Cricket West Indies president, Ricky Skerritt, has said the knighthoods conferred on West Indies legends Clive Lloyd and Gordon Greenidge were “much deserved”, in light of their sterling contribution to the “global success” of Caribbean cricket.
Both Lloyd and Greenidge, products of the golden generation of West Indies cricket, were honoured with the prestigious titles in the Queen’s New Year’s list announced Friday.
“All West Indians everywhere should welcome such high level recognition for the outstanding contributions to the development and promotion of the game of cricket by both former stars, and we should all be proud of their much deserved accolades,” said Skerritt.
“Messrs Lloyd and Greenidge were two of the finest cricketers ever to represent the West Indies on the global stage, and they will join the distinguished list of former West Indian greats who have been previously knighted for giving so much towards the global success of West Indies cricket.”
The 75-year-old Lloyd captained West Indies to World Cup triumphs in 1975 and 1979 and was credited for moulding the West Indies side of the late 1970s and early 1980s into a dominant force in world cricket.
A hard-hitting left-hander, the Guyanese gathered 7,515 runs at an average of more than 46 from 110 Tests, with 19 hundreds.
Lloyd also served as West Indies team manager and chief selector, and also held prominent roles with the International Cricket Council as match referee and as a member of their cricket committee.
“Clive Hubert Lloyd was a tremendous leader who represented everything that is great about us as a West Indian people,” Skerritt pointed out.
“He lifted the ICC World Cup on two occasions – the symbol that we were the true kings of the world. He changed the way the game was played and set a standard so high, the world had to follow.”
Greenidge, meanwhile, emerged as one of the finest opening batsmen in the history of the Test game, in a legendary alliance with fellow Barbadian Desmond Haynes.
Considered one of the technical geniuses of the game, the 68-year-old was a member of the 1975 and 1979 World Cup-winning sides. He etched his name in history with a century in both innings of the 1976 Old Trafford Test and double hundreds on the 1984 tour of England.
Overall, Greenidge played 108 Test matches and scored 7,558 runs at an average of 44, with 19 centuries.
“Cuthbert Gordon Greenidge, a true master batsman, who was the embodiment of strength and courage, will go down in history as one of the greatest opening batsmen to step on the cricket field – with a special batting talent that he perfected into an art by virtue of hard work and dedication,” Skerritt said.
Conde Riley, the Barbados Cricket Association president and CWI director, was honoured with the title of Order of the British Empire (OBE) for his “services in the field of sport and in particular cricket administration”.
