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Tony Cozier, the LEGEND

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Posted by Sargeant
tony-cozier1
Tony Cozier

I haven’t listened to cricket on the radio in decades but the passing of Tony Cozier has stirred some long dormant memories.

I can’t remember when I first heard Cozier on the radio but my first memories of listening to cricket was the WI tour of Australia in 1960-61 when as a sapling I was able to stay up late at night to listen to Johnny Moyes in a colourful Aussie accent on ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corp.)

Later during the WI tour of England in 1963 we were treated to the dulcet tones of John Arlott whose descriptive commentary of Cricket as well as the surrounding countryside provided a picture as vivid as any contemporary movie scene.

Cozier came on the scene sometime after that tour and I recall his voice on the radio as one of our own and that voice although lacking the timbre of some of the other commentators was very informative. I also remember his reports in that other media- newspapers- I believe he came from a media family as his family was involved with the Daily News (now defunct) and I seem to recall a column by his father EL Cozier which appeared under the byline ELC. The immediacy of TV has diminished the importance of the radio voice but those of the generation which came of age in the 60’s remember radio as our connection to the outside world and we relied on the eloquence of the person behind the mike to fuel our imagination and Cozier fit the bill.

An innings well played.

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282 responses to “Tony Cozier, the LEGEND”

  1. Pieceuhderockyeahright Avatar
    Pieceuhderockyeahright

    Death is a really funny thing.

    As we get older we “throw some salt over the left shoulder” for men and women whom we well know to be persons with less that Spartan )or Pickwick) character.

    We are mor inclined to say “kind things” about the dead (and sometimes of those who are dying)

    It is part of our disposition occasioned by us realizing that to fight agains a lifeless corpse seems barbaric and most of us, opt to see it go down “untouched” by human hand, or unkind word to tarnish the “intangible (often confabulated) memor/y/ies”.

    Yet what Pachamama has written here is incontrovertibly true AND, NOTWITHSTANDING THAT Tony Cozier was an accomplished commentator, it would be truly hypocritical to say anything else.

    I wonder if the chap who has the nation newspaper archives at his fingertips would do us all a favour and bring up written and verbal recollections of Cozier’s diatribes contra men of colour, notwithstanding the “nature of his birth” into a bajan white body.

    In all things you have to be fair and truthful.

    If we can come here an pull down Trevor Joab Clarke, irrespective of what he supposedly meant to black enterprise and entrepreneurial spirit, why is Tony Cozier, “he who is birthed of woman” given this laisser passer?

  2. ac Avatar
    ac

    “Death is a funny thing”

    Hell NO ! there is nothing funny about death it has no respect for no one , however if what you stated is in barbadian lingo then your statement would seem true , but to those from other far and away lands the thought of death being “funny ” is not a joke ‘
    Which brings to mind that words are a collection of funny things hence this article and comments has brought tony cozier back to life in many ways

  3. John Avatar
    John

    His unremitting support for people like Peter Short and other White elites in the Caribbean, Stolmeyer el al, who have controlled West Indies cricket for centuries
    +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

    I don’t know about centuries!!!!

    WI first played a test match in 1928 I believe, not even 100 years ago.

    I have a relative who played in the first tests, George Dewhurst, at least according to my Aunt, now deceased.

    We share a common ancestor, a slave.

    Yet, here is what CLR James had to say about him!!

    Writing about cricket in Trinidad, historian C. L. R. James noted that Dewhurst always kept wicket “excellently”, but that many Trinidadians considered Piggott a better wicket-keeper who was only left out because he was black and Dewhurst was white.[6]

    CLR James might rate as a legend off the field but he could not get a simple fact right!!

    We all make mistakes!!

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Dewhurst_(cricketer)

    Who controlled West Indies Cricket during the period 1975 to 1995 or for other periods when it ruled the world?

    Who controlled it when it brought shame and ridicule to us and broke our hearts?

    Is colour really all it is made out to be?

    Is it just a convenient tool used to create divisions?

  4. de pedantic Dribbler Avatar
    de pedantic Dribbler

    Oh Lawd Pieces, you too! So you saying that the man was racist because he was a White man born into the racial dynamic of the time and that he perpetuated those behaviours of the period throughout his life?

    That he was racist because he wrote diatribes against men of colour ? And further all of that colored his work as our premier cricket journalist?

