Tony BeccaTO EVERY man, death cometh sooner or later, and for George Sterling, it came on Thursday morning on the day of the first one-day international between the West Indies and India, on a day when, regardless of what was happening elsewhere, he would have been at Sabina Park.
Cricket was his life, he loved the sweet sound of bat hitting ball, he enjoyed the contest between bat and ball and he would have been at Sabina Park to see Brian Lara, Chris Gayle, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Marlon Samuels, Rahul Dravid, Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh, Mohammed Kaif and Mahendra Dhoni matching their skills with the bat against the likes of Munaf Patel, Rudra Pratap Singh, Ajit Agarkar and Harbhajan Singh, Fidel Edwards, Jerome Taylor and Ian Bradshaw.
MEMBER OF MELBOURNE
As a member of Melbourne, as the president of the club for 10 years and the second vice-president when he passed away, he would have been pleased that Samuels and Carlton Baugh Jnr. were two of the four Jamaicans in the West Indies team and as the manager of the West Indies Youth team to England in 1993 he would also have been pleased that of the four youngsters who went on to represent the West Indies, Chanderpaul and Bradshaw were also in the team.
I can still hear him telling me, on his return from England, not only of Dinanath Ramnarine's skill as a legspinner, not only of Colin Stuart's skill as a pace bowler, but also of the promise of Chanderpaul as a batsman, the promise of Bradshaw as a captain, an all-rounder and more so as a left-arm swing bowler, and I can imagine him looking at Bradshaw during his first impressive spell on Thursday afternoon, looking at me, and with a smile, reminding me of his prophecy 13 years ago.
As a cricketer, Sterling represented Jamaica Colts and captained Melbourne for a number of seasons including 1968 when Melbourne won the Senior Cup for the first time in many years. As an administrator, Sterling, who also managed the Jamaica team, including 1988 and 1989 when Jamaica won the regional four-day title, served as a member of the Jamaica Cricket Association, as first-vice-president of the JCA, and as a member of the West Indies Cricket Board.
There was no greater love than cricket for George Sterling and although he was a successful president of the Kiwanis Club of North St. Andrew, most of his life was dedicated to cricket to serving, as a volunteer, the game which gave him so much pleasure on and off the field.
Service for George meant helping others achieve their goals and there are many who achieved their goals because of the advice, the counselling and the grooming they received from him from the man who is still known as 'Sir G' and 'Manage' by almost every player who passed through his hands.
SERVICE
Service also meant maintaining clubs like Melbourne institutions that provide the facilities and the opportunity for young players to develop their skill, and when Melbourne folded at Melbourne Park in 1962, it was that kind of service, that kind of dedication that not only kept it going but which has made it probably even more successful than ever before.
But for nine dedicated and committed souls, including the likes of Sterling, the late Eric Morin, the late Ivan Heron and the late Ralph Holding, Teddy Griffith, Ruddy Williams, Ruddy Marzouca and Keith Reece, who decided that Melbourne must live on, Melbourne today would have nothing but a blessed memory.
Cricket is bigger than any man. Sterling's contribution, however, was such that the game will hardly be the same without him. As someone said on Thursday evening at Sabina Park, he was a gentleman.
He was also a friend to many, and he was a friend to me.
Goodbye, my friend.
