Many who knew him as a ‘coke head’ walking the streets of Kingston, in rags, had little or no knowledge of Mr Richard Austin’s genius.

Sadly, it has taken his death two weeks back, at age 60, for many Jamaicans to learn that 35 years ago Mr Austin was among Jamaica’s most accomplished sportsmen.

A product of Jones Town, Mr Austin was the classic example of a poor boy who made it good, only to be destroyed by wrong choices and drug addiction.

As a cricketer he will be remembered as a batsman of great courage and genuine talent, both as an opener and in the middle order. He was a quality off-spinner who also bowled medium pace and was a good wicketkeeper. To cap it all he was an extremely athletic and brilliant fielder.

Cricket’s meticulously kept records will show that Mr Austin played two Tests for the West Indies, both coming in 1978 against Australia. As a batsman he scored 2,097 runs with four centuries in 38 first-class matches and averaged 33.82. Mr Austin also took 73 wickets at 31.21 with a best of 8-71.

At the height of his cricketing prowess, Mr Austin signed up with Australian television magnate Mr Kerry Packer’s World Series Cricket in 1978. The decision by the then West Indies Cricket Board of Control (WICBC) to omit Mr Austin, and others, from the West Indies team following their commitment to World Series cricket, led to a split between leading players and the WICBC which would last nearly two years.

Wiry and fleet of foot, Mr Austin was also an outstanding footballer, starring in an attacking role for Arnett Gardens in the 1970s and early 1980s.

And as the former Test cricketer and Jamaica captain Mr Maurice Foster reminds us, Mr Austin was also a talented table tennis player. Mr Foster is best equipped to judge since as a teenager in the 1950s and early 1960s, he was himself an outstanding national table tennis player.

Mr Austin’s turn for the worse came when he made the abysmal decision in the early 1980s to join Mr Lawrence Rowe’s rebel tours of fascist and white supremacist South Africa. At a time when Jamaica was at the very forefront of a global movement against the vile Apartheid system, it was a decision that could only end badly.

Mr Austin, like others who made the trips to South Africa, found himself banned from playing cricket in Jamaica and the Caribbean as well as shunned in the wider society. Many believe this was decisive in Mr Austin’s turn to cocaine.

He paid a horrendous price for a terrible error. Even as we honour the memory of Mr Austin, the outstanding sportsman, it’s useful to take note of how easily a wrong turn can lead to total disaster.