Tomorrow , Monday, October 16, is being celebrated as National Heroes’ Day, and it is a pity that the late George Headley’s name will not be called. From the responses to earlier suggestions through this column, many are of the firm opinion that Headley should be named a national hero. It’s been 34 years since his death and, guess what, the gentleman will just not go away. His record of achievement and supreme contribution makes him one of the greatest Jamaicans to serve this country. True, he was born in Panama, but one thing is certain, he had a Jamaican passport and was a naturalised Jamaican citizen.

So why hasn’t George Headley been made a national hero? It is a matter of record that during his lifetime he had the admiration , support and hero worship of the large crowds that followed him on radio while on tour, or at home wherever he played. The poems, songs, ceremonies, rapturous welcomes afforded him as he returned to the island from overseas, coloured him as a hero in his own lifetime. With the exception of Alexander Bustamante and Norman Manley, this cannot be said about any of our other National Heroes.

As he scored century after century against the best of the English, Australian and Indian Test-playing teams of that era, he became known as “Atlas”, because it was acknowledged that he carried the batting of the West Indies on his shoulders.

He was an icon who was loved, not just for his brilliance on the field, but because of his dignity, quiet demeanour, sportsmanship, discipline and application. His people saw him as representing their struggles to gain a foothold in society on the basis of performance and commitment to excellence, rather than privilege or colour.

A little known fact is that he was chosen as West Indies captain in 1948 against England — the first black player to be appointed to the position – although a combination of injuries and politics meant that he led his team for only one Test match.

In his seminal book, A History of West Indies Cricket, Michael Manley noted that Headley rose to success at a time of political awakening in Jamaica, when the black majority of the population were increasingly determined to end the minority rule of landowners and challenge the racism of the time.

According to Manley, the middle classes saw in Headley “the reassurance which they needed. He demonstrated black capacity”. The white upper classes were proud of his achievements as a West Indian, but Manley writes, “It was to the black masses that Headley had the deepest significance… [He] became the focus for longing of an entire people for proof: proof of their own self-worth, their own capacity…”

And, as written in an earlier column, it can be studied how the emergence of the West Indies as a Test-playing region in the late 1920s and 1930s coincided with the political and cultural movements that marked the early stirrings of independence across the British Caribbean.

For example, Headley’s centuries in his first two international series resonated well with Marcus Garvey’s call for dominion status (political independence) for Jamaica in 1929.

The political movement, on the one hand, and the advancement in cricket on the other, continued to grow in the 1930s with the Progressive League, spearheaded by W G McFarlane, Norman Manley and Richard Hart proposing national self-government for Jamaica in 1937, and Alexander Bustamante giving a voice to the labour movement which swept Jamaica in 1938.

Fittingly, it was an epochal moment in cricket history that capped that eventful decade with Headley’s unprecedented and immortal 106 and 107 at Lord’s in the famous first Test vs England in 1939.

But Headley wasn’t just a cricketer. Among his great personal attributes was the quality of supreme humility that endeared him to thousands. The Headley I had the privilege to know was unassuming. He had an impeccably chivalrous manner, and I remember on a visit to Kaiser Sports Club years ago, he asked me to act as an intermediary to invite Ed Coyne, the general manager of the bauxite company, to join him for a drink.

Ed, who was well aware of Headley’s prestige, was himself surprised that Headley thought he had to have a go-between to strike up a conversation, and immediately left his seat to go over and join him for the social exchange. Needless to say, they became great friends thereafter.

There was a futuristic side to George’s perspective of cricket, and that was demonstrated to the finest degree in his role as the first national cricket coach for Jamaica — a responsibility he took on between 1955 and 1962. That appointment, by itself, is one of significance; not only because he did the job thoroughly and well, but it built a foundation for Jamaica’s improved cricket position as we moved into the 1960s and beyond.

The momentum for this started in the early 1950s when sports fans contributed over £1,000 through public subscription to bring him home from England where he had been playing league cricket. On his return, he was met by cheering crowds at the docks and encouraged to take up the coaching position by influential persons such as Norman Manley, Noel Nethersole (then finance minister), and later by the minister of education, Edwin Allen.

At the outset it is said that ‘Crab’ Nethersole, who had earlier played cricket with Headley for Jamaica, cautioned him: “George, whenever any new thing comes to Jamaica there is a tendency for it to be confined to Kingston alone. I am urging you to include the rural areas in your itineraries and to pay particular attention to them.”

For the next two years following his appointment, Headley managed a comprehensive plan of action that took in the country schools equally with the Kingston schools. His coaching followed a pattern of emphasising fielding, as he hoped to correct the impression among youngsters that only batting was important.

Let the present generation note how he would devote one-half of the day to fielding and the other half to batting and bowling, thereafter returning to fielding for the late-evening sessions.

But cricket is also played beyond the boundary, and George used the opportunity to impart to his charges not only technical skills but the character-building values of the game.

According to White, he repeatedly emphasised to the schoolboys the necessity to make sacrifices if they were to attain test cricket standard, while stressing the importance of giving one’s utmost to academic studies.

He had a passion for imparting the lifestyle values of cricket to the youth. In a letter to the cricket board in 1954 he wrote: “I find that by watching seasoned players in action the youngsters can improve themselves equally well in all aspects of the game. I respectfully recommend that, whenever a visiting team is in the island, the board should allow for say 50 tickets daily to be used on a roster basis throughout the tour to enable each to see at least one day’s play.”

This was the time of the great Headley coaching era in which the groundwork was laid for Jamaica’s cricket development. In his time as national coach no parish was omitted. He visited districts in every nook and cranny across Jamaica to coach talented elementary schoolboys, as well as adults, from clubs in that area.

The rural areas, in particular, gave an enthusiastic welcome to the maestro wherever he went.

Some headmasters arranged for trucks to transport their boys to coaching points. Many walked distances of five miles to attend. He suggested that the parish councils should provide transportation for boys who lived at a distance.

Many of my generation will recall being coached by the great George Headley, even if we never made the national team. We learnt the rudiments of the game, we reverently touched the gear, we came face to face with the great man whom we had heard about on radio and followed across the world.

The records show that George and his assistant Dickie Fuller, a former West Indies player, held coaching sessions at 422 schools and clubs, instructing approximately 2,310 schoolboys and 920 club members. Is that how it’s being done in these modern times, Sports Foundations and all?

Official recognition came Headley’s way when he was awarded the Member of the British Empire (MBE) in 1956, and was made an honorary Life Member of the Marylebone Cricket Club, then the international cricket headquarters, in 1958. In 1969, a bronze sculpture of his head was unveiled in Jamaica’s National Stadium, and in 1973 the Norman Manley Foundation gave him the Award for Excellence in Sports.

In the latter year, he also received the Order of Distinction. The Headley Stand at Sabina Park is named after him, and rural schoolboy cricketers play each year for Headley Cup honours.

The Jamaica Cricket Association should get behind this move to elevate Headley to the Order of National Hero. It would do wonders for motivating cricketers across the region. Barbados is ahead of us in that they have named their cricket icon, Garfield Sobers, a national hero.

Lance Neita is a public and community relations consultant. Send comments to the Observer or to lanceneita@hotmail.com.