Call for stands in Warner Park Stadium named in honour of cricket heroes

BASSETERRE, St. Kitts - SOME seven years after hosting its first Test match, a call was made by a cricket historian and a former player to rename the stands at the Warner Park Cricket Stadium in honour of local cricket heroes and the renaming of the Sandy Point Recreation Ground in honour of the late Andrew Weekes.

Former St. Kitts, Leeward Islands and Combined Islands batsman Victor Eddy, in an exclusive interview with SKNVibes, said that he felt it was time to honour individuals who helped in the development of the sport in the Federation.

“I think they should start appreciating people for their service in their various capacities of development of the sport in St. Kitts and Nevis and throughout the Leeward Islands, and Andrew Weekes has really made a sterling contribution.

“Since Warner Park has been made an international standard ground, there is great concern that some people think the time has come for them to place names of whom they possibly think were the most outstanding cricketers coming out of St. Kitts.”

He added that this gesture is necessary in order for citizens and resident to acknowledge their history.

“The time has long passed now and I think sooner than later that should be done so that aspiring cricketers can know who the players before them were.

“If you do not know your past you would not know your future. A nation without its past history is like a tree without roots. Sandy Point, in my opinion, has put out more players to represent St. Kitts.”

Cricket historian Cyril Pringle ‘Puntan’ Webster Jr. also shared similar sentiments about the Sandpoint Recreation Ground, stating that for years he has been calling for this to be done.

“I have been saying it for a long time that the new Sandy Point Recreation Ground should be named after the late Andrew Weekes, in honour of the first international umpire from St. Kitts and the Leeward Islands.

“Andrew Weekes was a very nice individual…always willing to help. As an umpire, myself, I learnt a lot from him.”

He also spoke about the naming of stands at the Warner Park Cricket Stadium.

“I have been writing about that over the years but nobody took me on. If you tour the Caribbean and you go to cricket, all the grounds have sections named after past players and some are administrators. So why can’t it happen in St. Kitts? I believe if you had that, more people would go out to witness the games as well.”

The media center at Warner Park was renamed the C.A. Paul Southwell Media Center, but this change is not reflected in the other sections.