West Indian cricket team in England in 1928
Encyclopedia
The West Indian cricket team
that toured England in the 1928 season was the first to play Test cricket
. The team was not very successful, losing all three Tests by an innings and winning only five of the 30 first-class matches played.
, allowed for the first time delegates from India, New Zealand and the West Indies to attend. The three were invited to organise themselves into cricket boards that could, in future, select representative teams to take part in Test matches, which had hitherto been restricted to sides from England
, Australia
and South Africa
.
The West Indian cricket tour of England in 1928 was the first of these new Test-playing ventures, and it was backed heavily by the cricket establishment because of the success of the 1923 West Indian cricket team
in England, when the side won 12 matches.
, who had been vice-captain of the 1923 touring side.
The players were:
All of the 17 players with the exceptions of Neblett and Rae played in at least one of the three Test matches: Neblett later played once for West Indies against England in 1934-35
, but Rae, the father of the later Test cricketer Allan Rae, never played in a Test match.
Seven of the 17 – Nunes, Browne, Challenor, Constantine, Fernandes, Francis and Small – had toured with the 1923 touring team, but five years on the batsmen Challenor, Fernandes and Small were unable to repeat their success of 1923, and Francis and Browne were less successful in bowling. Lack of a frontline wicketkeeper – George Dewhurst
from the 1923 team did not play in 1928 – meant that Nunes was the main wicketkeeper.
Jack Hobbs
being unfit, England
, on winning the toss, opened with Herbert Sutcliffe
and Charlie Hallows
, and the three West Indian fast bowlers, Constantine, Griffith and Francis, plus Browne, caused early discomfort. But though wickets fell fairly regularly, runs were also scored very fast. Ernest Tyldesley
made 122 and captain Percy Chapman
50, and at the end of the first day England had reached 382 for eight. Constantine, who finished with four for 82, ended the innings quickly on the second morning. West Indies, opening with Martin and Challenor, reached 70 without loss by lunchtime, and the partnership went to 86 before Martin was out to Maurice Tate
for 44. Five wickets then fell for 10 runs and though Nunes made 37, Vallance Jupp
and Tich Freeman
took the last five wickets in two hours. Following on, the West Indies did worse, and lost their first six wickets for just 44 runs before the end of the second day. On the final morning, 52 from Small and 44 from Browne brought the second innings total to 166 before the match ended after 90 minutes' play.
three days before this Test started, and Scott. They replaced Fernandes and Small. On a lifeless pitch, West Indies won the toss and batted. Roach, promoted to open, made 50 and put on 48 with Challenor and 46 with Martin. The team then collapsed to 133 for six before Browne and Scott took the total beyond 200. Freeman took five wickets for 54 runs for England. Hobbs, restored to health, and Sutcliffe made 119 for the first England wicket. After three quick wickets, Walter Hammond with 63 put on 120 with Douglas Jardine
. A further small collapse followed, including Chapman retiring injured, and Jardine, top scorer with 83, but the tail took the total to 351.
In the second innings, West Indies lost two wickets quickly, but Martin and St Hill put on 55 and at the end of the second day, West Indies were 71 for four. The innings ended rather abjectly on the third morning, only 44 further runs being made in 50 minutes. Freeman again took five wickets, this time for 39 runs, to finish with match figures of 10 for 93.
The Third Test, The Oval
The West Indies (238 and 129) lost to England (438) by an innings and 71 runs. The third match followed a very similar pattern to the second, with the West Indians making a good start through Roach (53) and Challenor (46), but no other batsman getting beyond the 30s. The total of 238 was, though, the highest of the series for the touring side. Hobbs and Sutcliffe made 155 for the first wicket, and Hobbs and Tyldesley then added 129 before Hobbs was out for 159 with the score at 284. Five further wickets then fell in the next hour for 49 runs, all of them to Griffith, whose innings figures of six for 103 were the best of the series for the West Indies. Tate and Harold Larwood
then added 61 in 25 minutes and the last three wickets made 105 runs. West Indies' second innings, as in the previous Tests, began badly, and only a stubborn 41 from Martin enabled the side to reach three figures. As at Lord's and Old Trafford, the match was over before lunch on the third day.
