It is the first week of May in 1967. The infant Caribbean nation of Barbados is not five months old, yet it is already having to mourn one of its fathers, at Westminster Abbey, no less. The first sportsperson afforded such an honour, Frank Worrell's memorial service is attended by over 1,000 mourners. As the abbey bells are rung, half-muffled, for the ideal cricketer, Frankie's flag flies from the belfry. Blue for the sky. Gold for the sand. Blue for the ocean.
In 1960, Frank Worrell was appointed the first Black captain of the West Indies cricket team. Within three years he was knighted; within five, the West Indies were the champions of the world and would come to dominate cricket with their wicked bowling and electrifying play. Yet two years later, in 1967, Worrell died of leukaemia and cricket lost its 'ideal cricketer'.
But Worrell wasn't merely an extraordinarily talented and record-breaking sportsman. By the time he died he was a founder of the University of the West Indies and a Jamaican senator. The university and the cricket team were the two truly unifying elements across a fractious and diverse region - his achievements made him hugely significant in the development of Caribbean identity and he changed West Indies cricket forever.
In Worrell, Simon Lister, author of Fire in Babylon, brings Worrell's story up to date. He speaks to those who played with and against him and to those who knew him best, resulting in a timely reappraisal of Worrell's life, his importance to the Caribbean, and his cricketing legacy.
