The most celebrated West Indian cricketer will be unavoidably absent from tonight?s big Scotia Bank Jubilee Gala at the world famous Symphony Hall.
By Haydn GillSir Garfield Sobers, the only certainty to be named among Wisden?s Five West Indian Jubilee Cricketers ? the greatest cricketers in the history of West Indies? cricket, has remained in Barbados to honour commitments to the International Schools? Cricket Tournament that bears his name and climaxes today with the final at Kensington Oval.
?It is a clash of schedules,? said Ed Millbank, manager of the event.
?We had to book the schedule for this time, which coincides nicely with the West Indian tour, some four or five months ago.
?Sir Garry, who runs a tournament in Barbados, told us he was unable to make it but we are hoping to have a special presentation from Barbados.?
A host of other distinguished personalities, however, are here to make it a night to remember.
Among the greats assembled here for the event are Sir Vivian Richards, Sir Everton Weekes, Lance Gibbs, Clive Lloyd, Gordon Greenidge, Larry Gomes and Joel Garner.
Gibbs, the most successful West Indian Test spinner with 309 wickets, is looking forward to the event.
?As far as I am concerned, it is a reunion,? Gibbs said. ?I am glad to see some of my colleagues. I am going to embrace them and have a good time.?
The event, a celebration of 75 years of Test cricket in the Caribbean, will feature highlights of the West Indian game through readings, music, exclusive footage on big screens, along with memories of players and fans.
Other awards to be presented during the evening include the Jubilee Test Batting Performance by a West Indian, the Jubilee Test Bowling Performance by a West Indian and the Jubilee One-Day International Performance by a West Indian.
The gala, a joint effort involving Scotiabank, Wisden, widely regarded as the world?s cricket bible, and Quintus Holdings, an international television and events production company based in London, comes two years after similar event in India where Kapil Dev was voted as the country?s most outstanding cricketer.
?The difference between the Indian event and the West Indian event is the announcement of five West Indian cricketers to just the one Indian cricketer,? Millbank said.
?We felt that West Indies have given so much to cricket over the last 75 years that to announce one, be it a Garry Sobers or a Vivian Richards would actually undermine the enormous contribution that West Indies have given.?
The winners are to be picked by a national jury, chaired by longstanding Jamaican journalist Tony Becca.
Symphony Hall is expected to be packed to a capacity 1 300 for the gala which climaxes a four-month celebrations that included national events in Barbados, Jamaica, Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago and the Combined Islands.