By the end of May, the touring side had won matches against Derbyshire
and Cambridge University
, plus a minor match against Northumberland
, and had drawn all the other games. Defeat by Ireland in a three-day game was followed by a tight victory over Middlesex
. But the final first-class game before the First Test saw a sensational defeat by the Minor Counties, who won by 42 runs after being made to follow on.
In the final two months of the season, there were good victories over Northamptonshire
and Kent
, plus a minor match against Staffordshire
, for whom Sydney Barnes
, aged 55, took five wickets. But there were heavy defeats by Yorkshire
, with the tourists dismissed for 58 all out in the second innings, by Warwickshire
, and by Sussex
, even though the county rested Maurice Tate, Duleepsinhji and James Langridge. A first-class side representing Wales and including Sydney Barnes also won; Barnes took 12 wickets in this match.
At the end of the tour, the West Indians lost three festival matches at Eastbourne, Folkestone and Scarborough.
, though he failed in the Test matches. He scored the most first-class runs, with 1,381 at an average of 34.52 runs per innings, took the most first-class wickets, with 107 at 22.95 each, and was the only player to score three centuries in the first-class matches.
Martin, Challenor and Roach also scored more than 1,000 runs in the first-class matches, and Hoad, who came good in the second half of the tour, did so in all matches. Challenor, who had scored 1,556 first-class runs at an average of 51.86 and with six centuries in 1923, made just 1,074 runs at 27.53 runs per innings and failed to score a first-class century on the 1928 tour. Griffith took 103 wickets in all matches.
for 1929, reporting on the tour as a whole, was damning. "So far from improving upon the form of their predecessors, the team of 1928 fell so much below it that everybody was compelled to realise that the playing of Test matches between England and West Indies was a mistake," it said. "Whatever the future may have in store, the time is certainly not yet when the West Indies can hope to challenge England with a reasonable hope of success."
The official verdict was less condemnatory, and MCC
reported of the West Indies side that "much of their cricket was of a high order". MCC agreed to send a side to the West Indies for four Test matches in 1929-30. This tour coincided with a second tour to New Zealand
, where the first Test matches against that country were played, and several leading England players opted out of both of the tours. But what was, in effect, an England second eleven had to settle for a shared series, with each side winning one match. This series saw the emergence of George Headley
as the first great West Indian batting star, and Wisden's prediction of a long haul towards parity with England proved pessimistic.
West Indian cricket team
The West Indian cricket team, also known colloquially as the West Indies or the Windies, is a multi-national cricket team representing a sporting confederation of 15 mainly English-speaking Caribbean countries, British dependencies and non-British dependencies.From the mid 1970s to the early 1990s,...
that toured England in the 1928 season was the first to play Test cricket
Test cricket
Test cricket is the longest form of the sport of cricket. Test matches are played between national representative teams with "Test status", as determined by the International Cricket Council , with four innings played between two teams of 11 players over a period of up to a maximum five days...
. The team was not very successful, losing all three Tests by an innings and winning only five of the 30 first-class matches played.
The background to the tour
In 1926, the Imperial Cricket Conference, forerunner of the International Cricket CouncilInternational Cricket Council
The International Cricket Council is the international governing body of cricket. It was founded as the Imperial Cricket Conference in 1909 by representatives from England, Australia and South Africa, renamed the International Cricket Conference in 1965, and took up its current name in 1989.The...
, allowed for the first time delegates from India, New Zealand and the West Indies to attend. The three were invited to organise themselves into cricket boards that could, in future, select representative teams to take part in Test matches, which had hitherto been restricted to sides from England
English cricket team
The England and Wales cricket team is a cricket team which represents England and Wales. Until 1992 it also represented Scotland. Since 1 January 1997 it has been governed by the England and Wales Cricket Board , having been previously governed by Marylebone Cricket Club from 1903 until the end...
, Australia
Australian cricket team
The Australian cricket team is the national cricket team of Australia. It is the joint oldest team in Test cricket, having played in the first Test match in 1877...
and South Africa
South African cricket team
The South African national cricket team represent South Africa in international cricket. They are administrated by Cricket South Africa.South Africa is a full member of the International Cricket Council, also known as ICC, with Test and One Day International, or ODI, status...
.
