Austin... I'm not ashamed to say I need help.-Ian Allen photoCharmaine Austin, Staff Reporter
LIKE THE hybrid rose tea bush that is so badly in need of care at his Mona, St. Andrew home, so Richard Austin craves attention and help in possibly blooming again.
"I'm not ashamed to say I need help. With my kind of problem ... I need caring for. I need help to clean up and a job to take care of myself and then believe it or not, I can make a valuable contribution to cricket in this country," Austin, 48, said prior to his reaching a state of drug-induced euphoria recently.
Austin is a former national footballer and Jamaica and West Indies cricketer who has for years been roaming the streets of Kingston, particularly New Kingston and Cross Roads, in search of what only he alone knows.
BEGGING
"I'm friendly. I need to interact with people so I leave my house everyday. My job right now is begging. I don't really have to do this but (it) is part of the territory," the former all-rounder, who is still hailed as 'National', said.
'Danny Germs', as he is affectionately called by those who know him from his football days as a leading scoring for Arnett Gardens in the mid-1970s, has been plagued with mental illness and a drug problem for the past 20 years.
Despite the intervention of individuals and cricket organisations, who have provided sporadic assistance in the form of getting him the necessary treatment, he always seems to go back to square one - on the streets.
The all-rounder made two Test outings for the West Indies against Australia in Port of Spain and in Bridgetown in 1977 and 1978.
He is best known for his outstanding performances at the local level and in regional competitions and explained that his problems all started in 1983 when his "love" (cricket) was taken away from him.
He was among the members of the Lawrence Rowe-led rebel team who were banned by the Jamaica Cricket Board and the West Indies Cricket Board after a tour of South Africa.
"Things just got from bad to worse from there. Imagine being at the top one minute and then being treated like a criminal the next," Austin said.
"I couldn't deal with it. Can you imagine not being able to do something you love? That's when it started. When I broke down and made the street my friend and my home," he said.
The ban was lifted eight years later and Austin returned to playing professional cricket, representing his club Kensington in the Senior Cup but he was back on the street not long after.
Concerned about his welfare, Kensington again intervened, cleaned him up, enrolled him in a rehabilitation programme, provided him with gear and equipment and then in 1995 contracted him to coach the senior team.
Individuals were selected to monitor his welfare but he found a way out and again succumbed to the lure of the streets, but Austin is desperate to go back and adamant that he has a valuable contribution to make to local cricket.
MONEY PUMPED IN CRICKET
"A lot of money is being pumped into cricket now so it's a shame to see it go to waste. What I realise is that the guys now lack the proper application. They don't love the game like the guys in the old-time days.
"The past guys loved it more so they would apply themselves and bat longer. I can help them with that," he said.
It was only last year, Austin confessed, that he started using cocaine again after tragedy hit his family four times.
His oldest son was killed by gunmen in New York, his mother died, one of his brothers lost a leg and his niece, the daughter of sister Louise Fraser-Bennett, was killed.
"I couldn't take it so I went back on the coke. It helps me forget," he said.
"It probably seems like I'm a hopeless case but I have potential. I know what I am doing is wrong and it is a very hard habit to break but taking me off the street, putting me in Patricia House and giving me a $500 every week or so is depressing. Give me a job, please so I can take care of myself because situations like mine always end in tragedy.
"I don't want to go out like my father," Austin said.
His father was an alcoholic.
Begging is how Austin gets the money to support his drug habit, although his brother Oliver Austin says he does not need to do so.
"He has everything he needs right here. He's a superstar so he doesn't steal like most addicts. I go for him on the road everyday and take him home. I feed him and I provide his clothes but I never ever give him money. I am not going to support his habit.
"When Danny is ready to come off what he's on, everything he needs is waiting right here," Oliver said, gesturing to the 1994 Volvo and the 1995 custom-built BMW 325I and the four-bedroom house that they both share.
Oliver says the house feels empty without Danny. Even their pet dog "Bully" seems to miss him and perks up with the sound of anyone approaching the gate, probably anticipating it to be his master.
