Hartley Neita
IN MY early years, the primary schools of today were known as elementary schools.
We had a cricket team, then, and in my last year I was a "star" batsman. We must have been good, as we defeated teams from Toll Gate/Clarendon Park, Pleasant Valley, York Pen/Parnassus, Leicesterfield and May Pen.
We became so feisty and conceited that we challenged the Old Boys of the school at the school's Open Day on the last day of the school year.
The village's cricket club loaned us real cricket bats, to replace the board bats we used, pads and gloves, and gave us a used cricket ball.
To our surprise, the team included two members of the Clarendon Nethersole Cup cricket team, batsman and slow bowler, Bertie Givans, and lightning fast bowler Sonny Burrell. It was a limited 20-over match. They won the toss and decided to bat first.
It was obvious they came to have fun, but we shocked them by getting an early wicket.
MIGHTY SIX
In came Bertie Givans. He started middling ones and twos while clouds blackened the sky. Just before the rain came he hit a mighty six. It climbed higher than any of the kites we flew in the schoolyard and fell distances away in the bushes next door.
The match was washed out. We felt good. We had not lost. We had challenged our elders. They accepted it, and had it not rained, who knows?
Now, I have noticed that in Trinidad, and now Barbados, there are bevies of beautiful girls cheerleading our West Indies cricket team. That has not helped.
We also have a touring selector, and a range of coaches of different disciplines. They have not helped either. So, I want to suggest to the cricket board that a rain dancer be employed to ensure that every match is washed out in the future. The rain could also drench the umpires and give them the 'flu!
Thank heavens there was good news this past week in other areas. One such was the annual Boys and Girls School Championships at the National Stadium which saw records tumbling in the track and the field events.
We seem to be able to produce what seems to be an unending list of athletic stars. One reason, of course, is the increase in the number of schools.
In my time, Boys Champs had only seven schools competing Jamaica College, Munro College, Kingston College, Wolmer's Boys, Calabar, St. George's and Beckford and Smith. Holmwood was just a vocational school, and was not on "the big screen".
There were no secondary grammar boys schools which qualified for these championships in St. Thomas, Portland, St. Mary, St. Ann, Trelawny, Hanover, Westmore-land, Manchester or Clarendon. Later came Titchfield, Mannings and Happy Grove.
Another reason for our success in athletics is the increasing number of coaches, as well as the competition in the many regional championships which take place before the big event at the National Stadium.
EATING HASH
Looking back in time, too, there were fewer athletes competing for each school. My school, for example, had only about 150 boys, 80 boarders and about 70 day boys.
In addition, there were only two Classes, 1 and 2, over 16 and under 16, and the events in each were the 100 yards, 220 yards, 440 yards, high jump, long jump, the 4x220 yards and 4x110 yards relays in Classes 1 and 2, respectively, and the 120 yards hurdles, 880 yards, pole vault and shot putt open events.
Incidentally, the one-mile race was not introduced until 1942. In fact in that year when it became an agenda item in our school's sports, every boy who entered and finished it, earned one point for his house.
My Simms House friends will remember that the almost 40 boys in Simms entered. Twenty of us finished and earned 20 points for "good old Simms, 'ray, 'ray', 'ray".
And as it was then, so it is now. 'Hash and roast beef, mince and pie'! You see, we were then a boarding school, and in earlier years when this cheer was created, those dishes were features of the regular menu.
And for those boys of the time who might not have known, hash was a mixture of chopped up potatoes, bully beef and onions. I never knew until last week.
