100 years of George Headley: George Headley MBE, OJ 'A FAMILY AFFAIR'

Ron Headley, Contributor

It is impossible for me to find the words to express my deep sense of pride as one of the sons of a very great man, who was a 'champion of the people'.

My father was a very, very humble man, even though he definitely achieved true greatness during his professional cricketing career. Dad never ever forgot at any stage his friends, and always relished getting back home to Jamaica from a successful tour and chilling out once more with them, and away from the glare of the media.

In short, as private a person as he could possibly be expected to be.

Dad loved the sea and would often spend all night fishing, hence, he was buried at sea. When he was a young boy about 12 or 13 he and friends would swim three miles every morning from Kingston Harbour to Palisadoes and back, about 1.5 miles both ways. Dad was therefore extremely fit hence, eventually, he was known as George 'Atlas' Headley for his extreme feats of endurance in the art of batting. When I asked him once how he managed to bat for such long periods and making so many runs, he would simply state "A fit body is a fit mind."

There are naturally many personal experiences during my childhood growing up with my dad and mum. I will try to relate a few of them on this, his 100th birthday, that is being celebrated with such kind thoughts and a week of celebrations. Courtesy of our Jamaican Government with the blessing of most Jamaicans. May I take this opportunity to thank you all on behalf of all our family located around the world? we feel extremely honoured, thank you all.

A vivid memory I have always had of my dad was seeing him each morning sitting on the side of his bed quietly reading his Bible before getting up to shower and start his day. He had a very special way of imparting his wonderful knowledge and it would be nearly always in parables.

who is a star?

For example, in 1952 while our family was living in England where he was the professional for Dudley Cricket Club in the Birmingham League (reputed to be one of the strongest leagues in the UK) he used the opportunity to teach me how important it was not to put oneself on a pedestal. As a 13-year-old schoolboy I scored 105 in 55 minutes, so the headline in the Express and Star was 'A Star is Born', but Dad, bless his heart, asked me to give him the definition of 'A Star'. Naturally, I could not, and so finally, some days later, Dad gave me his definition of 'A Star' (which I have never forgotten). Dad told me "A Star, son, is only someone who does a job of work that gets published in the press."

dad went on to say, "Remember, son, everything that goes up always comes down, and the people you meet on the way up, you'll almost certainly meet them on the way down, so be very careful how you treat people on the way up, because that's how they will treat you on the way down." Following on, he told me, "Never ever put yourself up there, if people want to put you up there, then that is their problem, not yours."

Dad was a great believer in our family getting a good education, hence, sending for our family, my mother Rena, Lyndie, Patsy, and I joined him in England, where my brother Sydney Headley (now Bupe) was born. I would often go with dad to most of the league home matches, but looked forward to playing in the same 'Dudley Casuals' team as dad on a Sunday. On a couple of occasions I had the privilege and honour of batting with him, but only once making more than he did. was I overjoyed!

very clever man

Dad was very clever in a common-sense, practical sort of way. For example, Dad agreed to play for Dudley Casuals on a Sunday, which were competitive but friendly matches. The basis for this was that Dad would use the Sunday games to get valuable match practice in preparation for the next Saturday's league games. The reasoning behind that was simple: "Ten minutes in the middle is worth an hour in the nets."

I must also state that Dad's remuneration for playing was that my duty on a Saturday morning was to go to a special butcher, who also played for Dudley casuals, and collect our family's order for the week. Dad was certainly a man of the people and often expressed that "The world is all about people." He knew he had a responsibility to do his level best and help to raise the profile of his people. Often, he would impress on us, his children, how very important it was to be assertive in everything we do.

Dad's influence on his family was profound, he never professed to be perfect, stating that the only perfect man was crucified, and he did no wrong. Dad was an incredible cricket coach, something not too often spoken about, because he was always one to appreciate the beauty of natural ability and flair.

Dad knew when to coach and when not to coach, often use guidance, thereby allowing natural ability to come to the forefront.

I suppose I really saw my dad as any other son would see his father, because I was also passionately in love with the great game of cricket, but I guess I knew deep down that he was really very special and it would eventually become an obstacle that I would have to over come. It did not matter what I did, I was never ever going to be as good as him, because he was a genius, and I certainly did not need people who would constantly remind me of that fact. However, that is the price that sons or daughters of great, famous people have to pay.

I felt sorry when, at the end of 1953, the wonderful people of Jamaica lobbied to bring dad home to return to Test cricket at the age of 44, and is still today the oldest West Indian ever to play Test cricket, because my dad and mum decided that at 15 years old I should remain in England to study. In those days there was not a debate, one just did exactly as one was told, so I sadly missed being with him regularly until he unfortunately passed away. His statesmanlike funeral really hit me hard and made me understand even more fully exactly what he meant to all the people of Jamaica.

great love affair

Later on in life I continually became more and more aware of the amazing and truly great love affair he had with all the Jamaican and West Indian people, confirmed once again by the great honour of our Jamaican government placing his image on one of our postage stamps. that would have meant a good deal to dad, but it would not have stopped him from still being his humble self.

I do, however, regret for his sake that when he was brought back into Test cricket at the age of 44 to play against England his Test average, I believe, was an amazing 71, yet in 1951, some three years earlier, dad was not selected to tour with the West Indies in England as, clearly, that was yet another great injustice by our West Indies selectors, so in real terms England did get off lightly, in that our batting line up should have been Rae, Stollmeyer, Headley, Weekes, Worrell, Walcott, so England were let off the hook once again.

a tactician

Dad was a great tactician and thinker of the game, spotting each opposition player's strength and weaknesses, and then, even more important, knowing exactly how to exploit them. Dad told me that the Australians are very shrewd at exploiting weaknesses, yet we keep employing their coaches to coach us. I know my dad would have found the trend of Aussies coaching us unacceptable.

Dad was West Indian through and through, believing that the selectors must pick the best team no matter what island the players come from. Just to prove the point, dad told me of the time that a Test match was due to be played at Sabina Park. He was not fully fit, so the selectors asked dad who should they send for, between J.K. Holt Jr of Jamaica and Everton Weekes from Barbados. Dad, being the professional that he was, told them to send for Everton Weekes, when it would have been so easy to pick his fellow Jamaican. Not my dad, he was always the true professional who could see the big picture. It's a pity he is not around today. but then, would the powers that be listen and learn, as Australia did with the White Headley, Sir Donald Bradman?

To conclude, Dean and I did our best in Dad's profession, and we are proud to be the only father, son, and grandson in the long history of the game to have all played Test cricket. We did not shirk our duty in spite of all the odds against us. We just wished you could have been around us much, much longer.

Happy birthday to our centurion father and grandfather.

Many blessings.

Ron, Dean and all of our family near and far away.