Touching tributes have been paid to former Barbados captain and devoted St Catherine Club all-rounder Kenroy Da Costa Williams, who also skippered and coached the Bayfield, St Philip team.
Williams died on Monday at his home in Harlington, St Philip at the age of 40 after a lengthy battle with cancer.
A diminutive middle-order batsman and off-spin bowler, Williams was outstanding with both bat and ball in major Barbados Cricket Association (BCA) competitions.
It has been fascinating researching his statistics.
Williams amassed more than 8000 runs including 14 centuries and took over 400 wickets in the BCA First (rebranded Elite in 2012) Division Championship, and hit four hundreds in the Super Cup Tournament.
During that period, St Catherine captured the top division Championship in 2008 and 2016 and the Super Cup in 2011.
Tremendous praise for Williams has come from Ulric Batson, his long-standing teammate, close friend and former St Catherine president, and veteran BCA coach Dexter Toppin.
“People will remember Kenroy as easy-going, soft-spoken and laid back but that persona was not his persona on the field of play. He was a fierce competitor, who would give 110 percent to make sure that the team was advantageous,” Batson told this columnist.
“I think as a batsman people will remember him more because he was so prolific but that should not in no way discredit his off-spin because his bowling was underrated and those wickets that he took for us were very vital.
“And the championships that we won would not have been possible without Kenroy’s contributions with both bat and ball. Every century that Kenroy scored at the local level, I was in the XI.
“My life and Kenroy’s life were so intertwined. We first met as 11-year-olds at a coaching clinic at Banks. We started a bond there and it remained until his passing.
“The impact of his passing is massive especially to a lot of those younger players who have joined the St Catherine club because he was the coach. Unfortunately he got only one season to work with them but the impact that he had on them was tremendous.
“This was a guy who they could rely on for knowledge and who was willing to share his experiences. Even in his last few weeks, Kenroy was still messaging me to find out how the St Catherine First division team was doing.
“Kenroy was my son’s (Javion) godfather. Javion absolutely looked up to him. Kenroy used to say that when Javion was a little boy he watched him bat because there are a lot of similarities.”
Batson also reacted to the fact that St Catherine club has lost some well-known members in recent years including their most celebrated player Thelston Payne, who died last year
“I think Kenroy’s passing will hit harder because of his age. He was in the prime of his life and for his life to be cut short is really difficult to take,” Batson said.
Toppin remarked: “Kenroy was an underrated but very talented cricketer. As a batsman he was elegant and difficult to dislodge. He was a useful off-spinner. He had a lot of skills and spun the ball but did not get the credit he deserved as a bowler.
“The first time I met Kenroy was in 2000 when he played for the Combined Schools South against my club Spartan in Queen’s Park in the First division competition. He was very small and his pads were tall. He batted stubbornly.
“The next year when the Combined Schools returned as one unit, I was his coach. Our relationship grew and our friendship became stronger and remained until his death.
“Last year we worked together as coaches preparing the Barbados Under-15 squad for the regional tournament. I was happy to have him around me as a young and upcoming coach. He was enjoying it and wanted to be a coach not only at the youth level but also at the senior level and beyond.
“Although he was ailing, his passing has really hit me hard. Kenroy was quiet and reserved. He was somewhat shy and very likeable.
“With his talent, I believe he should have played more first-class matches,” Toppin said.
Toppin also recalled that Williams captained the Barbados Under-19 team in the regional tournament.
In the BCA Premier Division Championship, Williams played 179 matches, amassed 8036 runs at an average of 33.06 and took 406 wickets (Ave: 21.84).
He hit 14 centuries and 47 half-centuries. On seven occasions, he scored over 500 runs in a season.
Williams started his career in the top division for Combined Schools South in 2000 while a student at Deighton Griffith Secondary. He turned out for Combined Schools the following two seasons before teaming up with St Catherine from 2003 when he scored 623 runs (Ave: 38.94) including five half-centuries and took 27 wickets (Ave: 24.41).
His best all-round season was in 2010. Then the St Catherine captain, he scored 792 runs (Ave: 56.57) including three centuries and four fifties, took 33 wickets (Ave: 23.82) and was one of the Cave Shepherd Five Cricketers of the Year. He had two five-wicket hauls including a best of six for 54 against Dover.
For the 2013 season, Williams was named the BCA’s Most Outstanding Male Cricketer. In the Elite division, despite not recording a century, he was the only batsman with over 600 runs, having made 608 including seven fifties at an average of 50.66. And he picked up 34 wickets (Ave: 20.35).
Williams’ highest score that season was 73 – made twice – against Pickwick at Bayfield in the first series and Barbados Youth at Lester Vaughan, Cane Garden in Round 4. His best bowling figures were five for 51 against Maple at Bayfield.
The previous season he grabbed his best ever bowling figures of eight for 57 against Police at Bayfield.
Apart from 2003, 2010 and 2013, the other seasons in which Williams scored over 500 runs were: 2006 (515, Ave: 39.62); 2008 (500, Ave: 50.00); 2014 (546, Ave: 36.40) and 2015 (576, Ave: 44.30).
Williams scored his first top division hundred (131) against Police at Bayfield in 2006. Co-incidentally, his second was also 131 the same season against Maple, again at Bayfield. (NB: There was also a third occasion when he made 131 (in 2015) as listed in the figures below).
So in addition to those in 2006, his other centuries were (in order of years): 2007 (119 v UWI at Bayfield); 2008 (109 not out v Carlton at Bayfield); 2010 (112 v Dover at Bayfield, 127 v Barbados Youth at Bayfield and 123 v UWI at Bayfield); 2014 (124 not out v Barbados Youth at Bayfield and 123 v Wanderers at Dayrells Road); 2015 (131 v Empire at Bayfield and 108 v Spartan at Bayfield); 2016 (108 v Empire at Bank Hall); 2017 (107 v Wildey at SJPIT); 2022 (102 v YMPC at Bayfield).
In the Super Cup, Williams’ hundreds were: 113 (Combined Schools) v Police at Weymouth ’A’, 2002; 112 (St Catherine) v Pickwick at Queen’s Park, 2006; 125 (St Catherine) v Barbados Youth at Lester Vaughan, Cane Garden, 2008; and 105 (St Catherine) v LIME at Wildey, 2014.
In 29 first-class matches, Williams scored 915 runs including four half-centuries at an average of 20.33. His highest score was 82. He took 47 wickets at 29.12 runs each with best figures of five for 50.
He made his debut for West Indies ‘B’ against Trinidad & Tobago at Couva in 2004 and played his last match for Jamaica against Guyana in Kingston in 2019.
His best all-round showing was for Barbados against the Windward Islands at Arnos Vale in St Vincent in 2017 as Barbados won by 135 runs. Williams scored 55 in the first innings and had match figures of seven for 57 (3/21 and 4/36).
He played 16 List A (50-over) matches, scoring 240 runs (Ave: 17.40) and taking seven wickets (Ave: 44.85).
Williams captained Barbados in the 2011 regional Super 50 tournament in Guyana, which was affected by rain.
May he rest in peace.
Keith Holder is a veteran, award-winning freelance sports journalist, who has been covering local, regional and International cricket since 1980 as a writer and commentator. He has compiled statistics on the Barbados Cricket Association (BCA) Division 1 (rebranded Elite in 2012) Championship for over four decades and provides statistics and stories for the BCA website (www.barbadoscricket.org). Email: keithfholder@gmail.com
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