Camacho’s ashes buried at Bourda

Nov 02, 2015 Sports

By Sean Devers
The Ashes of the late Steve Camacho, the former West Indies batsman, who died on Friday night in Antigua at the age of 69 was buried yesterday at the world famous Bourda ground where West Indies won their first ever Test in 1930 and where Camacho began his club career.

GCC’s President and Father Dias take the ashes onto the Bourda Sward.

President of the Georgetown Cricket Club (GCC) Lionel Jaikarran told the gathering which turned up for a memorial service, that Camacho, started his cricket at GCC where the former West Indies batsman formed lifelong friendships.
“It must be said that he was so intense in his love of the game that as a young boy playing cricket with his father if he was bowled he would take his bat and ball and retreat upstairs,” Jaikarran said.
“We at the club have always known of Steven’s exploits on and off the field. The members, cricketers and staff of the club are proud and honored that Steven’s last wish was to be remembered at his club,” Jaikarran concluded.
Past GCC President Jeffery Fraser disclosed that in the game of cricket Camacho can be considered an icon.
“He was a brilliant batsman, scoring many hundreds in the first division, the Case Cup, while many might not know that he was an excellent leg-spin googlie bowler. His knowledge of cricket was immense and it was obvious that he had a far way to go in the game and he did. He was selected to play for British Guiana following in the footsteps of his father George Camacho,” Fraser recounted.
Fraser, who served as GCC President just before Paul Chan-a-Sue and Jaikarran noted that it was as an administrator that Camacho excelled, adding that he was the longest serving CEO on the West Indies Board.
West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) Director Anand Sanasie said while he did not know too much of Camacho’s days as a player when he (Sanasie) became a WICB Director, he learned a lot from Camacho.
“I was deeply moved when I was told that Steve Camacho had passed away. I knew him well as a boy, then as a player for GCC. I stood in first class matches when his Father George played for Guyana, and also stood in first class matches when, for e.g., Steve played against the Australians who visited us in 1965. It was his debut in first class cricket. My deepest sympathy to his relatives,” said Cecil Kippins, the former Guyana and West Indies Test Umpire in an on-line tribute to the late Camacho.
Among those present were the Harper brothers (Roger & Mark) and Roger said when he Captained Guyana at home or abroad Camacho would find the time to give him advice after the day’s play or during the break.

Camacho’s ashes being sprinkled with holy water by Father Dias at Bourda where he started his career.

Father Dias conducted the service under a tent set up by GCC and some joked that the former GCC stalwart was there since the wind constantly knocked off the photographs which were placed on the head table.
National Captain and Test player Leon Johnson, who is a member of GCC of whom Camacho was Captain in his playing days along with National U-19 player Renaldo Ali-Mohamed were also present as were former Chief Justice Cecil Kennard, former England player Monty Lynch, former Minister of Tourism Maniram Prashad, GCB President Dru Bahadur, former GCB Head and GCC member Ramsay Ali, Malcolm Peters, who represented the Berbice cricket board, the East Coast Cricket Board and the Upper Demerara Cricket Association.
GMR&SC’s President Johnny Carpenter and Father Merabux, who taught Camacho at Saints Stanislaus College, were also present yesterday.
After the ceremony Camacho’s ashes was buried to the South West end of the ‘square’ which comprises the four pitches at Bourda with the ashes being emptied into a hole while Father Dias poured holy water on the ashes before it was covered with mud.
Camacho played 11 Tests for West Indies between 1968 and 1971, scoring 640 runs. He also went on to play 76 first-class matches as a right-handed top order batsman, scoring 4079 runs including seven centuries and 24 half-centuries. Camacho even captained the West Indies President’s XI against various touring teams.
After his retirement as a professional player in 1978, Camacho served as the manager of the West Indies team during the 1980s. He later acted as the secretary of the then West Indies Cricket Board of Control, before becoming the first full-time employee of the WICB, as the CEO.
Camacho came from a solid cricketing background (his grandfather, GC Learmond, played first-class cricket for Barbados and Trinidad) and was a decent Test opener and a pioneer in West Indies cricket administration. A former West Indies Test selector, Camacho’s sober style perfectly complemented the expansive batsmanship of his opening partners Roy Fredericks and Seymour Nurse. He topped the averages in England in 1969 but never made a Test hundred. The closest he came was in Trinidad in 1967-68 when he made 87, a match notorious for a generous declaration from Garry Sobers that allowed England to romp to a seven-wicket victory.