CARLOS BRATHWAITE is my sports personality of the year.
Brathwaite’s match-winning innings in the ICC World T20 Championship in India was the one performance by a Barbadian that will be best remembered and arguably had the greatest impact on the national psyche. I believe that is what it takes to give him the big, prestigious prize.
I don’t think too many of us had our money on a West Indies victory going into the last over against England. Actually, my son Micah may have been one of the exceptions as he insisted to the household that Brathwaite would win the game for the West Indies. It was a bold prediction, considering the long odds of it happening.
This, though, puts into perspective the monumental display of the big all-rounder. There had to be huge pressure on him and Marlon Samuels, with everything on the line from that last over delivered by Ben Stokes. If Brathwaite was nervous it wasn’t obvious because he didn’t show it.
Set off frenzy
That’s the psychological makeup of a true champion as he took on his task as if it was routine when we, who sat anxiously around our television sets, knew it was anything but routine. Still, he had the calm and composure to smack Stokes for four consecutive sixes and set off a frenzy throughout the Caribbean, perhaps not seen or felt in ages.
The only cricketing parallel would have been back in 2004 when the team won the Champions Trophy again versus England, against the odds, and Ian Bradshaw and Courtney Browne somehow engineered an unlikely victory carved with grit, determination and risk taking under tremendous pressure.
Unsurprisingly, they were voted joint Sports Personality Of The Year.
There were no objections then, and if we follow the same reasoning and use the same yardstick, Brathwaite should be an easy winner. Some may ask what else he has achieved of significance before or since his World Cup heroics. My answer is that with that one masterstroke in the final, he reached the summit of excellence and into the pages of cricket history.
In fact, that he was voted the World T20 player of the year aptly sums it up. It is the icing on the cake for King Carlos.
Teammate Kraigg Brathwaite was also on my short list. When you consider the magnitude of what he achieved in the last test against Pakistan, you begin to understand how much he has grown as an international cricketer. He’s the first opener in the history of test cricket to carry his bat in both innings of a test. His first innings century and 67 not out in the second were the planks on which the triumph was built.
In a general sense, Brathwaite’s innings was symbolic of the progress the team had made after a horrendous, disjointed start to their journey in Abu Dhabi. It said boldly that we should remain optimistic about our future.
Ramon Gittens and Akela Jones
It was an Olympic year and we were expecting a lot from our athletes, not only on the big stage in Rio but at other meets. In this respect, sprinter Ramon Gittens showed he was the most improved and his bronze medal in the 60 metres final of the World Indoor Championships was a stunning performance. It was a notable follow-up up to his bronze in the final of the Pan American Games in Canada in 2015. He also qualified in both the 100 and 200 metres at the Olympics.
Akela Jones’ year was satisfactory but not over the top. Perhaps the national weight of expectation plagued her campaign at Rio but the experience gained would have been enormous and I am sure we will see growth when she competes at the world championships in London next year.
Mario Burke’s third place in the 100 metres at the World Youth Championships was commendable and we duly expect a lot more from him in the future. There’s no doubt that the potential is there for him to become a leading player in world sprinting in time to come.
Darian King has made enormous strides in 2016 and he has managed to bring a lot more focus on local tennis, the most since the heyday of Martin Blackman and Richard Ashby. He is now the highest ranked Bajan ever in singles and this would have been attained mainly through his performances in the ATP Challenger circuit.
He also led manfully whatever success the Barbados team achieved in the Davis Cup. King was the first Bajan to play in the Olympics. His overall exploits also caught the notice of one of the world’s leading promotion and marketing companies who have signed him clearly because they see someone worthy to invest in for the future.
Surfer Chelsea Tuach continues to improve and is keeping the country’s flag flying high in her field and I think youthful swimmer Danielle Titus is making waves as well but will need to battle against the world’s best consistently if she wants to be in the reckoning for the 2020 Olympics in Japan. This calls for sacrifice and adequate funding.
I think the association award should go to the World Road Tennis Federation for its successful hosting of the World Road Tennis Championships at Springer Memorial School.
I have pleaded previously for Richard Clarke and Alfred Campbell to be considered for the community award because the role they have played in the development of women’s cricket has been invaluable. All of the current outstanding local players who have gone on to play for the West Indies came through their hands. I remarked in an earlier column that they were the real unsung heroes of the World T20 victory.
Rising middle distance track star Jonathan Jones has good credentials to be the emerging athlete of the year based on his dominance at the Carifta Games.
We will see what the people with the real say decide. Happy, healthy and prosperous new year to all.
• Andi Thornhill is a veteran sports journalist. Email andithornhill1@gmail.com