A BRIEF HISTORY OF FRANK ODEL MASON
Frank Odel Mason [1926 - 2012], affectionately known as “F.O. Mason”, was born on July 26, 1926 to Milton and Adelaide Mason, in the Leeward town of Barrouallie. At the age of two he migrated to Aruba with his parents and spent 2 ½ years there. His mother wanting him to receive an English education sent him back to St.Vincent, where he lived with his uncle Mervin Cuffy, a School Master, from Georgetown. He received his early education at the New Grounds Primary School and later a secondary education at the St. Vincent Boys Grammar School.
It was at the Grammar School that his love for sports was nurtured. He was a proud member of the Reeves House. His sporting talent was spotted early by the renowned Don Lopey, Headmaster of the Grammar School. From all accounts, “The Don”, was an avid sportsman but also a strict disciplinarian, who referred to F.O sternly as “Mason”. F.O. was very athletic; he participated keenly in track and field, but it was in the area of cricket and soccer that he excelled at a school boy and later national level.
Playing school boy cricket opened many doors for F.O. Much has been told of his famous run in with the great Sir. Frank Worrell, when F.O. clean-bowled Worrell, not once but twice in the same match as he would brag. Upon leaving school, the enthusiastic young Mason founded the Malverns Cricket Club, and later had a glorious cricket career which saw him playing for the St. Vincent national team, the Windward Islands, Windward/Leewards (later renamed Combined Islands). There are many stories of his fire like pace bowling, which saw many batsmen retiring with injuries. It has been said that batsmen sometimes made an occasional six with their eyes shut and assuming a defensive position by placing the bat in the line of fire. Mason was a force to be reckoned with. Few would dispute his dominance in regional cricket. In fact he has been referred to as one of the greatest fast bowlers to never make the West Indies Team. He was shut out of the region’s premiere team purportedly because of the “small island” phenomenon. This is a fact that he would painfully reference from Garry Sobers’ (2002) autobiography. Sobers recalled:
Trials for the West Indies were very much like our trials for the Barbados team; there were players you wanted on the team and players you wanted to knock off. Wes Hall and Frank Mason were competing for one of the places for a fast bowler. At the time Frank was a better bowler than the young, up-and-coming Wes but Everton Weekes and I decided that we would take on Mason and knock him out of the firing line to try to get our fellow Bajan Wes in the team. Poor Frank could not believe what was happening to him as the ball flew to all corners of the boundary. Good balls were hit for four and bad balls for six. By contrast we played a straight bat to everything Wes bowled, saying ‘good ball’ as we played a half-volley back down the wicket. I was only a youngster, not yet 21, but Everton wanted our fellow islander in the team and coached me in the politics. I was sorry for Frank because he was a darned good bowler but it was Wes who was picked. (p.53)
It took many years for him to speak of the entire episode, the trial match in Trinidad, without a crack in his voice which signaled his deep disappointment. Despite his disappointment, he never gave up on the game that had dealt him a bad hand. As he would say, he played cricket with passion and dedication for the sheer love of the game, a quality that has been missing in regional cricket for some time now. F.O continued to play regional cricket until 1962, when he retired in what has been described as one of the most memorable moments in Windward Islands cricket history. He retired amidst criticism that he was getting old and his pace was declining. Keith Joseph recounted the event in a recent article following the three one-day internationals played between the West Indies and Australia in St. Vincent. Joseph noted:
In his final match representing St Vincent, playing against Dominica at the Victoria Park…Mason got no wickets in the first innings and the crowd chided him, jeering at his age and referring to him as ‘old’. At the beginning of Dominica’s second innings, Mason called the team together and indicated that they had to win the match. Elliott Cambridge got one of the wickets and Mason did the rest. When Mason was finished the figures were simply staggering. He had bowled 13 overs, three of which were maidens, captured nine wickets for a total of 13 runs. The crowd was ecstatic. They sought to lift him high as had been done at the King George V Park some years earlier. He did not want any of it. He had enough. They considered him old and so he was. He retired from the team forthwith.
After retiring from cricket he took up more seriously duties as a sports administrator, serving on the St. Vincent Cricket Board, Cricket Umpires Association, Football Federation and Athletics Association. He was also a football referee, who was known for his sternness and an official at numerous Track and Field meets. He was also affiliated with the Maples Netball Club, the Boxing Federation and the Basketball Association. All of these sports he had once played himself with varying degrees of success. It was his intent to lend a hand in improving the various sporting disciplines and their athletes. He was more than an administrator though; he was also a mentor to many young athletes. But despite all of the many activities and feats of this great sporting icon, he was never a boastful man; he took all of his sporting victories and any accolades that accompanied them with great humility.
