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An outstanding sportsman, a great exponent of swing bowling, a fine cricketer and the greatest TT allrounder. These were some of the terms used to describe former West Indies allrounder and 1975 Cricket World Cup winner Bernard Julien, who died at 75 on October 4.
"It is with deep sadness I heard of the passing of my childhood friend and fellow sportsman Bernard Julien," former Strike Squad coach Everald "Gally" Cummings said. Gally and Julien pushed each other to greatness during their days at Tranquillity Intermediate School and at Paragon Sports Club. Julien, of course, went on to be an allrounder of great promise for the Windies, with Gally refining his skills to become one of the country's finest brains and players to step on the football field.
"As fate would have it, we ended up sharing the (WITCO Sports Personality) of the Year trophy in 1974," Gally said. "We have lost an outstanding sportsman who gave his life to sport and to TT. Goodbye, my friend and thanks for sharing part of your life together."
Diagnosed with throat cancer in 2005, Julien, the once silky smooth left-arm seamer and right-handed batsman, fought off the disease for many years. It was a fight that endeared him to fans locally and then the wider world once he earned his first maroon cap for the Windies in 1973.
It didn't take long for Julien's ability to be showcased on the world stage as he cracked his first Test century in only his third Test when he made 121 versus England at Lord's Cricket Ground in London in August 1973. In that innings, Julien put on a massive partnership with Sir Garfield Sobers, who cracked 150.
A year later, Julien received national recognition when he was given the Chaconia Medal Gold for his cricket achievements. In 1975, with Lord's again being the stomping ground, Julien had arguably his finest moment yet when he won the Cricket World Cup with the West Indies alongside legends such as Gordon Greenidge, Rohan Kanhai, Sir Vivian Richards and captain Sir Clive Lloyd. Lloyd stole the show in the 1975 final with a knock of 102, but Julien scored 26 valuable runs in the lower order as he shared in a 52-run partnership with Keith Boyce as the Windies posted 291 for eight. Australia were then restricted to 274 as the regional team got their first of back-to-back World Cup crowns.
Before the finale, Julien used his swing to great effect when his spell of four for 27 helped to roll over New Zealand for 158 in the semis as Lloyd's charges moved a step closer to destiny. Julien took a joint-best haul for the Windies in that World Cup with ten wickets.
In total, Julien played 24 Tests and 12 One-day Internationals (ODI) for the Windies. He ended his Test career with a batting average of 30.92, with his other century coming two years after his first when he made 101 against Pakistan in Karachi. Julien took 50 Test wickets at an average of 37.36, to go along with 18 wickets in the ODI format.
Speaking at TT Cricket Board's (TTCB) National Awards Ceremony at the Ato Boldon Stadium in Couva on October 5, Red Force coach Rayad Emrit spoke glowingly of his earliest meetings with "BJ," while TTCB president Azim Bassarath hailed Julien as the "greatest allrounder to play for TT."
A moment of silence was observed at the awards ceremony in Julien's honour.
Emrit, who featured in six white-ball matches for the Windies and was a staple in the TT team for more than a decade, said he learned more than a thing or two from Julien.
"When I started my career, we had something called Sports School back in the day. He was one of our coaches. One of the founding memories we have with him is when we're actually doing drills, he would stop everything we were doing and try to make it as perfect as possible," Emrit told Newsday. "He was very fun-loving. He was a really enjoyable person to be around. One of the greatest skills he had was to swing the ball and I learned a lot from him, especially with my wrist position. He always stressed wrist position while teaching us," Emrit said, recalling spells with Merry Boys and a short stint with Queen's Park Cricket Club.
"I spent a lot of time with him in my early career and I've learned a lot from him. It's really sad that he's gone, but I know he had suffered from throat cancer for a long while. And he's probably in a better place now. "
Speaking to Barbados' Nation News on October 5, Lloyd said Julien was held in high regard wherever he went and was a respected member of the West Indies setup.
“He always gave you over 100 per cent. He never shirked his duties, and I could always rely on him with bat and ball," Lloyd said. "He gave his all every time...what a fine cricketer.
“We all had total respect for him. He enjoyed himself and was loved by everyone around...he was good for us and was held in high regard everywhere we went.”
Julien's Windies career was perhaps shorter than it initially promised as his international sojourn eventually came to an end after his involvement in the 1982/83 and 1983/84 "rebel tours" to the apartheid-torn South Africa.
The post Tributes flow for 1975 West Indies World Cup winner Bernard Julien appeared first on Trinidad and Tobago Newsday.