Popular: IPL 2012 | Tino Best | ICC rankings | Chris Gayle

Tour Diaries

The sights, the sounds, the smells, the cricket

« Waters recede, but the floods have left their mark | | A sexist society or harmless fun? »

June 7, 2011

Posted by Sriram Veera on 06/07/2011

Charlie Davis' anecdotes on the rocks

The years have rolled by, but Charlie Davis retains his inimitable boyish chuckle © The Cricketer International

I couldn’t remember – leave alone identify – Charlie Davis when he walked into the bar at the Queen’s Park Oval. He looked older than 67. There was a slight limp in his walk, a lisp in his voice, and he wore spectacles. The face was still boyish in some ways. The laughter was definitely boyish, a chuckle that was filled with innocence. There is no better way to describe that lovely laugh.

And he still remembers nearly everything. He averaged 54.20 in Tests but got caught in the raw end of the transition period in West Indies cricket and drifted out of the international stage. He remembered his average but rarely spoke about himself. It was always about his team-mates. Joyous, fun, happy memories. A man you could spend hours chatting with. He doesn’t drink. He never drank. Always just a glass of Coke, he says. He had one Coke; some of us downed ten drinks, and he kept reeling out the stories till we were stumbling drunk. It was an intoxicating evening. We had the great Lance Gibbs for company too, and he had held the stage for a couple of hours before Charlie entered, but that story is for another night. This is about Charlie. Sorry, my bad. With Charlie, it’s never about him. It’s always about the others.

“Touring with the West Indies team was a psychological experience,” Charlie says. “There were men totally illiterate, men who had Masters degrees. One fella had five O-Levels but never made a decision in his life!” You immediately felt the evening was going to be fun. One more dark rum please. Thank you.

He starts with Rohan Kanhai walking into the stadium at Bourda in Guyana. “Babulal had one look at the wicket and went, ‘People get out here?’ There is no such thing as getting out in Guyana, you know. The first match Kanhai ever played there he got 294 not out. ‘Only time you get out is the only time you never see the ball,’ he said. ‘If you practise often enough, you see all.’ Kanhai used to practise all that time. He bat, he bat, he bat all the time! Rohan flicked the balls to covers you know. He flicked it all the time.”

Charlie is famous for running out his captain, and idol, Garry Sobers in the 1969 Lord’s Test. He recalls the incident with great fondness. “Garry just said, ‘F*** man Charlie,’ as he went past me. So I tell myself, hold on, it’s better to stay in here than get out and go to the dressing room.”

He stayed put for 371 minutes to make his maiden hundred. At Lord’s. He had to go to the dressing room during the break and was confronted by Basil Butcher. “Butch tells me, ‘The skipper don’t run singles,’ and I went, ‘You are telling me this after six weeks in England!’” Again, that lovely laughter. “Garry was nice to me, you know. He doesn’t hold any grudges. In fact he made me sit, brought out the lunch and said, ‘Don’t remove your pads yet. Bat on!’”

How was it playing with all those legends? “You just do what you were told to do. Once, Charlie Griffith wanted a knock. I said forget it, he bats at 10 and he wants a knock! Joe Carew tells me to do it. So I go there. I pelted one at him. Griffith said, ‘Why are you pelting at me?’ I go, ‘Why shouldn’t I? You pelted all the time at me! You beat my chest like a road map.’ He nearly killed me with his bowling you know!”

He was still at school when he first faced the hostile Griffith. He warms up to the memory with a quiet chuckle before saying, “It was terrifying. I had scored a hundred in my first game in Guyana. So before the Trinidad game, they went, ‘Send him here. Let’s f*** the wonder boy here!’ As I was batting, I remember thinking, ‘Who sent me here?! I should have played ping-pong you know! I would go back and across. I would keep out the yorker. I would nudge the balls to fine-leg and behind the wicket. I made 50-odd. Griffith kept getting angry and he kept hitting me. It was fun.”

Charlie remembers a banquet thrown for all the West Indian players, past and present, after a tour of England where Kanhai was imperious, cutting Fred Trueman and ruling the tour. “I ask the former player Conrad Hunte about Kanhai’s batting on tour, in that banquet,” Charlie says. “Hunte said simply, ‘Charlie, Rohan is a good player, what did you expect?’ It’s the best compliment I have ever heard from one player to another. ‘Good player’. It’s one hell of a compliment.”

