Sammy and the mini-bus

It must be special to be chosen one among 160,000. Darren Sammy, the only international cricketer from St Lucia, knows the feeling. Darren played his first game in the previous edition of the Champions Trophy (which West Indies memorably won) and soon realised the enormity of his achievement. “There were more than a thousand people in the airport when I returned,” he beams, “and I realised how much it meant to the people.”

It was a triumph of sorts. His father was just 19 years old when Darren was born (his mother was staggeringly just 15) and didn’t have a steady source of income. Even later, when he worked in banana plantations, there was no guarantee of a rich crop every year. Darren himself experienced several days of working in the fields – starting as early as 6am – and had to wait till 4pm to begin his cricket practice. Luckily for him, his parents didn’t compromise on his education, a fact that helped him to play cricket in school.

Having made it to the West Indies side, Darren could make a difference. He chose a novel way of repaying his gratitude by gifting his father with a mini-bus. Sammy senior drives the mini-bus and makes a living these days; the hard days on the field are a distant memory. Daren realises that he’s scaled a barrier, yet knows that there’s lot of work left to be done.