BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – OFTEN times he can be seen sauntering along the streets in downtown Basseterre or engaged in group conversations as the principal speaker. This diminutive, bald-headed septuagenarian may seem insignificant to many, especially the younger generation, but he possesses a wealth of knowledge of the game that has bonded the Caribbean nation and is perceived as the living ‘Encyclopedia of Local Cricket’.
He is Cyril Pringle Webster Jr., popularly known as Puntan. He has made significant contributions to the sport in St. Kitts as a player, umpire and a historian of the game.
In an interview with SKNVibes, Webster explained how his 40-year umpiring career began.
“What happened was that in those days the First Division Cricket used to start on one Thursday and continues on the next Thursday. Luckily, on one of the second Thursdays school began their summer holidays and I went to watch my favorite batsman at the time, which was George McMahon, who was the captain of Renown Cricket Club, and Lloyd Thompson, who was the captain of Progressive Cricket Club and was my favourite bowler. And on the second Thursday, one of the umpires did not show up and the other umpire went to my father and asked him if I could umpire with him, and my father said yes. That’s how I began umpiring in 1962.”
Webster added that from that day he continued to umpire local cricket until 2002 when he decided to call it a day.
Though he never had an illustrious career as a batsman, Webster fondly remembers his greatest moment as a player when he went up against one of the world’s greatest cricketers, Sir Garfield Sobers.
“I had the pleasure of playing against the greatest cricketer in Sir Garfield Sobers, who was playing with a touring team from Barbados here in St. Kitts. I bet him $150 that he will not get me out. He said to me in a Bajan accent, ‘You know who you talking to?’ And I said to him, ‘I know I am talking to Sobers, and your captain, Frank Worrell is my older brother.’ In that game I made second top score of 40 runs and won the bet.”
Webster noted that the team he played against was one called Aberdeen out of Barbados and Sobers was there as a guess player.
As an avid fan of the game, Webster said he had witnessed many innings by batsmen who went on to make the West Indies team, but the best he ever saw was a century by Lawrence ‘Yagga’ Rowe in a Jamaica versus the Combined Islands match at Warner Park.
Today, Webster is viewed by the cricket loving public in St. Kitts and Nevis as the living ‘Encyclopedia of Local Cricket’ because of his vast knowledge of the game.
Evidence of his vast knowledge lies in the many articles he had written and published in a number of local newspapers.
Many people had called and are still calling for some form of documentation of Webster’s knowledge so that the current and unborn generations could learn about the Federation's past cricketers.
