Assessing The UWI’s rich success and history

- by Barbados Today May 15, 2021

After 15 seasons of competing in the major Barbados Cricket Association (BCA) Championships, Sagicor Life University of West Indies (UWI) are by far the richest club in the island, based on their amazing success.

Granted Division 1 status for the first time in 2006 by the Keith H.L. “Tony” Marshall-led BCA administration, the Cave Hill-based men have been excellent in the three-day, 50-over and Twenty20 Competitions, sweeping to 16 titles all told.

They have captured the Elite (rebranded in 2012 from First) division seven times – 2009, 2010 (shared with Spartan), 2011, 2012, 2015, 2017 and 2018; the Sagicor General Super Cup on four occasions – 2007, 2012, 2015 and 2018 and the Sagicor General T20 Cup a record five times – 2012, 2013, 2015, 2016 and 2017 – after it started in 2008.

Added to winning the Intermediate division in 2016, UWI’s earnings have exceeded $300,000.

It has often been said that they have the resources to continuously dominate local competitions.

This column has occasionally featured the make-up of UWI teams ever since they were “promoted” in 2006. They attained “Club” status in 2017.

I recall representing my school Foundation in an Intermediate division match against UWI at Cave Hill in the early 1970s when UWI boasted of a fairly competitive team and featured several well-known students.

Among them were the fast bowling pair of Trevor Ifill, a graduate of Harrison College and Clairvair Squires, who was schooled at Foundation before moving to Harrison College in the Sixth Form, as well as wicket-keeper/batsman Nowell Gittens, another Harrisonian.

Squires and Ifill were affectionately called ”Squi” and “TI”.

Also in that UWI team was batsman Hesketh Benjamin, a Kittitian, who had represented the Leeward Islands in the Shell Shield first-class Championship.

Other key cricketers studying at Cave Hill at that time were opening batsman and first-class player, Vance Amory, who then played for Spartan in the First division Championship and later became Prime Minister of Nevis, and former Jamaica and West Indies Youth team wicket-keeper/batsman Jeffrey Mordecai.

I have known Squires and his family for a long time, having attended the same Primary school, Providence Boys’, with two of his brothers, Carson and Kenmore – the latter also a contemporary of mine at Foundation.

Yes, I am talking about the now popular sports photojournalist, Kenmore Bynoe, then known as Kenmore Squires before changing his surname after he reached fourth Form at Foundation.

Kenmore had no claim to fame as a cricketer but he was excellent at volleyball and later represented the island in the sport from 1984 to 1990 before becoming president of the Barbados Volleyball Association in 1992 and 1993, and again from 2019 until the present.

But the focus here is on UWI during the decade of the 1970s and the significant strides made in the last 15 years.

To this end, I spoke with Clairvair Squires, who was also an outstanding athlete, and apart from representing Foundation, Harrison College and UWI, played cricket as well for Barclays and Wibix in the lower divisions of the BCA.

HOLDER: Can you kindly give us your athletics background?

SQUIRES: I represented Barbados at the Independence Games in 1970; Grenada Whitsun Games; CAC Games in Jamaica and Pan Am Games in Cali, Colombia in 1971 with people like Orlando Greene, Kingsley Reece, Hector Edwards and Anthony “Mango” Phillips to name a few.

I then held the national record in the triple jump, and I also did the long jump. In my last year at Harrison College, I was also the sprint champion in the 100 and 200 in Class 1, but for the internationals I focussed on the jumps.

Let me take this opportunity to pay tribute to Frank Blackman, who died recently. He teamed up with a Trinidadian, PG Wilson, as my coaches. May he rest in peace.

HOLDER: And what about your association with the UWI cricket team in the 1970s?

SQUIRES: I attended the UWI Cave Hill Campus from October 1972 to April 1975 as my athletic career came to an abrupt end in September 1971 through injury (fallen left foot arch).

Unable to exploit the imminent athletic scholarship in the USA, I depended on UWI for further education which promised “light liberty and learning”. At this point I dropped athletics and my athletic stage name (Clavia Squires) and assumed my real name (Clairvair Squires).

I concluded the 1972 season with the Barclays Intermediate powerhouse cricket team that took on and floored many First division teams (equivalent to the Elite division of today) in the one-day format. As a keen sportsman I was drafted into practice sessions and was selected for the 1973 season and continued playing until I graduated in 1975.

The campus was much smaller than it is now. The graduating class of 1975 was approximately 300 and the enrolment was approximately 1000. While the new Cave Hill campus was originally designed and built in 1967 to accommodate 500 students, the Law faculty, completed in 1970, helped to increase that capacity and more students were available for sport and other extra curricula activities.

The student body primarily comprised Barbadians and OECS citizens. However, by 1972 the Law Faculty attracted Jamaicans, Trinidadians and to a lesser extent Guyanese and its student body had tripled over the first two years to 300. Consequently the UWI cricket teams were selected from players from various Caribbean countries.

HOLDER: So what was the structure of cricket like at Cave Hill between 1972 and 1975?

SQUIRES: The structure of cricket at UWI in those days was quite uncomplicated. In order to scout for talent the Guild would arrange interfaculty games between the three main faculties (Arts and General Studies, Natural Sciences and Law).

