Atlantis Honors Cricket Test Great and Guyana Scholar

Atlantis Cricket Club – New York last Saturday honored former Barbados and West Indies Test player Joel “Big Bird” Garner and outstanding Guyanese scholar Dr. Vincent Adams, now a US Federal government official, at a black-tie awards dinner in Bayside, Queens.

The six foot eight inch Joel Garner was part of the feared pace attack of the West Indies team during the 70s and 80s, capturing almost 600 test wickets while driving fear into the hearts of many a batsman who faced him. In accepting Honorary Life Membership of the New York based club, the towering Garner said that as a new member of the West Indies Cricket Board, he wants to see the West Indies players perform for their salaries, echoing the sentiments of current WICB President Julian Hunte, that “performance based” reviews will be initiated for the players as well as the coaches of the West Indies cricket team..

Joel Garner, recently elected President of the Barbados Cricket Association, remarked that he was paid for something that he enjoyed doing – playing the game of cricket, and thus, it is now his time to give back something to the game that gave him so much. He lamented the fact that the West Indies team was not doing as well as the teams of the 70s, but was optimistic about the future of West Indies cricket.

In addition to a plaque commemorating his honorary membership status with the New York club, the former West Indies pacer also received a solid Guyana gold crest of the West Indies insignia with an inlaid diamond, compliments of Laparkan Shipping of Queens.

Vincent Adams, Ph.D. shared the honoree stage with Joel Garner and noted that were it not for an unfortunate car accident at age 19, he too may have been playing for the West Indies, but enjoyed playing Shell Shield cricket in the Caribbean. In an impromptu exchange, Garner said that Adams would not have liked to face him (Garner), to which Adams responded, “I have always enjoyed the Bajan wickets.”

Vincent Adams’ brilliant career as an engineer has led him to a Senior Executive Officer position within the US government’s Department of Energy, with responsibilities surrounding the environmental control and clean up of nuclear waste material. The former Demerara Cricket Club batsman was heavily touted at age 19, as a future West Indies player, instead the circumstances of the car accident forced Dr. Adams to concentrate on academics, resulting in a Bachelors Degree in Civil & Public Health Engineering from the University of Guyana (UG) in 1973, and two Masters degrees in Groundwater Hydrology and Geological & Petroleum Engineering from the universities of Ohio and Missouri, respectively, and a PhD in Environmental Engineering from the University of Tennessee.

Dr. Adams has not forgotten his roots, and despite his busy schedule for the US government, he still finds time to chair the Linden Fund, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to revitalizing the Linden, Guyana community. It is a passionate mission of the former cricketer and Lindener, serving as the driving force behind the Fund’s “Adopt-A-Child (AAC) Program,” in partnership with the Linden Care Foundation. In the AAC Program, individuals are allowed to adopt a child or children with a monthly donation that covers the cost of nutrition, education and life skills.

Atlantis Cricket Club in bestowing honorary lifetime membership upon Dr. Adams also presented the Linden Fund with a check in the amount of US$1,000 for the educational initiative of the fund, and derived from its own Shevonne Mentis Educational Scholarship Fund, which the New York club uses to fund scholarships for college entry students in the New York metropolitan area. Dr. Adams was also the recipient of a similar gift of a gold West Indies insignia pendant from Mr. Shamin Ali of Laparkan Shipping, Queens.

In addition to the two featured honorees, the club presented outstanding individual performance awards to those players who excelled during the just concluded cricket season. Topping the list of players was Lennox Cush, this year’s MVP. Cush is currently in Guyana preparing for that nation’s defense of its 2006 Sanford 20/20 championship title.
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