Quote:Michael Holding called him the "best batsman he ever saw." As a young batting prodigy, Viv Richards, so idolized him that he painted his nickname on the fence that enclosed his yard in Antigua.
For a long time he was worshiped by Jamaican cricket fans who raucously cheered every attacking shot he hit, while defensive shots were greeted with loud shouts of "NO."
His bat was, in all likelihood, the straightest there has ever been. And he played every stroke - there was none he could not play, he said - with clinical precision and unmatched orthodoxy.
Tony Becca, leading Jamaican cricket writer and historian, wrote a book on him titled "A Touch of Class." He had more than a touch. Everything he did on a cricket field was fraught with boatloads of class.
At the time I welcomed the life ban. It was what they deserved.But, that was a long time ago.
While I still disagree with the decision the rebels made, I am now older, more aware of the intricacies of human motivations and therefore more understanding of human failings. I was okay with the decision to lift the lifetime ban; only very few offences should warrant such absolute punishment.
Yeah , Felt the same about Alvin Kallicharran ,batting maestro !
[quote author=ketchim link=topic=103033.msg681560#msg681560 date=1456844276]
At the time I welcomed the life ban. It was what they deserved.But, that was a long time ago.
While I still disagree with the decision the rebels made, I am now older, more aware of the intricacies of human motivations and therefore more understanding of human failings. I was okay with the decision to lift the lifetime ban; only very few offences should warrant such absolute punishment.
Yeah , Felt the same about Alvin Kallicharran ,batting maestro !
they deserved the ban. this was not cricket but politics, life and death. this was slavery, imperialism.
forget the ethics of cricket. a people had been usurped in their own home, their life/nation subsumed in imperial drive for profit, for global control. our own people were the victims. we had to fight back not support the exploitation.
all who went to RSA for money on all levels and types of activity, broke an international picket line erected to bring down that nefarious reality..and it did succeed.
there is no argument about the right of the ban. as people of colour no matter the argument we were wrong to cross the picket line. and his support for the players is the one blemish on the life if Rohan Kanhai that I know of. That Kanhai did support them was a blow to my plexus. it hurt.
sure it is time to remove the ban and I believe it has been removed for most if not all of them. but Rowe and his crew were wrong..DAMMED WRONG TO HAVE SOLD OUT THEIR OWN FOR MONEY! and the penalty they suffered was well earned.
another and worse example was Jimmy Cliff who repeatedly breached that global picket line, apologizing very tie he broke it while countibg his filthy lucre'