death of yet another great contributor to the Caribbean game, with the passing of batsman extraordinaire Roy Fredericks.

The former Guyanese cricketer, considered one of the best opening batsmen ever to play for the West Indies, died late on Tuesday in New York of throat cancer at the age of 57.

Fredericks debuted in the 1968-69 series in Australia and played 59 Test matches. He ended his Test career in the early 1980s with an average of 42.49 per innings.

Fredericks last played first-class cricket for Guyana in 1983 in the four-day Shell Shield series, scoring a double hundred as player-manager. He was Guyana's sports minister at the time.

"He was clearly one of the greatest opening batsmen to have ever played for the West Indies,'' said Clyde Butts, a former West Indies off-spinner and current national senior coach.

Locally, Bermuda interim national cricket coach Winston Reid reacted with shock on hearing of Fredericks' passing.

"Oh boy,'' sighed Reid. "He was a great West Indies batsman, a great opening batsman. I used to enjoy watching him bat, he really batted well and I enjoyed his cricket...it's so sad to hear.

"I would say that Sir Conrad Hunte was the best opening bat, but Fredericks was a very good opener. He really knew how to take on fast bowling and his favourite shot was the hook shot.'' Likewise holding vivid memories of the diminutive powerhouse was former Barbados and Bermuda international Colin Blades.

"He was a hard hitting, aggressive, no-nonesense batsmen who was not afraid of any bowler,'' said Blades, who had the pleasure of playing with the likes of Fredericks, Graeme Pollock, Ted Dexter and Lawrence Rowe at English club Rothman Cavaliers in 1969, and against the Guyanese as a member of the Barbados side.

"It's a very sad loss for cricket.'' Also taken by surprise by the news was top umpire George Francis.

Francis reflected on an innings Fredericks played in Australia against an attack led by speed demons Dennis Lillee and Jeff Thompson.

"Fredericks was a great player who played a lot of great innings,'' said Francis. "The innings that comes to mind is the one he played in 1975 in Australia when he scored 169 against Lillee, Thompson, (Gary) Gilmour and (Max) Walker...I remember that like it was yesterday, it was a tremendous innings.

"He was a tremendous opener who always led from the front... "He was one of the better openers that we ever had. He could play in all types of conditions and played spin and pace alike. "I met him personally, he was always a jolly guy. He was an asset to West Indies cricket and will be a big loss.'' No less than four former prominent West Indies players have passed away in the past year.

Concluded Reid: "In the past two years we've lost the likes of Malcolm Marshall, Sir Conrad Hunte, Sylvester Clarke and now Fredericks, guys who I feel could make a great contribution to West Indies cricket now at a time when it's in the doldrums.'' His body is to be flown to Guyana for burial. No date has been set for the funeral.

CRICKET CRI