Show notes
Roland Butcher did not want to leave Barbados for England. A chance encounter in a Stevenage park eventually put him on the path to Middlesex and history as the first Black man to represent England in Test cricket.
Roland joins Sanjay Murthy to discuss growing up in rural Barbados, arriving in England at 13, playing during county cricket’s golden era and making his Test debut against the West Indies at Kensington Oval.
He also reveals how the difficulties faced by John Barnes and Paul Ince changed his football coaching ambitions, before explaining how his work at the University of the West Indies helped create opportunities for a new generation of Caribbean cricketers.
The conversation concludes by celebrating Roland’s late wife Cheryl, her contribution to Barbados cricket and the girls’ cricket club they established together.
Tridents Trust Day takes place at Kensington Oval on 10 September in Cheryl’s memory, raising funds to support girls’ cricket and the Barbados Cancer Society.
Support Tridents Trust Day: InLovingMemory.Online/CherylButcher
Chapters
00:00 Coming up
00:35 Introducing Roland Butcher
01:28 Growing up in Barbados
03:34 Leaving Barbados for England
08:29 Finding cricket by chance
13:02 The road to professional cricket
16:04 Joining Middlesex
16:42 County cricket’s golden era
18:43 Making history with England
20:48 Coaching at Arsenal and Reading
23:33 John Barnes, Paul Ince and football’s closed doors
24:10 Transforming sport at the University of the West Indies
32:58 The team that saved West Indies cricket
35:00 Cheryl’s vision for girls’ cricket
39:25 Tridents Trust Day
43:47 Remembering Cheryl
47:00 Still Here With Me
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