1. Winston Anthony Lloyd Cozier was a Barbadian cricket journalist, writer, and radio commentator on West Indian cricket for over fifty years.
18 Facts About Tony Cozier
1. 2.
Tony Cozier was born in Bridgetown, Barbados, the son of Barbadian journalist Jimmy Tony Cozier, who was the managing editor for the St Lucia Voice and founder of the Barbados Daily News.
3.
Tony Cozier's family descended from Scottish labourers who had emigrated in the 18th century to Barbados.
4.
Tony Cozier studied journalism at Carleton University, Ottawa, and began his reporting career in 1958.
5.
Tony Cozier played hockey as a goalkeeper for Barbados and cricket as a batsman and wicket-keeper for local cricket clubs Wanderers and Carlton.
6.
Tony Cozier became the editor of the Barbados Daily News in 1961, where he worked with retired cricketer Everton Weekes, and covered the West Indies tour to England in 1963.
7.
Tony Cozier was the cricket correspondent of the Barbados Advocate, and in 1973 he helped to set up The Daily Nation newspaper.
8.
Tony Cozier was a member of the BBC's Test Match Special commentary team from 1966, and commentated on television for Channel Nine in Australia and Sky Sports.
9.
Tony Cozier was known for his knowledge of statistics; during a Marylebone Cricket Club tour in 1967, Brian Johnston played a practical joke on him by pretending that they were on air and asking him to recite the exact bowling figures and birthdays of the entire West Indies team, which he was naturally unable to do.
10.
Tony Cozier was specifically requested by Kerry Packer to be one of the commentators for World Series Cricket; Tony Cozier believed that the general public supported the series, and during a commentary stint in the series, he sang "Blue Moon".
11.
In 2007, Tony 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.
12.
Tony Cozier wrote the definitive The West Indies: 50 Years of Test Cricket, with a foreword by Garfield Sobers.
13.
Tony Cozier was editor of The West Indies Cricket Annual for all its 22 editions.
14.
Tony Cozier edited the Wisden History of the World Cup and collaborated with Clive Lloyd and Michael Holding on their respective autobiographies, Living for Cricket and Whispering Death: The Life and Times of Michael Holding.
15.
Tony Cozier died from cancer on 11 May 2016 in Bridgetown, at the age of 75.
16.
Tony Cozier educated people around the world about our cricket, our people, our culture and who we are.
17.
Tony Cozier's voice was strong and echoed around the cricket world.
18.
Tony Cozier was survived by his wife of more than fifty years, Jillian, a son and daughter.