My Romance with the game of Cricket from 1954 to Date

By Prof Rob Egwuatu

I was admitted into Government Secondary School, Owerri, along with twenty nine other boys, on September 6, 1954. The school ran three terms per academic year. Our first term in the school commenced in September, 1954 and ended in December, 1954. Football was played in this term. The school placed a lot of emphasis on both academic work and sports/games. Each time  we came out for games in this football season, our Games Master, Mr. Ben Chukwudebe who took a lot of fancy for me, placed me to play at the centre forward position. I did not like playing the game of football because of its contact nature. I was afraid of getting hurt by the bigger boys. My classmates teased me by saying that I could not score a goal from the penalty spot.

At the end of the term, we went home for the Christmas holiday. My father received my first term result and drew my attention to it. I performed reasonably well academically but the comments from both the Sports Master and the Principal were not encouraging. Both of them wrote that I should take active part in sports. This was the comment that my father was not happy with. He encouraged me to make an extra effort at games.

The second term was athletics season. I enthusiastically picked up 120 yards hurdles, discus and javelin in order to avert another adverse report by the Principal and Games Master.

I had not hitherto watched the game of cricket. Our Games Master, Mr. Ben Chukwudebe, observed that I could aim the cricket ball at the middle stump each time. He therefore concentrated on perfecting my arm movement so that I bowled the ball instead of throwing it.

An interesting story was that I had a special endowment to aim a pebble at an object and strike it.

In my primary school days, I rescued a man who climbed a palm tree to cut palm bunches but could not come down because two snakes were in the middle of the tree. We were on the way from school when we heard screams from the bush. I put down my school box, picked some pebbles and moved nearer to the palm tree. I released a pebble at the snakes and it hit them directly which made them fall off the tree. I quickly ran out of the bush, picked my school box and ran home.

In the light of the foregoing story, I soon became a good bowler and picked wickets at ease. I perfected my fairly long run-up of eleven steps to the crease. I jumped up on the twelfth step and released the ball on the thirteenth step. This procedure was very constant.

I played for the Colts Team XI in Class Three. Our Captain was my classmate, Lazarus Chijioke. In my Class Four(1958), I was enlisted to play in the school’s first eleven. I was also picked among the thirteen students from the four cricket playing schools in the Eastern Region to participate in the Morocco Clarke cricket Cup competition which was held in Lagos in 1958. The Eastern Regional Team which comprised cricketers from Government College, Umuahia; Government Secondary School, Owerri; Government Secondary School, Afikpo and Bishop Shanahan College, Orlu won the competition and carried the Cup for the first time in the history of the competition. Our Captain was Chris Emelifonwu from Government College, Umuahia.

I was awarded my Cricket Colours as soon as we returned from Lagos. Thus, I won my Cricket Colours in Class Four.

I was a member of the school’s 1st XI Cricket Team in 1958, 1959, 1960 and 1961. In 1961, I was appointed the Captain of the school’s 1st XI Cricket Team, succeeding Nnoli Albert. It was not an easy task but I pulled through. We won most of our matches during the season.

Our school had this policy of arranging cricket matches on the weekend preceding the commencement of external examinations – West African School Certificate and Higher School Certificate examinations. We played such a match in 1960 when Snr Nnoli Albert was the Captain but with serious consequences occasioned by injuries. In 1961, such a match was fixed against Government Secondary School, Afikpo at Afikpo. Because of the injuries sustained by some members of the tram in 1960, I was not too keen on playing this match at a weekend preceding the commencement of our Higher School Certificate(HSC) examinations. Besides, I dreamt that the cricket ball landed on my eye at the forthcoming match. Members of my team who were in Classes V and Upper VI and who were to commence their external examinations told me to make a request to our Principal, Mr. John Arthur Garrod, to cancel the match. Incidentally, that was to be the last match for some of us.

I went to the Principal’s Office and was ushered in promptly to see him. When I entered, the Principal asked me why I came to see him. I told him that I came because of the cricket match against Government Secondary School, Afikpo scheduled for the weekend preceding the commencement of our WASC and HSC examinations. I took him down memory lane and narrated the previous outing in which we fared badly with many injuries. I also told him that I had a bad dream in which the ball hit me on the face while I was batting at Afikpo. Besides, the junior members of my team were scheduled to commence their internal examinations on the Friday we were scheduled to travel to Afikpo. To my utter disappointment, our Principal insisted that the cricket match must be played. He said that all my reasons were frivolous and asked me when I became “Joseph the Dreamer”. Furthermore, he said he would adjust the timetable of the internal examinations and that he would take us to Afikpo instead of Mr. G.A. Ugwuegede who was scheduled to do so. To buttress my point, I took a piece of paper from his table and sketched the Afikpo pitch indicating where I was batting in the dream when I got injured.

