by Mayukh Ghosh
Ashley Gray did not quite understand the meaning of nervousness till he played cricket. He loved soccer and rugby league but both are games of the body.
Cricket is a game of the mind.
In his own words: “Padding up and striding to the wicket was a walk of destiny that could end in disappointment and days of self-analysis for this young Newcastle boy and his treasured Gray-Nicolls Record”
His first cricket heroes are still his heroes.
The Chappell brothers, Dennis Lillee, Rod Marsh, Jeff Thomson etc.
“Real men. With real moustaches. And charisma.”
And now Gray has written a book which is the real deal. He has called it ‘The Unforgiven’.
It is about the rebel West Indian cricketers who toured apartheid South Africa.
The subject is a controversial one and needed careful handling.
But how did it all start for Gray?
“The idea for the book came about after I had a story published in the Sydney Morning Herald on Richard Austin, whom I'd met in Kingston, Jamaica, in 2003.
”He was a virtual vagrant, literally begging in the gutter in an area called Cross Roads. It was shocking - a former Test cricketer, seemingly homeless and addicted to cocaine and rum.
”Austin, who was friendly and entertaining, told me his life had spiralled out of control because of the ostracism he suffered after taking part in a rebel tour of apartheid South Africa in 1983. His countrymen had condemned him for pocketing "blood money", and a lifetime of social exclusion was his punishment. I knew then that there was a bigger story that had to be told.”
Easier said than done, of course. Organising and structuring the whole thing was quite a challenge. Facebook, of all things, was of immense help.
“The intention was to track down each player and give him his own chapter, allow him to take his rightful part in history. It was a daunting prospect because I knew so few of them, and the rebel tours is such a controversial subject.
”Facebook was a big help. I sent a message to Kingston Cricket Club and a young player there happened to be checking their Facebook page, something he said he did rarely, so I was lucky to catch him. He gave me the contact details of Ray Wynter, the Jamaica paceman who was a late replacement for Colin Croft on the first rebel tour, so I mustered the courage to call him, and I could tell from his voice he was a little sceptical at first. But I had done my research, and I think I impressed him with the truckload of facts I had about his career, some he had probably forgotten. Ray is actually a very open and friendly character. He hooked me up with Everton Mattis's brother and Jamaican cricket figures who had played and grown up with Richard Austin and Herbert Chang.
“The young man from Kingston Cricket Club had a friend who knew someone who lived in Herbert Chang's street in Greenwich Town. Her name was Althea Byfield, a Jamaica national netball representative. She made contact with Herbert for me. So, you see how I was able to build momentum. When I was in the Caribbean, I would post pictures on Facebook of me with, for example, David Murray in Barbados, which showed the rebels I was still to meet that I was the real deal. It also convinced some of the waverers to participate.
”The revered West Indies cricket commentator Reds Perreira was also a huge help. I connected with him through a St Lucia newspaper journalist I cold called. Reds' contacts helped me tell the social and political side of the rebels’ story. He was intimately involved in breaking the story of the rebel tours, too.”
There were other obstacles too. Carrying out original research can sometimes be daunting. In Gray’s case, life-threatening!
“I was in a taxi in a west Kingston ghetto area and I wanted to buy some soft drink (soda) for the guys I was going to interview that day. We stopped at a shack on Maxfield Avenue down from the old Studio One building, and the taxi driver said it was too dangerous for me to get out of the car. But I thought "To hell with that!" - if I am going to tell this story with any authenticity I have to get out and be among the people. The shack had protective bars along the counter - it had obviously been a target for robberies - and as I was reaching for my wallet, four big guys walked in together stinking of ganja. They came right up to my face in a very intimidating manner. I thought ‘Oh, shit - how am I going to get out of this?’
”Then one of them pointed to the desert boots I was wearing. He yelled out ‘Clarks, mon!’ Then he went to high-five me and his friends did the same. I was dumbfounded. Apparently, Clarks desert boots are the ultimate sign of cool in these parts and the guys were so impressed they forgot about any bovver and chatted to me for a few minutes about life, love and the universe. I even got to buy my soft drink! The moral to the story: don a pair of Clarks desert boots before you enter a Kingston ghetto.”
It, as stated before, is a sensitive topic. Gray knew he had to get it absolutely right. And hence, while writing it, he had his apprehensions.
“I was worried I would not do justice to the guys in the book. That said, I had to show empathy to the rebels but also clearly articulate the other side of the argument.
There are good people on both sides. That is what makes it such a compelling topic. Ultimately, the aim was to get the rebels' stories out to the wider cricketing world.
They had lingered in the shadows for too long. Whether they were right or wrong, they deserved their place in history.”
The reviews have been very good. It is already a candidate for the ‘Book of the Year’. That, naturally, has satisfied Gray immensely.
“I am pleased that respected cricket writers such as Barney Ronay from the Guardian, Gideon Haigh from The Australian and Robert Craddock from The Daily Telegraph have praised the book.
But I was especially thrilled when Everton Mattis, the unsung rebel who played four Tests for the Windies in the 1981, told me that he enjoyed his chapter. He fell on hard times after returning from South Africa and feared for his life in Jamaica. So, he moved to New York but ended up dealing cocaine and got shot in the leg by a gangster. Yet he has managed to turn his life around thanks to his belief in God and now lives contentedly with his family.
He wants people to read his chapter and see it as an example of how people can overcome tough times and become a better person.”
Gray is now researching a biography of Lawrence Rowe.
“I am talking with the great Lawrence Rowe about a biography. He has an interesting and at times controversial story to tell, and even now his name inspires awe in the Caribbean.”
Gray loves Gideon Haigh's prose because he thinks Haigh finds poetry where others never look.
Christian Ryan, the author of Golden Boy, is a special favourite of Gray.
“His brilliant rendering of the 1980s also exposed the cruel and primitive way Aussie males can relate to each other. A fantastic critique of Australian masculinity.”
And Peter Roebuck.
“I always enjoyed Peter Roebuck's writing because there was a moral dimension to it. As if the ill-disciplined youth was transformed into a man of purpose and character when he took guard.”
Haigh has already written good things about ‘The Unforgiven’.
I am sure Roebuck too would have been delighted with this book.
The topic itself should entice people to get hold of the book.
Even if not, one can read it just to enjoy Gray’s writing.
That alone should be good enough a reason to buy and read this book.
It is available here: https://www.pitchpublishing.co.uk/shop/unforgiven