Cricket and calypso
– Constantine – Wilmoth Houdini, 1939 – Learie Constantine – Lord Caresser, easily facilitating in what year which Calypsonian paid tribute to Learie Constantine, and the calypso title. This layout is particularly useful when one filters the 22 songs dedicated to Lara.
The writer completes this chapter with extracts of the lyrics of one song from each sub-theme accompanied by a synopsis of the circumstances which birthed the calypso. In the Team / Game / Series category, he furnishes the following example:
“the Inventor, 1929, ‘Intercolonial cricket’ -
Barbadian thought they could beat the Trinidadian But it was a ‘small’ miscalculation
For when Joe Small take up the ball
Half of Barbados fall
And the balance could not shine against Constantine”
At the Queen’s Park Oval, February 1929, T & T defeated Barbados by 163 runs. Small and Constantine accounted for 10 wickets between them with Constantine scoring 133.”
In the ninth chapter, ‘Listing of Cricket Calypsoes’, the combined efforts of the researchers are presented, beginning in 1926 with “MCC versus the Colony/Trinidad” by Atilla the Hun (Raymond Quevedo); in 1936, “Body Line” by King Radio (Norman Spann); 1947, “Chinese Cricket Match” (remade five times) by Mighty Viking (Victor Springer); 1950s “Dem Berbicians” by King Fighter (Shurland Wilson/Guyana); 1957, “Battle of the Century” by (Frank Holder/Guyana); 1963, “Worrell’s Captaincy” by Jackie Opel (Dalton Bishop/Barbados); 1976, “Water Lillee” by Lord Kitchener; 2016 “Support the West Indies” (redone) by Alexander D Great. The comprehensive list of five and a half pages lists 215 calypsoes, including an attached note stating that “despite best efforts” no lyrics were found for five calypsoes (years, titles and calypsonians provided). The majority of the calypsoes were performed by Trinidadians, thus if the singer’s nationality was not appended, it was understood that he/she was from the twin island republic.
After a brief homage to the other world famous calypso, the anthem of West Indies fans, David Rudder’s “Rally round the West Indies”, the reader is presented with 70 pages of calypso extracts classified by the seven sub-themes created by Khan. Cricket fans, calypso purists, social researchers and historians will be instantly immersed in this treasure trove of lyrics, humming and singing to the familiar tunes, whilst struggling to find a cadence to the unknown. The extracts can only be described as a labour of love. One can imagine Khan listening to old warped vinyl recordings, copying them on to a digital machine, pressing play, pressing pause, scribbling frantically, pressing rewind, and repeating the process for days on end. The reader’s memory will be pricked upon perusing some of the choruses, sparking childhood memories of having heard an adult singing the very words. References from calypsoes which have crept into the every-day vernacular are laid bare. Classic calypsoes can be patiently dissected and analysed, as long misunderstood words and terms are finally revealed. Here is the chorus from Mighty Viking’s 1947 classic “Chinese Cricket Match”:
“For is Ling King
Bowled and caught by Loong Ping
And Wing Ping
Got cleaned bowled by Poon Pang
And the whole Oval shout
When Loom Lum get Wang Poon Ping Pang Poon out”
Complementing this archival cache are a photo gallery of West Indies cricketers, profiles of West Indies cricket legends and leading cricket calypsonians, listings of all West Indies men and women cricketers (1928 – 2016) and scorecards of all the West Indies triumphs in the shorter version of the game. There are ten pages of 40
photographs of West Indies teams through the years – 1928 to 2016 – unfortunately there are no captions, and the targeted reader would be at a loss as to who these past heroes are. This is an editorial oversight which should be addressed when an updated version is printed.
A copy of a “History of West Indies Cricket Through Calypsoes” is a must for the serious West Indies cricket fan. However, inexplicably, the book was not published with the intention of public sale, and copies are not readily available, which is a pity since Khan has produced a priceless book filled with gems covering several facets of
our region’s history.
About the author
Nasser Khan, who is based in Trinidad and Tobago, has also published three other books on cricket: “SeventyThree Test, ODI and T20I at Bourda, Albion and Providence 1930 – 2020”: “Sixty-One Test Matches Played at the Queen’s Park Oval 1930 – 2020”; “Brian Lara Memorable Matches and More”.
Contact info: 1-868-387-2731