By Neto Baptiste
Audwin “Jarmas” Walsh, a former cricketer and the uncle of newly-named West Indies ODI and T20 cricketer, Hayden Walsh Jr., has rubbished claims that a planned celebration for his nephew’s achievement is premature.
Speaking on the Good Morning Jojo Sports Show, Audwin said that Sunday’s planned motorcade and brief ceremony in Liberta, will highlight only the player’s achievement thus far and should not be seen as anything more.
“When I heard of it first, I too had mixed feelings, but after speaking with my nephew [Hayden], I understand the details and for me, his dream has always been to play for the West Indies and not only for him but also for his late father,” he said.
“It was his dream for his son and I think they had intimate and close dialogue so the decision was quite easy for him to decide, owing to whatever circumstances and the fickle nature of West Indies, he feels that he is going to be impactful and he is going to do the best he can to carry the legacy of his father for a very long time,” he added.
A football referee and former striker, Walsh explained what Sunday’s event will entail.
“We’re planning a motorcade and the route is from All Saints School road to Table Hill Gardens in and around Liberta, Falmouth, English Harbour, because, it is Liberta first and the St. Paul’s community that he was an intimate part of at some point, so we felt that we needed to let people understand the achievement and that he would have paved the way for many more young eyes to open to see that the opportunities are there for not just Hayden Walsh, but for more persons coming up,” he said.
The celebration, Audwin said, was first suggested by the parliamentary representative in Liberta.
“It would be remiss of me not to say that it is an initiative of the minister, the MP Paul ‘Chet’ Greene. He’s away, so he knocked me up on WhatsApp and we talked about it and right away, I was happy to chair this committee in trying to get this off the ground,” he said.
Hayden Jr. finished as the top bowler in the recently ended Hero Caribbean Premier League with 22 wickets. He also captured the MVP award.