TTCB president Azim Bassarath: Kowlessar was an icon

VETERAN cricket administrator Lalman Kowlessar was hailed as an icon who had a lifelong passion for cricket and gave his all for the game. This was the tribute paid to Kowlessar by Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board (TTCB) president Azim Bassarath during his funeral at the National Cricket Centre in Balmain, Couva on Sunday. Kowlessar, 80, died on December 23.

Recalling that their friendship extended over 25 years and as a young umpire he learnt invaluable lessons from Kowlessar, Bassarath said there was no doubt that cricket was Kowlessar’s life and his love for the game continued to the end.

“He was an icon. He died with his boots on.”

Reflecting on the role that Kowlessar played between 2005 and 2009 when the TTCB was going through a challenging time, Bassarath said Kowlessar told him the TTCB’s leadership at the time did not have cricket’s best interest at heart.

He also recalled the support which Kowlessar gave him since he was first elected TTCB president in 2009.

From across the region, Bassarath said from Cricket West Indies to all the other smaller bodies, tributes have been pouring in for Kowlessar.

“He was a unique individual.” He promised the TTCB would consult with Kowlessar’s family about an appropriate honour upon him posthumously, for the lifelong contribution that he made to cricket.

Presentation College Chagunas school teacher Anthony Hosein said he was a student at the college in 1974 when he first meet Kowlessar. He remembered being amazed that Kowlessar was able to teach history lessons without using a textbook or writing on a blackboard.

While cricket season saw him being deeply involved in the game, Hosein said Kowlessar somehow managed to get the best out of his students in the classroom as he did the school’s cricketers out on the pitch. “In 1979, we got 29 A’s in Cambridge Level History.”

He brought laughter from the congregation as he recalled how Kowlessar had a passion for Louis L’ Armour western novels and the school built a chain-link fence as a crash barrier for a car Kowlessar had, which he did not know how to stop.

“I never thought Lalman would die. I thought he would be an eternal person.”

Hosein also recalled the role Kowlessar played in nurturing cricket talents like Ravi Rampaul, Dinnanath Ramnarine and Adrian Bharath.

He also amused the congregation when he told them that while Kowlesslar’s knowledge of cricket was second to none, the same could not be said of his skills as a player.

“Lalman couldn’t play cricket at all.”