Cricket 1913

26 CRICKET: A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. J an . 18, 1913. though it is subject to earthquakes, and though the cricket does not quite come up to the Barbados standard. B u t enough of this. P len ty of books have been written about the West Indies ; but the only books I know of that tell rmich about the cricket there are one of Pelham Warner’s (the Middlesex captain, b y the way, is a native of Trinidad), the Barbados Cricketers' Annual (now in its eighteenth issue), and some pamphlets dealing with the tournaments which have been published b y a Georgetown (B.G.) newspaper. Cricket in the West Indies, however, has a fairly long and eminently honourable history, though prior to about tw en ty years ago there was not much in it which historians of the game, need to take very seriously. I believe I am correct in saying that “ Scores and B io­ graphies,” though it goes down to 1878, does not con­ tain a single West Indian match. Bu t it might well have done, for as far back as 1864-5 Barbados and Demerara (a name used indifferently for British Guiana, and perhaps quite as correct in a cricket sense, since it includes practically all the cricket of the colony) met in friendly rivalry. There was another match in 1865-6, a third in 1871-2, a fourth in 1883-4, an<i a fifth in 1887-8. W ith the fourth match we get clear of the mists of antiquity, and touch the historical period. For among the Demerara players was E. F. Wright, who had the prestige of having played for Gloucestershire, and who did much to help on the game both in Georgetown and later in Jamaica. In spite of W right’s prowess (his 45 was the highest score of the match, and he took half-a-dozen wickets) Barbados won. Barbados usually have won their matches. This is their record to date : P. W. L. D. v. English Teams ... 13 .. 7 . •• 5 • 1 v. American Team (1888) 1 0 0 1 v. British Guiana ... 13 .. 10 •• 3 0 v. Trinidad 11 .. 7 •• 4 0 v. Jamaica ... 1 .. 1 0 0 v. St. Lucia and St. Vincent (comb.) 2 2 0 0 41 .. 27 .. 12 2 Trinidad have done very well, too, possessing a record on figures equal to that of tfie Barbadians. They have performed thus : P. W L. D. v. English Teams ... 11 ... 9 ... 2 0 v. American Team (18S8) 1 1 0 0 v. Barbados 11 ... 4 ... 7 0 v. British Guiana 6 ... 4 ... 2 0 v. Jamaica 4 ... 4 ... 0 0 v. Mixed Teams ... 6 ••• 5 1 0 39 ... 27 ... 12 0 Another tale must be told of British Guiana, who stand thus : P. W. L. D. v. English Teams ... 11 2 ... 7 2 v. American Team (1888) I 1 0 0 v. Barbados ... 13 . •• 3 ... 10 0 v. Trinidad 6 . .. 2 ... 4 . 0 v. Jamaica ... 2 2 0 0 v. Shepherd's Team 3 ••• 3 0 0 36 ••• 13 ... 21 ,.. 2 Jamaica brings up the rear w ith : P. W. L. D. Tied. V. English Tearns ... 15 • 1 ... 10 ... 3 ... 1 V. American Team (1888)... 1 1 0 ... 0 ... 0 V. Philadelphia Team (1909) 3 • 1 2 ... 0 0 V. Barbados 1 0 1 ... 0 ... 0 V. British Guiana ... 2 0 ... 2 ... 0 ... 0 V. Trinidad 4 • 0 ... 4 ... 0 ... 0 V. S. C. Snow’s Team 4 • .. 4 ... 0 ... 0 ... 0 30 ••• 7 ... 19 ... 3 ... 1 The “ Mixed Teams ” in the case of Trinidad are Mr. A. B . St. H ill’s in 1898-9 and 1900-1 (quite up to average colonial strength) and Shepherd’s in 1909-10 (strong on paper, but disappointing). Snow’s Team to Jamaica in August, 1909, was scarcely a powerful side, and the island’s four victories against it perhaps count for less than they appear to do. The matches played by Jamaica-born sides against English teams and by a combined Jamaica eleven (including a considerable gar­ rison element) in 1901-2 are taken above as representa­ tive Jamaica fixtures, and in the British Guiana matches the win b y Georgetown over Shepheid’s Team is in­ cluded. A TOUR IN CANADA AND TH E STATES. Between the fourth and fifth Barbados v. British Guiana matches an important •event took place—-the first of the three West Indian tours abroad. The George­ town C.C. (I believe the oldest club in the Caribbean) organised it, and it occurred in 1886. That the team sent was fully representative can scarcely be main­ tained. It lacked E. F . W right for one, and it might have been strengthened by a bigger Barbadian con­ tingent. There were four men from Demerara—-L. Kerr, R. H. Stewart, A. W. Swain, and Guy W y a t t ; three from Barbados— W. O. Collymore, E. M. Skeete, and T. S. Skeete ; and seven from Jamaica— J. M. Burke, W. H. Farquharson, L. R. F yfe (captain), L. Isaacs, P. Isaacs, J. Lees, and E. N. Marshall. Trinidad was not represented. The side won five matches out of six played in Canada, only Hamilton beating them. They made 319 v. Halifax Wanderers (W. H. Farquharson top scorer with 55), and this was a long way their best total, as they never approached 200 again. In the States they drew two matches and lost the other five. Germantown ran up 310 against them, G. S. Patterson and W. C. Morgan sending up 167 for the first wicket. J. Lees, an old Uppinghamian, then stationed in Jamaica with his regiment, was a long way their best bat, averaging 22 per innings, while the next man’ s figure was under 15 ; two more of the Jamaica players (W. H. Farquhar­ son, 61 wickets at 9 each, and J. M. Burke, 65 at 10) did best in the bowling line. A T eam from A m e r ic a . Early in 1888 an American side visited the islands. It was not of great strength ; but it had one really good bat in Crawford Coates (who still, a quarter of a century later, wields the willow now and then in British Columbia), two useful all-rounders in C. R. Palmer and W. J. Duhring, and another good bowler in S. M. Wain. Coates totalled 337, and averaged 24. The team played 11 matches, won 5, lost 4, drew 2. Defeats were suffered in Grenada, Jamaica, Demerara, and Trinidad ;