That Lord’s hundred, where he ran out Sobers, was a slow knock and Charlie calls it one of his “worst innings”. “I had about 70 singles. I think I played every ball that John Snow bowled and he didn’t like the idea. They gave Peter Parfitt one over and he is a bowler who shouldn’t be bowling in a Fet (festival exhibition) match you know. A rum match. I go down the track and bang. Bang. Two fours and he was taken off, and Snow had to come back again. He wasn’t happy.”

His best innings, he says, came fagainst New Zealand when he had to farm the strike from Garry Sobers. They were trying to save the game. “As I go in they tell me, you have to save us the Test and I go, ‘You have f***ing Sobers and you want me to save the game. You are putting pressure on me or what? I am just a young boy.’ They said your technique is right and you like to bat. There was a left-arm spinner who was bowling very well and there was a rough outside off for Sobers. Garry don’t play dead you know. Bang. Bang. They picked a boy just to catch Sobers; he edged one but it fell off that boy’s chest. Glenn Turner was shocked.”

Charlie is still in awe of Sobers. The best lines of the evening came in praise of Sobers. Sample this. “The problem with Garry was that he was too modest. He didn’t know how special he was. He expected us to bat like him. And catch like him. He thought all of us were like him you know. He would come in and say, 'I will get a 150, Kanhai you give me a 100, Charlie you give me a 75'. That was it. That was the plan. No self-doubt.”

“Garry could catch a blur you know. He used to be close at leg slip , at the back pocket of the batsmen, and catch blurs. Once a batsman flicked hard off Lance and Sobers just plucks his hand out and takes it so easily. The batsman couldn’t believe it and Garry said you were out. He could catch a blur. He is not normal. He is definitely not normal.” The voice was soaked in awe.

He had another story. “In the 1969 tour of Australia, in a game at Perth against Western Australia, somebody hit Butch [Basil Butcher] in the chest with a short ball. It stirred Garry into action. He went from 29 to 132 in half an hour! A team-mate had never seen batting like this and asks me, ‘He bats like this all the time?’ He is Garry Sobers, you know. What he can do, we can’t even think of doing.”

The sky turned dark. Dark rum and beer was still pouring in from the bar. Out in the middle, the Trinidad pitch lay under covers. It was time for Charlie and Lance to go for dinner. Time enough for another Charlie story.

“Once I was batting against Prasanna and he was a very smart bowler, you know. I went down the track and banged. He flighted it up again and I went bang. The third time he tossed it up and I went down the track again. But, but where is the ball? It’s not there! It was the floater, the drifter he bowled, you know. I just drive the bat straight and connect with it. Pras asks me, ‘How did you pick it?’ I go, ‘I didn’t. I couldn’t see the ball. So I guessed it was the other one!'"

It’s time for one last story. One for the road. “I once did dirty in England. We were playing in Oxford and it’s typical England, you know. It’s raining all day. So the Oxford captain asks us whether we play any indoor game. How about a game of table-tennis? We had Foster who was a champion ping-pong player in Jamaica. I used to play it competitively. We don’t let the English know that. They said let’s play for a case of beer. We won 16 cases!” And Charlie slips into that ever-so lovely throaty schoolboy chuckle as he slips away into the night.

 
Feedback Feedback

Comments

Posted by: rajagopalan on 06/07/2011

Excellent article. This really makes one yearn for those glorious days of cricket, when the game was played for the fun of it, rather than for the telecast rights holder. Pl keep such articles coming.

Posted by: Clive on 06/07/2011

This is seriously hilarious!! How can it be both serious and hilarious: ask Charlie. This guy can tell stories and there are many to be told if you are a cricket enthusiast. I am going to save this one, with permission of the writer, of course. We need some more of these. I have always said that cricket is not only played with bat, ball, gloves, pads etc., it is the happenings in the stands and the behind-the-scene stories which make the game the best. This was enthralling!

Posted by: Srinin on 06/07/2011

I have fond memories of Charlie Davis who did extremely well against India in 1971. All my school mates were lost in the euphoria of Gavsakar but I always remembered Charlie.

I never new he such an enchanting raconteur as well! remarkable anecdotes!

Posted by: Texan Pak on 06/07/2011

Nice diary. Enjoyed reading the stories.

