George Headley—THE George Headley.
The man the papers called “The Black Bradman”
(though in Jamaica, of course, they dubbed
the great Australian just “The White Headley”….)
Anyway, I saw him bat once, and at Sabina Park!
Just for one ball, I admit—it was a charity game,
West Indies Old Stars v West Indies Youth.
He really was an old man by then,
so the boys literally carried him out to the wicket—
he played that one ball, so elegantly—
then they carried him back again,
the full-house crowd cheering him
every step of the way, each of us
treasuring the story we would tell—
some of us, now, for more than fifty years
…I saw Headley once….