Dear Sir,

Please give me a little space in your sports column for what I want to say about the late great cricketer by the name of Mr. Winston (Timmy) Edwards, who was laid to rest last week.

As I didn't have enough time when I was being interviewed by Mike Sharpe of ZBM to say something about this fantastic man, I can say the rest in the this letter in detail.

First of all, I did make a mistake when I said he bundled Southampton Rangers out for a mere 16 runs when it was Willow Cuts who were at his mercy on that day.

I, for one can, state exactly what happened on that day as I was his seventh victim and there is more about that game that a lot of cricket followers would be surprised to hear.

In the total of 16 runs, there were between seven and nine extras, so one can imagine how many ducks there were.

There was a special ball that was made in Australia called the SMG which had to banned in the early 60s because it was dangerous to the batsmen due to its movement through the air which was different from other balls.

Timmy was the only bowler who I saw possess the control of this ball and that was the ball that was used against Willow Cuts on that unforgettable night. And being that he was a fast medium bowler made a vast difference.

It was later banned because a cricketer in Australia was struck on the head by a delivery and died. Even in the hot climate they couldn't control the SMG ball.

Timmy taught me a lot about bowling, being a left-hander like himself.

He stuck with me and over the years, and his advice, showing me the body action, became fruitful. Every time I saw him, I always gave him a lot of credit for my success.

He was a great man, a great cricketer and one to follow.

I can remember how he used to train. He would cut stone for hours and each day, come home and put on his track clothes and run from Somerset to Waterlot and back home to change into his cricket stuff and go practice at Somerset Cricket Club.

At times we had a little battle when it came to fitness, but I won't go into who came out on top.

When I spoke about the four wickets he took at Lord's Cricket Ground in 1961 during Somerset's tour of England, the opening bats put on 140 runs for the opening partnership before lunch.

After the lunch break, Timmy was given the ball to bowl the first over by then captain Charles Swan sr. The two openers were the former West Indian opener J.B. Stollmeyer and the MCC opener Dickie Doods.

How Timmy moved the ball into them from the pavilion end, you could see he meant business. The openers and a further two wickets fell for under 30 runs at the hands of Timmy, with Sir Frank Worrell and Alma Hunt looking on from the dressing room.

Worrell made a statement to Mr. Hunt and that statement was: "That Timmy was a thinking cricketer, the brain is there."

I had to smile when he said to Mr. Hunt that like all left-handers, we are all very important to any cricket side.

Look at Gary Sobers, a natural matchwinner and he admired Timmy's approach to the game.

Timmy was a good friend of mine in the early years, but we became even greater friends in the later years. We were very tight when we worked construction together at Hilltop.

I will remember him always both as an admirer and as a mentor.

Application, dedication, respect, presence of mind, and common sense, he possessed all of these things.

GEORGE BREMAR

A Great Friend

Dear Sir,

The Christmas season is a time for sharing, so please allow me some space in your paper to do so.

I have decided to make the job of Bermuda's cricket selectors easy by picking the team to tour Trinidad and St. Lucia in January for them.

Let me begin by saying I believe the tour should be extended to include Barbados and consist of a full 18-man party.

Manager: Mr. Randy Horton JP MP a former professional sportsman, he is without a doubt the ideal candidate for the job. A former principal he knows a thing or two about discipline and man management something which is important. A passionate follower of the game, he would also be able to make a valuable contribution to team meetings.

Coach: Gus Logie

Captain: Irving Romaine

Vice-captain: Lionel Cann

Team: Glenn Blakeney, Chris Douglas, Dwayne Leverock, Stefan Kelly, Steven Outerbridge, Jekon Edness, Oronde Bascome, David Hemp, Delyone Borden, Rodney Trott, Tamari Tucker

Chris Foggo – a specialist opening bat, who can also keep wicket. This is important just in case Bermuda want to add another bowler or batsmen to the line-up

Janeiro Tucker – in my opinion the only truly great cricketer playing today, he brings experience and has proved himself to be an invaluable player at the ICC Trophy competition

Kevin Hurdle – I was extremely disappointed when injury forced Kevin from the national team as he appeared to finally begin fulfilling his potential – a reliable fast bowler, he can also give a useful 30 at the end of the innings

Malachi Jones – limitless potential with either ball or bat. Really sad to see him away from international cricket

George O'Brien – when he is firing on all cylinders George can destroy any Associate level batting line-up with sheer pace!

You will notice that I have replaced Rodney Trott with Lionel Cann as vice-captain, this is because I think that Lionel has proven himself as a leader in domestic competition, captaining St. David's and St. George's Cup Match team to success while Rodney, as a youngster, should be allowed time to focus on his own game without having the responsibility of the vice-captaincy hanging around his neck.

RECMAN