THE Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport (MCYS) in a press release, yesterday expressed condolences to the wife and family of former national opener Colin Wiltshire who passed away in a hospital in neighbouring Trinidad and Tobago last Friday.

According to the press release, he was once a tower of strength for the Guyana national cricket team which he represented as an opening batsman in the 1960s, playing many first class matches with a career-best innings of 197 against the Combined Islands.

Wiltshire was a prominent fixture at the Demerara Cricket Club where he scored heavily and consistently. He also represented Demerara at the Inter-county level and was a genuine team player when he represented the country.

He played alongside such stalwarts as Glendon Gibbs, the late Leslie Amsterdam and Pat Legall, Charlie Stayers, Ivor Mendonca and Sir Clyde Walcott and was certainly an inspiration to young players, with whom he shared his knowledge of the game and even strategic planning of an innings.

Wiltshire’s son Garfield was a former national and Caribbean squash champion and at present his granddaughter is emulating her father, as she is now excelling in the sport.

Prior to his death, Wiltshire had displayed considerable skills as a sports/cricketing administrator and no doubt his loss would diminish some of the viability of the boards he once served on.

During this sad time, both the MCYS and the National Sports Council (NSC) would like to express our sincere sympathy to the dear wife Sibil, children, grandchildren, relatives and friends of the late Colin Wiltshire.

May his soul rest in peace even as his name lives on in Guyana’s cricket history.