158 | Recognising Excellence
• National Sports Council, Barbados • Life member, Carlton Club, Barbados • Life member, Barbados Cricket Association • Member of the Hope Foundation (Lupus) • Member of the Barbados Cancer Society • Member of the Variety Club of Barbados • Member of the John Lodge Foundation • Patron of the Holders Hill Sports & Cultural Club • Patron of the World Blind Cricket Association • Member of the PCA (Professional Cricketers Association) UK • Member of the MCC (Marylebone Cricket Club) UK For his selfless life mission to advance the health and wellness of people, through his beloved cricket, and all in complete service to country and humanity, the degree of Doctor of Laws, honoris causa was conferred on Mr Desmond Haynes. SIR CUTHBERT GORDON GREENIDGE, KCMG, MBE Sir Cuthbert Gordon Greenidge is a citizen, a cricket genius, a sportsman whose performance on the regional and global stage has set him apart as the best, the very best of his gener- ation. He hails from the village of Black Bess that sits on the border of the St Andrew and St Peter parishes, and like our Vice-Chancellor, Sir Hilary, he attended the primary school
that carried the same name. That school, Black Bess, has been gloriously renamed the Gordon Greenidge Primary School. The VC’s CV now shows that Sir Hilary attended the Gordon Greenidge Primary School. From Black Bess, Sir Cuthbert rose to become the best Opening Batsman in the world. His regional and global peers easily recognised and assessed him as the best of the rest, and between the mid-1970s until the late-1980’s he was so embraced as the classiest, new ball player in the wide, wide world. The best from Black Bess became the best number one batsman in the West and everywhere cricket was played. The genius of Sir Cuthbert was rooted in his academic and technical approach. His mastery of the approved methods and perfectly tailored technique assured his productivity under pressure. Never at the crease at the top did he play an illegal, unapproved, unorthodox stroke. His style was the manifestation of purity in the praxis. He was clean and serene, and as the Barbadian fans would say, he was a ‘proper’ player. His magnificence at the top of the innings for the glorious West Indies team is now globally inscribed in narratives and cricket halls of fame. With Desmond Haynes as his opening partner he enabled the West Indies to give the world a new, higher standard of performance that redefined the game and provided the next generation of cricketers with a model and method to aspire. Sir Cuthbert Gordon Greenidge, KCMG, MBE, migrated from Barbados to England in his formative years, where he completed his education and launched his cricket career. He began his test cricket career in 1974, West Indies versus India at Bangalore, where he scored a century. In addition to representing Barbados and the West Indies, he has also played for teams in Australia, England and Scotland. Sir Cuthbert’s performances with his opening partner Desmond Haynes are legendary – even together as honorary graduands of a world class university. Sir Cuthbert became the first player in One Day International history to score a century in his 100th ODI, when he scored 102 Not Out against Pakistan in 1988. He scored 100 in his first match against India in India, scoring 107 and 93 respec- tively. In total, Sir Cuthbert played in 108 test matches, scoring 7,558 runs with 19 centuries.
Sir Cuthbert Gordon Greenidge, KCMG, MBE
THE UNIVERSITY OF THE WEST INDIES CAVE HILL CAMPUS ANNUAL REPORT TO COUNCIL 2021/2022
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