Mr Knowledge is no more. T&T and the West Indies lost one of the great servants of cricket in the region, when Michael "Joey" Carew passed on at the age of 73, at his home at Warren Street, Woodbrook, Port-of-Spain, on Saturday. Carew's eldest son, Michael, who also played for T&T, said his father passed on at around 11pm on Saturday night and the family is awaiting an autopsy to find out the exact cause of death. "We are not sure of the cause of death but I think it had something to do with a blocked artery. We are awaiting the report to get the official cause of death."
The younger Carew said the country knew his father as a leader and he chose to leave as a leader. "He was a leader, the head of our household and he would be sadly missed. He was the kind of man who would have wanted us to carry on and not sulk over his passing. He was known to the people of this country as a leader and he left as a leader." National captain Daren Ganga said Carew was a legend and one who had impacted on his career. "It was an honour to know Joey Carew and I must say he was always a great help. I would like to extend condolences on behalf of the Trinidad and Tobago cricket team to his family."
Ganga added that the team would be going all out to win the regional T20 cricket series in memory of Carew. "We are here in Antigua to begin our T20 quest and we were greeted with this terrible news. "However, we will dedicate this series to him and we want to badly win this tournament in his honour."
Manager of the T&T team Omar Khan said the players would be showing respect to Carew, by wearing black armbands when they hit the field on Thursday against the Leewards.
"The team is saddened by Carew's passing because he would have dealt with each of them at some time in their career. They want to do something for him and they will start by wearing black armbands when the T20 tournament starts on Thursday." Former president of the T&T Cricket Board (TTCB), Deryck Murray, who played alongside Carew said he would be best remembered for being the hub around which many things revolved. "Wherever Joey was, he was also central to whatever topic was being discussed, be it serious or otherwise. He was such a fun-loving guy that he drew people to him.
"The public perception of Joey was one of him being a very hard and aggressive captain, who enjoyed a lot of success on the field for T&T. In the early times he was able to bring T&T back-to-back titles in 1971 and 1972 and for this he was showered with great accolades. "I think that cricket has lost a great man because he was totally passionate about the sport. He would look at cricket at every level and visit every recreation ground to look at the players. He was always available to assist young players and he would be sadly missed." President of the TTCB, Azim Bassarath said Carew's passing was a big loss to cricket in the region as he was like a godfather to several cricketers.
"Joey was a household name in the West Indies not only in Trinidad. He was such a lovely person that cricketers felt comfortable to go to him for assistance. He did a lot for our world champion batsman Brian Lara and this showed just how good the man was. "One behalf of the entire Cricket Board, I will like to send condolences to his family in this time of grief and let them know that the nation shares in their loss."
Carew's career
Name: Michael Conrad Carew
Born: September 15, 1937, Woodbrook, Port-of-Spain, Trinidad
Died: January 8, 2011, Woodbrook, Port of Spain, Trinidad (aged 73 years 115 days)
Major teams: West Indies, Trinidad
Batting style: Left-hand bat
Career statistics
Test debut: England v West Indies at Manchester, June 6-10, 1963 scorecard
Last Test West Indies v New Zealand at Bridgetown, Mar 23-28, 1972 scorecard
Test statistics
First-class span: 1955/56 - 1973/74
List A span:1966 - 1972/73
An attractive left-hand opener who struck the ball cleanly, notably through the covers off the back foot, Joey Carew impressed in two matches against MCC in 1959-60, and made three tours of England and one to Australia.
He struggled in English conditions-in four Tests he made only 104 runs-and only really shone on the 1967-68 tour of Australia and New Zealand where he made 683 runs at 48.78, including his only Test hundred at Auckland. He was also a useful legspinner, and later became a Test selector. (Cricinfo)
Averages
Batting & Fielding
Mat Inns NO Runs HS Ave 100 50 6s Ct
Tests 19 36 3 1127 109 34.15 1 5 1 13
First-class 129 221 18 7810 182 38.47 13 43 83 0
Bowling
Mat Inns Balls Runs Wkts BBI BBM Ave Econ SR 4w 5w 10
Tests 19 22 1174 437 8 1/11 2/36 54.62 2.23 146.7 0 0 0
First-class 129 NR 8135 3214 108 5/28 NR 29.75 2.37 75.3 NR 5 0