Test Cricket Tours - West Indies to
England 1950
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Tour of England 1950 Captain: John Goddard |
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Sixth West Indian Test tour Fourth Test-playing tour of England by
West Indies
(April
- October 1950 ) |
After
giving it some thought, John Goddard agreed to take on the captaincy and was
much admired (indeed, awarded the OBE in 1951) for blending the group of
brilliant individual cricketers into such a fine team. But they were not
really ‘black players guided by a white hand’ for Goddard depended on the advice
of his senior players. Goddard himself was an excellent player and skipper at
national level, though not outstanding like the three Ws, Stollmeyer or
Gomez. However, with his family connections he was bound to be placed as
captain. The
stars of the series were the young West Indian spin bowlers Alf Valentine,
who took 33 wickets in four matches, and Sonny Ramadhin, who took twenty.
Ramadhin, formerly a storekeeper with the oil firm Trinidad Leaseholds Ltd in
Pointe-a-Pierre, was spotted in a club match by Clarence Skinner, an English
émigré who got him a place in the Trinidad side for two first-class games
before the tour. In picking Ramadhin and the equally inexperienced Valentine,
the selectors made what turned out to be an inspired gamble. Customs
officers at Southampton deprived the tourists of a gift from well-wishers in
the West Indies: 96 bottles of rum. Goddard said that the rum was regarded as
a food in the Caribbean. The officials replied "We think it's
drink." The
Empire was talked about as a family with Britain as the mother country at its
head, and the tourists were ‘greeted like imperial children by the
paternalistic English cricket establishment’. But after losing the first Test
heavily, West Indies won a Test match in England for the first time. This was
the famous match at Lord's when Ramadhin took 11 wickets and Valentine 7,
inspiring the calypso composed on the ground by Lord Beginner "Those two
little pals of mine, Ramadhin and Valentine". As West Indies went on to win the next two
Test matches they gained a series victory.
Everton Weekes later wrote: “It was the first time we had defeated the
English in England and we were aware of the implications of the victory in
terms of its history and politics. It was the end of the Empire as far as we
were concerned. London Bridge had fallen down.” |
Other West Indies tours Previous tour To India 1948-49 Next tour To Australia 1951-52 Next tour of England 1957 |
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Members of the Test tour party (16) Opening batsmen:Jeffrey Stollmeyer, Roy Marshall,
Allan Rae. Middle-order batsmen:John Goddard, Ken Trestrail, Everton
Weekes, Clyde Walcott Wicket-keepers: Clyde Walcott, Bob Christiani All-rounders/medium-pacers: Gerry Gomez, Frank Worrell. Spinners:Sonny Ramadhin, Alf Valentine, Cecil
Williams. Fast bowlers:Hines Johnson, Prior Jones, Lance
Pierre. |
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Regional
representation : B
– Barbados (6) BG
- British Guiana (1) Ja – Jamaica (3) T – Trinidad (6) Average age of team at time of first Test match (8 June 1950) : 26
yrs 7 month. |
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Test Appearances made before the tour |
Gomez
11, Christiani 9, Goodard 9,
Stollmeyer 9, Walcott 9, Weekes 9,
Jones 6, Rae 5, Worrell 3,
Johnson 1, Pierre 1, Marshall
0, Ramadhin 0, Trestrail 0, Valentine 0, Williams 0. |
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Tour Officials |
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Selectors |
F A C
Clairmonte, A Drayton, E J Marsden,
Noel ‘Crab’ Nethersole (Jamaica),
and JohnGoddard (co-opted). |
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Selection |
Goddard
confirmed his availability for the captaincy on 28 September 1949 and his
appointment to the post was announced a few months later on 11 January 1950.