Posted by: Clive Ramgoolam on 06/07/2011

We need more stories like these....make it part of our "oral" tradition - to see and feel what happens behind the scenes. It would stir up a lot of interest among West Indians who would realize there is a rich tradition in West Indian cricket. Maybe young aspiring players would have great respect and appreciation for the team they represent.

Posted by: ken on 06/07/2011

great story, glad to hear that charlie is doing ok, he was one of my heros when i was a boy, all the best charlie!

Posted by: Ryan Hill on 06/07/2011

i appreciate this article. As a young boy I greatly admired Charlie Davis when he played for Trinidad and the Wi. He is perhaps the best WI player who has never received the accolades of the Kanhais, Worrells, Sobers, etc.

Posted by: Rabindra Jaggernauth on 06/07/2011

This is what I love sports and in particular cricket for. The fond memories of the camaraderie and the performances, whether it is batting, bowling or fielding. I buy dvds of old WI matches just to reminisce the glory days. I wish the current crop of West Indian cricketers can listen in awe to these stories and be motivated by them. Maybe then we can then stop scraping the bottom and aim for the sky - the days when we used to win.

Posted by: sups on 06/07/2011

this is just the kind of cricket article that proves that cricket it not just another game...romance, charm, adventure, heartbreak..the darn game itself can be a classic piece of literature some times. forget the cheerleaders, the dlf maximums..bring on the men of character, real flesh n blood.. not superstars from a neon sign...sriram, get hold of more of these men..we wanna here there stories, soak in their nostalgia, relive their life and times. and yes the rum and the carib rain adds to the romance (good one sri!).
please give us more..i am sure the modern day cricketers too, when stripped off their glamour hat can reveal some compelling stories! but somehow I think its the oldies who can do better!! keep' em coming sriram!!

Posted by: Tazim Mohamed on 06/07/2011

Charlie has been one of my favorite batsmen since high school. He was a great batsman. He just came up at a time when the West indies were loaded with veteran batsmen so he did not have the opportunity to break in early enough and those guys were difficult to dislodge. Great to hear about him and know he is doing well! Take care Charlie.

Posted by: ken on 06/07/2011

Wonderful stories from one of the finest and most underated batsmen ever to play for the West Indies.Inter-island politics cut his career short,but he never became bitter.In the middle of all the great talent around him,Charlie restrained himself from his normal attacking game and played the sheet anchor role for West Indies during a time of transition.I was among those privileged to see him play as a schoolboy cricketer,then as a Trinidad/Tobago player,then finally as a West Indies player;he varied his batting to suit the circumstances,and was perhaps our finest player of spin at the time.Fine batsman,greater man.

Posted by: Vikram on 06/07/2011

Nice story. Well written and I'm sure even better narrated by Charlie!

Posted by: Fred on 06/07/2011

Great anecdote. Charlie was a wonder boy from the time he played school cricket ion Trinidad.
A pity he did not play more cricket for the West Indies.
He's the type of batsman the current west indies team could do with - patient, correct and level-headed.

Posted by: Sujay Honnamane on 06/07/2011

Awesome stories.. I like that Sobers ' I will get a 150, Kanhai you give me a 100, Charlie you give me a 75' . What a simple way.. shows confidence of WI team those days, I think they never thoght they will loose a game. Its a pitty to see WI team now.

Posted by: Mohamed Z. Rahaman on 06/07/2011

Too bad he did not have an extended career. I a bit before my time, so i never had a chance to see him at Bourda, but from all I have heard, he was a good 'un. I thought that I read somewhere where he was a very good player of spin. Great piece by S. Veera. In Guyana, I remember well going to Bourda and one of the highlights of any match is listening to the stories (and yes, exaggerations) of older men reminicing about players past & present. Like the time a certain batsman facing Gilchrist for the 1st time asked why Gilchrist was going pass the sight screen and off the field and the w/keeper said; "nah man, that's his run-up to bowl."

Posted by: Clifford on 06/07/2011

One of the better cricket stories I have heard or rather read. Wished I was there.

Posted by: surendra doulat on 06/07/2011

thanks
was fun to read,i am following this game for a long time,i cant think of any thing better than to listen to such stories

Posted by: Reza Khan - Toronto on 06/07/2011

I love this story...we need more like these of the ole Windies boys....find them and lets get some more
rum talk......cheers...