The West Indian cricket tour of England in 1928 was the first of these new Test-playing ventures, and it was backed heavily by the cricket establishment because of the success of the 1923 West Indian cricket team
West Indian cricket team in England in 1923
The West Indian cricket team toured England in the 1923 season. The team played 28 matches between 19 May and 5 September 1923 of which 20 were regarded as first-class. This was the 3rd West Indian tour following those of 1900 and 1906....
in England, when the side won 12 matches.
The West Indies touring team
The West Indies team had 17 members, four each from Jamaica, Trinidad (now Trinidad and Tobago) and British Guiana (now Guyana) and five from Barbados. The side was captained by Karl NunesKarl Nunes
Robert Karl Nunes was a West Indian cricketer who played in West Indies' first Test in their inaugural Test tour of England as wicketkeeper and captain....
, who had been vice-captain of the 1923 touring side.
The players were:
- Karl NunesKarl NunesRobert Karl Nunes was a West Indian cricketer who played in West Indies' first Test in their inaugural Test tour of England as wicketkeeper and captain....
(Jamaica), captain - Vibart Wight (British Guiana), vice-captain
- Edward BartlettEdward Bartlett (cricketer)Edward Lawson Bartlett was a West Indian cricketer who played in West Indies' inaugural Test tour of England in 1928.He was born in Flint Hall, St. Michael, Barbados....
(Barbados) - Cyril BrowneCyril BrowneCyril Rutherford "Snuffy" Browne was a West Indian Test cricketer who was a member of the first West Indies Test cricket team, playing against England in 1928...
(British Guiana) - George ChallenorGeorge ChallenorGeorge Challenor was a West Indian cricketer who was part of the first West Indies Test side. He was recognised as the first great West Indian batsman, his obituary in Wisden Cricketer's Almanack ending with the words "His admirable batting did much toward raising cricket in West Indies to Test...
(Barbados) - Learie ConstantineLearie ConstantineLearie Nicholas Constantine, Baron Constantine MBE was a West Indian cricketer who played 18 Test matches before the Second World War. He took West Indies' first wicket in Test cricket and was the team's leading all-rounder and opening bowler for the entirety of his career...
(Trinidad) - Maurice FernandesMaurice FernandesMaurius Pacheco "Maurice" Fernandes, was a West Indian Test cricketer who played first-class cricket for British Guiana between 1922 and 1932. He made two Test appearances for the West Indies, in 1928 and 1930. Fernandes played as a right-handed top-order batsman and occasional wicket-keeper...
(British Guiana) - George FrancisGeorge Francis (cricketer)George Francis was a West Indian cricketer who played in West Indies' first Test in their inaugural Test tour of England. He was a fast bowler with a renowned pace.Francis was born in Trents, St. James, Barbados...
(Barbados) - Herman GriffithHerman GriffithHerman Clarence Griffith was a West Indian cricketer who played in West Indies' first Test match in their inaugural Test tour of England and was one of the leading bowlers on that tour....
(Barbados) - Teddy HoadTeddy HoadEdward Lisle Goldsworthy Hoad was a West Indian cricketer who played in West Indies' inaugural Test tour of England. He was the captain in the West Indies' first home Test in 1930....
(Barbados) - Freddie MartinFrank Martin (cricketer)Frank Reginald Martin was a West Indian cricketer who played in West Indies' first Test in their inaugural Test tour of England....
(Jamaica) - James NeblettJames NeblettJames Montague Neblett, a middle-order batsman and a leg-break bowler, was born in Taylor’s Land, St. Michael in Barbados on November 13, 1901 and died in Mackenzie, British Guiana on March 28, 1959, aged 57...
(British Guiana) - Ernest Rae (Jamaica)
- Clifford RoachClifford RoachClifford Archibald Roach was a West Indian cricketer who played in West Indies' first Test in their inaugural Test tour of England....
(Trinidad) - Wilton St HillWilton St HillWilton H. St Hill was a West Indian cricketer who played in West Indies' first Test match during their inaugural Test tour of England. A right-handed batman who played in a variety of batting positions, he represented Trinidad in first-class cricket between 1912 and 1930 and played in three Test...
(Trinidad) - Tommy ScottTommy Scott (cricketer)Oscar Charles Scott was a West Indian cricketer who played in West Indies' inaugural Test tour of England in 1928....
(Jamaica) - Joseph SmallJoseph SmallJoseph A. Small was a West Indian cricketer who played in West Indies' first Test in their inaugural Test tour of England....
(Trinidad)
All of the 17 players with the exceptions of Neblett and Rae played in at least one of the three Test matches: Neblett later played once for West Indies against England in 1934-35
English cricket team in West Indies in 1934-35
The English cricket team in the West Indies in 1934-35 was a cricket touring party sent to the West Indies under the auspices of the MCC for a tour lasting for two-and-a-half months in 1934-35...
, but Rae, the father of the later Test cricketer Allan Rae, never played in a Test match.
Seven of the 17 – Nunes, Browne, Challenor, Constantine, Fernandes, Francis and Small – had toured with the 1923 touring team, but five years on the batsmen Challenor, Fernandes and Small were unable to repeat their success of 1923, and Francis and Browne were less successful in bowling. Lack of a frontline wicketkeeper – George Dewhurst
George Dewhurst
George Dewhurst was a British actor, screenwriter and film director. He directed several film versions of the play A Sister to Assist 'Er.-Selected filmography:Screenwriter* The Lunatic at Large * The Narrow Valley...
from the 1923 team did not play in 1928 – meant that Nunes was the main wicketkeeper.
The First Test, Lord's, 23-26 June 1928
England (401) beat the West Indies (177 and 166) by an innings and 58 runs.Jack Hobbs
Jack Hobbs
Sir John Berry "Jack" Hobbs was an English professional cricketer who played for Surrey from 1905 to 1934 and for England in 61 Test matches from 1908 to 1930....
being unfit, England
English cricket team
The England and Wales cricket team is a cricket team which represents England and Wales. Until 1992 it also represented Scotland. Since 1 January 1997 it has been governed by the England and Wales Cricket Board , having been previously governed by Marylebone Cricket Club from 1903 until the end...
, on winning the toss, opened with Herbert Sutcliffe
Herbert Sutcliffe
Herbert Sutcliffe was an English professional cricketer who represented Yorkshire and England as an opening batsman. Apart from one match in 1945, his first-class career spanned the period between the two World Wars...
and Charlie Hallows
Charlie Hallows
Charles Hallows was a cricketer who played for Lancashire and England....
, and the three West Indian fast bowlers, Constantine, Griffith and Francis, plus Browne, caused early discomfort. But though wickets fell fairly regularly, runs were also scored very fast. Ernest Tyldesley
Ernest Tyldesley
Ernest Tyldesley was an England cricketer. The younger brother of Johnny Tyldesley and the leading batsman for Lancashire. He remains Lancashire's most prolific run-getter of all time...
made 122 and captain Percy Chapman
Percy Chapman
Arthur Percy Frank Chapman was an English cricketer who captained England to a then English-record-equalling seven consecutive Test match wins, a record that was not surpassed until Michael Vaughan's team won eight in a row in 2004...
50, and at the end of the first day England had reached 382 for eight. Constantine, who finished with four for 82, ended the innings quickly on the second morning. West Indies, opening with Martin and Challenor, reached 70 without loss by lunchtime, and the partnership went to 86 before Martin was out to Maurice Tate
Maurice Tate
Maurice William Tate was a Sussex and England cricketer of the 1920s and 1930s and the leader of England's Test bowling attack for a long time during this period...
for 44. Five wickets then fell for 10 runs and though Nunes made 37, Vallance Jupp
Vallance Jupp
Vallance William Crisp Jupp was an amateur cricketer who played for Sussex and Northamptonshire...
and Tich Freeman
Tich Freeman
Alfred Percy "Tich" Freeman was an English cricketer. A leg spin bowler for Kent and England, he is the only man to take 300 wickets in an English season, and is the second most prolific wicket taker in first class cricket history.-Career:Freeman's common name comes from his extremely short...
took the last five wickets in two hours. Following on, the West Indies did worse, and lost their first six wickets for just 44 runs before the end of the second day. On the final morning, 52 from Small and 44 from Browne brought the second innings total to 166 before the match ended after 90 minutes' play.
The Second Test, Manchester, 21-24 July 1928
The West Indies (206 and 115) lost to England (351) by an innings and 30 runs. The tourists made two changes, bringing in Hoad, who had made an unbeaten 149 in a two-day match against WorcestershireWorcestershire County Cricket Club
Worcestershire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Worcestershire...
three days before this Test started, and Scott. They replaced Fernandes and Small. On a lifeless pitch, West Indies won the toss and batted. Roach, promoted to open, made 50 and put on 48 with Challenor and 46 with Martin. The team then collapsed to 133 for six before Browne and Scott took the total beyond 200. Freeman took five wickets for 54 runs for England. Hobbs, restored to health, and Sutcliffe made 119 for the first England wicket. After three quick wickets, Walter Hammond with 63 put on 120 with Douglas Jardine
Douglas Jardine
Douglas Robert Jardine was an English cricketer and captain of the England cricket team from 1931 to 1933–34.When describing cricket seasons, the convention used is that a single year represents an English cricket season, while two years represent a southern hemisphere cricket season because it...
. A further small collapse followed, including Chapman retiring injured, and Jardine, top scorer with 83, but the tail took the total to 351.
In the second innings, West Indies lost two wickets quickly, but Martin and St Hill put on 55 and at the end of the second day, West Indies were 71 for four. The innings ended rather abjectly on the third morning, only 44 further runs being made in 50 minutes. Freeman again took five wickets, this time for 39 runs, to finish with match figures of 10 for 93.
The Third Test, The OvalThe OvalThe Kia Oval, still commonly referred to by its original name of The Oval, is an international cricket ground in Kennington, in the London Borough of Lambeth. In the past it was also sometimes called the Kennington Oval...
, 11-14 August 1928
The West Indies (238 and 129) lost to England (438) by an innings and 71 runs. The third match followed a very similar pattern to the second, with the West Indians making a good start through Roach (53) and Challenor (46), but no other batsman getting beyond the 30s. The total of 238 was, though, the highest of the series for the touring side. Hobbs and Sutcliffe made 155 for the first wicket, and Hobbs and Tyldesley then added 129 before Hobbs was out for 159 with the score at 284. Five further wickets then fell in the next hour for 49 runs, all of them to Griffith, whose innings figures of six for 103 were the best of the series for the West Indies. Tate and Harold LarwoodHarold Larwood
Harold Larwood was an English cricket player, an extremely accurate fast bowler best known for his key role as the implementer of fast leg theory in the infamous "bodyline" Ashes Test series of 1932–33....
then added 61 in 25 minutes and the last three wickets made 105 runs. West Indies' second innings, as in the previous Tests, began badly, and only a stubborn 41 from Martin enabled the side to reach three figures. As at Lord's and Old Trafford, the match was over before lunch on the third day.
Other matches
Including the three Tests, 30 first-class matches were played on the tour, plus six other games. The West Indians won just seven of these 36 matches (five of the first-class games) and lost 12.By the end of May, the touring side had won matches against Derbyshire
Derbyshire County Cricket Club
Derbyshire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the England and Wales domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Derbyshire...
and Cambridge University
Cambridge University Cricket Club
Cambridge University Cricket Club is a first-class cricket team. It now plays all but one of its first-class cricket matches as part of the Cambridge University Centre of Cricketing Excellence , which includes Anglia Ruskin University...
, plus a minor match against Northumberland
Northumberland County Cricket Club
Northumberland County Cricket Club is one of the county clubs which make up the Minor Counties in the English domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Northumberland and playing in the Minor Counties Championship and the MCCA Knockout Trophy...
, and had drawn all the other games. Defeat by Ireland in a three-day game was followed by a tight victory over Middlesex
Middlesex County Cricket Club
Middlesex County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Middlesex. It was announced in February 2009 that Middlesex changed their limited overs name from the Middlesex Crusaders, to the...
. But the final first-class game before the First Test saw a sensational defeat by the Minor Counties, who won by 42 runs after being made to follow on.
In the final two months of the season, there were good victories over Northamptonshire
Northamptonshire County Cricket Club
Northamptonshire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Northamptonshire. Its limited overs team is called the Northants Steelbacks. The traditional club colour is Maroon. During the...
and Kent
Kent County Cricket Club
Kent County Cricket Club is one of the 18 first class county county cricket clubs which make up the English and Welsh national cricket structure, representing the county of Kent...
, plus a minor match against Staffordshire
Staffordshire County Cricket Club
Staffordshire County Cricket Club is one of the county clubs which make up the Minor Counties in the English domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Staffordshire and playing in the Minor Counties Championship and the MCCA Knockout Trophy...
, for whom Sydney Barnes
Sydney Barnes
Sydney Francis Barnes was an English professional cricketer who is generally regarded as one of the greatest bowlers in the sport's history...
, aged 55, took five wickets. But there were heavy defeats by Yorkshire
Yorkshire County Cricket Club
Yorkshire County Cricket Club represents the historic county of Yorkshire as one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure....
, with the tourists dismissed for 58 all out in the second innings, by Warwickshire
Warwickshire County Cricket Club
Warwickshire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Warwickshire. Its limited overs team is called the Warwickshire Bears. Their kit colours are black and gold and the shirt sponsor...
, and by Sussex
Sussex County Cricket Club
Sussex County Cricket Club is the oldest of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Sussex. The club was founded as a successor to Brighton Cricket Club which was a representative of the county of Sussex as a...
, even though the county rested Maurice Tate, Duleepsinhji and James Langridge. A first-class side representing Wales and including Sydney Barnes also won; Barnes took 12 wickets in this match.
At the end of the tour, the West Indians lost three festival matches at Eastbourne, Folkestone and Scarborough.
Individual performances
The star performer on the tour was Learie ConstantineLearie Constantine
Learie Nicholas Constantine, Baron Constantine MBE was a West Indian cricketer who played 18 Test matches before the Second World War. He took West Indies' first wicket in Test cricket and was the team's leading all-rounder and opening bowler for the entirety of his career...
, though he failed in the Test matches. He scored the most first-class runs, with 1,381 at an average of 34.52 runs per innings, took the most first-class wickets, with 107 at 22.95 each, and was the only player to score three centuries in the first-class matches.
Martin, Challenor and Roach also scored more than 1,000 runs in the first-class matches, and Hoad, who came good in the second half of the tour, did so in all matches. Challenor, who had scored 1,556 first-class runs at an average of 51.86 and with six centuries in 1923, made just 1,074 runs at 27.53 runs per innings and failed to score a first-class century on the 1928 tour. Griffith took 103 wickets in all matches.
Verdict and aftermath
The poor performance of the West Indian team led to some unfavourable comment. WisdenWisden Cricketers' Almanack
Wisden Cricketers' Almanack is a cricket reference book published annually in the United Kingdom...
for 1929, reporting on the tour as a whole, was damning. "So far from improving upon the form of their predecessors, the team of 1928 fell so much below it that everybody was compelled to realise that the playing of Test matches between England and West Indies was a mistake," it said. "Whatever the future may have in store, the time is certainly not yet when the West Indies can hope to challenge England with a reasonable hope of success."
The official verdict was less condemnatory, and MCC
Marylebone Cricket Club
Marylebone Cricket Club is a cricket club in London founded in 1787. Its influence and longevity now witness it as a private members' club dedicated to the development of cricket. It owns, and is based at, Lord's Cricket Ground in St John's Wood, London NW8. MCC was formerly the governing body of...
reported of the West Indies side that "much of their cricket was of a high order". MCC agreed to send a side to the West Indies for four Test matches in 1929-30. This tour coincided with a second tour to New Zealand
New Zealand cricket team
The New Zealand cricket team, nicknamed the Black Caps, are the national cricket team representing New Zealand. They played their first in 1930 against England in Christchurch, New Zealand, becoming the fifth country to play Test cricket. It took the team until 1955–56 to win a Test, against the...
, where the first Test matches against that country were played, and several leading England players opted out of both of the tours. But what was, in effect, an England second eleven had to settle for a shared series, with each side winning one match. This series saw the emergence of George Headley
George Headley
George Alphonso Headley was a West Indian cricketer who played 22 Test matches, mostly before the Second World War. Considered one of the best batsmen to play for West Indies and one of the greatest cricketers of all time, Headley also represented Jamaica and played professional club cricket in...
as the first great West Indian batting star, and Wisden's prediction of a long haul towards parity with England proved pessimistic.