Editorial: Birthday Bash for Father of Cricket, Mr. Jimmy Powell

By Flynn Bush

Sunday afternoon, at the facility named in his honor, a stalwart in the cricket community was the subject of much praise and celebration. Mr. Jimmy Powell, having just had a birthday, was the reason that a crowd of well-wishers made the trek to the islands’ best cricket facility in West Bay. The event was organized by the Cayman Islands Cricket Masters Association to commemorate the Mr. Powell’s 79th birthday.

Mr. Jimmy is widely regarded as 'The Father of Cayman Cricket' for his significant contribution to the development of cricket in the Cayman Islands, and in West Bay in particular. He was instrumental in the development of the main cricket facility in the Cayman Islands, now appropriately named the Jimmy Powell Oval. He is a former President of the Cayman Islands Cricket Association (now Cayman Cricket) and he always gave generously of his time and personal resources over the past decades. Everything that he did was in support of the game's development.

On the day, there was a game planned to mark the celebration. However, heavy rainfall the preceding two days affected the preparation of the pitch. That did not however deter many of the guests who displayed their skills (or lack thereof) on a temporary flex pitch which was laid in the outfield.

There was a good turnout of dignitaries including the Deputy Governor, Mr. Franz Manderson; the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly, Mr. McKeeva Bush; Deputy Chief Officer , Mr. Joel Francis; former Cayman Islands Cricket Association presidents Walton Gooding and Courtney Myles, former Technical Director Theo Cuffy; and a number of Mr. Jimmy's family, friends and former teammates.

As for the game, Mr. Jimmy insists that the game will be replayed and it is understood that plans are in place to have it played next Sunday. Cayman Cricket President, Hector Robinson stated, “Overall it was a great event. We would have liked to have had the game, though, as it would have been a fitting tribute to Mr. Powell.”

For us all, the lesson to learn from this event is that there are so many individuals among us who have contributed greatly to the betterment of our society. As time goes on, and these individuals get older, we often have a tendency to overlook them. Simply overlooking them does not negate their contributions to our community; it only means that we have become that much less sensitive and aware of our own culture. On this day, Mr. Jimmy was heralded for his contributions to the sport of cricket, to those who are involved in this sport, and to his country. Thank you. Mr. Jimmy.