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The Woods

They say that cricket is a game of glorious uncertainties and anyone who follows the game will attest to the many uncertainties and unexpected things they have seen in and around the game of cricket.

Recently I attended a second division match at Empire Club where the home team was playing the Market Hill team from the parish of St. George. Two players caught my eye. The contrasting features between the two of them were too glaring to miss. One guy was skinny and tall and wore a grey beard. The other was a pint size schoolboy whose chin with not spring a beard for many years to come. These two players were at completely opposite ends of the age pole.

At break time I contacted the older of these players to ascertain the story. And what a story it turned out to be. He is Charles C Wood age 63 and the young lad is his 12-year-old son Charles Imani Wood. It is not often that a father and son pair would play on the same team.

Mr. Wood grew up in the small village of Middleton, St. George and attended Workman Primary School but going on to the St. George Secondary School. His young cricket days were full of inventiveness, where young breadfruits were used as balls. Green Lemons and milk totts (small tins) also stood-in as cricket balls. A knitted or rubber strand ball- made from inner tube of a bicycle tire-was the best boys in villages like Middleton could get to play with in the 1960s.

His love for cricket and his natural ability to play found no support from his father, a hard work man who thought the bat and ball was a waste of time. Charles sadly would have to rush home after school to help his father take care of the garden and livestock. Time to play cricket hardly ever came but absence made heart grow fonder and Charles never stopped loving the game of cricket.

It was only in the early 1990s while playing tape-ball cricket in Eden Lodge that he was spotted by members of the Ipswich cricket team and was invited to play for the club in the intermediate zone. This was an opportunity to cricket that Charles may have thought had passed him but as the old people say ‘what for yuh, yuh will get.’ Charles Wood became a fixture in Ipswich before he moved on to play for the Barbados Community College (BCC)after he entered that education institution. Opening the batting for BCC, Charles made a century against his former team Ipswich. His former teammates had mixed feelings about his performance.

Mr. Wood would go on to play and captain various teams; he may have had a later than hoped for start in cricket, but he is getting the most out of it that he can. He now plays for Empire in the 2^nd Division and Masters.

Charles Imani Wood just like his dad likes cricket and has good natural ability. He is more fortunate than his dad as he is getting that much needed support in his formative years. He is only 12 years old but has played lots of cricket. He has played for Workman Primary, Empire Juniors, and Empire 2^nd Division teams.

Charlie- as he is often called- is very pleased that he and his dad can be on the same side. He knows that it is something special as most of his other friends do not have fathers playing cricket. He does not feel pressured being a young boy playing on a side with men. Sure, he knows he is small, but he also knows that if he follows the correct ways of playing the game that his size will not matter. He considered himself a batting allrounder but will continue to develop his overall game before he settles into a position in the team. With Steve Smith as his batting idol and Mitchell Starc as a bowling mentor it is easy to see that he can become a batting allrounder. (Article by Christopher Williams)

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SPECIAL POLLING DAY NOTICE

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FundAccess To Host Legal Clinic Workshop from May 13th

Entrepreneurs will soon get another opportunity to learn about critical legal matters that are key to the operation of their businesses.

FundAccess will be hosting The Legal Clinic Workshop, which will commence on Tuesday, May 13, and continue each Tuesday, until May 27, from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.

The workshop will be facilitated by Attorney-at-law Ondene Kirton and participants will discuss Understanding Business Legal Structures; Contracts & Agreements; Employment Law & Compliance; and Examination of the Various Laws Relating to Small Business.

During those sessions, the participants will be exposed to sole proprietorship, partnerships, corporations – pro and cons; how to choose the right legal structure for a business; the importance of contracts in business operations; avoiding common contract pitfalls; and employee rights & employer responsibilities, among others. Some of the pieces of legislation to be examined include the Employment Rights Act and National Insurance and Social Security Act.

Interested persons may attend the workshop in person at FundAccess’ Pinfold Street, Bridgetown location, or online via the Zoom Platform. To register, click on the following link: https://bit.ly/3Fu09Jv.

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Centenarian Built On Firm Foundation Set By Grandmother

“Trust God first” is the mantra of one of Barbados’ newest centenarians, Athelstan Browne, who celebrated his 100th birthday on April 29, 2025, at his home in Montrose, Christ Church, surrounded by family and friends.

One of his specially invited guests was President of Barbados, Her Excellency, The Most Honourable Dame Sandra Mason.

Mr. Browne shared that he grew up “not knowing a mummy” as his mother passed away at age 23, when he was two years old, and his brother was only one year old.

Crediting his grandmother for his upbringing, Mr. Brown remarked: “I had a real good, good grandmother that raised two of us, and everything we learn before we went to school, she taught us.”

Pointing to a humble yet deeply religious upbringing, Mr. Browne said: “I and my brother slept on the floor. Our grandmother spread things down there, and she just put the pillow under our head.”

He recalled that they had to sing the hymn “Under the Blood” before going to bed, and first thing in the morning before they had breakfast, which usually consisted of “a cup of tea and two biscuits”. Adding that the hymn was “our song”, Mr. Browne sang the hymn from memory.

Stressing that his grandmother was a great provider, he noted: “My grandmother had land, and she would work the land…. We would eat raw potato, raw okras, (green) peas, cucumbers…. The only thing we did not eat was raw yams and eddoes.”

Mr. Browne continues to enjoy his ground provisions “with a little rice”, as he likes his rice with green peas, and if available, chicken boiled with the rice. “I am a fish man,” he remarked, eating it either fried or with a “stew sauce”.

Continuing to nurture his Christian beliefs, he joined the Mount Ararat United Holy Church (currently in Dayrell’s Road, Christ Church) in 1967, at age 33, and has continued there ever since.

Once the Superintendent of the Sunday School at the church, Mr. Browne is still instrumental in providing leadership to the youth there. “I have a crowd of young people at church that love me…especially when I have to talk to them…. It is what they should hear and what they should have,” he said.

The centenarian was raised in Montrose, Christ Church, and attended the Christ Church Boys’ School (now Milton Lynch Primary School). After leaving school, Mr. Browne initially took to agriculture but then worked cutting soft stone in two quarries in Christ Church.

In 1947, at the age of 22, he decided to join the US Farm Labour Programme and took the first Pan American Airlines flight out of Barbados. Over 10 years later, Mr. Browne returned to Barbados and married Monica Browne (deceased). Together, they built the house where he currently resides.

Returning to his roots in agriculture, the centenarian worked at the Ridge Plantation, Christ Church, until retirement. He also planted and reaped ground produce at home, as well as planted and cut canes.

Mr. Browne, who is generally in good health and has a sharp memory, still works around the home and enjoys reading, which he does without glasses. He also keeps in touch with his family in New York and North Carolina, and will do some travelling, but he is always ready to return home.

After toasting the centenarian, Her Excellency remarked: “You are in the midst of a lot of love, and I am sure you are going to enjoy the rest of your birthday. I am really happy to have met you. I am grateful for the work that you still continue to do with our young people because a lot of them lack direction, and we, nowadays, don’t take enough time to sit down and speak with them…. We don’t remind them that they are important, that they are somebody.”

Mr. Browne responded: “You got to make them understand what … the Lord expects of them… We have to acknowledge the Lord.”

Mr. Browne has two children, 10 grandchildren, 11 great-grandchildren and two great-great-grandchildren. (PR/GIS)

Caption: President of Barbados, Her Excellency, The Most Honourable Dame Sandra Mason, and Barbados’ newest centenarian Athelstan Browne take a walk outside during his birthday celebrations in Montrose, Christ Church