    I have absolutely no brief for the man but I think it is fair to separate his professional accomplishments for these personal broadsides.

    I also think that anyone who could forge partnerships with so many Black WI cricketers – some seemingly very, very deep – could not be a dyed in the wool racist troll.

    But heh we seemed hell bent on reshaping this man through a race-tinged lens despite what is a life achievement that discredits that as an integral aspect of his existence.

    And @Dr GP wonderful links of info. Good reading. And yes I knew of Major Sam Headley the former Head Boy of Lodge. My generation did not live what he experienced but we know of Barbados’ racism nonetheless. Quite well too. Thank You!

  5. de pedantic Dribbler Avatar
    de pedantic Dribbler

    “Who controlled West Indies Cricket during the period 1975 to 1995 or for other periods when it ruled the world?…Who controlled it when it brought shame and ridicule to us and broke our hearts?”

    @John if you really know and understand WI cricket and administration you would know that your question leads to no where…re what you are implying. No where.

    It can be argued that the ‘White’ administration of the day are the ones that led the WICBC to the debacle that became the poor WICB. So don’t let’s go down that road.

  6. TheGazer Avatar
    TheGazer

    Great links and powerful comments from GP
    PURDYR short contribution really fleshed out the discussion for me.
    John continues in his own world…
    De Bush Master echoing a few thoughts that I agree with.

    Without specifically referring to TC, some here see a racist as having horns, a long tail, a harsh voice and always cussing. No horns, no tail, dulcet tones, …..

  7. MoneyBrain Avatar
    MoneyBrain

    Many people on here see a racist all bout de place even if there is no racist in sight!

    Any critique no matter whether substantiated by substance or not, of a darker brother is seen as racist.

    Good people deliver constructive criticism all the time but it is not always received as such.

  8. Ping Pong Avatar
    Ping Pong

    Please excuse the cut and paste but I always give way those of real excellence and accomplishment.

    Tony Cozier is one of cricket’s legends.
    Even though he did not make his contribution on the field of play, his outstanding life-long involvement in the game has certainly enriched not only West Indies Cricket, but the game as it is now played worldwide.
    From the viewpoint of West Indies cricket he stands alone.
    His contribution from the commentary boxes around the world brought to West Indians, everywhere, the true story of what was happening to their cricketers, wherever they played, no matter how far away from home and no matter how difficult the circumstances.
    His newspaper columns and his magazines were just as eagerly sought by an eager public.
    In the dark days as well as in the days of glory, Tony’s commentaries were the same – unvarnished, to the point and always beneficial to the game: I can say that, having shared the box with him on occasion. As commentators go, no one else would have had the insights which he had of West Indies cricket, virtually from his childhood.
    I am saddened by his passing for it will leave a void that will be difficult, if not impossible, to fill. I offer my sincerest condolences to Jillian, Natalie, Craig and his wider family circle as well as to his club, the Wanderers, as I remind them that Tony has left “indelible footprints in the sands of time”.
    Sir Garfield Sobers
    via e-mail

  9. Vincent Haynes Avatar
    Vincent Haynes

    Ping Pong May 14, 2016 at 3:57 AM #

    When will you understand that once he was lacking the requisite amount of melanin the present day leaders of the slave revolt will not accept him.

  10. David Avatar
    David

    @Vincent

    Why generalize based on a few dissenting comments? The vast amount of commentary in response to Tony Cozier’s passing has been complimentary about his life’s work.

  11. Vincent Haynes Avatar
    Vincent Haynes

    David May 14, 2016 at 5:44 AM #

    My apologies,you are correct the greatness of the man in his field is widely acknowledged and respected,one should learn to ignore the minority view….I will try.

  12. balance Avatar
    balance

    “David May 13, 2016 at 6:23 AM #

    It is unfortunate that Tony Cozier, like many of the cricket legends, went to his grave at loggerheads with the WICB.

    We never learn.”

    In deference to the esteemed deceased I will let your inaccurate statement slide into oblivion

  13. David Avatar
    David

    @balance

    You have become an authority on what is accurate?

