FORMER West Indies captain Rohan Kanhai has paid his own personal tribute to “my great friend” Sonny Ramadhin.
Kanhai, 86, described Sonny, with whom he had been friends for 66 years, as a great of the game.
“He was one of the best spin bowlers of his time and he and Alf Valentine had a tremendous partnership, and he gave great service to West Indies cricket,” he explained.
Kanhai, who lives on the Fylde coast, remained in close contact.
He said: “We would speak every fortnight and I will miss him badly as we can’t have our regular chats anymore.
“It grieves me the passing of my great friend. He was a very quiet individual, an honest man, a family man and a gentleman.
“I was proud to know him and also to play with him,”
Kanhai, who played 79 Tests and was widely considered one of the best batsmen of the 1960s, first met Sonny in 1956 when they were both selected to play in a West Indies Select X1 against a Jim Swanton X1 at Queens Park Oval, Port of Spain, Trinidad.
Everton Weekes, Gary Sobers and Collie Smith flew back from a tour of New Zealand for the match.
The Guyana-raised Kanhai added they became great friends during the West Indies Tour of England in 1957.
He made his Test debut at Edgbaston in the game when he was wicketkeeper as Sonny took 7-49 in the first innings and in which he bowled 98 overs in the game which is still a Test record.
Kanhai added Peter May and Colin Cowdrey “played football” against Sonny in the days before the leg before rules as they are today.
He said: “I got to know Sonny well on that tour which was my first.
“Sonny had toured before and had a wealth of experience of playing cricket all over the world. He helped and advised me and after that we became great friends over the years.”
They also shared Indian heritage as Sonny was the first East Indian to play for the West Indies.
Surprisingly the pair only opposed each other once as Sonny only played three times for Trinidad before settling here.
Sonny was playing for Minor Counties Lincolnshire against Kanhai’s Warwickshire in the Gillette Cup.
“It was a challenge as the man was still a fine bowler, and very deceptive,” he recalled.
Kanhai and Sonny also shared memories as both were professionals at CLL club Crompton at different times.
Kanhai scored 6,227 runs in 79 Test at an average of 47.53 with a highest score of 256 against India in Calcutta.
In English county cricket, Kanhai scored 11,615 first-class runs for Warwickshire at an average of 51.62.
You must be logged in to post a comment.