Adieus said to Tony Cozier

A wide cross-section of local and regional society was on-hand to offer condolences and support as the final farewells were said to one of the world’s more recognisable faces as it relates to cricket. After giving the best years of his life to the coverage and commentary of the sport, Winston Anthony Lloyd ‘Tony’ Cozier was laid to rest after a thanksgiving celebration yesterday at the Coral Ridge Memorial Gardens.

 

Among those present were students of the Lodge School, Cozier’s alma mater, Leader of the Opposition Mia Mottley, West Indies Coach Phil Simmons, West Indies Chairman of Selectors Clive Lloyd and close friends Sir Garfield Sobers and Sir Everton Weekes, while another good friend of Cozier’s, Reverend Wes Hall, officiated.

 

While being eulogised by his son, Craig, it was revealed that Cozier first had a penchant for horse racing before falling in love with the discipline that would shape the rest of his illustrious life. “Lodge School fuelled dad’s passion for cricket as previously, his encyclopaedic mind was drawn to horse racing at the Garrison where he memorised his favourite horses and jockeys, and it is probably at the Garrison that his love for commentary started to take root. It was while at Lodge that daddy covered his first international cricket match – the 1955 Test against Australia at Kensington – for his dad Jimmy’s St. Lucia Voice newspaper. The journalism gene long since embedded in his D.N.A from Jimmy’s meandering around the Caribbean.” he said.

 

During a career that spanned close to 60 years, the die-hard Elvis Presley fan who said that his style was influenced by Australian player and commentator Alan McGilvray hit the ground running in 1961 at the Daily News before making his debut on the radio. After going on his first tour with the West Indies in 1963 to England he made his transition to television commentary in 1976.

 

Described by his son as a real family man whose two proudest moments were meeting Nelson Mandela during a tour to South Africa and being presented with the Silver Crown of Merit at the 1989 Independence Day honours, Cozier also made real contributions to sport outside of cricket. “While cricket was his bread and butter, dad also enjoyed competitive sport as a football goalkeeper and earned Barbados caps as a hockey goalkeeper in the early 1970s, going on to become President of the then Barbados Men’s Hockey Association even as his journalistic career flourished. Years later, he was the driving force alongside the late Mike Owen and Winsmore Humphrey in establishing the Banks International Hockey Festival in 1986 – a tournament that brought him great pride and no shortage of global friends. The festival would prove to be a pioneer in the sports tourism revolution that has brought Barbados widespread recognition and no small amount of visitors over the past 30 years.” Craig Cozier said.

 

Tony Cozier is survived by his wife Jillian, his children Craig and Natalie and his grandchildren. (MP)