Jamaica's second oldest cricket club celebrates landmark anniversary

October 16, 2019

George Heron has warm memories of his time with Kensington Cricket Club that’s celebrating its 140th anniversary this month.

As captain, he had the casting vote to decide whether late all-rounder Richard ‘Danny Germs’ should be allowed to rejoin the club after participating in the highly controversial tour of then apartheid South Africa in 1982-83.

George Heron

“I didn’t have a problem with him coming back,” said the 57-year-old Toronto Transit Commission employee who played three matches for Jamaica as a middle-order batsmen in the 1986 regional tournament. “In fact, Richard was like a mentor to most of the young guys as we were in a rebuilding process.”

Wayne Lewis, who represented Jamaica at the senior level and is an analyst with SportsMax, encouraged Heron to join Kensington.

“We played youth cricket together and he felt I was wasting my time at St. Catherine,” said Heron who turned out for Commonwealth and Malton in the Toronto District Cricket Association league. “We won five straight Senior Cup titles in my seven seasons with Kensington and I was the captain for a few of those.”

Jamaica’s second oldest cricket club after Kingston founded 16 years earlier in 1863, Kensington started as a youth organization – St. Andrew Juniors Cricket Club – whose St. George’s College members left with their headmaster to form the Marie Villa College in 1877.

In 1901, the trailblazing club introduced the Tea Break to Jamaican cricket and, eight years later, hosted the touring Philadelphia Cricket team during its three-match tour of the island.

With a predominantly middle-class urban White membership in its early years, the club evolved to become a welcoming environment for young men in inner-city Eastern Kingston.

Former Cricket West Indies President Dave Cameron has been a lifelong club member.

“My mother has been living behind the club since 1980, so it was natural that I would be associated with Kensington,” he said. “I used to score the board, take out water and work in the bar before playing for the club. This is where my love for the sport started and I don’t think I would have accomplished all that I have in the game had it not been for Kensington which has been very good to me and many others.”

Dave Cameron (l), Lorna Litchmore, Brian Blair, long-time member Shane Jones, Carole Beckford & Wavell Hinds

Veterans taking younger players under their wings and providing them with guidance and job opportunities caught Cameron’s attention.

“I was the scorer when Patrick Patterson was playing under Basil ‘Shotgun’ Williams who was the captain,” he recalled. “I witnessed numerous fights in the dressing room after matches. When the dust settled, Williams took Patterson home, picked him up the next day and brought him to the ground and ensured that he came to practice during the week. If he needed a job, Basil helped him find one.”

Fast bowler Chester Watson, who played seven Tests for the West Indies in the early 1960s, helped current club captain Brian Blair secure his first job in 1991. Starting out picking parts in the warehouse, Blair is the Sales Manager at Stewart Industrial which is one of Jamaica’s largest distributors of heavy equipment and commercial vehicles.

“Those kinds of things are really what I like about this club,” Cameron said. “At the beginning of the new school year in September, we make sure that every young member has books, uniforms and lunch money so they can focus on their school work. We want our youths to stay in school and do well. This is more than a cricket club. It’s a community hub.”

When former West Indies left-handed opener Wavell Hinds made his Kensington senior team debut against the Jamaica Defence Force in January 1990, Cameron was his captain.

“What I like most about this club is that the focus isn’t only on cricket,” said the 43-year-old Camperdown High School graduate who represented the West Indies in 45 Tests and 119 One-Day Internationals. “It’s about giving young people life skills and preparing them for a career after cricket.”

Hinds took that lesson to heart.

After retiring from professional cricket eight years ago, he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Media & Communication and a Master’s in Management Studies from the University of the West Indies and is the West Indies Players’ Association (WIPA) Chief Executive Officer.

Ask Hinds what his favourite Kensington memory is and the quick response is, ‘Being around Basil Williams’ who died in Atlanta in October 2015.

“Basil always held each club member accountable for their actions,” said Hinds whose 15-year-old twins, Corey – a left handed opener – and Alex – a left-arm spinner, attend Wolmer’s and are Kensington members. “He didn’t facilitate or encourage an ‘excuse culture’. The principles I learnt from him will remain with me for the rest of my life.”

Wavell Hinds with twin sons Corey (l) & Alex Hinds

Like most Caribbean clubs, Kensington – which won the Jam T20 Bashment championship last July -- is seeking funding to maintain its facilities.

“We are doing some internal crowdfunding and putting together a business plan to approach corporate Jamaica,” said Hinds who captains and coaches the club’s Junior Cup team. “The Culture, Health, Arts, Sports and Education (CHASE) Fund has also helped with some financial support that has been used to enhance the clubhouse.”

The club president for the last 19 years, Cameron succeeded Vincent Wong who passed away four years ago at age 99.

“This was a man who gave so much to this club until the very end,” he said. “He used to bring whatever he had for the club on Thursdays and when he could no longer drive, he took a taxi to come here with his contributions. I am fortunate to have taken over from him.”

In 2005, Kensington hosted its inaugural first-class game featuring Jamaica and the Leeward Islands. The match ended in a draw.

The elegant Lawrence Rowe was the first batsman to score a double hundred and century on Test debut in 1972. He was also the first Jamaican to record a Test triple century – 302 -- against England in Barbados four years later.

Before playing for the West Indies, Rowe’s skills were honed at Kensington Cricket Club.

George Headley, the first great West Indian batsman and first Black player to captain the West Indies, also spent three seasons at the club after leaving neighbouring Lucas in 1947. So too did his distant cousin, Sir Frank Worrell, who also led the West Indies. The Barbadian, who played two seasons with Boys Town in the early 1960s -- was Headley’s teammate at Kensington after the Second World War.