Tony Cozier

Winston Anthony Lloyd Cozier (10 July 1940 – 11 May 2016) was a Barbadian cricket journalist, writer, and radio commentator on West Indian cricket for over fifty years. Scyld Berry wrote that he was both the voice and the conscience of West Indian cricket, the latter because of his harsh criticism of the West Indian board for "squandering the money and legacy that it had inherited". the son of Barbadian journalist Jimmy Cozier, who was the managing editor for the St Lucia Voice and founder of the Barbados Daily News. and began his reporting career in 1958. and covered the West Indies tour to England in 1963. He was a member of the BBC's Test Match Special commentary team from 1966, and also commentated on television for Channel Nine in Australia Despite health problems, he commentated on the 2014/15 England tour of the West Indies. According to Vic Marks, "Tony described the action succinctly and with an objectivity that is beyond many modern broadcasters." Cozier was specifically requested by Kerry Packer to be one of the commentators for World Series Cricket; Cozier believed that the general public supported the series, and during a commentary stint in the series, he sang "Blue Moon". In 1994, Cozier wrote of Brian Lara's record-breaking innings that "there was no real surprise among his countrymen, simply the feeling that his inevitable date with destiny had arrived rather more suddenly than expected." Possibly his most famous line was in 1999, after West Indies were bowled out for 51 by Australia at the Queen's Park Oval, he remarked "Where does West Indies cricket go from ’ere?". In 2007, Cozier used a lunch break in a Test match at the Riverside Ground to read a spoof email asking about cricket in Mexico; fellow commentator Jonathan Agnew had to explain the joke to him.

The parties that he hosted for his media colleagues, held at his small wooden holiday home on the east coast of the island whenever there was a Test match in Barbados, were described by Vic Marks as "legendary". They featured rum punch, a barbecue and beach cricket. He was editor of The West Indies Cricket Annual for all its 22 editions.

Honours As a tribute to his contributions to cricket, the press box at the Kensington Oval was named after him. Test Match Special producer Peter Baxter joked with Cozier that the press box was actually named after another Cozier, since both his father and son were journalists. In December 2011, he was awarded honorary life membership of the MCC for his contribution to cricket. Fellow cricket correspondent Jonathan Agnew said: "Tony was the master of going between TV and radio ball-by-ball commentary. He was the master of both".

He was survived by his wife of more than fifty years, Jillian, a son and daughter.