Famous Cricketers No 73 - Sonny Ramadhin

Radcliffe in 1963, after five seasons in North Staffordshire, Ramadhin returned figures of 117/670 to produce the remarkable average of 5.72 runs per wicket. No other bowler in the northern leagues came remotely close to this average and only two others (Abrahams 108 and Wardle 101) exceeded 100 wickets that year. We need not dwell on the infirmities of his batting and fielding. Suffice it to say that Ramadhin improved steadily in both departments as the years passed. Whereas in 1952, as a professional for Crompton, he could score no more than 185 runs (ave 11.56) in an English summer, by 1954 he was good enough to register 448 runs at an average of almost 25 per innings in that same league. As a defiant tail-ender, he scored 1,092 runs (ave 8.66), including a solid 44 against New Zealand at Dunedin in February 1956, when he and John Goddard (48*) shared in a fine stand of 75. This was then a West Indian record for the eighth wicket against New Zealand. As such, it lasted until April 1985, when Viv Richards (105) and MalcolmMarshall (63) added 83 at Bridgetown. It is still the best for the West Indies in a Test match in New Zealand. With Frank Worrell, at Nottingham in July 1957, Ramadhin also established a West Indian record of 55 for the 10th wicket against England. This stood until Michael Holding (58*) and Colin Croft (17*) added 67* at St John’s, Antigua, in March 1981. It is still the best, however, for the West Indies against England in England. As a fieldsman, Ramadhin recorded 38 catches, including 9 in Test matches. Ramadhin settled down comfortably in Lancashire, married a local lass, and became a tenant landlord of a pub in that county. A benefit, long overdue, was eventually organized for him and Valentine in 1995. Equally overdue is a solid biography of this great cricketer. 1949/50 Sonny Ramadhin began his first-class career when selected to play for Trinidad against Jamaica in a two-game tournament in the winter of 1949/50. He was 20 years, 269 days when he delivered his first ball at this level on 25 January 1950. His first victim was Ken Rickards (40), then one of the best batsmen in the West Indies. Jamaica failed to cope with the wiles of Ramadhin (5/39), Prior Jones (3/48) and Wilfred Ferguson (2/57) and were all dismissed in their first innings for 155. Trinidad won this match easily after Jeffrey Stollmeyer (261*), Kenny Trestrail (161*) and Andy Ganteaume (147) scored centuries. Ferguson (7/70) outbowled Ramadhin (3/67) in the second innings. More acclimatized to the matting pitch at the Queen’s Park Oval by the second match, the tourists offered much stiffer resistance and the game ended in a draw, with Ramadhin taking 4/125 from 49 overs. Ramadhin took his first catch in first-class cricket in his second match. It came off the bowling of Denis Atkinson and the batsman was Dennis Thorbourne. Ramadhin also played his first innings in his second match and began his first-class batting career with 12 not out. These games were actually intended by the WICBC to serve as trials to assist in the selection of the West Indian squad due to tour England this summer. To the surprise of some, Ramadhin was chosen among the party of 16 after having played only two first-class matches and batted only once. The general feeling, outside of Trinidad, was that the more experienced Ferguson, who had captured 23 Test wickets against England in 1947/48 and had bowled equally well against Jamaica, would have been preferred. Own Team O M R W Opp Ct Total Total 1. Trinidad v Jamaica, Port-of-Spain, January 25, 26, 27, 28, 30 (Trinidad won by an innings and 196 runs) did not bat - 581-2d 16 4 39 5 K.R.Rickards b 155 G.H.Mudie st S.C.Guillen A.P.Binns c J.B.Stollmeyer I.Iffla c P.E.W.Jones A.L.Valentine c S.C.Guillen 33.5 11 67 3 K.R.Rickards b 230 N.L.Bonitto hit wkt H.A.Fuller c D.St E.Atkinson 9