Both calypso cricket and Samba football (soccer) burst onto the international scene in the 1930s. For football fans it was the breathtaking Brazilian, Leonidas, affectionately known as the “Black Diamond”. Cricket’s equivalent was Panamanian-born George Headley, aka the “Black Bradman”. In the late 50s and 60s, although we had King Pele – cricket’s equivalent would be Sir Gary Sobers – it was the flair, the dashing elegance of Pele’s teammate, Garrincha, the “little bird” that mesmerized the world.  In fact, Garrincha’s signature play was his dazzling footwork, often leaving the opposition dizzy with his brilliance before passing to a teammate for the coup de grâce. And, in cricket, of whom does the little bird remind us? Why, the “little master” of course, Rohan Kanhai. In 1964, while watching him at Leeds in the company of CLR James, Sir Learie Constantine remarked, “That one,” nodding at Kanhai, “is different from all of them. Some of his colleagues in the pavilion who have played with him for years have seen strokes that they have never seen before: from him or anybody else”.

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