Just hours after their 90-run victory over Pakistan on what would have been The Right Excellent Sir Garfield Sobers’ 90th birthday, the Barbadian members of the West Indies Senior Men’s Test team will return home, with the assistance of the Government of Barbados, to attend the cricketing icon’s State Funeral.
Captain Roston Chase, vice-captain Jomel Warrican, white-ball captain Shai Hope, Justin Greaves, Kemar Roach, Joshua Bishop and assistant coach Floyd Reifer will join a Cricket West Indies (CWI) delegation comprising President Dr. The Hon. Kishore Shallow, Chief Executive Officer Mr. Chris Dehring; along with CWI Directors Mr. Enoch Lewis, President of the Leeward Islands Cricket Board; Mr. Bissoondyal Singh, President of the Guyana Cricket Board; and Mr. Clement Marcellin, President of the Windward Islands Cricket Board.
“The opportunity for our Barbadian representatives to be present at the state funeral of The Right Excellent Sir Garfield Sobers is a deeply meaningful one for West Indies cricket. On a day when the cricketing world celebrated his extraordinary life, the team honoured his enduring legacy with a performance that reflected the courage, resilience, and skill that defined his remarkable career and inspired generations,” said CWI President, Dr. Shallow.
“We are deeply grateful to Prime Minister the Hon. Mia Amor Mottley and her Government for making this possible, and reaffirm our commitment to preserving the memory of a true icon whose name will forever be synonymous with the greatness of West Indies cricket.”
West Indies 311 & 181 (Joseph 38, Chanderpaul 35; Abbas 5-22) beat Pakistan 282 & 120 (Babar 58*, Abbas 23; Seales 5-20) by 90 runs
The West Indies christened the Brian Lara Cricket Academy with a comprehensive 90-run win over Pakistan in the first-ever Test match at the venue to go 1-0 up in the two-match series.
Hometown hero Jayden Seales was skilful, accurate, and miserly in a spell of 5 for 20 that helped Windies skittle the visitors as they defended 211 in the low-scoring affair, earning the result inside four days.
For the first time in the Caribbean, all forty wickets in a two-match series fell to seamers. After batting for just over an hour on the day, the West Indian quicks took no time to settle in the fourth innings, quickly reducing Pakistan to 25 for 3 in the second half of the morning session.
The procession of wickets continued, with captain Babar Azam being the lone source of Pakistani resistance. We can only speculate just how the disruption of the batting order affected them.
Resident No. 3 Shan Masood was forced to bat at No. 8, nursing a fractured finger suffered in the first innings from Seales. It wasn’t until No. 11 Mohammad Abbas walked to the crease that the Windies bowlers were made to try something different.
Reflecting on the life and times of Garfield St. Aubyn Sobers, I cannot help but feel that all who saw him play cricket were blessed and privileged to have seen him. I can also say without fear of contradiction that I saw cricket the way cricket should have been played and that I would never see anyone else play cricket like that again.
In explaining cricket to someone who has never seen a cricket match, one would say that there are three major aspects to the game: batting, bowling, and fielding; that bowling can be either fast or spin; and that spin can be either finger or wrist. Sobers is the only cricketer in the history of the game who mastered batting and every type of bowling, as well as all the different aspects of fielding. Many of us are familiar with the saying, “Jack of all trades and master of none,” but Sobers was the Master of All Trades!
Even if he was on an opposing team to yours, one could not help but enjoy his presence on the field. What was even more endearing to all who saw cricket was that he played the game with such joy and grace that you could not keep your eyes off him. He filled us with a sense of satisfaction such as in the taste of a perfect glass of wine, the sounds of a Bach symphony, or the tones of an aria by Pavarotti.
In short, Sir Garry was to cricket what William Shakespeare was to literature.
Lower-order pushes WI’s lead past 150 on 14-wicket day
West Indies 311 & 126 for 7 (Chanderpaul 35, Joseph 22*; Abbas 3-14) lead Pakistan 282 all out (Masood 109, Imam-ul-Haq 63; Greaves 5-27) by 155 runs
Despite a historic five-wicket haul from Justin Greaves, the West Indies ended Day 3 against Pakistan staggering against the ropes, having lost seven wickets with an unclassified 155-run second-innings lead.
Greaves earlier claimed career-best figures of 5 for 27 to help dismiss Pakistan for 282 and hand Windies a 29-run first-innings advantage. Mohammad Abbas then grabbed 3 for 14, alongside Khurram Shahzad (2/36), to steer the contest back in Pakistan’s favour.
Greaves became the first-ever player in the era of statistics to record five consecutive wicket-maidens, triggering a Pakistan collapse in which the visitors lost their last 7 wickets for 38 runs, momentarily putting the Caribbean side on top.
Captain Roston Chase (8) later became the 14th and final wicket to fall on the day, edging Shahzad through to wicketkeeper Mohammad Rizwan, leaving the hosts seven down for 93.
A crucial 33-run unbroken stand between Sharmar Joseph (22*) and Kemar Roach (5*) then lifted West Indies’ lead to 155 on an inconsistent Tarouba pitch.
Statement from the President of Cricket West Indies, Dr. the Hon. Kishore Shallow on the Passing of Charles Wilkin, CMG, KC
It is with profound sadness that I learned of the passing of Charles Lucien Arthur Wilkin, CMG, KC, a distinguished Kittitian, lawyer, sportsman and thoughtful servant of Caribbean civilization.
On behalf of Cricket West Indies, I extend deepest condolences to his family, friends and the people of St. Kitts and Nevis.
Charles Wilkin understood that in the Caribbean, cricket is a part of our history, our identity and our understanding of ourselves. He also understood that institutions, like the game itself, must constantly be examined, strengthened and renewed if they are to serve future generations.
