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Before he became a “Sir,” Frank Worrell used to give real, real trouble.
Imagine a contemporary West Indies cricketer, in his very first year in the regional side, refusing, on his own, to go on a tour because he wasn’t being paid enough. Think about a star player of the modern era leaving his homeland and making it public that he was doing so because of the narrow-mindedness and insularity, not just of the ordinary folk, but of the influential, privileged class who were doing very little to promote Caribbean integration, politically as well as socially.
Consider for a moment what would be the reaction if a nation, swept up in the euphoria of a significant achievement and therefore a sense of its own importance, were to be openly admonished for their imminent expression of chronic short-sightedness by a former West Indies cricket captain living in another island.
Frank Worrell was a rebel, but with a cause.

In reply to CaribbeanCricket.com

Faz got to come better than that. He may be right but the article is quite shallow.

In reply to CaribbeanCricket.com

My memory of this series will never fade.

I remember hunting for West Indian and British newspapers in New York City to get news of the series. In those days, the NY Times had regular cricket coverage, but I still wanted to read WI newspapers.

This is part of the reason why some were so incensed when some professors who should know better, but with their agendas, insisted on spouting crap by comparing the shallow opportunist, Darren Sammy, to the great Frank Worrel.

What an insult to the great man's legacy!!!

Those who are allowed to to distort the history of West Indies cricket do so only because there is so little institutional memory around.

This is why history is so important because he who documents the history helps to shape the narrative.

WELL. WELL , it seems that Fazeer suddenly got Religion , Hell in this very Forum I have on several occasions
praised the greatness of Sir Frank Worrell .

I am disappointed that Fazeer refused to point out in his article , that it was Sir Frank Worrell who single handedly made it possible for Players
from the Windward & Leeward Islands getting an opportunity to vie for selection on the West Indies Team .

He forced the the then 4 Regional Boards to do this . Perhaps this was due to the fact that SVG pace bowler
Frank Mason once bowled him for a duck , at the King George 5 th. Playing Field . This Cricket ground was at Arnos Vale , but in the vicinity of the top section of the ET
Joshua Airport Runway .

This is precisely why ,in my opinion,
Sir Frank Worrell has had the greatest impact in West Indies Cricket , both on & off the Field .

In reply to POINT

Sir Frank was influential in fostering inclusiveness- as a result the smaller islands benefited.

To claim he advocated for the smaller islands only because some bowler from SVG bowled him for a duck is truly insulting- think about it, Frank's cause was about social justice, to seek inclusion for all West Indians and to stop all the other sins of the British Christian colonizers and their elite rulers.

Sir Frank Worrell is the father of WI cricket post colonial days. No one man has had a greater impact on WI cricket.

In reply to googley

He is the father of WI cricket, not just "post colonial days."

In reply to jacksprat

In reply to sudden

Mebbe you could correct things with a deeper article on the Front Page of CC.Com!!!!

In reply to Emir

If you reread what I initially stated ' you would see that I stated perhaps .
Evidently the meaning of that word escapes your comprehension . Perhaps you will find enlightenment in a good Dictionary .

In reply to POINT

Whatever you say pops.

In reply to Emir

FYI there were some Players from the
Windward Islands who were good Cricketers in that era , I suppose that
there were also some from the Leeward
Islands , but since I am from the Windward Islands , I can only cite those that I am aware of .

From St. Vincent , there was Ian Neverson , who played against Statham ,
Truman et al in their glory and carted them to various parts of the boundaries , in scoring 90 not out .
His performance impressed Truman so much that on the next Tour to the
West Indies , Freddie Truman enquired
about Neverson . Unfortunately Neverson went to Trinidad , and lost
two of his fingers , that ended his Cricket career .

Bam Charles from St. Lucia was a very good bowler , his performance so impressed the WICBC that they
took him to Jamaica but never gave him a chance .

Evelyn Gresham from Grenada , never
got a chance . So also was Alec Reid from Dominica ,
who was adjudged the best Wicket Keeper in the Region , by one of the
International Cricket Teams that toured the Region . Reid seeing no future in Cricket migrated to England .

I am not stating that these guys should have been on the Team , the fact is they were never evaluated or
considered .

In reply to Emir

You are correct about Sir frank, from Everton to Gilchrist and the lower Islands he fought for.
Inclusiveness was his motto.
Sir Frank knew, they were good players thru- out the region, not only the four teams that were playing regional cricket.
He was a fighter for the little man.
The first time I ever listen to cricket was when he scored 197 not out, every youngster at our school was had to listen to it.
JO Morris was our Head Master, good friend of Sir Frank, and a fighter for the under-dog, even though he had a number of privilege student at his school and at his home for private lessons.

In reply to Emir

How the weather in st. Lucia looking for the next two days? Btw, dujon boof yuh for nutten today.. Lol...

In reply to Emir

On the Team that included Sir Frank Worrell that
came to SVG from Barbados was Frankie Thomas , who not only decided to live in St. Vincent , he became the Captain of
the St. Vincent Cricket Team , & at
one time the Captain of the Windward
Islands Team , he was also a friend of Sir Frank Worrell .

It was Frankie Thomas , who was very instrumental in the planning & building
of the current Arnos Vale Stadium ,which was upgraded for the 2007 Cricket World Cup , with the installation of Sprinklers , supplied with water from a nearby Stream .

New Stands were also built ;and also a New Media Center. The drainage system at Arnos Vale is the best in the Region . That was amply demonstrated in the current series versus Bangladesh .