I grew up in Kingston, the capital town of Jamaica in West Indies. Ours was a close knit family and I had two sisters and a brother. Most of the time I would play with children of my age. Once the sun was up, we would be out in the open and go back home only after sunset. In between, we would come home for a quick lunch. I loved playing and watching sports and my parents also loved sports.

My mother was a teacher and my father was a strict disciplinarian. He wanted us to be home most of the time. Being a building contractor he built a concrete cricket pitch for us in the backyard but we seldom played there. There were bigger fields all around where we played cricket, football and other games. We also played marble and had fun on the pavements and gullies.

Almost every Sunday, we played cricket matches that were held between local teams. People used to stop their cars on the roadside and watch us play. Seniors from the local communities would guide us and there was keen competition and great enthusiasm among the kids. I remember, I was only 11 when I played my first match. I had no cricketing gear and my sister rushed to a nearby shop to buy me a pair of trousers. As to the other things, I borrowed from a friend who didn’t play that day.

I went to a prep school on the road where we lived but did my high school at Kingston college. Though our headmaster Doglus was strict, he was at the same time very understanding and always encouraged children who were not so good in studies. It was his love and care that inspired several boys to complete their studies and continue sports at the same time. I had many friends and we are still in touch. Since I grew up in the city, I didn’t like village life. Our grandparents from both sides lived in hilly areas far from Kingston. Occasionally, we visited our maternal grandma, who lived in a rural area on Blue Mountain, about 60 miles from our place. There were no play-grounds, no electricity and almost no friends.

We went to the church regularly. Father was an altar boy and mother was part of the choir. I also remember we had quite a few dogs and my mother loved dogs. One of our dogs, an alsation, used to follow my sisters wherever they went and when my mom wanted to know where her daughters were, she would just have to call the dog by its name. It would bark at once and my mother would know where my sisters were.