The president of the Gambia Cricket Association, Johnny Gomez has passed away yesterday, He was in his 60s. Johnny was a great sports enthusiast since his school days in Bansang Primary School and Saint Augustine’s High where he played football.
However, he was most known as a cricket player becoming national team captain and coach. He was a founding member of the Young Africans Cricket Club in Banjul and also had a brief spell as a national rugby player.
During his international cricket career, Johnny represented the country in several editions of the famous Quadrangular Cricket Tournament which features former British colonies, The Gambia, Sierra Leone, Ghana and Nigeria.
After his playing days, he joined the administration of cricket and coach and later president of the association, since 2008, making him the longest serving head of the association.
Through his long involvement in cricket, Johnny was privileged to be elected to serve in the regional cricket bodies in Africa.
The late cricket president put huge efforts in reviving cricket by taking the game back to schools and using the traditional home ground of Gambian cricket, the McCarthy Square. There, he won the admiration of former president Yahya Jammeh living next door at State House. Jammeh donated the cricket association with a pick-up car and worked closely with Johnny until the tail end of his regime when he appointed him sports minister, albeit for too short a time.
The National Sports Council NSC led tributes to the late dedicated cricketer on its Facebook page.