    Was it not reported that Tony Cozier had instructed his lawyer Peter Symmonds to file a defamation law suite against Dave Cameron in his capacity as President of the WICB? Have we not had many many cases of WI legends being highly critical of the WICB read Holding et al?

    http://www.stabroeknews.com/2016/news/regional/03/04/tony-cozier-suing-wicb-boss-2/

    BTW,

  14. balance Avatar
    balance

    Pacha I must admit I was not bold enough to comment contra to the general views published here about Mr Cozier but your comments echo my thoughts. Now get this straight- I have not met Mr Cozier so i do not know Mr Cozier so I cannot speak ill of him or his life’s work. I joinnthose in extending condolences to his wife and children who would know him best. I cannot comment on his commentary. I stopped listening when he came on because most of the times he came on a west indies batsman got out.
    We have a habit here of using words like “legend’ loosely. There can be no doubt that Mr Cozier over the years through exposure and experience eventually excelled in a field which he was able access in my view through the colour of his skin and not initially any particular knowledge of the game. If Mr Cozier were in my view a Suki king the doors to international acclaim would not have been readily available.
    I was not an admirer of Mr Cozier’s writing skills and not fond of his articles which were in my view full of hyperbole and statistics. . He never took a definitive position on any issue preferring to sit on both sides of the fence perhaps in his view sensibly so as not to offend the powers that be. I do not consider him a legend but his achievement in life is worthy of commendation.

  15. balance Avatar
    balance

    “Was it not reported that Tony Cozier had instructed his lawyer Peter Symmonds to file a defamation law suite against Dave Cameron in his capacity as President of the WICB? Have we not had many many cases of WI legends being highly critical of the WICB read Holding et al?”

    No sir I am not always right but can Mr Cozier’s personal legal battles with Mr Cameron be considered to be ‘ loggerheads with the WICBC’. If so, I stand corrected and offer my apologies.

  16. Ping Pong Avatar
    Ping Pong

    @Vincent Haynes

    with regard to cricket, any praise coming from me would be of little value. The highest standard of cricket I ever reached was begging to get a chance to bat at lunch time at school and then lasting 4 balls!

    However just in case you (or others) hadn’t noticed, the post I made at 3:57 was a copy of Right Excellent Sir Garfield Sobers’ letter to the Trinidad Express on Tony Cozier’s passing. I believe our beloved Sir Gary knows a thing or two about the people and things in cricket.

    As I have once heard, “people do not throw stones at mango tree that is not bearing fruit!”

    My final observation on Tony Cozier is this; he died in Barbados not in Miami, Toronto, New York or London.

  17. Donna Avatar
    Donna

    Pachanama,

    I’m sorry but you will have to do much better than that to convince me that Tony Cozier was a racist. Never met the man. Just listened to him since I was nine years old. I am a very good listener. He was too fair and unbiased to be a racist. It just wouldn’t have made sense to him.

    What I heard was a totally committed BARBADIAN, CARIBBEAN MAN, CRICKET LOVER, JOURNALIST, BROADCASTER, HUMAN BEING. And it is my humble opinion that he was a excellent at them all.

    John,

    Tony Cozier wrote many articles about that 1975 tour to Australia. One of them spoke of Gary Cozier being out about four times before he was given out by his fellow Aussie umpires. Think I remember similar sentiments being expressed in relation to Gregg Chappell. I gleaned much about Aussie cheating from that tour and it could only have come from Tony Cozier as his was the only opinion I trusted.

    Also Cozier wrote at least one article about harsher penalties being given to West Indian players. Specifically he wrote about a suspension meted out to “a perfect gentleman” like Ridley Jacobs. The suspension was punishing him for not calling back a batsman who had been given out stumped even though Jacobs had first broken the stumps with his empty hand, and hence bringing the game into disrepute. He staunchly defended Jacobs’ integrity and questioned how it in any case it could have been any different from Tendulkar standing firm at the wicket after being given not out for a VERY THICK EDGE as he had seen happen on the same tour. (And many more I would suspect.)

    Tony Cozier was a journalist supreme. Not politically correct. He called it like he saw it. And he had great eyesight.

    I am soooo happy that there is Youtube so that I can still hear his voice.

  18. de pedantic Dribbler Avatar
    de pedantic Dribbler

    @Balance, you are right Cozier got his break because of who he knew. But in turn to suggest that he knew not one iota about cricket, although he played all his youth and against very competent other boys/men is comical.