 I came out of the Principal’s Office with a long face. I could not face my team mates who were waiting anxiously to know the outcome of my visit to the Principal’s Office. I told them what the Principal’s final word was; that we should pack our cricket kits for the trip to Afikpo and that he, the Principal, would be in charge of the team instead of Mr. Ugwuegede. They were also very disappointed.

We left for Afikpo in the morning of that Friday, played on that day and continued on Saturday morning. The umpires were Mr. Garrod, our Principal, and Mr. Wilson(Afikpo). When we resumed our batting innings on Saturday afternoon, the score board showed that my team was likely to lose the match because our wickets had fallen like a pack of cards. When it was my turn to bat, I walked to the crease with a troubled mind. As the Captain of the team, I was not happy that my team was likely to lose the match. Nevertheless, I took my guard and settled down to bat, mindful of the fact that I was not good with the bat. After receiving a few overs, tragedy struck. Osakwe of Afikpo bowled a very reckless ball which hit me directly on my right eye. I screamed “Oh my exams on Thursday” and fell down on the pitch. Blood oozed. Mr. Garrod who was the square leg umpire and close to me was fixed to the spot. He must have been in a state of shock. Mr. Wilson who was the mid on umpire ran the 22 yards of the pitch to assist me. He dabbed the blood with his white handkerchief, removed my gloves and pads and made quick arrangements for me to be taken to  the Mater Misericodiae Hospital, Afikpo. On arrival at the hospital, I was promptly attended to. The bleeding was arrested and my right eye tightly bandaged. I must have looked like a turbaned Emir!  After spending some hours at the hospital, I was discharged to go back to the school, still in pain. We lost the match because my team could not hold on.

On Sunday morning, we departed Afikpo for Owerri. On our arrival at our school gate at Owerri, we saw Mr. Ugwuegede’s car parked at the entrance. We eventually learnt that Mr. Garrod had gone ahead of us back to Owerri. He informed Mr. Ugwuegede about my accident and directed him to await our return and take me to the General Hospital, Owerri for a further investigation.

The hospital workers immediately attended to me. The bandage was removed and the wound dressed. I was taken to the ward where I stayed till Tuesday evening. I was discharged and allowed to go back to school. Mr. Ugwuegede came to the hospital and drove me back to the school. Fortunately, I did not lose the eye.

The HSC examinations started on Thursday as scheduled. I did the practical examinations and some of the theory examinations with one eye, the left eye, because the right eye was still bandaged. To God be the glory because I was able to conclude my examinations, despite the handicap.

I stated earlier that Mr. Garrod must have been in a state of shock when I was injured. Yes, he was, because at the end of our examinations, he sent for me and extended an invitation to me to visit him for one week. I travelled to Aba to see my mother and then went back to Owerri and stayed with the Garrods  for one week. I was properly cared for. The rest is history.

That was OGSS in those days. The school took good care of us, academically and otherwise. To God be the glory that I was given an opportunity to attend such a school!!!

I thought that I would be so afraid that I would not play cricket again. This was not to be. In September, 1962, I was admitted to study for a degree at the University of Ibadan. In our first week, I was asked to be the Captain of fresh students in a cricket match with the stale students in order to select a cricket team for the year because some members of the University Cricket Team had graduated and left. We played that match and, at the end, I was selected as a member of University of Ibadan’s Cricket 1st XI team. I enjoyed playing cricket again and was awarded my colours in 1963 after our annual match against the University of Ghana, at Leg on.

I picked up the game of cricket again in 1977 when I relocated from the University of Ibadan to the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. Mr. SNOK Onyilogwu, who taught at Government Secondary School, Owerri, was a Lecturer at UNN in the Department of Health and Physical Education. He was actively involved in the administration of sports at UNN. He appointed me and Snr Ogugua Nwankiti coaches for the University’s cricket team. This was when and where I met Olisa Egwuatu and Charles Asugha who were students and members of the university’s cricket team.

In 1979, I participated in the National Sports Festival at Ibadan, tagged “Oluyole 79”. I represented Anambra State in the game of cricket and won my third cricket colours. Our Captain was Mr. ABC Nwosisi, a sound cricketer who attended Government College, Umuahia. The Enugu Cricket Team of which I was a member played a good number of friendly matches against other Clubs e.g. Shell Club, Port Harcourt and other States e.g. Imo State.

Concluding Remarks

I cannot play the game of cricket now at my age. However, I love watching on television the test matches and the new additions – limited overs(T20 and ODI). With an advance in technology, the umpires can take an accurate decision on whether or not a batsman is out using the third umpire(ball tracking review). Cricket is a noble game, for gentlemen.

Rob Egwuatu, Sept.1954 Set, Owerri House.