Sports

Breaking Barriers-Barbados to England and Back – By ROLAND BUTCHER

Article by David Harris & Photos by Christopher Williams

Former England’s cricketer Roland Butcher launched his autobiography Breaking Barriers-Barbados to England and Back before an appreciative audience at the Three Ws Oval of the University of the West Indies (UWI) on Wednesday night.

Butcher, 71, the first black man to play Test cricket for England was born in East Point, St Philip on the eastern part of Barbados and moved to England at the age of 14.

In 1974 Butcher joined the English County Middlesex, six years later Butcher an attacking middle-order batsman was selected for two One Day Internationals (ODIs) against Australia. On March 12, 1981, created history created history when he made his Test debut against the West Indies at Kensington Oval.

The launch was hosted by the office of Pro Vice and Principal of the Cave Hill Campus of the UWI Professor Clive Landis. Several members of the cricket fraternity in Barbados attended the event, among them were the legendary Barbados and West Indies opening batsman The Most Honourable Desmond Haynes, ex Barbados and West Indies batsman Philo Wallace, the vice president of the Barbados Cricket Association (BCA) Calvin Hope, former Barbados wicketkeeper Erskine King, and outgoing chief executive officer of the BCA Dr Roland Toppin.

*The Most Honourable Desmond Haynes received a copy of his teammate and longtime friend Roland Butcher book ‘Breaking Barriers’*

Chairman of the National Sports Council (NSC0 Mac Fingall, president of the Barbados Football Association (BFA) Randy Harris, and director of the Barbados Olympic Association Dr Adrian Lorde

Butcher and the book’s co-author Dr Sasha Sutherland read excerpts from the publication.

There were video greetings from several people connected to Butcher including his son Paul, and captain of the West Indies women’s team Hayley Matthews.

*Roland Butcher signs a copy of his book ‘Breaking Barriers’ for Shaquan Mason Captain of the Empire Under 13 Team*

Tributes were paid to Butcher by Landis and Britian’s acting High Commissioner to Barbados Charley Williams.

Butcher told the audience that even though he was a professional cricketer, and his wages were better than a normal job cricketer of his era played cricket because they loved the game.

“When I said there was no money, the money was better than just a normal job. Desmond will tell you also we played the game because loved the game. We probably would have played for nothing. We had a great love for the sport and got a lot of enjoyment from it”, Butcher said.

Haynes spoke about Butcher’s skills in the field that their former captain at Middlesex Mike Gatting once told him that “Roland was once of the best fielders in the world”.

“I used to be very keen to see Roland fielding in the covers especially when we were playing in the Sunday League, I never saw Colin Bland (who is rated as one of greatest cover fielders, but I think Roland was fantastic fielder in the covers”, Haynes said.

Butcher said his friendship with Haynes began in 1976 when they called to trails for the Barbados cricket team.

“We were teammates and at Middlesex – and more recently we West Indies selectors’; and then were both fired from that job”, Butcher said to the amusement of the audience.

Sports

REGIONAL TABLE TENNIS YOUTH CHAMPIONSHIP ENDS

by David Harris

The curtain came down on the 28^th the Caribbean Regional Table Tennis Youth Championships at the Garfield Sobers Sports Complex last weekend; the tournament was a pathway for players to qualify for the second edition of the Junior Pan American Games which will be held in Argentina from August 9 to 23.

With powerhouse teams from Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, and Cuba taking part in the Championships, the competition was dominated by the Spanish speaking countries. Out of 14 finals, only two featured competitors from the English-speaking Caribbean.

Barbados’ sole medal in the Championships, a bronze was won when the Boys’ Under-15 team of Maleeq Aimey, Mdjai Collymore, Ajani Gittens, and Scott Galbraith defeated St Vincent and the Grenadines 3-2 in a tense and exciting group-stage match; the podium finish earned the team a place at the Junior Pan American Games.

“The highlight of the Championship for Barbados was the bronze medal won by the Under-15 Boys team. In the singles and doubles events, several players advanced from their groups. That was very satisfying but it was disappointing that they did not come closer to winning at least a bronze medal in those events”, Philip Hackett manager of the team told Advo Magazine.

“We are in the process of launching a high- level program for our juniors as we committed to putting in the necessary work to lift the standard of the sport. Therefore, the inclusion of 10-year-old Scott Galbraith in the boy’s Under-15 team was an investment for the future. The selection of seven-year-old Jakaila Hoyte who competed in the Under-15 singles was also an investment in the future; she won the admiration of the fans for her fearless effort”, Hackett added.

Sports

BARBADOS WINS CWI RISING STARS UNDER-19 CHAMPIONSHIP

by David Harris

Defending champions Barbados defeated Guyana by 44 runs to retain their title in Cricket West Indies (CWI) Rising Stars Under-19 Championship at the Coolidge Cricket Ground, Antigua on Wednesday.

Needing to avoid defeat in their fifth and final match of the tournament to clinch the title, the Barbadian lads scored 209 for eight wickets, before bowling out Guyana for 160 in 45.3 overs.

Barbados were wobbling at 71 for four wickets, after winning the toss and opting to bat. Captain Justin Parris made an attractive 38 runs from 40 balls, the left-handed batsman struck five fours, but his dismissal in the sixteenth over left Barbados in a precarious position. Seth Smith (47) and Rajeev Parsooram (21) repaired the early damage with a crucial fifth-wicket partnership of 61 runs, before Parsooram was dismissed by left-arm pacer Brandon Henry.

After Parsooram’s wicket fell; Smith added 40 vital runs for the sixth wicket with Yuvraj Persaud who made 19, Smith’s rearguard inning ended innings ended when he was dismissed by Henry in the 43rd over, the wicketkeeper/ batsman faced 75 balls and counted four boundaries. Asher Brandford 18 and Zarell Harding 15 not out ensured that Barbados posted a total over 200 runs.

Medium pacer Reyaz Laif took three wickets for 34 runs, he was supported by fast bowler Usain Fredericks two wickets for 53 runs,, and Henry who picked up two wickets for 24 runs.

Chasing 210 for victory, Guyana slumped to 55 for five wickets in the 17^th over as the Bajan bowlers took early wickets; but a defiant knock of 50 runs from Henry briefly give the Guyanese hope. Henry faced 88 balls and lead a lower resistance that saw Guyana to 156 for eight wickets before he was bowled by Parsooram. After Henry was dismissed Guyana’s innings ended quickly.

Brandford captured three wickets for 19 runs with his medium pace; he was supported by fellow medium pacers Joshua Thomas and Parsooram with two wickets for 35 runs and 19 runs respectively, while Parris picked up two wickets with his leg-spin.

Sports

JAYDEN WINS GOLD AT CARIFTA GAMES

by David Harris

Jayden Green captured Barbados’ lone gold medal at the 52nd CARIFTA Games which ended at the Hasely Crawford Stadium, in Mucrapo, Trinidad on Monday night. The 17-year-old student of the Christ Church Foundation School won the Under-20 Boys’ 200 metres at the three -day track and field meeting in 20,93 seconds ahead of Jamaicans Tyreece Foreman (20.95) and Junior Galimore (21.01); Green is the first Barbadian to win the event since Mario Burke in 2015.

The rest of team collected five silver and eight bronze medals with several athletes recording personal best. Barbados won 14 medals at the games, their best performance since the 2016 Games in Grenada where they won 20 medals.