GCB salutes Clive Lloyd on his conferral with OCC

Days after the Guyanese cricket legend, Sir Clive Lloyd was presented with the Order of the Caribbean Community (OCC) at the 47th Regular Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of Caricom in Grenada, the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) has hailed the achievements of the Guyanese pioneer in the sport.
The GCB’s complete statement read, “The quintessential statesman who continues to receive outstanding awards and accolades from around the world 39 years after the curtain fell on his illustrious playing career”. Those were the words of President of the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB), Mr Bissoondyal Singh, in an invited comment on son of the soil, Sir Clive Hubert Lloyd’s conferral with the Order of the Caribbean Community (OCC), the Region’s exclusive award.
“The Order of the Caribbean Community award has been described as a “celebration of excellence among the peoples of the Region. Honourees represent the interest of their Nation States and the Region in the wider international arena and by their service craft a niche for the Caribbean in the international community. Sir Clive is the second Guyanese after Sir Shridath Ramphal (1992) to be awarded the OCC and also the fourth cricketer after Sir Garfield Sobers (1998), Mr Brian Charles Lara (2008) and Sir Viv Richards (2022). Sir Clive has added his name to a select group of distinguished West Indians who have contributed outstandingly to regional development.
“The President, Executives and Members of the GCB join the nation in congratulating Sir Clive Lloyd on being the recipient of this prestigious accord at the recently-held 47th Regular Meeting of the Heads of Government of Caricom. Our modest and soft-spoken national hero has once again added to his expanding honour roll which includes his Knighthood in January 2022 from the Duke of Cambridge Prince William at Windsor Castle and his induction into the ICC Hall of Fame in 2019.
“In his international playing days, Sir Clive Lloyd blazed a trail of outstanding achievements from 1966 to 1985 during which time he played 110 Test matches, was Captain in 74 of the matches, winning 36 of those matches making him the most successful captain in West Indies cricket; this included a sequence of 26 Tests without a loss including 11 consecutive victories. His highest score of 242 not out was among his 19 Test centuries. Sir Clive’s crowning moment was on June 21, 1975 when as Captain he held aloft the Presidential Trophy presented to him by Prince Phillip of England after West Indies had defeated Australia by 17 runs at Lord’s to win the inaugural One-Day World Cup (60 overs) in what was described as the longest day in cricket.
“Sir Clive also played and made an indelible mark for 20 seasons with Lancashire in English County Cricket and was Captain for five of those seasons. He was also outstanding for Guyana in Regional First-Class Cricket and was Captain when Guyana in 1983 became the first territory to win both the four-day and the one-day titles in a regional season. After his playing days, Sir Clive served as an ICC Match Referee and in 2008 was appointed Chairman of the ICC Cricket Committee.
“The GCB is once again proud of yet another achievement by our legendary cricket hero on his conferral of the OCC and takes the opportunity to congratulate him and wish him the very best.”