Richard Ramlall
By Frederick Halley
HE’s referred to as the “Godfather of cricket in the Scarborough Cricket Association (SCA) and around other cricket circles in Canada. At 82, he doesn’t have the same vigour as an administrator but still finds the time to witness a few matches during the summer, since his love for the sunshine game hasn’t diminished.

Richard Ramlall was born at Peter’s Hall, East Bank Demerara, Guyana on March 6, 1935 and moved to Agricola where he attended Ruimveldt Anglican School under headmistress, Edna Millington, whom he described as one of the most “famous” teachers during that era.
A product of Queen’s College, where he was successful at both the Ordinary and Advanced Levels at the General Certificate (GCE) examinations, Ramlall gained employment at the then Public Works Department in Kingston, Georgetown before departing for England in 1956.

Ramlall left with the sole intention of studying medicine but after two years at King’s College London University had a change of heart since according to him he “couldn’t stand dead bodies.”
The youthful Ramlall competed for, and won a scholarship to Durham University in Newcastle where he studied for a Degree in Mechanical Engineering and due to his outstanding scholastic achievement, copped another scholarship to London University Imperial College, South Kensington. By then, he had already secured a BSC in Mechanical Engineering.

After deferring the second scholarship, Ramlall decided to return home to then British Guiana in 1962 where he took up an offer with Bookers Sugar Estates as a mechanical engineer at Enmore Estate.
Ramlall was promoted to senior engineer after just one year and transferred to Uitvlugt Estate where he worked for about five years. Despite the promise of further advancement and pleas by the management of Bookers Estate, Ramlall migrated to Canada in 1968.
Ramlall recalled being accosted by then Communications Adviser, Eddie Fredericks, who on his way back from Australia, stopped over in Canada urging him to return to Guyana to work for a salary that he (Ramlall) desired, since according to Fredericks, it was because of Ramlall’s initiative that sugar production had doubled at Enmore Estate.

Ramlall’s intention was to still take up the scholarship,which he had deferred, to do a Masters in Production Engineering but once again he had a change of heart and instead went to the University of Waterloo (Canada) where he completed his Masters in Nuclear Engineering in 1968/69.

According to the soft-spoken Ramlall, “I did not take up the offer in Guyana although it was tempting, but I wanted to do something more exciting and at that time, nuclear engineering was more exciting and I was among the first set of persons to work at the Pickering Engineering Station.”

Ramlall pointed out that despite being adequately qualified, he was still subjected to a rigorous eight-month training and examinations before being accepted. His 30-year sojourn saw him traversing between Pickering, Darlington and Oshawa and despite his retirement in 2000, he was still contracted for a further eight years before finally “calling it a day.”

LOVE FOR CRICKET
Touching on his cricketing skills, Ramlall disclosed that he had a brief stint as an all-rounder in Wight Cup tournaments in British Guiana but according to him, he was “spotted” by the secretary of Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), who coincidentally was also an executive of the chemistry lab.
The executive opined that he was a “capable cricketer” and encouraged him “to go down to the ground for a look-see and they recognised that I was a reasonable all-arounder.” Ramlall was immediately recruited into the MCC first division team, and after promising scores was promoted to the top team where he played under Mike Brearley, considered to be one of England’s finest captains.

According to Ramlall, he made his debut in the county side after just one year against his first opponents Surrey, champions from the previous season. Apart from Brearley, other well-known names in the MCC side were Fred Titmus and Dave Parfitt.
Bowling first change, Ramlall had the remarkable figures of nine wickets for 10 runs as Surrey were dismissed for a paltry 28.

Back in Canada, Ramlall concentrated mainly on the administrative aspects of the sport and was a long-standing executive of the SCA which is laying claim to be the first association to introduce T20 cricket on the global scene.

Having held the position of president for Victoria Park Cricket Club (VPCC) for 43 years, Ramlall stood down last year but according to him, cricket is still very much in his blood and he still finds the time to come out to a few matches during the summer, much to the chagrin of his wife, Zlata, with whom he has been married for 57 years,
Ramlall was also instrumental in the popular Inter-city games, featuring Scarborough and Markham but lamented the fact that there was no follow-up and “the whole thing died a natural death, despite full support by the politicians.”