The UWI played in two BCA divisions (Intermediate and Second). Students paid guild fees and all sports were funded by the Students’ Guild. It was like in many ways a school team format as every cricketer did not have his personal gear so there some pads and gloves that were shared property. Securing of Umpire coats, stumps, bails and balls was the responsibility of the Head groundsman. The guild provided lunch and paid umpire fees.

The Guild also funded the Cave Hill contingent to the Intercampus games, which were held yearly and rotated among the three campuses, up to 1975. However, the cost had become prohibitive for the Guild and there were four dormant years (1975-79). The University administration agreed to meet the cost of the attendance at the games, which resumed in 1979 and continued biennially up to 2019.

Like so many other events, the 2021 Games would be cancelled as a result of COVID. While academic and non-academic staff played for the UWI in the BCA competitions, only registered bona fide students were allowed to participate in the Inter-campus Games. Of the 32 Games, Cave Hill only won the overall title (Frank Worrell Trophy) five times and Trinidad & Tobago seven times, twice shared with Mona who have dominated the games.

Whereas there was a Director of Sport at Mona, St. Augustine and Cave Hill depended on Student Services Personnel. Jai Jebodhsingh, who was head of Student Services at Cave Hill, was very keen and supportive of Sports at Cave Hill, especially football. Other sports included basketball, netball, table tennis, tennis, hockey, volleyball and track and field.

HOLDER: Who were some of the notable cricketers at Cave Hill in the 1970s?

SQUIRES: Notable cricketers at Cave Hill during 1972-75 include: Nowell Gittens (Harrison College First division captain, Barbados Youth team and Empire Club); Jeffrey Mordecai (a Jamaican, who was captain of the West Indies Youth team); Vance Amory (Nevis); Hesketh Benjamin (Antigua & Barbuda); Kennith Benjamin (Antigua & Barbuda); Trevor Ifill (Harrison College, Empire Club); Winfield Griffith; Martin Cox (Harrison College); Orville Wickham (Lodge School); Alec Charles (St. Lucia), Professor Charles Cadogan (Professor of Mathematics); Professor Peter Roberts (Professor of Language, linguistics and literature); Mr. Pile (non-academic staff).

In the period 1972-75 there was significant cricket talent at Cave Hill. Jeffrey Mordecai was a very special talent. He was a brilliant sportsman and was captain both of cricket and football. He had also captained the West Indies Youth team to England and played as a wicket-keeper/batsman. He would often ask his bowlers to bowl down the leg to restrict the scoring rate. Of course, that was before leg-side wides (in limited overs) and reverse sweeping. While the team did relatively well, there were natural hindrances to achieving top results. Some difficulties included:

1. First division clubs poached the best UWI players. 2. Inconsistent preparation of the grounds. 3. Overseas students in the team missed important games as they returned home for vacation time in May/June and returned to Barbados in October. 4. Exams coincided with the start of the cricket team. 5. The University did not promote sport beyond what the Guild could afford and some structural and strategic changes were delayed. 6. Cows strayed among the dunks trees and across the pitch and outfield, leaving deep footprints. These were added to those of the football boots, which caused damage to the pitch, especially in wet season. The football pitch over-laid the cricket ground. The football field was eventually shifted to the east of the cricket ground.

HOLDER: What impact did Professor Sir Hilary Beckles make on cricket at Cave Hill?

SQUIRES: Professor Sir Hilary Beckles was a blessing to sport at Cave Hill where there was significant improvement in the facilities. He, himself, along with Professor Don Marshall, were important players for UWI much later than 1975.

From an untidy overworked pasture, the Campus got impressive state of the art sport facilities for field hockey, football, track and field and cricket. There was reconstruction and equipping of the pavilion, grading of the field, provision of indoor nets, sports lab, gym and cricket training facilities.

A faculty of Sport was established in 2017 and the Cave Hill Academy of Sport brought new blood to sport across the 98 acres on top and below the hill. While the Guild aimed, through the Inter Campus games, for an objective of a common bond of UWI students and sought to foster physical, social moral and intellectual development of students, the Beckles model went deep to seek to attract and retain elite athletes through high intensity training and education programmes to develop athletic and academic skills. He saw student activities as a vital part of university life.

The strategic and the infrastructure support, available now, was not there in the previous years when students were not facilitated to incorporate sport into their university work. We saw our main objective to get in and get out as fast as possible keeping studies always on the front burner.

In addition, students no longer have to leave UWI and migrate to other teams to play at the highest level and they now have structured training programmes. Members of other cricket clubs in Barbados do not seem to get enough training in between the end of their work-day and sunset so their fitness levels and discipline cannot match that of UWI players. Consequently, UWI now branded the Blackbirds will continue to do well in sponsorship and in winning prizes in the BCA competitions.

Keith Holder is a veteran, award-winning freelance sports journalist, who has been covering local, regional and International cricket since 1980 as a writer and commentator. He has compiled statistics on the Barbados Cricket Association (BCA) Division 1 (now Elite) Championship for over three-and-a-half decades and is responsible for editing the BCA website (www.bcacricket.org). Email: [email protected]

Read our ePaper. Fast. Factual. Free.

Sign up and stay up to date with Barbados' FREE latest news.