Craig A Former President Of USACA Passes On

By Ricardo Innis
Ricky Craig a former president, vice-president and secretary of the United States of America Cricket Association (USACA), was found dead at his home in Paradise Heights,

St. Michael, Barbados on Saturday, November 25. The 53 year-old Craig, had been ailing for quite awhile with kidney problems.

Ricky, as he was familiarly known to close friends, was a very promising schoolboy opening batsman while attending Combermere School in Barbados. He scored three centuries in the 1969 Division 1 competition, against Harrison College, The Lodge School and The Barbados Cricket League, at the tender age of 16.He later went on to represent the West Indies schools boy’s team against the touring Australian school boy’s team.

Lionel Craig , a former Minister in the Barbados Labor Party (BLP) who is a very well known Barbadian, is Ricky’s father. Ricky migrated to the USA to further his studies, and while doing so played cricket for Empire Cricket Club, in Brooklyn, during the late seventies and eighties. Ricky, along with Jeff Miller, Orville Hall, Trevor Hall and yours truly, got together in the mid-eighties and formed the now defunct Northeast Cricket Association (NCA). He was vice-president, Corporate Properties Group, of Chase Manhattan Bank in New York from 1987 to 1995, before he became Barbados’ Consul
General in New York; from 1995 to 1999.

On his return to Barbados, Ricky was appointed chief executive officer (CEO) of the Barbados Cricket Association (BCA) in August of 2003, and held the position for just over two years. At the time of his death, he was a member of the BCA’S board of management. In the USA, he was known as a very dedicated and charismatic cricket administrator, Following is a look at what some of his peers here in the USA, had to say about him:

Gladstone Dainty, currently the president of USACA: “Ricky Craig gave a great part of his life to the development of cricket, we here at USACA have benefited from his contribution and hopefully, we can build on it. He was a very bright man.”

Selwyn Caesar, currently the treasurer of USACA: “ There’s no doubt about it ! Ricky was sincerely dedicated to striving for the best in the administration of cricket in the USA. He was a good friend, and a very intelligent man.”

Jeff Miller, currently the president of the South Florida Cricket Alliance (SFCA): “I’ve lost a very good friend, one whom I’ve learnt a lot from over the many years that we have been friends. A brilliant and truly dedicated cricket administrator, Ricky had very high standards, and stood for only the best. He did quite a bit to help with cricket here in South Florida, while he was the BCA’S CEO; especially in Lauderhill. He really had plenty more left to offer, it’s a very sad lost.”

Trevor Hall, a former president of the American Cricket League, and currently an executive of the Barbados Cricket Association, in Brooklyn: “ The passing of Ricky is has been very hard to take. Over the years he was always my right-hand man in quite a few associations. He was a man really and truly devoted to cricket and its welfare. I will really miss him.”

Like the others, this writer will miss Ricky terribly, especially on my visits to Barbados. He had a brilliant cricket brain and always had so much to offer. He was indeed a very good friend, and yes, a very intelligent man. It’s sad he had to go so early. My sympathy goes out to all the living members of his family.