By Frederick Halley

ONKAR Singh is a cricket commentator with a difference. He’s not heard on radio or television but his on-the-spot coverage of both hard and softball cricket has caught the attention of many over the past 16 years or so, prompting him to describe himself as “the pioneer of on-field coverage.”It all started as a fun when his team, New York X1, were booted out of the 2000 World Cup softball tournament in Florida. According to the Guyana-born Singh, who now resides in Albany, New York, for the fun of it, he picked up a mike on the sidelines and started to describe the action on the field of play.
Singh explained that after a few minutes, he ceased the commentary but upon doing so was accosted by former Guyana and West Indies player Faoud Bacchus as to why he had stopped. This, according to Singh, inspired and prompted him to continue, signalling the start of what is still a rewarding part-time career.
To date, Singh, who told Chronicle Sports that he idolizes fellow Guyanese Joseph “Reds” Perreira, has been a constant performer mostly at international softball games in New York and Florida and has also featured at two Guyana Softball Cup in his homeland. He’s also likely to be a part of the upcoming Guyana Floodlights Softball Cricket Association (GFSCA) sixth tournament, set for November 4-6 next.
Singh is however not confined to softball and has also done some hard ball matches in North America, including the West Indies Legends versus New York Legends which featured former players like Alvin Kallicharran, Gordon Greenidge, Gus Logie, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Pedro Collins and Bacchus.
Pointing out why he’s an ardent fan of Perreira and patterns himself after the legendary Guyanese commentator, Singh pointed out that his (Perreira) description of on-field plays is unmatched.
Prior to migrating to New York in 1996, Singh was no slouch in the cricket arena in Guyana, having represented Georgetown and subsequently Demerara in the Inter-county Under-19 tournament, playing alongside the likes of former West indies player Carl Hooper, former Guyana wicker-keeper Sheik Mohamed, fast bowler Linden Fraser, Shivnauth Seeram and Anil Solomon,among others. His role in the team was that of an off-spinning all-rounder.
Singh also spent three years in Trinidad and Tobago, representing Crampton Cricket Club in the first division competition where his teammates included former West indies players Ian Bishop and Phil Simmons.
In 1989, Singh turned his attention fully to softball cricket, playing exclusively for Durban Cricket Club alongside Wayne Jones and the late Benegal Singh, two players he opined as the most complete batsmen in softball cricket. He rates a nine-wicket haul and an innings of 49 not out among his best performances for Durban.
Work commitments have severely curtailed his ability to play softball cricket in New York but Singh nevertheless still competes in the Over-40 division occasionally. He previously played for Lords Cricket Club in Queens, New York,and he is credited with slamming two centuries and several half-centuries.He also skippered the Demerara (New York) Inter-county team to three consecutive championships.
Born and raised in Campbellville, Greater Georgetown, Singh attended Redeemer Lutheran School and Indian Education Trust College,which was subsequently renamed Richard Ishmael Secondary School.