… Johnson made Honorary Member
THE SECOND and final Dhaka Bank Test match between the West Indies and Bangladesh saw not only dependable West Indies middle-order batsman Shivnarine Chanderpaul surpass the late Sir Donald Bradman with the number of Test centuries scored, but also Chanderpaul’s Georgetown Cricket Club (GCC) teammate Leon Rayon Johnson.
The left-handed Johnson, a former West Indies Under-19 and present captain of Guyana’s senior team, became the 48th Test player from the Land of Many Waters to wear the maroon cap in a game the West Indies were playing for the 500th time, making him the 300th Test player in the process.
In recognition of this remarkable achievement, the executive members of the renowned GCC, which is the oldest club in the Caribbean at 156 years old, last night honoured Johnson who leaves this morning for Barbados before going on to India with the West Indies team, for his ascendancy to the Test team..
Present at the function were GCC executives including the club’s president Dr Lionel Jaikarran, secretary of Guyana Cricket Board Anand Sanasie and Marketing Manager Raj Singh, Retired Chancellor of the Judiciary Cecil Kennard and other special invitees and club members.
In his feature remarks, Jaikarran reminisced on the days when the 27-year-old Johnson, as a 12-year-old back then, joined the club in 2000 under the tutelage of coach Harold Dhanraj, from where he went on to play for Guyana at the Under-15 level.
“His early career would have seen him play for the national Under-15 team, from where he went on to play for the senior team as a 16-year-old, following which he captained Guyana and West Indies Under-19 teams in 2006.
Johnson later played for the West Indies ODI team in 2008, captained Guyana’s senior team this year and recently opened the batting for the West Indies in the second Dhaka Bank Test match against Bangladesh in St Lucia a couple weeks ago,” said Jaikarran.
He continued, “Today at the age of 27, Leon is embarking on a new journey and what an honour it is for the GCC that Leon joins the long list of distinguished cricketers such as Kenny Wishart, Steven Camacho, Alvin Kallicharran, Carl Hooper, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Reon King, Neil McGarrell and the late Ivor Mendonca,, just to name a few.”
“Leon, you were put on this earth to achieve your greatest self and to do it courageously, so know this, my friend, when you walk out on the ground thousands of miles away from your club, you may feel alone, cherish the thought we will be watching you, rubbing the sleep out of our eyes at 03:00hrs, cheering every stroke you play and crying blood when the call goes against you, but we will be proud as a peacock when you make your maiden ton.”
Jaikarran, along with former club president Paul Chan-a-Sue, Richard Jodha on behalf of Les Ramalho and Vishaul ‘Cheesy’ Singh, all echoed words of encouragement to the left-handed batsman, who in his acknowledgement speech, gave heartfelt thanks, before he was named a Honorary member of the Club.
(By Calvin Roberts)
