Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves has been asked to lend his support to a long-standing campaign by a group of overseas-based Vincentians to have a memorial dedicated to the late Alphonso ‘Alfie’ Roberts at the Arnos Vale Playing Field.
Roberts, who died in Montreal, Canada in 1996, was the first cricketer from either the Windward or Leeward islands to play Test cricket for the West Indies, playing in the fourth Test of the West Indies tour of New Zealand in March 1956.
He was then only eighteen years old and paved the way for a succession of players from the Islands, from the cricketing knights, Andy Roberts and Viv Richards right down to Darren Sammy.
Recognizing the ground-breaking feat of Alphonso Roberts, his sterling contribution to the Afro-Canadian community as well as his tremendous contribution in the academic, political and cultural fields, an Ad Hoc Committee was established to press for a fitting memorial to him at the Arnos vale Field, our lone Test venue.
Since 1998 the Committee had written to the local Cricket Association asking for at least some memorial to be named in his honor.
The campaign is being re-launched after 16 years of inactivity on this matter by the Cricket Association and the support of Prime Minister Gonsalves, himself an avid sports fan and former colleague of ‘Alfie Roberts’ is being enlisted .
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