By Howard Campbell
KINGSTON, Jamaica – Tony Becca, one of the Caribbean’s celebrated cricket writers, died in Kingston, Jamaica on February 28 at age 78.
He passed away at Andrews Memorial Hospital where he was being treated for dengue, his wife Cecilia confirmed.
A former sports editor at the Gleaner Company newspaper, Becca wrote a weekly column for that daily publication at the time of his death.
Along with Barbadian Tony Cozier and Guyana’s Joseph “Reds” Pereira, he covered the West Indies cricket team during its glory run from 1980 to 1995 when they were unbeaten in Test matches.
He started reporting on cricket in 1974 for the Daily News newspaper, the Gleaner’s rival. During his career, Becca covered some of the West Indies’ greatest triumphs including their 1984 5-0 whitewash of England in England.
In addition to Test cricket, he reported on the Caribbean domestic season.
Born Lascelles Anthony Becca in St. Thomas, a rural parish in eastern Jamaica, Becca was passionate about cricket. He was a former president of Melbourne Cricket Club, one of the country’s leading teams and was inducted into the Connecticut Cricket Hall of Fame in 2005.
Becca also had strong ties to table tennis in Jamaica and reported on major golf tournaments for the Gleaner.
He was awarded the Order of Distinction in 1994 by the Jamaican government.
