GRAEME Hick brought a welcome ray of sunshine to saturated New Road yesterday when he officially opened the County's new £700,000 Basil D'Oliveira Stand.
The ceremony had to be performed in the shelter of the marquee because of wet weather which caused Worcestershire Royals' scheduled totesport League Division Two match against Nottinghamshire Outlaws to be abandoned without a ball being bowled.
D'Oliveira's family and several former County players attended the opening of the 2,000-seater stand on the Diglis side of the ground.
In a tribute to the New Road legend, Hick said: "When I was a little boy in Zimbabwe the first time I came across the name of Basil D'Oliveira was when my dad had two cricket books in the house, one was Basil's firstbiography.
"So it's somewhat strange and a privilege for me to be standing here in honour of Basil and the opening of the stand in his name."
Hick admitted that D'Oliveira had had a 'huge influence' on his record-breaking career and his life off the pitch.
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