‘- Sunday 09, May-2004

Tony Cozier, the voice of West Indies cricket, was showered with praise on Friday night as the Wanderers Club paid homage to one of its favourite sons with a gala dinner.
Reverend Wes Hall, the former West Indies fast bowler and administration, of whom Cozier would have written “endless” words, delighted the packed audience at Almond Bay, Christ Church, in his feature address.

“We honour you, Tony, at this function which is appropriately dubbed – ‘the man who eats, drinks and sleeps cricket’. A man of whom it can be said cricket is a microcosm of his life,” Hall said.

“This ceremony is a marvellous way to reward excellence. I am persuaded to speak obliquely on the topic – Tony’s pursuit of excellence.

“Excellence portrayed by Tony Cozier is not an elusive quality hanging vertiginously out of reach.

“Excellence the Cozier way can be achieved by dedication, commitment, faith in ability, an iron will of determination. He is simply the best.”

Listening were several other icons of the game – Sir Garry Sobers, Sir Everton Weekes, Sir Clyde Walcott – as well as former West Indies players David Holford, Richard “Prof” Edwards, and Captain Peter Short, the long-standing Wanderers president and senior administrator.

As part of the night’s entertainment, Edwards, a lifelong buddy, went through a series of photographs showcasing Cozier’s journey to excellence on a big screen supplied by Harris Paints.

Cozier is known world-wide for his brilliance. Perhaps there has never been another journalist at the international level who would do 20 minutes of radio commentary, skip to do half-hour on television and at the close of play file 1 200 words for the next day’s publication of his newnewspaper.

In his thank you speech, Cozier, known to many as “Tono”, noted that it was his father E.L. “Jimmy” Cozier, who was one of the region’s foremost writers, who inspired him to pursue his chosen profession.

He was proud of the fact that his son Craig has entered the profession, making it three generations to fly the flag. He was also full of praise for his wife Jillian, daughter Natalie and other family members.

There were also words of advice for the folks at Wanderers Club, where he played as wicket-keeper and captain and goalkeeper of the hockey team.

He urged the island’s oldest cricket club to continue to be a leader in the society and believed it was the strong membership which has kept it going since its formation in 1877.

Compliments of the Nation News

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