Englishman Sheldon Rooks who now resides in Tobago caught the cricket fever three decades ago and it has not subsided since.
Before packing anything to commence his move to Tobago, he packed his cricket library and this has been sent to the Island even ahead of his arrival and other belongings.
Rooks who has T&T's parentage was born in the UK and lived most of his life there. He is an international commentator on the sports of cricket and judo and is also an accredited coach in both disciplines. He is a regular at the Olympics commentating on the sport and misses it dearly since the lockdown began.
These days he is very happy as he has been allowed to commentate on the inaugural Bago T10 Blast with Cricket360 and this has brought out that boyish enthusiasm for the sport once again. On Friday, Guardian Media Sports visited his home at Scarborough and as you enter you are greeted by an enormous library that is heavily stocked with cricket literature.
He says: "My dad who was born in Santa Cruz and lived most of his life there was a great cricket lover. At an early age, I didn't really take to the sport that much but as time went along and because of conversations with him, I started to play the game in England. Before you knew it I could not drag myself off the park and it has been the case ever since. I played cricket in the Surrey league for many years and was at the club facing many of their international bowlers who would have gone on to represent England. I remember facing Alex Tudor in the nets and saying this bloke is mightly quicky."
Since in Tobago, Rooks has devoted a lot of his time in assisting wherever there is a need for assistance with cricket.
"I am not the pushy type but I try to lend a hand in whichever way I can to push the sport of cricket. I try not to overstep my bounds but there is so much that we can do to improve the game here. The president of the Tobago Cricket Association (TCA) Kerwin John has done a good job in taking the sport forward but he needs further assistance from corporate Tobago.
"As for me, I drive around the country trying to assist. I remember having an entire scoreboard built for a cricket ground but that has been years now and it has never been put to use. I try other things and other ways to help but people need to come out and work together and work hard to improve the sport.
"I am going to do all in my power to assist them, all they have to do is ask and I am willing to help."
<Narine stars in CSL>
Mystery spinner Sunil Narine is currently taking part in the Central Super League (CSL) and is currently holding centre stage as he prepares for Hero Caribbean CPL T20 tournament which will commence on Aiugust 18 here in T&T.
Narine struck 63 not out off 27 balls to take Preysal to 165/2 off their 10 overs against Combine All-Stars at Pierre Road in Charlieville in their second game of the night on Tuesday.
Also among the runs was West Indies player Nicolas Pooran who cracked 44 off just 13 balls. This proved to be too much for Combine All-Stars as they reached 64/6 in reply. V. Ramlakhan took 2/3 and N McDavid 2/14. Team Preysal then ran home winners by 101 runs.
In an earlier clash, Preysal got an easy win over EYM. Mark Deyal who will be playing for the St. Lucia Zouks at the CPL was the star of the show, as he scored 50 and grabbed 2/10 to lead his team to victory.
CENTRAL SUPERLEAGUE SCORES
At Pierre Rd: Preysal 165/2 (10)(Sunil Narine 63no, Nicolas Pooran
44) vs Combine All Stars 64/6 (10)(V. Ramlakhan took 2/3 and N McDavid 2/14) - Preysal won by 101 runs.
At Pierre Rd: Preysal 115/5 (10) (Mark Deyal 50, Nicolas Pooran 28, J Boodram 2/28, D Ferrier 2/19) vs EYM 80/6 (Amir Jangoo 31, Jessie Bootan 14, Mark Deyal 2/10, Sanjiv Gooljar 2/16) - Preysal won by 35 runs.
At Pierre Rd: Covid Strikers 59/7 (D Williams 26, Jarlanie Seales 15, K Ramdeen 2/8, K Magram 2/7) vs United Combine 50/6 (G Balram 16, Navin Bidaisee 2/6, Jarlanie Seales 2/7) - Covid Strikers won by 9 runs.
At Pierre Road: Central All Stars 76/7 (10) (Ewart Nicholson 19, Jyd
Goolie 18, Zard Clarke 3/8) vs Expert All Stars 78/2 (J Aruajo 31, Kjorn Ottley 26) - Expert All Stars won by 8 wkts.