Winston Davis gets NLA monetary gift

The National Lotteries Authority (NLA) last Tuesday presented a cheque for US$10,000 to relatives of former St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Windwards, Combined Islands and West Indies fast bowler Winston Davis.{{more}}

The presentation took place at the Arnos Vale Playing Field during the third Digicel One Day International Cricket match between the West Indies and Australia.

Receiving the cheque was Davis’s elder brother Kenrick Whyttle.

Last Tuesday, declared public holiday to enable persons to attend the match, was also dubbed “Winston Davis Appreciation Day”, according to a release from the Minister of Tourism, Sports and Culture, Cecil Mc Kie.

Davis, 53, who hails from Sion Hill, currently resides in Bewdley in Worcester, England.

He is a tetraplegic and is confined to a tilting wheel chair.

His condition is as a result of a freak accident in 1997, at Ratho Mill here in St. Vincent, when in an attempt to cut a tree branch, he fell and damaged his spine. The tragic event occurred when members of the Streams of Power church were clearing land to build a new church.

The release also read: “The Ministry is also aware of Winston’s ongoing medical requirements in the UK and wishes him God’s continuous blessings and strength in all his endeavours.”

“While the Ministry’s show of appreciation is not conditional on a similar response by the West Indies Cricket Board, we are confident that they, too, may be so inclined to make a similar contribution,” the release concluded.

Davis has been the beneficiary of several government assistance programmes, as well as the generosity of many who each year organise benefit Cricket matches, especially in his adopted home of England.

Davis appeared in 15 tests matches for the West Indies taking 45 wickets, at a cost of 32.71 runs per wicket. His best bowling figures was his 4 for 19 against New Zealand at Sabina Park in Jamaica in 1985.

In total, Davis played 35 One Day Internationals, taking 39 wickets at average of 33.38 runs.

Davis’s best figures of 7 for 51 in the 1983 World Cup against Australia in England stood as the world record until 2000, when Muttiah Chavinda Vaas, also of Sri Lanka, then established the current record of 8 for 19, achieved in their 2001 home series against Zimbabwe.

Davis still holds the West Indies record for the most wickets in an ODI innings.

The wiry cricketer has also turned out for Glamorgan and Northamptonshire in the English County Championship; for Tasmania in Australia’s Sheffield Shield ad well as for Wellington in the New Zealand domestic competition.(RT)