Ouida McDonald Rev.
Expert Overview
INDUCTEE 2021
Rev. Margaret Ouida McDonald
As a youngster Cricket was her top sport
Born in Jamaica in the parish of Kingston, Rev. McDonald’s first love was for music and her top sport was the game of Cricket. Fitted out with cricket gears which belonged to her brother David, she started playing Cricket at an early age.
Needless to say, at age 10 the bat was a little clumsy for her to hold. “Many times, I hit my toe while marking the crease line or getting ready to pound the real cricket ball, meeting it many times scoring much needed and valuable runs,” she said.
“I started playing at age 9. At Camperdown High School, at age 15 I made history playing with the elites in Jamaica who played for Melbourne Cricket Club at their park on Elletson Road.
In 1972, she got married to Anthony McDonald, now deceased, an avid and devoted specialist of the game and father of her two sons, Rory and Rohan who was named after former West Indies star player Rohan Kanhai.
“During 27 years of marriage in my family cricket came before having dinner, as when Test matches are being played wherever in the world, it was being listened to or viewed by us,” she stated.
The sport was also played on our property in St. Andrew, Jamaica. All the leading media and sports personnel consulted Tony for his opinion and sometimes instinctive deliberations on some decisions made by umpires which were considered doubtful.
“I have been privileged to hear and see multiple international games of cricket for over 50 years at different levels. One of the most famous was the colorful night cricket games which was played under much controversy,” she added.
According to Ouida, I began to endorse the game in the USA in 2004 in Lauderhill, Florida at the South Florida Night Cricket League tournaments. In 2005, I joined the Cricket Hall of Fame (CHoF) and became its Ambassador for South Florida, participated in tournaments and Award Banquets, supported, informed and encouraged players and most importantly fans that were
needed to assist with the success of the game in the USA.
Working with city officials, I endorsed seven nominees for induction into the CHoF, which Included three mayors: Richard Kaplan, Dale Holness, and Hazelle Rogers, President of the South Florida Cricket Alliance Jeffery Miller, Mahammad Qureshi, CEO of Cricket Council USA and Mo Ally, Editor of the American Cricketer magazine. She was also able to get them to recognize the potentials of radio host John T and to do the first interview with Mayor Kaplan on the construction of the first Cricket Stadium to be built in America.
In 2008, she received the Presidential Award from South Florida Cricket Alliance and in December 2019, the CHOF Presidential Award.