    “I … opened the batting for Lodge School. We would play against first-class players. My first match, I played against Wes Hall, who had already played for the West Indies. But I covered my first Test when I was 15, because my FATHER RAN THE ST. LUCIA VOICE.” (My emphasis) — The Indian Express, Jul 2013

    And then to suggest that the man “never took a definitive position… You mean like this quote “I could tell during the 90s, the leadership of the team was woeful and the board allowed a lot of things to pass. That’s what caused the downfall. We still had talent. They became shameless though. Losing meant nothing. And when that’s the case, you lose.”

    Maybe this is a better example of his inability, in your opinion, to NOT SPEAK his MIND …

    “He wasn’t good for West Indies cricket. He could bat like a dream. But he got away with too much in his career. He apologized to the board seven times in his career for various misdemeanours. But he wasn’t pulled up once or banned or even suspended. Kanhai as coach once complained about being abused by some of his senior players. And the board sacked him and the players were retained.”…. I’ll leave you to figure out who the ‘he’ was.

    So gotta agree wid the blogmaster that you are an authority on accuracy and too superstitions… That was sweet hadn’t heard that for years so caused a hearty laugh and recollection of that long-gone time.

    by the way the entire set of quotes to confirm accuracy (smile) is: http://archive.indianexpress.com/story-print/1141543/

    That Lara/Cozier relationship was as good an example as any of the fine line journalists tread. He praised Lara lavishly but was also a harsh critic as needed. Which Lara certainly did not appreciate, one imagines.

  19. David Avatar
    David

    @Dee Word

    If Cozier was shoulder surfing when you last commented he would have said, some balls are best left alone, especially if wide legside.

    There is no greater compliment anyone who practices a profession/sport than one which comes from actors in said profession/sport you serve.

  20. Donna Avatar
    Donna

    Balance,

    Which articles were you reading? It could not have been those that I read.

    Just by the way, Mr. Cozier could not help the colour of his skin. The door may have been opened by it but he proved that he had a right to be there. Unfortunately, Suki King is his own problem. Ask anybody involved in real draught and they’ll tell you why that is.

    If Mr. Cozier had been as middle of the road and inoffensive as you say I would long have seen it and discarded him. Have you read any of his articles on The Big Three” takeover? I suggest that you do.

  21. Donna Avatar
    Donna

    Next thing they will tell me is that Emile Straker is a racist. Newsflash! Some people are smarter than their peers.

  22. Donna Avatar
    Donna

    Balance has lost his balance! Not for the first time, I’m afraid.

  23. de pedantic Dribbler Avatar
    de pedantic Dribbler

    Indeed , Mr Blogmaster, way wide of leg…Test match wide, not T20 wide!

    The interesting thing of this blog of course are its regulars. I presume like facing a certain bowler who keeps it tight mostly you do go nibbling at balls that stray…when you shouldn’t!

  24. Donna Avatar
    Donna

    Also heard and read Cozier take other nations to task for “disrespecting the great history of West Indies cricket.” When the Australians were wondering why they should even bother to tour here he indignantly reminded them that we never contemplated that when we were beating them to a pulp within three days.

    Please guys, can’t we just respect a life well lived and a job well done? Must we talk when we obviously haven’t a clue what we are talking about?

  25. David Avatar
    David

    @Donna

    Please guys, can’t we just respect a life well lived and a job well done? Must we talk when we obviously haven’t a clue what we are talking about?

    It is an utopian expectation if you realistically expect it. We live in a world where it is routine to criticize for doing so sake and they are those who see White and that is all it takes to jettison reason. Just like the bull and the red rag.

  26. Georgie Porgie Avatar
    Georgie Porgie

    Must we talk when we obviously haven’t a clue what we are talking about?
    IS THAT NOT THE NORM ON BU?

  27. Brathwaite Avatar
    Brathwaite

    Wait, Anthony Lloyd Cozier – and he had anudder name too – generating as much conniption in death as he did when he was alive in his last several years.

    Some ah we dont like he because he white and we jealous as shite that he was dis big maguffy commentor traveling all over.

    Lots a dem early writing boys did white or pass white cause nah black boys cudn’t get de big pick and of course dey was only room for one boy from the Caribbean. So after Cozier eva body else suck salt.

    At least nah body from Jamaica or elsewhere aint come out and say he was nah fish nor nothing so. Racist we cud deal wid but that, I don’t think so.

    But nowadays we gots lots a fellows getting a comment pick so definitely we gin see some talented boys and girls coming thru even better than Winston Anthony Lloyd Cozier…oh yea the udder name was Winston.

