BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – THOUGH St. Kitts is yet to produce a cricketer to represent the West Indies, the island can however boast about the amount of men who had made a name for themselves at the regional level of the game.
There are many, and among them is the Shaw Avenue, McKnight-born Alfred Luther ‘Shotgun’ Kelly, who is known to many for his athletic prowess, his ability as an umpire and a Police Officer for almost 40 years.
As a cricketer, Kelly played the game at the national level and had represented both the Leeward Islands and Combined Islands against the best that the Caribbean region had to offer.
He was also involved in a number of other sports disciplines.
“I played football, basketball and volleyball at a national level. I also played lawn tennis, table tennis and golf, but was not as successful in those sports as I was in cricket.
“I chose cricket because it was the most popular sport at the time and there was good competition between football and cricket. And before that I thought I had more potential to not only make the Leeward Islands team but also the West Indies.”
Kelly however stated that he did not get a chance to play youth cricket for St. Kitts but had represented the classes at Basseterre Boys School from the Third to Sixth Standards.
Explaining how he got his breakthrough, Kelly said, “It was a Labour Day weekend over at Frigate Bay when I was playing cricket with Len Harris who was the main person there, and I thought that he was the best cricketer in St. Kitts and I wanted to play cricket alongside him. I was fielding and I saw that persons were batting twice before I was getting a chance. I asked him why can’t I get a chance to bat and he told the other guys, ‘He is a youngster he would not last long, let him bat. And then it was a problem for them to get me out. So, from that, he started encouraging me to come to play cricket.
“I then joined the Park Rats. That was a team he (Len Harris) used to mentor. In the following year I played for the Renown Cricket Team which was captained by Len Harris. In that year, I performed pretty well and was made captain of the second class team. I was called to trials for the St. Kitts National Team but was unsuccessful. I however made the team in the following year.”
Kelly then recounted the events that occurred during his debut game while playing in the Leeward Islands Cricket Tournament.
“In 1974 I played my first game for St. Kitts versus Nevis at Warner Park and it was a disastrous start. I made nought, got out the very first ball I faced and opened the innings with Lionel Williams. Though it was a bad start for me, I did not let it stop me. I returned in the second innings to make 35 runs. In that innings I had the opportunity to play some good strokes against one of the leading pace bowlers in Leeward Islands.”
He also spoke about the first time he played for both the Leeward Islands and the Combined Islands.
In 1976 I made a breakthrough to play for the Leeward Islands Team. I had to play trials for the Leeward Islands against the Windward Islands Team but I did not get a chance to play for the Combined Islands until 1980 in Barbados for the Limited Overs competition. After that tournament I was not selected for the four-day team, so I had to come back home.”
Kelly also made mention of the dramatic events that led up to him playing for the Combined Islands in the four-day match in Barbados.
“I was a police officer at that time. I was working at the staff office. Hector was the Chief of Police at the time, and the day before the match he called me just before midday and indicated to me that he received a message asking me to return to Barbados to fill the spot for Enoch Lewis who took sick. He gave me the permission to go. I had to get my cricket attire cleaned, and at that time we didn’t have dryers. So I had to take my wet gear to Antigua where I had to overnight, and when I got there I hung my clothes on a line and allowed them to dry.
“I had to leave the hotel very early the next morning and I never had a chance to have breakfast. I then travelled from Antigua to St. Lucia and, surprisingly, they carried me all the way to St. Vincent and back to St. Lucia before going across to Barbados. I remember seeing a gentleman with a bat boarding the flight in St. Vincent. We did not speak on the plane but when I got to Barbados the persons who were there to meet me saw him with the bat and asked him what he came to do and if he came for the game. He said yes and they did not ask him his name and they went with him.”
He said that the gentleman was also summoned to join the team as an emergency fielder.
Kelly continued: “When I got outside, the taxi dispatcher asked me if I would like a taxi. I told him I am here for the match, Combined Islands versus Barbados and I was expecting someone to meet me. He then asked for my name and I told him Luther Kelly and he said, ‘But they gone with Luther Kelly already.’ So he called the Kensington Oval and asked them what he should do and they said I must take a taxi and go directly to the ground. He organised a taxi for me.”
He then described some more events upon his arrival at the Kensington Oval.
“I got to the ground when the game had already started. Shirlon Williams, who is also from St. Kitts, was the wicketkeeper. He and Ignatius Cadette opened the innings because I was late.
“It was a very frightening time for me. When I entered the cricket stadium I saw Malcolm Marshall run up to bowl to Lockhart Sebastian. As he got into position to play a hook shot, I saw him turn his head and I heard a loud cracking sound. In those days nobody wore helmets and I got a little scared.
“When I got into the dressing room, Vivian Richards, who was the captain, came to me and asked me how was the flight and I told him I did not get a chance to get anything to eat. He arranged for me to get something to eat and, as the attendant was bringing it, Lockhart Sebastian sent a message saying that he was feeling a lot of pain and ‘Viv’ told me to pad up.
“I was dressed in a black pants and a blue shirt-jac and I had on my police boots. From the time he told me to pad up, I picked up my gear bag, took out my cricket gears and started padding up. So Viv said to me, ‘Loots, I thought I told you to pad up,’ and I said, ‘But skip I am padding up.’ He responded by saying, ‘We don’t play cricket in those clothes.’
“I got so scared I did not know what I was doing at the time. Before I had completed putting on my pads, Sebastian got out so I had to go down on the field partly dressed, partly padded up and had to be fixing my pads on my way down.”
Kelly then had to face some of the Caribbean’s best fast bowlers at that time and explained his experience.
“While I was batting, I faced up to Joel Garner. I played at a ball and it took an edge and the wicketkeeper dropped it.
“Shirlon, who was on the other end, came to me and tried to calm me down. And after I saw how he was batting, I said Shirlon can’t bat better than me and I gained a lot of courage after that. I made 60 in the first innings and 20 in the second.”
Kelly also gave the details about how he got the name ‘Shotgun’.
“In the second innings, Tony Cozier gave me the name Shotgun because of a shot that I played off of Sylvester Clarke, where I shaped up to play a cut shot and then came right around and turn it into a hook shot for a flat six.
“From that innings I became the senior opening batsman for the Combined Islands. I had partnered with a lot of opening batsmen, including persons who went on to play for the West Indies Team.”
Kelly also expounded on his views about not making the West Indies Team.
“I thought then that I had the opportunity to make the West Indies Team, but the selectors felt different. But, still, I had no regrets of playing. I thought that I would get through one day but I did not take it on and I continued to play.”
Kelly retired from playing for St. Kitts in 1995 but can still be seen playing the sport in some local competitions.
He also served as a top umpire since his retirement from First Class cricket, until he was removed from the West Indian elite panel of umpires in 2012.
