Hand-in-hand history of cricket in Guyana (part 2) Seecharran launches book ‘A stubborn Mediocrity’

Dec 02, 2018 Sports

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By Sean Devers

With plenty of pomp and splendour and with a ‘who’s who’ of cricketing personalities present at the GCC pavilion at the world famous Bourda, the Hand-in-Hand Group of Companies

collaborated with historian Clem Seecharan to launch volume two of his 758-page History of cricket in Guyana 1898-1914 ‘‘A stubborn Mediocrity’ on Friday night.
The venue itself was a shrine of nostalgia and history as West Indies had won its first ever Test at Bourda in 1930 when they beat England by an innings and 89 runs with Guyanese Maurius Fernandes becoming the first West Indian Captain to win a Test match.
Members of four-times defending Regional First-Class Champions Guyana Jaguars squad along with CWI Secretary and a Director of Windies Cricket Inc. Anand Sanasie were present at the oldest Cricket Club in the West Indies.
Several Cricket Administrators, former players, the entire Marketing department of Hand-in-Hand, the media and Cricket Historians Pastor Winston McGowan and Charmayne Walker and Dr Shivnarine Chanderpaul were among the large turn-out in the audience.

Those at the head table of the well organised Event, where Chairman of the Hand-in-Hand Group of Companies, Director/Fire Manager Howard Cox, former West Indies off-spinner Roger Harper, Sports Minister Dr George Norton, the first spinner to claim 300 Test wickets Lance Gibbs and Hand-in-Hand Sales Manager Shanomae Baptiste who give the vote of thanks.
A wide variety of beverages and finger food was severed for those present, while they were provided with entertainment by Steel Pan renditions of various genres of Music including Bollywood’s Kuch Kuch Hota Hai’ before and after some inspiring and educational speeches by those at the head table.
Cox did a wonderful job as MC, while Carpenter provided the Chairman’s remarks and acknowledgement with the Author explaining why he named this volume ‘A stubborn Mediocrity’ before he autographed several of his books which were given away to Guests.

Seecharan spoke of the challenges of finding information from the early days when doing research and the Malaria epidemic caused by Mosquito bites caused a stagnation of the game in British Guiana in the decade and a half before the great war.
Seecharan said it was not easy to explain since GCC was the premier club in the Colony; being founded in 1858 and was an august institution and sole custodian of the game for many decades.
“GCC was vibrant in fostering Regional cricket and initiating several contests with English touring teams to the region between 1895 and the Great War, in addition to two West Indies tours of England, 1900 and 1906.
Yet Guyana’s cricket was marooned on a plateau of underachievement, despite GCC’s unflagging enterprise in engaging the services of three of the best pioneer pace bowlers in the region; Tom Burton, ‘Float’ Woods and Oliver Layne, all Barbados born, all none White, Guyana’s cricket was stained with a “Stubborn mediocrity” informed Seecharan.

According to Seecharan, the GCC remained enmeshed in the race, colour and class assumptions of the age. They were tardy in participating in local club cricket against coloured and black teams in Georgetown. This prolonged stagnation of the colonial game; their own included.
Seecharan grew up in East Berbice – Corentyne, and attended the Sheet Anchor Anglican School, the Berbice Educational Institute, and Queen’s College in Guyana.
He studied at McMaster University in Canada, and taught Caribbean Studies at the University of Guyana for some years, before completing his doctorate in History at the University of Warwick in 1990 before joining the staff of the University of North London (now a part of London Metropolitan University), where he was head of Caribbean studies since 1994, and was awarded a professorship in 2002.
Seecharan is formally retired, having last taught on the Caribbean Studies programme at London Metropolitan University.
He continues educational and advocacy work informally, as in his recent contribution to a discussion on the legacy of former Guyanese Marxist leader Cheddi Jagan, hosted by the Guyanese High Commission in London on March of this year.
The 55-year-old Harper, who played 25 Tests and 105 ODIs, provided a detailed and informative account of the career of Gibbs, whom he described as his idol and a DCC man despite him now residing in Florida as he introduced Gibbs who took 309 Test wickets from 79 Tests and played the first of his three ODIs against England at Leeds in 1973.
“He was the first spinner to pass 300 wickets and took 18 five-wicket hauls while conceding his runs at a staggering 1.99 per over. He was left out of the first two Tests in Australia, but he took three wickets in four balls at Sydney and a hat-trick in the next Test at Adelaide.
The following winter he returned the remarkable figures of 8-38 from 53.3 overs against India in Barbados, all eight wickets coming in a 15-over spell at a cost of just six runs. After his retirement he settled in the USA and was Manager on the 1991 West Indies tour of England,” Harper said of his fellow DCC off-spinner.
Gibbs, looking very spritely at 82, informed Seecharan that while he had done a great job with the support of Hand-in-Hand, he left out an important area in the early devolvement of grass roots cricket in British Guiana.
“You left out back yard cricket which unique rules. There was get the ball bowl, out the man bat, which developed all-rounder skills. There was also one tip two tip which produced attacking batting and there was also the rule of six and out. If you hit the ball out of the yard it was a six but you were out, while it taught you to keep the ball on the ground,” said Gibbs, who grew up in Queenstown and began as a leg-spinner.
At a time when most young spinners bowl too flat and fast, Gibbs said spin bowling requires discipline, accuracy, intelligence and deceptive flight.
Dr Norton spoke on behalf of the Government of Guyana and praised Hand-in-hand for their sponsorship support and urged more Companies to support Sports, while the National Archives of Guyana, the University of Guyana, the National Library of Guyana and the National Trust of Guyana were also presented with copies of the book.

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