It is with great sadness that I have learnt of the passing of Munilall, former national cricketer and one of the leading batsmen of his time at the senior level, what was then known as Case Cup.
Muni as he was popularly called also opened the bowling for Indian Cricket Club (subsequently renamed Everest) where he normally bowled from the southern or Carifiesta Avenue end of the ground bowling into the wind and causing numerous problems for batsmen with his out swingers as seen numerous times by the writer and testified to by one of his former club mates and wicket keeper Neville Pertab who later gave way to Badrol Mohamed (Fat Boy) to concentrate on his batting.
Lal Munilall
Lal Munilall was born on August 17, 1948 in Canje Berbice and died at the age of 68 at the JFK Hospital Palm Beach Florida, USA. He had resided in Florida for a number of years after moving from New York where he had migrated to from Guyana.
Muni was encouraged to come to Georgetown by my late father David (skipper) Persaud to play for the ICC. It is instrumental to note that he had already distinguished himself at school cricket and was beginning to make an impact at club level in Berbice.
In order to facilitate this, my father offered him a job at Toolsie Persaud Ltd at Lombard Street.
Munilall was instrumental in the Indian Cricket Club defeating the Georgetown Cricket Club (GCC) in the Northcote final (around 1968/69) where he featured in a partnership of over 200 runs with Abdul (Waqar) Hassan making a hard hitting century with Hassan going on to make a double century as the team scored over 500 runs to defeat the Georgetown Cricket Club.
Muni was Vice Captain of the cricket team as the Everest Cricket Club (ICC renamed) went on to win the Case Cup and Rothmans Cup (defeating Port Mourant led by Romain Etwaroo in the final) under the captaincy of David D. Persaud.
Muni was an integral part of the senior team and was a swashbuckling batsman who drove fear into bowlers of the day.
It had been observed by many savants that he was very similar to Rohan Kanhai in his attitude to try and dominate bowling attacks at the outset and had a very noticeable “swagger” as he walked out of the pavilion to do battle.
He was not interested in just occupying the crease to make a century as supported by evidence which showed that he got out many times between the 60 to 90 scores.
Muni was appointed club captain after the retirement of skipper David Persaud and he was instrumental in Everest winning the Kawall Cup against Trinidad in Trinidad where he scored a belligerent century in the final.
Muni represented Guyana at the Shell Shield competition though with the abundance of high powered cricketers on the scene he was unlucky not to have an extended run.
He played in a benefit match in honour of Garfield Sobers in Barbados and made 27 runs but took 3 wickets which I am told were Gordon and Geoffrey Greenidge and Seymour Nurse.
Munilall represented Broward Cricket Club in Florida where he continued his batting exploits dominating the bowling and scoring about 12 centuries over a four year period including two scores of over 150.
Based on the quality of both his bowling and batting performances he could be aptly described as an all-rounder.
It is quite a pity that records of his exploits on the field are probably not available at all and/ or very difficult to come by as it would have given a far better indication of how significant a cricketer he was at the First Class level in Guyana.
For those who know ‘Muni’ well they would testify to his affable, friendly nature and he was never without a smile on his face. Cricket is a team game and I would like to take the opportunity to acknowledge contributions of the following Inter Alia for the great successes of the ICC/Everest teams in the period 1968 to 1976.These include David Persaud(captain), Ajodha Persaud, Isaac Seurinarine, Leonard Baichan, Anand Sookram, Badrol Mohamed, Waqar Hassan, the Pertab brothers, Neville, Cyril, Basil, Kenneth and Harold (before departing for GCC), Pooran Singh, Indal Persaud, Saranga Baichu, (black mare – Bacchus), Robin Barry, Sen Gopaul, Baksh, Randolph Ramnarace, Joe Solomon, Basil Bedessee, the Seerattan brothers et al. May Bhagwan Krishna grant his soul eternal rest.
