Guest of honour Maurice Foster shares a joke with Sir Everton Weekes at this week's Jamaica Cricket Association Jubilee Banquet at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel in celebration of the first home series between the West Indies and England 75 years ago.
-Winston Sill photoCLASS IS class and it was all class at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel's Grande Jamaican Suite on Tuesday night where a full house turned up for the Jamaica Cricket Association's Jubilee Banquet in celebration of the first home series between the West Indies and England 75 years ago.
Headed by Governor-General Sir Howard Cooke and Lady Cooke, Leader of the Opposition, Edward Seaga and Mrs. Seaga, Minister of Local Government and Sport, Portia Simpson Miller and Errald Miller, the guests, including members of the West Indies and England teams and distinguished former West Indies stars like Sir Everton Weekes, Sir Gary Sobers, Sir Vivian Richards, Senator Desmond Haynes, Ambassadors Michael Holding and Courtney Walsh, Gordon Greenidge and Jeffrey Dujon, were treated to a lively and entertaining evening and some glorious speeches and tributes.
Paul Keens-Douglas, the distinguished and famous West Indian storyteller out of Trinidad and Tobago set the stage with a beautiful performance during which he talked about West Indian life and West Indies cricket, he was followed by Sir Everton's greetings from Barbados and he was followed by English cricket writer and broadcaster Christopher Martin-Jenkins who, in a wonderful presentation punctuated by jokes that left the audience in stitches, gave a brief history of West Indies/England contests down the years while remembering some of the great moments and some of the great players.
HIGHLIGHT
Highlight of the function was the JCA's tribute to Maurice Foster for his service to Jamaica and West Indies cricket as a player and an administrator.
The toast to Foster, a former Jamaica captain, was proposed by Howard Hamilton, former general manager of Shell, Haynes read the citation that was presented to him, Jackie Hendriks, a former Jamaica and West Indies representative and now president of the JCA, lauded him for his contribution, and Brian George, president of Supreme Ventures, sponsors of the banquet, presented him with a set of golf clubs.
In making the vote of thanks, Foster won rounds and rounds of applause as he thanked some of those with whom he played, including Sobers, Richards, Greenidge and Haynes, Holding, Walsh and Dujon, for the wonderful time they spent together and the friendship they shared and still share.
Sobers played his first Test match at Sabina Park against England 50 years ago in 1954 and the JCA presented him with a putter to mark the occasion.
The banquet was organised by a committee chaired by former West Indies Board president Pat Rousseau. The master of ceremonies was Jason Sharp - himself a member of the committee.
- Tony Becca