Frank F.O. Mason lost his final battle with death on May 8, 2012. He is survived by his wife Kathleen Kip Mason, and his children Sharon, John, Sherrill-Ann, Kojo and Henry.
It was at the Grammar School that his love for sports was nurtured. He was a proud member of the Reeves House. His sporting talent was spotted early by the renowned Don Lopey, Headmaster of the Grammar School. From all accounts, “The Don”, was an avid sportsman but also a strict disciplinarian, who referred to F.O sternly as “Mason”. F.O. was very athletic; he participated keenly in track and field, but it was in the area of cricket and soccer that he excelled at a school boy and later national level.
Playing school boy cricket opened many doors for F.O. Much has been told of his famous run in with the great Sir. Frank Worrell, when F.O. clean-bowled Worrell, not once but twice in the same match as he would brag. Upon leaving school, the enthusiastic young Mason founded the Malverns Cricket Club, and later had a glorious cricket career which saw him playing for the St. Vincent national team, the Windward Islands, Windward/Leewards (later renamed Combined Islands). There are many stories of his fire like pace bowling, which saw many batsmen retiring with injuries. It has been said that batsmen sometimes made an occasional six with their eyes shut and assuming a defensive position by placing the bat in the line of fire. Mason was a force to be reckoned with. Few would dispute his dominance in regional cricket. In fact he has been referred to as one of the greatest fast bowlers to never make the West Indies Team. He was shut out of the region’s premiere team purportedly because of the “small island” phenomenon. This is a fact that he would painfully reference from Garry Sobers’ (2002) autobiography. Sobers recalled:
Trials for the West Indies were very much like our trials for the Barbados team; there were players you wanted on the team and players you wanted to knock off. Wes Hall and Frank Mason were competing for one of the places for a fast bowler. At the time Frank was a better bowler than the young, up-and-coming Wes but Everton Weekes and I decided that we would take on Mason and knock him out of the firing line to try to get our fellow Bajan Wes in the team. Poor Frank could not believe what was happening to him as the ball flew to all corners of the boundary. Good balls were hit for four and bad balls for six. By contrast we played a straight bat to everything Wes bowled, saying ‘good ball’ as we played a half-volley back down the wicket. I was only a youngster, not yet 21, but Everton wanted our fellow islander in the team and coached me in the politics. I was sorry for Frank because he was a darned good bowler but it was Wes who was picked. (p.53)
It took many years for him to speak of the entire episode, the trial match in Trinidad, without a crack in his voice which signaled his deep disappointment. Despite his disappointment, he never gave up on the game that had dealt him a bad hand. As he would say, he played cricket with passion and dedication for the sheer love of the game, a quality that has been missing in regional cricket for some time now. F.O continued to play regional cricket until 1962, when he retired in what has been described as one of the most memorable moments in Windward Islands cricket history. He retired amidst criticism that he was getting old and his pace was declining. Keith Joseph recounted the event in a recent article following the three one-day internationals played between the West Indies and Australia in St. Vincent. Joseph noted:
In his final match representing St Vincent, playing against Dominica at the Victoria Park…Mason got no wickets in the first innings and the crowd chided him, jeering at his age and referring to him as ‘old’. At the beginning of Dominica’s second innings, Mason called the team together and indicated that they had to win the match. Elliott Cambridge got one of the wickets and Mason did the rest. When Mason was finished the figures were simply staggering. He had bowled 13 overs, three of which were maidens, captured nine wickets for a total of 13 runs. The crowd was ecstatic. They sought to lift him high as had been done at the King George V Park some years earlier. He did not want any of it. He had enough. They considered him old and so he was. He retired from the team forthwith.
After retiring from cricket he took up more seriously duties as a sports administrator, serving on the St. Vincent Cricket Board, Cricket Umpires Association, Football Federation and Athletics Association. He was also a football referee, who was known for his sternness and an official at numerous Track and Field meets. He was also affiliated with the Maples Netball Club, the Boxing Federation and the Basketball Association. All of these sports he had once played himself with varying degrees of success. It was his intent to lend a hand in improving the various sporting disciplines and their athletes. He was more than an administrator though; he was also a mentor to many young athletes. But despite all of the many activities and feats of this great sporting icon, he was never a boastful man; he took all of his sporting victories and any accolades that accompanied them with great humility.
Frank F.O. Mason lost his final battle with death on May 8, 2012. He is survived by his wife Kathleen Kip Mason, and his children Sharon, John, Sherrill-Ann, Kojo and Henry.