Lloyd cops Most Outstanding Cricketer award
By Faizool Deo
Guyana Chronicle
April 20, 2004
CLIVE Hubert Lloyd, regarded as the most successful West Indies captain after leading the region to two World Cup wins and whipping England 5-0 in the 1984 Test series in England, was on Sunday night named the Most Outstanding Guyanese cricketer in the 75 years of Guyanese Test cricket in the Scotiabank Jubilee Gala held at the Umana Yana.
Lloyd also won the prize for the best performance in a One-day International, his blistering 102 propelling West Indies to victory against Australia in the Lord’s final in 1975 to win the inaugural World Cup.
Along with Lloyd, the four other Guyanese West Indies cricketers in the top five include Lloyd’s cousin, off-spinner Lance Gibbs, batting maestro Rohan Kanhai, stylish middle-order batsman Carl Hooper and current West Indian middle-order batsman Shivnarine Chanderpaul.
These five cricketers will join five from Barbados, five from Trinidad and Tobago, five Jamaicans and five from the Windward and Leeward Islands which list will then be narrowed down to the five greatest West Indian cricketers at a function to be held in England on July 27.
The other awards given out on Sunday night were that of best batsman which went to Rohan Kanhai for his 256 against India in the 1958-1959 series in India; best bowler to former West Indies pace bowler Colin Croft for his eight wickets for 29 runs against Pakistan in the 1976-77 series.
Guyana’s most acclaimed cricket commentator Joseph ‘Reds’ Perreira received a special award for his work as a commentator while long-standing scorer Ron Legall got his for his 40 years in that field.
In his acceptance speech, which was read by Ms Beverly Harper, Lloyd who led the West Indies in a record 74 Tests matches, said that he was honoured and delighted with the two awards. The ‘Super Cat’ also thanked the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) and Scotiabank for the Jubilee celebration. He also had special praise for the people of Guyana for assisting in bestowing the honour upon him.
Lloyd, who was the first Guyanese to reach 100 Test matches, amassed 7 515 runs at a career average of 46.68, including 19 centuries in 110 Tests, 14 of which he scored as captain of the side during the period of 1974-1985.
Apart with his captaincy and batting, Lloyd was also a brilliant cover fielder, taking 90 catches and claiming ten wickets with his right-arm medium pace.
Lloyd also led Guyana to the four-day championship titles in 1975 and 1983 and the one-day in 1983.
When Barbados held their nomination, former West Indian captain Garfield Sobers won the most outstanding award.
Among those at Sunday night’s presentation ceremony were President Bharrat Jagdeo, Minister of Culture Youth and Sport Gail Teixeira, president of the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) Teddy Griffith and president of the Guyana Cricket Board Chetram Singh.