Roland Butcher, the history-making international cricketer, on Wednesday night launched his autobiography at a stately ceremony at the Three Ws Oval at the Cave Hill Campus of the University of the West Indies. Butcher, who was born in St Philip on the east coast of Barbados and moved to the United Kingdom as a teenager, created history in 1981 as the first Black man to play Test match cricket for England. He has chronicled his life story in the pages of the aptly themed: Breaking Barriers – Barbados to England and Back.
An attacking middle-order batsman, Butcher, now 71, played his first Test match on ‘home’ soil at Kensington Oval with many familiar faces and supporters among his family and friends in the stands in what was the ultimate ‘home coming’. As the trailblazer at the time Butcher notes: “More than a story of cricket, Breaking Barriers – Barbados to England and Back, is an exploration of identity., belonging, and the enduring power of perseverance”. With honesty, warmth and humour, Butcher opens up about his life beyond the pitch, including the obstacles of racism, particularly the challenges he faced surrounding proposed visits to South Africa during the apartheid regime.
“I never really saw myself as a history-maker or a trailblazer in that moment, but years later as I reflect on it I am happy that what I did, has inspired many other young men like myself to strive for higher goals and live their dreams,” Butcher said.
“Anyone who played the game would tell you, that when you’re there, you don’t really look at the history… you simply try to stay in the moment and do your best. My goal from early in life was to play international cricket, initially, it was for the West Indies, but then the opportunity came to play for England, and I took that opportunity.”
Butcher added: "I didn't know I would be the first (Black man) to do so, but today I stand before you, as someone who is so very thankful to the game of cricket for what it did for me and appreciative of the people who helped me along my journey.”
The event was attended by several members of the cricket fraternity in Barbados, including Desmond Haynes, the legendary Barbados and West Indies captain and opening batsman, who played with Butcher for Middlesex in the county championship-winning team in the early 1990s. Also among the audience were Professor Clive Landis, Principal of the UWI Campus at Cave Hill, and Charley Williams, the acting High Commissioner at the British High Commission in Bridgetown.
During his professional career, Butcher played from the mid-1970s to the early 1990s. He played three Tests as well as three One-Day Internationals for England. Overall, he made over 17,000 runs in his career with 17 centuries. Following his retirement from the game, Butcher returned to Barbados where he worked as the Director of Sports at the Cave Hill campus. He was a member of the West Indies men’s selection panel for a year.