    And then we may be able to properly describe some one as a Legend…cause dis fellow too white and too ordinary to get big-up dat way. Wink, wink.

    I would be long gone but maybe Keith Holder in Barbados, Vanesia or Fazeer in T&T, or the udder fellow Imran Khan (not the Paki great) will fill the bill. Oh shite but don’t forget them old boys Anthony Becca (Tony too) and Reds.

    If we produce the greatest cricketer we must be gots somebody in the media center that can reach them heights too I hoping.

  28. Georgie Porgie Avatar
    Georgie Porgie

    re I would be long gone but maybe Keith Holder in Barbados, Vanesia or Fazeer in T&T, or the udder fellow Imran Khan (not the Paki great) will fill the bill. Oh shite but don’t forget them old boys Anthony Becca (Tony too) and Reds.

    THE DIAGNOSIS HERE WITH RESPECT TO ALL OF THE ABOVE IS ‘delusions of grandeur’

  29. David Avatar
    David

    @Brathwaite

    No one single of those you mentioned are worthy by ANY measure. NONE!

  30. Brathwaite Avatar
    Brathwaite

    Seize and settle peeps. Yah mek my point.

    Dis Cozier gent performed like Garry and we gots peeps basically playing the journalism equivalent of a good picnic day food match 20 ova cricket being compared to the gent.

    Yak absolutely effing correct “No one single of those you mentioned are worthy by ANY measure. NONE!”. And they are the current best of the bunch.

    And WI will never effing become truly relevant in Test cricket again either.

    Dog, pussy, donkey, coneys and whole effing animal farm gone throu de eddoes.

  31. Vincent Haynes Avatar
    Vincent Haynes

    Ping Pong May 14, 2016 at 8:37 AM #

    I fully understood and support your post…..I think you better re-read mine.

  32. Ping Pong Avatar
    Ping Pong

    @ Vincent

    I concur with you as well. I was just making sure that you (and OTHERS) did not miss who is the real author of my 3:57 post.

  33. John Avatar
    John

    de pedantic Dribbler May 14, 2016 at 9:20 AM #

    @Balance, you are right Cozier got his break because of who he knew. But in turn to suggest that he knew not one iota about cricket, although he played all his youth and against very competent other boys/men is comical.
    +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

    …. and if you listen to Michael Holding’s tribute to Tony Cozier you will see he acknowledges he, Michael Holding, got his break from who he knew as well!!!!!!!!

    http://www.espncricinfo.com/westindies/content/story/1012673.html

    “I spent a lot of time with him. He wrote my first book. First time I appeared on television doing cricket commentary was because of Tony Cozier. I had been in radio since 1988, just a couple of years, and then when TV Nine came to the Caribbean to cover West Indies cricket for the first time, putting it on television, the contract they had at the time, as I understand with the West Indies Cricket Board, stipulated two West Indian voices. Tony Cozier was obviously one, and Tony recommended me as a second. So he pretty much started my career in television.”

    Wasn’t it Erroll Barrow who once referred to Tony Cozier as “Jimmy Cozier’s illiterate son”?

    Authoring books for superstars …. not bad for an illiterate!!

    “When a man good, he good …!!

  34. de pedantic Dribbler Avatar
    de pedantic Dribbler

    Ok John, I read Mikey’s comment a few days ago – before or around when you noticed the news of TC’s death seemingly, according to your posts on the other thread . Thank you for the reference nonetheless, all good. There were a few others like Holding who gave him their career start/push/help kudos also.

    But I don’t know a ting about that Barrow quote and I get real licks already about that Honourable hero so not me and that. Oh lawd. LOLL.

    But if the future king-kong PM (was he PM at time of comment??) had said that about me I would be a bit pissed. Regardless of whether or not I realized that it was pay back from my father’s fights with him.

    Personally I kept my complete distance from the Hon E.W.B cause he and my old man were not great friends either. My pater thought he was a vindictive son of a woman.

    So not me and that!

  35. Gabriel Avatar
    Gabriel

    Dribbler
    Barrow was of an era when insults and put downs were the order of the day at secondary schools.Masters insulted boys freely and ferociously and it was taken as par for the course.I recall many instances during my sojourn at Weymouth,boys were only too happy to hear what the master thought about a pupil,for out of that exchange might arise a nickname that stuck like glue.Barrow himself at Kolij was known to challenge masters in defence of boys who were bright but didn’t have the intestinal fortitude of young Barrow.There are people alive who would attest to that.We all know TC was far from illiterate and that ELC wielded a wicked pen which hit Barrow more than once in the same place.

