Whether the stands were packed or empty, Stephen “Cat” Coore would be at Sabina Park watching the West Indies. He revelled in their many victories during the glory years, and bemoaned the team’s chronic decline in the past two decades.

Coore, who died on January 18 at age 69, was a lifelong cricket fan. He was also a longstanding member of Kingston Cricket Club, owners and co-managers of Sabina Park, the scene of countless West Indies triumphs.

In a 2016 interview with the Frolic Hawai’i magazine, Coore was asked what he would have done if he had not become a musician.

“If I were to have had a calling to do anything else besides music, I’d have played cricket. I love the sport a lot, I love the challenge of it, being something that takes a very long time — Test cricket sometimes takes three, four days, and one has to pace themselves through the three days of playing,” he said. “I like that very much and I like the whole attitude and I like the intellectuality of the game. Sports would have been something I would have been into, either from a technical or coaching standpoint, or from actually playing.”

Jeffrey Dujon, who played most of his 81 Tests as a wicketkeeper/batsman for the West Indies from 1981 to 1991, was close friends with Coore. He represented Kingston Cricket Club in the local Senior Cup and has been a member since his youth.

“Cat and I have been close friends for almost 40 years. We both were ‘Stud Book’ members of KCC by virtue of our fathers being members, but never knew each other well then,” Dujon told the Jamaica Observer. “Cat loved cricket and had a vast knowledge of my era in the game to the extent that he would remind me of things I or the West Indies team did that I had forgotten.”

In recent years, their cricket conversations centred on the deterioration of the West Indian game. Coore was never afraid to share his thoughts on the main reasons for that precipitous fall.

“He was very concerned about the current situation and we had many conversations regarding the reasons for this. He was of the opinion that the current players do not put in the work and set goals as we did in our careers,” said Dujon.

Coore was the son of David Coore, a lawyer, who helped shape Jamaica’s Constitution in 1961, serving as the country’s deputy prime minister and finance minister during the 1970s. He co-founded Third World in 1973, at the height of social transformation in Jamaica, brought about by the policies of Prime Minister Michael Manley, who came to power the previous year.

West Indies cricket was also in transition, with greats like Garfield Sobers and Rohan Kanhai coming to the end of their careers.

Dujon, who last saw Coore two days before his death, described him as “a great friend” with an unbridled passion for Jamaica.

“Patriotism was also an issue with him. As was his father, the Honourable David Coore, and his brothers Ivan and Michael,” he said. “Cat was a very bright guy with a great knowledge of a myriad of subjects. There was always laughter and lively conversation when he was around.”

In this undated file photo, the late Stephen “Cat” Coore of Third World spectates from Kingston Cricket Club at Sabina Park. Photo: Joseph Wellington