Posted by: Abid Vali on 06/07/2011

Lovely stories, great times... enjoy yourself Sri and pass the coke:)

Posted by: Bill Jordan on 06/07/2011

It's good to know that Charlie Davis is still around the cricket scene. I hadn't heard much about him for some time now; wasn't even sure if he was still alive. I thought I had heard that he had suffered a stroke soon after he had stopped playing cricket. May be that was the incorrect information. Any how, it's really great to know that he's still with us and seems to be doing well.

Posted by: pf on 06/07/2011

Thank you. I enjoyed reading this. It reminds me there are thousands of stories like this one out there that these past WI players carry with them.

Would be great to capture these in a true caribbean folk book on cricket.

Posted by: KAI on 06/08/2011

I AM STILL SMILIMG THOSE WERE SOME GREAT STORIES. THESE ARE THE STORIES THAT NEED TO BE TOLD TO OUR PRESENT WI TEAM SO THEY WILL UNDERSTAND WHAT IT MEANS TO BE PLAYING FOR THEIR COUNTRY.

Posted by: d.seepaul on 06/08/2011

those were really great stories by Charlie.noone since Charlie Davis retired in 1973 has an average higher than 54.20. No Richards ,lara greenidge lloyd nobody, yet he was only allowed to play 15 tests.

Posted by: Andre on 06/08/2011

Great Article. Thoroughly enjoyed all the stories. Wished I got to see Charlie Davis bat. All I knew about him was the innings that I read about. Really sorry that he had such a short brillant career. Make you wonder what he might have achieved if his cricketing career was a bit longer.

Posted by: ahmer khan on 06/08/2011

Great Stuff!

Posted by: Kenaj on 06/08/2011

Fantastic article. These are the stories that you would normally hear during a rain delay at a regular club game in the West Indies. What makes the stories even funnier is that they are true.

Posted by: Charles on 06/08/2011

Great stuff! I knew Charlie at St. Mary's. The boyish smile, the slight swagger. He loved to bat and took his turn at lunch time in the "Big Yard". A stylish, dependable, patient batsman! whom we all thought would be great and he was! Pa Aleong always used him as the example for all of us. One of the few WI players with a test batting average above 50! Did he also say he was a football player, and a goalie as well (against Fatima) in an Intercol game?

Posted by: sherry on 06/08/2011

Dreamy piece of writing.
Thanks Sriram; really enjoyed it. Thanks again.

Posted by: Nikhil on 06/08/2011

Awesome article!!!

Posted by: christy kimble on 06/08/2011

a very lovely nonchalant article, thanks

Posted by: Ron Honda on 06/08/2011

Man, that Prasanna one is a gem. 'How did you pick it?
I couldn't see it, so I assumed it was the wrong one.

that's what cricket is all about, those little gems. Sportsmen and women die happy with such memories.

Posted by: Rupak on 06/08/2011

"He went from 29 to 132 in half an hour! A team-mate had never seen batting like this and asks me, ‘He bats like this all the time?!’ He is Gary Sobers you know. What he can do, we can’t even think of doing.”

Awesoomeee...

Posted by: Reggie on 06/08/2011

As an Austrlian I only know Charlie D from the record books but why didn't he play more. I see somebody wrote about inter-island politics but what is the full story. Today we hear about Katich V Clarke debate but what is the real story here. Sounds like a terrific bloke that I'd be happy to buy a coke or 2 for.

Posted by: Rahul on 06/08/2011

BRAVO.....! A warm applause to Sriram. And good job mate on remembering the details after a punch drunk evening! :)

Posted by: Vivek Bhandari on 06/08/2011

the last line sums up the article and the nature of the great old man, "And Charlie slips into that ever-so lovely throaty schoolboy chuckle as he slips away into the night."

Sad but true, that such innocence is lost in cricket and otherwise these days...

Posted by: Purav on 06/08/2011

Fantastic stuff,Sriram.
In Sports,Cricket has a fanatstic language of its own.I am 20 yrs old so didn't had any knowledge about this legend.Surely had some idea about Sobers,Kanhai and many others.Loved it

Posted by: Dane on 06/08/2011

I grew up with Charlie's son, spending countless hours playing football and cricket in their front yard. We would watch old tapes of world cup cricket and Uncle Charlie would have a story about every player. He was also my Under 19 cricket coach. We would be praticing in the nets, one guy batting three of us bowling to him and Charlie would be telling stories to the rest of the team. You would swear he was not paying attention, but I would bowl a bad ball and he would stop mid sentence and tell me what I did wrong. Amazing cricket knowledge.