  36. balance Avatar
    balance

    “oneyBrain May 13, 2016 at 12:32 PM #

    The fact is that my black friends who were among the very first to join Wanderers out of HC tell me they were welcomed by the gents listed.
    I was at Pickwick in the early 1970s and several darker gents were joining like Hallam Gill, Courtney Selman, Valence Connell et al, they were treated well from what I witnessed over several years that i was in Bim”

    How do you mean treated well? were they begging for acceptance? White boys were losing interest in the game and to prevent the demise of the clubs the doors were open to ‘whom so come may will’

  37. balance Avatar
    balance

    “But in turn to suggest that he knew not one iota about cricket,”
    I never said or suggested such.

  38. balance Avatar
    balance

    “Wasn’t it Erroll Barrow who once referred to Tony Cozier as “Jimmy Cozier’s illiterate son”?”

    Yes but semi illiterate not illiterate but because the Daily News used to be critical of Mr Barrow.

  39. Georgie Porgie Avatar
    Georgie Porgie

    http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/cricket/tony-cozier-tribute-farewell-to-the-honeyed-voice-of-cricket-a7028736.html

  40. Georgie Porgie Avatar
    Georgie Porgie

    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/obituaries/2016/05/12/tony-cozier-cricket-commentator–obituary/

  41. Georgie Porgie Avatar
    Georgie Porgie

    David
    Both Matthew 13:57 and .” Mark 6:4 asserts that “A prophet is not without honor except in his own town, among his relatives and in his own home.”

    In it is therefore not surprising that there is more to be found in the British press about the passing of Tony Cozier than in the regional press,
    There are some nice things said about him in the links below
    http://www.thehindu.com/sport/cricket/gayle-watson-pay-tribute-to-cozier/article8596906.ece

    https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2016/may/11/tony-cozier-west-indies-commentator-dies-cricket
    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/05/14/the-egotism-of-pushy-opportunists-has-killed-off-the-modesty-and/
    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/cricket/2016/05/11/tony-cozier–steered-right-path-between-the-dryness-of-australia/

  42. Simple Simon Avatar
    Simple Simon

    @balance May 14, 2016 at 8:31 PM “Wasn’t it Erroll Barrow who once referred to Tony Cozier as “Jimmy Cozier’s illiterate son”?”

    Errol Barrow was not God you know.

    And he was no expert on literacy either.

  43. Bush Tea Avatar
    Bush Tea

    Errol Barrow was not God you know.
    ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
    Of course he wasn’t….
    Shiite woman, he was not even a bushman …nor did he have a whacker.

    What he DID have however, was a seemingly complete lack of any INFERIORITY COMPLEX.

    This characteristic was noted among some of the early black professionals who lived in England for a time and then returned to Barbados. It forced them to stand out among the everyday bajan brass bowl who, for example, would judge Tony Cozier to be a ‘legend’ …only because BBC …or some other set of albinos say so…..

    Barrow was of the ilk that would want to use his own judgement to come to a conclusion about the legendary status of TC. Barrow would have talked back to teachers (then mostly white expats) in ways that mendicant local bowls never would; and he would have talked DOWN to many – even many here on BU, …who continue to UNDERVALUE themselves and their human potentialities…

    NO!!
    He was not God, …nor was he a bushman, … but shiite Simple!!!….. What a MAN!!!

  44. David Avatar
    David

    @GP

    This is the saying that sums it up perfectly. Because we are small societies and we knew the person from a child, all their warts, it makes it difficult for us to appreciate them when they have excelled.

  45. David Avatar
    David

    Interesting extract from one GP’s links:

    I remember a West Indian tour of England, before mobile phones, when he came to stay. He was driving from Swansea – and late, even by West Indian standards. Tony’s explanation when he arrived? He was so enjoying his Bob Marley tape on the car radio, and singing along, that he had shot past several motorway exits.

  46. David Avatar
    David

    Another extract:

    Cozier, who supplied a Caribbean perspective at a time when the West Indies team became dominant, was a most welcome visitor. He was a superb journalist, slipping without apparent effort between the press box and the worlds of radio and television. He met every deadline and never missed a beat. And at no time was the story ever about himself. An expert witness, then.

