‘Bull’ McMorris and the KC connection
On January 22, Kingston College (KC) won the Manning Cup in a thrilling 5-4 penalty-kick shootout over Jamaica College for their 16
th
title. Easton McMorris watched the match from his room at Andrews Memorial Hospital and may have been its happiest patient.
McMorris, who died at the University Hospital of the West Indies on February 1 at age 86, attended KC from 1948 to 1952. He played for the school’s powerful cricket teams during his time at the North Street school which paved the way for his club and first-class career with Lucas and Jamaica, and at the Test level with the West Indies.
“KC had a huge impact on him. It’s where he and a lot of other boys learned about life,” said his son Michael Neville McMorris. “Bishop (Percival) Gibson and Douglas Forrest taught them lessons that stayed with them for life.”
Known as “Bull”, McMorris had a solid career as an opening batsman for Lucas in the Senior Cup, Jamaica in the Shell Shield and with the West Indies in 13 Tests. It was at KC that he first made his mark, playing in winning teams that included Collie Smith, the talented all-rounder who also played for Jamaica and the West Indies; and his older brother, Michael Neville McMorris, who became Dean of Physics at the University of the West Indies and a respected cricket statistician.
His son said his father was the sixth of nine children in a family that lived in Rollington Town, east Kingston. He entered KC 23 years after Anglican Bishop George Frederick Cecil DeCarteret started the all-boys school with Gibson as headmaster.
Among McMorris’ batch-mates were Ivan “Wally” Johnson, the hard-nosed educator/administrator who stayed at KC his adult life. McMorris maintained lifelong ties with many of his ‘Fortis’ brethren including football coach George “George T” Thompson, sports administrator Sydney “Foggy” Burrowes and Ramon Murphy.
Before illness sidelined him, he was part of a team working to renovate the entrance to KC’s North Street base.
Like his father, Michael McMorris also attended KC. Mark, eldest of his three children, attended Excelsior High School. McMorris is also survived by daughter Anne McMorris-Cover, five grandchildren and sister Jean DeLeon.
A private memorial service for Easton McMorris takes place in Kingston on Saturday.
— Howard Campbell