Posted by: Ishwar Prashad on 06/08/2011

Wow...brought back a lot of good memories of Sobers, Kanhai , Butcher(from my village as well as Soloman,& Kallicharran ). Iremember a special innings in Guyana with Rohan &Sobers batting (mid-early) 60's. West Indies was in trouble when they came together. Sobers had to go down the wicket many times to cool down Kanhai, who was blasting everything. Two friends and I had agreed only to take a drink when Rohan hit a four. We had a lot of drinks that day. Charlie should write a book . I would devour it

Posted by: Vijayendra on 06/08/2011

WOWOWOWOWOW Article. How about more articles like these? or a seperate section of anecdotes ?

Posted by: Eddie Persaud on 06/08/2011

Fantastic article. Wow!! We need more of this stuff.

Posted by: Fyzul A Ali on 06/08/2011

Great piece.I am passing it on to my children who wil greater appreciate what I knew about Charlie.
Always maintained that he was the best unacclaimed WI batsman but gave up his cricket to make a living.Only Lara may be the better schoolboy batsman although there was Riuchard De Souza,probably the best WI batsman never to play test cricket,Bernard Julien and the Gomes brothere who all made a lot of runs.
Charlie ,remember India in 1973 they could not out him.

Posted by: around the wicket on 06/08/2011

Keep well Charlie! Thanks for the memories.
This is what made the West Indies great! The great self-belief that we all had, not just Sobers, but the unit. Charlie runs out the best batsman - okay he would bat on to save the day.

Posted by: Christo on 06/08/2011

Great story, plenty laughter, oh how great this lovely game of cricket really is.......thanks for the meories "Charlie"

Posted by: THEO CUFFY on 06/08/2011

GREAT ARTICLE! CRICKET is a way of life. Charlie was one of my heroes. Good to know he is there reminding us how beautiful our cricket was. Stay good friend!

Posted by: Earl J on 06/08/2011

Seeing my first test match in Barbados was special.I saw Gary and Charlie make hundreds against NZ.
I wish we could get more stories like this one.Butcher was a good story teller.I met him in Guyana.Reading stories like this is good.I remember Cozier writing about Gary giving a technical chance when he hit a ball back at Gannon,stating that he was lucky it had not gone right through him..that was how hard he hit it.

Posted by: avianraptor on 06/08/2011

Growing up in TT at the time was beautiful. So many exciting players to remember like Kanhai, Hall, Kalli, Julien Inshan Ali and..Gavaskar, Bedi, Prasana, Venkat. All these guys including us were in awe of Sobers! He really could do anything! Am not surprised by Charlie's anecdotes. CD was a classy player himself and always modest to the extreme. His brother Bryan also represented WI, heads the QPCC and was also at Lord's recently. My thanks to the author for allowing us to reminisce to what were wonderful, memorable, innocent and a time when players were mainly driven by their love and respect for the game. Oh yeah...being so modest, Charlie would never mentioned the throng of female fans and admirers that were keen on..well..not only the game! We were just jealous! Great man, particularly being so good yet so modest and funny. A real throwback to de ole days of WI cricket man!

Posted by: sreekanth on 06/08/2011

Every cricketer has a story to tell,be a test player or school boy.Wonderful narration of the life and times of a great cricketer just goes on to show you that cricket is not just a game,its a drama that ufolds before our eyes,everysingle moment.It was a joy to read.!thanks

Posted by: Keith on 06/08/2011

Young West Indian players need little sessions like these. Just listening to stuff like this should inform their cricket education...

Posted by: Vijay on 06/08/2011

Great article. I was able to hear some of those stories "live" while Mr Davis was a coach at my school at the U19 level. And the writer got all of the words absolutely correct.... "you know" and also the colorful adjectives that he (Charlie) just includes in his story nonchalantly, irregardless of who is within earshot - glad that the writer included them. This article genuinely made me smile....he is a great storyteller (Charlie), and he captivates you when he speaks.

