Dear Editor,
I played both football and cricket for my high school, Presentation Brothers (Boys) College, in Grenada in the early 1950s. In fact, I was the first captain of our first division cricket team, which was quite average. Our football team was exceptional, mainly because of two genius forwards. Our biggest games were played against the only other boys secondary school (GBSS) in the island. Those inter-col games were special. The thing that stands out most in my memory, though, was just how popular college boys sporting teams were, especially football. Because we were so close to Trinidad and followed sport there very closely I know that QRC and St Mary`s College teams were just as popular, if not more popular than ours.
It has occurred to me recently that West Indian cricket teams in the last two decades or so did not look and talk like college boys of that era. I suspect that was one of the reasons they were not well liked. My suspicions are strengthened by reflecting on what CEO Hillaire had said about the lack of education of our cricketers during his term of office. I suspect that the love of the current team and the desire of management to not break up the team by bringing back some experienced players reflects that state of mind. I have enormous faith in education generally, but I do not believe that to be an appropriate state of mind.
Yours faithfully,
Romain Pitt
