Monday, July 6, 2009

                    Students give West Indies captain, Chris Gayle, a warm Age welcome              

Students of Excelsior were recently thrown into a state of shock and disbelief  when West Indies captain, Christopher Gayle ('99), paid a visit to the school in order to present gifts and offer some words of advice to the students.

Gayle told the two thousand one hundred and fifty excited students that it is of crucial importance for everyone to always remember where they came from and to give back as much as they can.

“It’s an honour and privilege to be back home. This is where it all started for me and I urge you to always remember Excelsior, no matter where you go in life and how successful you become, please come back and always give something back to the school - share your time and your moments,” Gayle said to the students who gathered to greet him.

The West Indies captain and power-hitting opening batsman presented a full sized autographed bat - signed by the entire West Indies cricket team - to the principal of the school, Mr. Deanroy Bromfield, as well as several cricket bats, balls and stumps to the school’s cricket team.

The 29 year old Gayle urged the students to maintain a high level of discipline and to be obedient to their parents and teachers at all times.

“Keep your focus, whatever you want to achieve, you have to know it is possible, never let anyone bring you down and most importantly listen to your parents and be obedient to them,” Gayle advised before signing dozens of autographs and taking photographs with the ecstatic students.

Also accompanying Gayle on the visit was former world record holder for the most wickets and former West Indies off spinner, Lance Gibbs.

Following his short speech, during which he advised students to emulate him as he said he was not a troublesome student (later verified by Mr. Bromfield), Gayle answered questions from the students and shared cricket tips with them, along with imparting general advice on how they should go about their lives and achieving their goals.

He was also asked by one student, Ronaldo Fletcher, to chronicle his rise to the West Indies team which Gayle patiently did, speaking at length  about his days as a youth cricketer.

Fletcher, by no means a shy young man, boldly told the West Indies captain that he and his friends had devised a new dance move and demonstrated it. Fletcher then cheekily asked Gayle to use it as a celebratory move after taking any wicket in the just concluded ODI Series, which was scheduled to bowl off at nearby Sabina Park shortly after Gayle's visit to his alma mater.

Gayle promised that he would use the dance move should he manage to capture any wickets. Chris Gayle is the second Excelsorian in the past decade to captain the West Indies team, having been preceded in the role by the now retired Ambassador Courtney Walsh('81).