Posted by: Foo Young on 06/08/2011

One memory I had of Charlie was in 1971 at Bourda when the Guyana crowd thought he was responsible for Clive Lloyd's run out. They wanted to kill poor Charlie. Lloyd had to address the crowd to keep them under control. Charlie won them over when he made a hundred in the 2nd innings. Such was the man. Great temperament. Thanks for the memories Charlie!

Posted by: Puffster on 06/08/2011

Cheers Sriram, thanks for reviving the memories. I thoroughly enjoyed.

puff

Posted by: Owen Williams on 06/08/2011

If you had not given us this awesome story we wold not have known that such exists; we would not have known what we were missing. Now that we know. Give us some more. Charlie had me smiling all the way through. Our current players, they too have their stories.

Posted by: ken m. on 06/08/2011

great article, many, many fabulous cricketing memories. as a boy I saw charlie, bryan, willie rodriguez, joey carew, leo john. jamil ali, harry ramoutar, et al play great cricket in trinidad. currently residing in miami and played local cricket under the captaincy of the blast of the past lance gibbs, i had the honor of meeting the great sobers, kanhai,hunte, butcher, kalli, deryck murray. i found all these guys to be down to earth and all told the funniest of stories. i'm an avid fan of charlie and i'm glad to know he's still around and doing fine. thanks for the memories charlie and god bless!

Posted by: Pavan on 06/08/2011

Awesome. Experienced pure joy reading this.
Thank you!

Posted by: testerwer on 06/08/2011

Awesome article... Keep them coming

Posted by: stanley on 06/09/2011

Really enjoyed the article. In fact felt much better.
Some more articles along the above lines.
Please include cricketers from all around the world.
It will give cricket lovers a better perspective of the "real"side of cricketers.

Posted by: shiva on 06/09/2011

Lovely article. Read and reread. Equally great comments from all WI cricket fans from around the world.

Posted by: kevin on 06/09/2011

Dont know anything about Charlie ... but Fantastic story ... must have been a great bloke to hang around with.

Posted by: Debasis Chakravarty on 06/09/2011

excellent article! cheered up my day! Really enjoyed it.

Posted by: Doug Newsam on 06/09/2011

Great article. These stories are what make cricket the most special game on earth. Sitting in a pavilion after the game, listening to the greats and former greats recount tales of their experience brings home the spirit of the game. My modest experience of this at local club level enriched my cricket experience and life in general. Charlie Davis is a Trini and Trinis are born raconteurs!
I wonder whether this tradition still exists among the players at the top level or are they so involved in training, routines, team meetings and strategy that they miss these moments?
Some enterprising writer should make it a project to meet with as many of these great players as are willing to share their stories and publish a collection of anecdotes. What a treasure that would be!

Posted by: Peter Bovell on 06/09/2011

Actually Charlie is still at the wicket and playing the best innings of his life. He should be an example of how to deal with adversity. I have known Charlie since our school days at St. Mary's. I don't use the term "friend" loosely but with Charlie it flies off my tongue. Bat on my friend.

Posted by: dave on 06/11/2011

my name is dave, longtime ago my brother use to call me charlie davis, i didnt know who charlie davis was but i knew he had to be some cricketer. I love the part when he said he ran out the best batsman so now he gotta bat all day..The present WI team should have that mindset.

Posted by: Ashish on 06/11/2011

What a lovely read, sir! That was thoroughly enjoyable... and I actually yearned for a rum and coke at the end of it.
Superbly evocative article, this.

Posted by: kurtis on 06/17/2011

great stuff, billiant stories , Charlie Davis you would have me laughing in my sleep, but not before a strong rum & coke. thank you charlie & super articte sriram veera.

Posted by: Arvind Agrawal on 06/18/2011

excellent& fascinating article. Alas we did not see enough of Charlie Davis who was a Star Batsman. Sincerely wish the glorious days of WI cricket r back but for the continuous bickerings amongst the WICB&WIPA which must be resolved immediately in the best interests of WI Cricket.

Posted by: hooher tod on 09/06/2011

Yes there should realize the reader to RSS my feed to RSS commentary, quite simply

Posted by: Triergoni on 11/06/2011

What about the English invent football championship?

  Post your comment
Name:
Email Address:
Comments:
characters left

Categories

Recent Posts

Archives