member of the visiting team walked up and sang their national anthem, God Save the Queen.
As the handclaps rang around the garden, however, there came, from a group of four or five members of the visually impaired Crusaders team, the Jamaica national anthem – Eternal Father Bless Our Land.
Every one stopped clapping, at the end they burst forth in cheers as they hugged each other.

Important to development

It was not Test cricket, in Dennol Shim, Gregory Stewart, and Loushane Miles of the Crusaders visually impaired team, Simon Ledwith and Ryan Jones of their counterparts from the pirates, and in Lee Walker and John Kenward of the Pirates mixed disability team, in Shamar Tingling from the Crusaders there were no world champions.

There was, however, and even from those who can hardly see, some lovely drives, cuts, and pulls. Most importantly, it was cricket, lovely cricket, and cricket played by people who enjoyed playing the game.

To Cricket for Change in England, to the Courtney Walsh Foundation in Jamaica, and to sponsors LIME, many thanks for arranging the get together of some devoted and, at their level, good cricketers, particularly so, the blind and the near blind of Jamaica and those with mixed disability from the United Kingdom.

It was cricket, enjoyable and at times exciting cricket, and although it is not Test cricket, if they really love the game, if they really believe that sport in general and cricket in particular is important to the development of the people, if they are really interested in the welfare of the disabled, the Jamaica Cricket Association, the other associations in the territories, and the West Indies Cricket Board will embrace disabled cricket.

As it is in the United Kingdom, where the England and Wales Cricket Board market cricket – all cricket – as one game, so should it be in Jamaica and in the West Indies.

The level of skills in disabled cricket is not the same as it is in Test cricket. The enjoyment, however, especially so for those in the middle, is the same.

So too, and particularly for those in the stands, is the sound of the bat hitting the ball.