John Young cricket
It’s a good thing a cricketer who played for Border isn’t on this trip for the Proteas. Team manager Goolam Rajah would have had some explaining to do to customs officials if the team had included “Dagga” Snyman. Then again, last week’s home team has Daren Ganga.
Barbados, venue of the third Test, used to have the best cricketers but it still produces the best names: Vasbert Conniel Drakes, Sylvester Theopholis Clarke, Emerson Nathaniell Trotman and Franklyn Dacosta Stephenson are among the Bajan pros who’ve played in South Africa. Another one still playing in Potchefstroom rather lets the side down with just Mark and John as names but then Mr Lavine was born in the town of Black Bess, so that’s all right.
One of Barbados’s grandest cricke-ters had a name to match: Frank Mortimore Maglinne Worrell.
Classical is big in the Caribbean. The father of England A captain Mark Alleyne still lives in Barbados and his name is Euclid. He is married to Hyacinth Cordeilla. Alexander and Constantine played for Jamaica and Trinidad respectively.
But the best name comes from Fiji, a nation that hasn’t played in the World Cup yet. Programme producers are praying it will stay that way. One of their batsmen, IL Bula, might insist on his full name being printed: Ilekena Lasarusa Talebulamaineiilikenamainavaleniveivaka- bulaimaina-kulalakeba.
My personal favourites appear in a quintessentially English book about dead cricketers. It’s called Cricketers Lives. For grandiosity, even Barbados can’t match these gents who once played first class cricket; Right Honourable Sir Spence Cecil Brabazon Ponsonby-Fayne and The Reverend The Honourable Wingfield Stratford Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes.