Famous Cricketers No 71 - J.D.C.Goddard

Bowling O M R W BB Ave 5i 10m Test matches (6b) 14 4 } 162 5 3-36 32.40 - - (8b) 41 7 Other matches 75 20 216 3 1-0 72.00 - - Tour (6b) 14 4 } 378 8 3-36 47.25 - - (8b) 116 27 Career (6b) 1101 328 } 3427 125 5-31 27.41 2 - (8b) 255 40 1952/53 Goddard retained his captaincy of Barbados but was replaced as captain of the West Indies by Stollmeyer when the Indians undertook their first tour of the Caribbean. The WICBC had not taken kindly to Goddard’s criticisms of the West Indian itinerary in the previous winter. He was thus reduced to a single match this season. In Garfield Sobers’s first-class début, Goddard won the toss and contributed an unbeaten half-century to his team’s huge total of 606/7 declared. The key features of this high-scoring game were a magnificent 253 by Weekes, still the highest score for Barbados against India, and the exceptionally steady bowling of the 16-year-old Sobers who, on a batsman’s paradise, returned the phenomenal analysis of 89-40-142-7 and took the wickets of D.K.Gaekwad (twice), V.L.Manjrekar, Dattu Phadkar (twice), D.H.Shodhan and Polly Umrigar without any help at all from his colleagues. Selected primarily as a bowler, Sobers batted at No. 9 and was left undefeated with 7 when Goddard declared. Own Team O M R W Opp Ct Total Total 81. Barbados v Indians, Bridgetown, January 31, February 2, 3, 4, 5 (Match drawn) not out 50 606-7d 3 0 8 0 209 4 2 6 0 445/9 SEASON’S AVERAGES Batting and Fielding M I NO Runs HS Ave 100 50 Ct Season 1 1 1 50 50* - - 1 - Career 81 106 22 3112 218* 37.04 5 15 67 Bowling O M R W BB Ave 5i 10m Season (6b) 7 2 14 0 - - - - Career (6b) 1108 330 } 3441 125 5-31 27.53 2 - (8b) 255 40 1953/54 Goddard was again overlooked by the West Indian selectors when the MCC toured the Caribbean in 1953/54. But he led Barbados as usual. His one match against the MCC was a most exciting affair which the visitors won by a single wicket, their first victory over this colony for fifty years. Goddard failed with the bat, but it was his dangerous medium-pace off-cutters on the last day, when he took 5 good wickets for 43 runs from 27 overs, which almost brought the tourists to grief. Bowling brilliantly on that occasion, Goddard, Atkinson and Sobers reduced the MCC to 184/9 before the tourists scraped home. Other highlights of this game were a splendid century by Atkinson (151) and the spirited bowling of Tony Lock (9/176) - despite his being no-balled by both umpires for throwing his faster ball. The young Sobers continued to show great promise as an all-rounder, scoring 46 & 27 and capturing 2/139 from 53 accurate overs. He and Atkinson shared a fine partnership of 118 runs in the first innings, after Noel Lucas, Cammie Smith, Walcott and Weekes had been bundled out for 73. 24