    How TMS, scarred by the rampant egotism of pushy opportunists, could do with some of that professionalism today! Most sports programmes would benefit from a touch of Cozier’s selflessness. But we live in a different age. It is no longer a case of letting a thousand flowers bloom, but letting a thousand dullards boom. How else can one account for the virus called Robbie Savage?

  47. David Avatar
    David

    A nice tale given by Mike Selvey in one of GP links, we remember him don’t we?

    Graham Gooch does a lovely vignette which he recounted to me, an after‑dinner self-deprecating party‑piece designed to show the problems of facing extreme pace in the West Indies, but which actually tells you something of Cozier and the art of cricket commentary as well. Cozier is commentating, says Gooch, and Patrick Patterson is bowling at Sabina Park in Jamaica. “Patterson turns and runs away from the Headley stand end,” he goes, “reaches the crease and bowls. Short! Gooch hooks! Through to Dujon, no run …” It is a nice little story and last year while we were in Barbados, I related it to TC. He liked it well enough, but then said that even as a spoof it wasn’t quite accurate. “I wouldn’t have said ‘he bowled’,” he told me, “firstly because it is obvious he did, so I would only have mentioned it if, like man bites dog, he hadn’t delivered. And secondly, in the time it takes to say ‘and bowls’, the ball has already pitched and would be rearing at Goochie’s throat. So I am already behind.” It was a small lesson but an illustration of the forensic attention to detail of a true professional. Cock a special ear next time you have cricket on the radio and hear how often that succinct rule of his is transgressed.

  48. Donna Avatar
    Donna

    How could a white Barbadian racist spend his whole life following a bunch of “black boys” around the globe reveling in their dominance over other white men and lamenting their fall? How could a white Barbadian racist remain totally immersed in the West Indies cricket after the white colonialists were rudely displaced from its highest echelons by the brilliance of the many black boys? After all cricket was more than just a game to them. It was a superior game that black boys should never have been able to figure out. The whites lost interest in the sport after it was clear they could no longer dominate. They do it with all sports in Barbados. Blacks in. Whites out. But Cozier remained!

  49. MoneyBrain Avatar
    MoneyBrain

    Donna wrote,

    The whites lost interest in the sport after it was clear they could no longer dominate.

    There is much more to this than U mention:

    First, those Whites who were truly dominant in their control of the game died out.

    Second, times change and post Independence it was common for some Black kids at school to do whatever they could to discourage Whites from playing Cricket/ Sports. When I arrived at HC they would not pick me for the Form team until Mr Martindale, Manny the great pacer’s son, saw me mowing down every batsman around and took me to where my Form was playing and instructed the Capt to give me the ball next over. I promptly bowled the batsman ONE ball.
    Some of my cousins avoided and myself and others were absolutely determined to be undettered.

    Third, many Whites appreciated that they had good prospects in terms of career so they invested time in becoming lawyers, businessmen etc instead as at that time Cricket did not pay well. Correct decision for them.

    Fourth, White youth were listening to the Beach Boys et al Surfer music, seeing surf in magasines from the US to AUS/ Sth Afr. There were no teams, time schedules, 6 hrs standing in the Sun every Saturday when U could be spending hours with girls etc. Many in my family became surfers some were very good.

    Ask yourselves this simple question”how come Bim had good white Cricketers in the 1970s eg Robin Bynoe a very good opening batsman by regional standards, Geof Greenidge who started regionally with a Double century and 7 wickets, Tony White in the late 1960s and more—fellas good enough to play for WI and yet by the 1980s there was NO White talent?”
    How come white people from Eng/ Aus/Sth Africa and now NZ (same stock of DNA) have been beating the WI for the last 20 yrs? Probably better organisation in those countries? Maybe the white talent in Bim was not encouraged and developed? (actually the black talent was not properly developed either)
    How come a few years back Nash was imported from Aus having lost his State contract and made the WI team???????????

  50. John Avatar
    John

    Bush Tea May 14, 2016 at 11:03 PM #

    Errol Barrow was not God you know.
    ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
    Of course he wasn’t….
    Shiite woman, he was not even a bushman …nor did he have a whacker.

    What he DID have however, was a seemingly complete lack of any INFERIORITY COMPLEX.
    +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

    … but so too did Donkey!!

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