SVGCA honours pair of past national players

The executive of the St Vincent and the Grenadines Cricket Association continued its format of recognition, when at its presentation and awards ceremony last Friday night at the Murray Heights Hotel, another two persons were honoured.{{more}}

Lance John and Selwyn Allen, who both represented St Vincent and the Grenadines and who have otherwise made contributions over the years to the sport here, were this year’s honourees.

Lance John, who was first known as Lance Phillips, is a former left-handed opening batsman who played at the national Under-19 and senior team levels, but also represented the Windwards.

He became the first Vincentian to stroke a first-class century at the Arnos Vale Playing Field, a feat he achieved in 1983 in the then regional Shell Shield competition. John slammed 110 versus Barbados, who had the late Malcolm Marshall and Wayne Daniel in their line-up.

John’s first class cricket career spanned 56 matches, in which he aggregated 3,012 runs, at an average of 30.42 runs.

Also a former police cadet, John, who played cricket for Radcliffe in the local competitions, also represented St Vincent and the Grenadines at football as a goalkeeper at the Under-19 level.

John, who is now 58, two years ago, rolled backed the years, when he came out of retirement to score 98 for Radcliffe in the National Lotteries Authority Premier Division.

At the administrative level, John is a former president of the Barrouallie Sports Association, having served for 10 years; a former manager of the senior St Vincent and the Grenadines football team; served as a selector on the Windwards panel and is currently a member of the local panel.

Named as one of the Sports Ambassadors at the 2015 Independence Parade, John works as a supervisor at the Arnos Vale Playing Field, which is under the aegis of the National Sports Council.

Selwyn Allen first excelled as a cricketer at the St Vincent Grammar School, and was appointed captain of the first ever St Vincent and the Grenadines Under-19 cricket team in 1970.

This team faced the touring Australian Under-19 schoolboys at the Grammar School Playing Field, and Allen performed well with the bat; reports say he was undefeated in both innings with scores of 41 not out and 46 not out.

It is believed that it was this performance that propelled him into the senior national cricket team that same year, a place he held for the next two years, before going off on studies overseas.

On his return, Allen became a prominent member of the Saints cricket team, having won the Best All-rounder category on a couple of occasions with his batting and leg-spin bowling.

Allen then turned to administration, serving on the executive of the St Vincent and the Grenadines Cricket Association.

Fulfilling other facets of his contribution, Allen, a fully accredited West Indies umpire, still performs this duty with distinction at the local and Windward Islands level.

Allen was a senior national selector during the period 1997 to 2012, and was chair of the selection committee during the periods 1999 to 2004 and then again from 2008 to 2012.

He also served as manager of the St Vincent and the Grenadines senior cricket team from 1999 to 2004.

During those six years as manager, the senior national team won the Windward Islands cricket tournament on four occasions, including a hat-trick in the years 2001, 2002 and 2003.

After receiving training as a Match Referee in 2009 at a West Indies Cricket Board’s forum in Jamaica, Allen performed such duties in several regional cricket matches here in St Vincent and the Grenadines and in Grenada.

Allen is currently the chair of the SVG Masters Cricket Committee, which administers the SVG Masters 20/20 Cricket competition.