“CRICKET, LOVELY CRICKET” by Des Kelly

We, lucky people of Australia, have such an abundance of “entertainment”to view on our television screens each and every day & night (for insomniacs), it is absolutely incredible. At the moment, I start with the “News” on Channel 2, which continues all day on Channel 24. No-one can say that they are not aware of the “current news”, unless, of course, they leave “the box” switched off all day, which I now do, myself sometimes, when I have to concentrate on “writing” for eLanka, our top website in Oz.,or writing “important e’mails to various folk, like the Premier of Victoria, for example, offering his Government another “original composition” entitled “It’s You”, a Road-Safety Song, entirely gratis, in the hope that if it is “aired” at peak-hours, especially, drivers of various vehicles (who generally have their “radios” on, as they drive, hear my lyrics and, through pure psychology, try to drive & “arrive “SAFELY”.

With the millions of dollars being spent on this most important subject, even if one life is “saved by a song”, I then reckon that it would be fully worth the effort.

So far, (over a fortnight, now), Mr.Andrews has not acknowledged my e’mail, and, in the meantime our road-toll keeps rising, people are dying on our roads, others lie, seriously injured, in hospitals around Victoria, families and friends of the victims, in turmoil & our “Breaking-News” keeps running amok. I do not say, for one moment, that my song will STOP the road-toll, but, Mr.Premier, this IS worth a try, and it’s not going to cost you ANYTHING.

Des, will you stop going off on a bloody tangent,? what the hell has all this got to do with CRICKET ?!!

“Well, stop rubbing your balls with sandpaper, stop getting your balls into water-traps on the golf course, stop hitting your balls with your tennis racquets & “talking balls” to your tennis referees after smashing your balls AND your racquets, and I’ll be happy to tell you”.

Even while the “greatest” viewer sport in the entire World, “Aussie-rules” footy is in progress right now, CRICKET, both local & “The World-Cup” is also in sharp focus. When played as it SHOULD be played, cricket is a superb game. I still remember even our inter-inter-collegiate matches played while I was at St,Peter’s College, Bambalapitiya. The problem here, was that they kept WINNING every match they played. The “Josephians, Thomians, Royalists, and all the rest did not have a chance. I wonder how many of our Lankan/Aussies remember that Clive Inman, who was a classmate of mine, scored the “fastest-fifty” of that era and got his name into the Guinness book of records, that our Captain, H.I.K.(Herbert,I.K.) not only led the team, he was the ONLY wicket-keeper to “stump” Don.Tallon, who was an Englishman, and, the BEST wicket-keeper in the World, at the time. It is a pleasure, even to write about these guys.

I was into sports too, as a boy. I played a fair game of “ping-pong” or “table-tennis”, even won a little silver cup that could only be viewed through a magnifying glass. Why I even bother to write about all this, I’ll never know. Anyway, getting back to Cricket, lovely Cricket, let me inform all my readers that, included in about a hundred of my original compositions, are two Calypso’s. One was “Calypso-d-Ceylon” and the other was “Calypso-d-Windies”. I did NOT suffer with flatulence at that time, it’s the West Indies, or more to the point, the West Indian Cricket Team, I am talking about, here. Unfortunately, I cannot remember the exact year, but immediately after beating the Aussies over here, they came to Ceylon, for an exhibition “match” I think.

I was in the Royal Ceylon Navy then, so it was possibly in the mud 1950’s. I had heard so much about this team, I wanted, very much, to see them play, so, being stationed at H.M.Cy.S Gemunu, in Colombo, at the time, I took myself off to the office of the “Times” Newspaper in Fort, who were selling the tickets for this special match. When I got there, the queue for tickets was far too long, so I decided that I would go back to barracks and try a different method of securing a ticket. The same day, I sat myself down to write my tribute to this superb cricket team, brought ALL their names into my lyrics, got them typed out, and took this back to the “Times” office. There was still a long queue, but being proudly in my uniform, I told the peon in charge, that I wanted to see the Editor with this song I had written & like all Newspaper Editors, anxious for any “scoop” they could get, called me into his office and read my “Calypso”.

He then told me that he couldn’t pay me for this (so what’s new)?, but gave me what was called a “gold-pass” to the match, which enabled me to actually share the same room with this team, at the ground, for the entire match. I met all these great Cricketers, told them to watch out for my song, dedicated to them, in the next issue of the”Times of Ceylon”

& watched them give Lanka a sound beating, after which, they went to India and thrashed the Indian Team as well.

I remember this West Indian Cricket Team as the best exponents of Cricket, as it was, then. This was my tribute to a wonderful Cricket Team.

“CALYPSO D/WINDIES”

If ever there was any Cricket-Team

That hit the “top-rung” in the World’s esteem

There wouldn’t be even the slightest doubt

That it’s the “Windies” we are talking about

At every “test-match” in Australia

Their’s, was a much superior game, by far

They laughed at mistakes umpire Hoy had made

And played bright cricket, as it should be played

From Captain Worrel, to their last batsman

Their one great moral was to “stand & slam”

The “Windies” bowling, it was quite the same

With Garfield Sobers, Gibbs & “Hall” of fame

A man called “Gerry”, right behind the stumps

No ball got past, despite the “bumps”

Still another batsmen, full of “do or die”

Was the West Indies Champ, Rohan Kanhai

Then Hunte & Cammie Smith were both quite fine

So were Ramahadin and Valentine

There was bowler Chester Watson, who tried as hard

He had all the Aussie batsmen always on their guard

And now, a word about their Seymour Nurse

Who “mimics” Nat King Cole & loves to “mime-in-verse”

The “Windies” love to hear him sing his songs

But, on the cricket field, he still belongs

Wherever they may go, I’m sure they’ll cause a “stir”

Says Gerry Gomez, their team-manager

And you can bet, that what he says, is true

He knows “his boys” much mire than me or you

Unless you want to see me “behind bars”

I must not forget to mention their “extras”

Cos, in case the ‘Windies” needed any aid

They had, in every “extra”, men who’d “made the grade”

It’s for their winsome attitude of sheer pluck

That we, in Ceylon, wish them all the luck

And, while they travel over land and seas

May the Lord above keep watch over the “West Indies”.

Desmond Kelly

Star of eLanka

(Editor-in-Chief).