Although at times they might seem of no importance, mistakes need to be corrected.
A release by the director of cricket at Cricket West Indies, Miles Bascombe, has said the West Indies Championship is entering its 60th year, and he commends the tournament for its significant contribution to the development of cricket in the region.
He believes the first tournament was held in 1965.
As a matter of fact, there was no tournament in 1965. The very first first-class competition involving only West Indian teams was in 1964, on an experimental basis, and carried no sponsorship.
There were just the four main historical teams in the first instance: British Guiana, Barbados, TT and Jamaica. The Leeward and Windward Islands were not yet included.
This tournament was the brainchild of Jeffrey Stollmeyer, the former West Indian cricketer, and the idea was welcomed by the West Indies Cricket Board. Stollmeyer’s idea was that WI cricket would not improve unless there was an annual first-class competition among the teams.
The WICB agreed, but saw the big problem as being unable to finance it. However, it managed to attract the Shell group of companies to sponsor future tournaments.
[caption id="attachment_1136925" align="alignnone" width="1024"] West Indies captain Kraigg Brathwaite plays a shot as Pakistan's Mohammad Rizwan watches during the second Test match in Multan, Pakistan, January 26. - AP[/caption]
In 1965, the WICB thought it unwise to hold the brand-new tournament because of the visit of the Australian team, especially as the meeting was being labelled the world championship of cricket. That was so mainly because both teams had recently beaten England, India, New Zealand and Pakistan, the other Test-playing countries at the time. South Africa was one as well, but lived under a government that promoted apartheid, a political system that discriminated against black people and hence was ostracised.
The WICB recognised it couldn’t trust the logistics and the financing of both tournaments simultaneously. Small populations with diminutive economies and miniature grounds placed a block on that.
The Shell company graciously accepted the sponsorship from 1966, when there was no clash of cricket interests.
Interestingly, in 1968, because of the visit of the England team, the West Indies Cricket Championship was again shelved. Hence there were no tournaments in 1965 or 1968.
The Leeward and Windward Islands participated in 1966 together, under the banner of Combined Islands, and split the following year into separate entities, before combining once more from 1970-1981.
I agree with Bascombe that the championship is the bedrock of cricket development.
Back with a bang
Kraigg Brathwaite has proved he is a tremendous leader in spite of his shortcomings. He brought his team back against Pakistan to draw the two-match series in a hostile environment.
The pitches were prepared shamelessly to the advantage of the home team, for their spin bowlers to exploit. This revealed his considerable character, sho
