Famous Cricketers No 94 - Alfred Lewis Valentine

tournament at Georgetown, in October 1961. His 44 overs on that occasion yielded 140 runs and no wickets. By this time he was clearly superseded by Lance Gibbs, the young right-arm off spinner from British Guiana and Garry Sobers, the versatile left-hander from Barbados. He played in only two Tests against India, and these proved to be his last. They were not at all productive. He ended his Test career, as he had begun his first-class career, with an analysis of 2/114 from 77 overs, including 39 maidens. That is to say, even when the pitches were unhelpful, he managed to contain the batsmen by the accuracy of his length and line. The tour of England in 1963 was virtually the end of Valentine’s first-class career. With Wes Hall and Charlie Griffith bowling fearsomely fast and with Gibbs and Sobers offering them effective support, there was no longer a place in the West Indies Test XI for the cheerful Jamaican with the thick steel-rimmed spectacles and the ever-ready smile. Restricted to 15 matches against the counties, Valentine took only 24 wickets at a cost of more than 34 runs each. He then spent the next two years participating (without too much success) in odd games for Jamaica against other territories in the Caribbean and against the touring Cavaliers. The Jamaican Cricket Board honoured Valentine by appointing him captain of the island’s team for the final six matches of his career, but he was able to lead them only to a single victory. Altogether, Valentine took part in 125 first-class matches during 1950-65. He captured 475 wickets at the very respectable average of 26.21 runs apiece. This remained a Jamaican record until the emergence of Michael Holding some 20 years later. In his 36 Tests for the West Indies, Valentine claimed 139 wickets (av: 30.32). Unlike most of his contemporaries who represented the West Indies, he did not play professionally in the northern leagues while at his peak. Nor did he play in English county cricket (as Ramadhin briefly did towards the end of his career). He was therefore available to represent Jamaica far more often than Ramadhin was able to play for his native island. While the latter wore Trinidad’s colours only on three occasions, Valentine played 26 matches for Jamaica, taking 89 wickets (av: 34.58). Whereas Ramadhin played very often for Commonwealth XIs in England and India, Valentine seldom did. But their names have remained inextricably linked in cricket legend, history and song. Although Valentine has now been retired from first-class cricket for almost 40 years, some of his bowling records still remain intact. Still standing, for example, are: his match figures of 13/164 for Jamaica against British Guiana, established in March 1951; his 8/26 (innings) and 13/67 (match) for the West Indies against Lancashire in 1950; his 6/8 (innings) for the West Indies against Leicestershire in 1957; his 7/52 (innings) and 12/164 (match) for the West Indies against South Australia in 1951/52; and his 53 wickets for the West Indies in an Australian season, 1951/52. