Deryck Murray: Man on a Mission

Wed, Oct 19, '05

 

The "Friends of Cricket," led by former West Indies Test wicket-keeper Deryck Murray, are contesting all positions in the Trinidad & Tobago Cricket Board at the elections schedule for November 29.

Murray was born on May 20, 1943. He has played for Queen?s Royal College, Queen?s Park Cricket Club, Cambridge University, Nottinghamshire, Warwickshire and West Indies. In 62 Tests , he has scored 1993 runs,with a highest score of 91. He had 189 victims behind the wicket.

Murray played in 26 One-Day Internationals and 367 First-Class matches, scoring 13,292 runs, including 10 centuries and 72 fifties.

He made his Test debut for the West Indies in 1963 against England at Manchester and played his last Test also against England in 1980 at Leeds.

The soft-spoken Murray was a thoughful, composed figure in the West Indies side for 17-years. It all started when the late, great Frank Worrell entrusted the wicket-keeping position in England in 1963 to the diminutive, boyish figure. The reward was a record 24 victims.

His keeping was compact, tidy and, bearing in mind some of his more exuberant successors, generally underplayed.

Murray?s influence on the improved status of cricketers in the Caribbean was immense. On his retirement from the game, he served the T&T Government as a foreign service officer attached to the United Nations.

Murray said last month when he announced his candidacy for president that he wants the entire cricket administration in the region changed so as to rescue the game in the Caribbean.

Murray said: ?The state of West Indies cricket and by extension Trinidad and Tobago cricket, is at an all-time low and the decline will continue if we do not make a concerted effort to change.

?It is many years now that our cricket has been characterised by falling standards and the forthcoming elections of the TTCB provides an opportunity for us, the cricket fraternity, to effect the changes necessary to reverse the trend.

?We have been doing our work with the clubs in all the zones and we are hearing that we need change for the cricket to get back to its rightful place. Our goal is to get T&T cricket to the top of the heap in the region and by extension, take the West Indies cricket back to its rightful place as the top cricket team in the world.

?We have prepared a plan of action to get the desired results and we are going to work very hard to get the success we want to achieve,?

Murray promised that his group?s administration will also institute programmes for the continuous development of players, coaches, umpires, scorers, curators and all associated with the game ? both male and female.

He said he believes that the way forward for women?s cricket is to integrate it into the current TTCB system. He also thinks that a key element of development is to strengthen the club structure and improve community relationships.

There will also be a major thrust into developing cricket in the East-West corridor and also Tobago, he said.

This will be the second time that Murray, a vice president with Guardian Life of the Caribbean insurance company, will be trying for the post of president, currently held by Ellis Lewis, who has not yet inmdicated if he will seek re-election.

Dudnath Ramkessoon is the TTCB's first vice-president. He gained the post two years ago when Murray failed in his initial bid at the 2003 elections.

Alloy Lequay was not in the race for president of the T&T Cricket Board two years ago, but he won the day nevertheless when, after 21 uninterrupted years as head he stepped aside and handed over the position to his nominee, Ellis Lewis, who won the election by 30-13 vote over the absent challenger Deryck Murray, who was not allowed to attend the meeting.

Throughout the run-up to the last elections, Ellis Lewis kept a very low profile ,with Lequay taking the attack to Murray, with the campaign becoming rough at times, Lequay once accusing the former West Indies wicket-keeper of being ungrateful.

After stepping down as president,Lequay was appointed to the paid position of chief executive officer.

Murray says the primary focus of the Tr&T Cricket Board must be cricket, promoting the game to ensure the widest possible participation, and the development of players to the highest standards. He adds that it is also the board?s responsibility to ensure that all the stakeholders derive the maximum satisfaction, enjoyment and benefit from the game.

Murray has emphasised that the board is responsible for, and must be responsive to the needs of these stakeholders (male and female) ? players, primary schools, secondary schools, women?s cricket, Tobago, the public, coaches, umpires, administrators, sponsors, media and Government - to ensure that Trinidad and Tobago is the No.1 cricket nation in the West Indies, and the West Indies the No.1 Team in the world.

* In association with the Trinidad Guardian.