He joined the selection panel. Unavailable: E D Weekes (at first, until he decided not
to play for league club Bacup); G A Headley (who accepted the professional
appointment for the 1950 season at Bacup on 16 February). The
selectors were finalising their touring party on 19 February but the names of
those chosen were common knowledge later in the day. R K Nunes, President of the West Indies
Board, began an investigation of the leak. Tour
Party Announced :
22 February 1950. No
vice-captain was appointed though J B Stollmeyer effectively took the
role. The proposal was that the tour
committee would choose the captain's deputy match-by-match. Not
selected : W Ferguson, A G Ganteaume, B H Pairaudeau, K R Rickards, J Trim. Such
was the disappointment of the British Guiana Cricket Board when only one
Guianese cricketer won a place in the team that it made a formal request for
John Trim to be drafted into the side, offering to pay his costs. On 11 March the West indies Board announced
that this proposal was turned down. |
Time between selection and departure from West
Indies 35 days (22 February - 29 March) |
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Travel Port of Spain
T
Southampton |
On 29
March 1950 twelve members of the team sailed from Port of Spain via Barbados
on the 'Golfito' and arrived at
Southampton on 10 April. At Waterloo
Station they were greeted by a song of welcome from Cyril Blake's Calypso
Serenaders. Valentine
and Johnson left Kingston on the
'Cavina' on 28 March, picking up George Headley (who was playing for
Bacup in 1950) the next day at Port Antonio.
The 'Cavina' reached
Avonmouth on 13 April, two days late owing to storms in the Atlantic Ocean. Alan
Rae, a law student already in England, joined the team which spent ten days
as guests of Eastbourne Corporation. Worrell, already in England, joined the
team on 21 April. West Indies Board
President Mr R K Nunes came on the tour "to keep an eye on things". |
Time spent in England 166 days (10 April - 23 September) |
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On-tour selection panel |
Goddard,
Kidney and Gomez. |
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Reinforcements |
Early
in the tour Roy Marshall had measles and then bronchitis, but no replacements
were necessary |
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Fixtures/Results |
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“ not first-class Time spent in England
before First Test: 59 days (10
April - 8 June) . Time from end of final Test
until departure from England 38
days (16
August - 23 September) |
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Test appearances on tour |
4 -
Christiani, Gomez, Goddard, Rae, Ramadhin, Stollmeyer, Valentine, Walcott,
Weekes, Worrell. 2
- Johnson, Jones 0
- Marshall, Pierre, Trestrail,
Williams. |
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Highlights |
- In the Test series Ramadhin and Valentine
took 26 and 33 wickets respectively. On the whole tour, Ramadhin took 135 wickets and Valentine
123. - |
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Tour Summary |
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Return to West Indies Southampton T Bridgetown
'Matina' |
The
tourists played a final social match at New Malden on Wed 20 September. Press
and public were not admitted. They scored 199-6 dec after which the Elder’s
& Fyffes XI, captained by Gubby Allen, reached their target. The
West Indians left Southampton on 23 September 1950 on the 'Matina'. On departure Goddard described it as a most enjoyable
tour and thanked the people of England for their support and encouragement. ‘In
reply we have tried in the only way we know how to entertain, and we are
happy to feel that we have succeeded in some measure.’ Thos
not then leaving included (a) Valentine who returned to Jamaica alone on the 'Ariguani’. He reached Kingston on 7
October. Two days later there was a reception in his honour but a celebratory
match was rained off. (b) Johnson,
Rae, Stollmeyer and Williams, who remained in England for a while (c) Worrell and Ramadhin, as professional
cricketers, signed up for the Commonwealth tour of India 1950-51 and left
Tilbury on 15 September on the 'Chusan',
via Port said, reaching Bombay on 30 September. This was the 'Chusan's’ maiden voyage. Marshall,
Walcott and Weekes disembarked from the 'Matina'
at Bridgetown on 3 October 1950. Walcott
wrote of the welcome when the team returned to Barbados. "Half
the population seemed to be on the quayside when our ship returned home from
England. The harbour was bedecked with
flags and the Governor was there to meet us, along with other
dignitaries. Hundreds of people had
clambered up the masts of yachts and schooners. Steel bands played. It was a memorable day, especially for the
three Ws." Gomez,
Goddard, Trestrail, Jones, Pierre and Christiani reached Port of Spain,
Trinidad, on 4 October. Goddard then
flew back to Seawell Airport, Barbados, landing on 6 October. |
Time away from West Indies 189 days (29 March to 4 October) |
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Finances |
The
cost of sending the team to England $5760 per head with weekly allowances of
$24. The costs were met in proportion one-third by Trinidad and Jamaica and
one-sixth by British Guiana and Barbados. The
tour made a profit of £30 000. |
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Published account of the tour |
"Days
at the Cricket" John Arlott. |
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