‘Dark times at home’: The big break that saved star from hurricane disaster

6 hours ago 4

West Indies allrounder Chinelle Henry recounted the harrowing moment she was told of the destructive Hurricane Melissa that tore through her native Jamaica.

Fear washed over Henry as she sought confirmation of her family’s safety after disembarking a plane in Miami. She had just left a national training camp in Antigua en route for Brisbane where she would launch her maiden WBBL season with the Heat.

While her family at first appeared to be caught in the crosshairs of the category 5 disaster which has claimed more than 60 lives across the Caribbean, Henry confirmed to reporters at Allan Border Field on Monday they had evaded extreme danger.

Chinelle Henry (right) joins the Brisbane Heat.

Some of her national teammates, however, were not so fortunate.

“My family wasn’t affected really badly, but obviously a few players I’ve known and have played with in the national team were hit really hard,” Henry said.

“They lost homes, they lost a lot of stuff, so it’s really dark times at home. Everybody’s just trying to help, and see how we can best help each other to actually get back on our feet.

“Sometimes I try my best to block it out, but every time I pick up my phone and go on social media it’s always the first thing you see. It’s always something that’s in the back of your mind.

“There’s not much I can do except support in whatever way I can. The people in Jamaica have lost a lot due to this hurricane, so it’s just about how we regroup as a country now moving forward.”

Had it not been for Henry’s call-up into the Heat roster for what will be her first taste of the Australian T20 competition, she may well have found herself in harms way.

Having been snapped up with Brisbane’s third pick in the International Player Draft, she has been tasked with being the middle-order pitch-hitter needed to catapult her side into title contention.

From there, the chance to cement herself in the West Indies’ side ahead of next year’s T20 World Cup in England will beckon, in the hopes of helping restore the country’s cricketing landscape to its former glory.

For two decades leading into the 21st century, the West Indies were world cricket’s juggernaut – all-time greats Garfield Sobers, Viv Richards, Clive Lloyd and Brian Lara among a plethora of others creating an unbeatable aura.

The revolution of T20 franchise cricket and the financial opportunities on offer has coincided with their decline on a global scale.

The men’s Test side has plummeted to eighth in the world and ninth in one-day cricket, while the women’s outfit failed to qualify for the recent ODI World Cup for the first time in 25 years.

Years of failure has triggered an overhaul of the game, with past greats including Lloyd and Lara to rebuild the domestic pathways in the Caribbean and creating a unified national development system from schools to elite levels.

Henry, who grew up with a track-and-field background in sprinting, said there was a transformation ahead that could ignite a new dawn for the game.

And she believed the recent World Cup, in which India claimed the title against South Africa, courtesy of a semi-final century to fellow Heat recruit Jemimah Rodrigues, as a sign change was afoot.

“There’s a lot going on in West Indies cricket, and every time there’s a game or a series that’s the first comment a lot of people make – our cricket is not where it used to be,” Henry said.

“I know a lot of people, including myself, every time we put on that maroon we actually do fight for the badge. It’s just about continuing to trust and believe in the process that one day we’re actually going to go back to being that team everybody is so used to talking about.

“Australia is the best team when it comes to women’s cricket … but it was really good to see two teams who had never won the World Cup in the final. That’s something everybody’s going to look at.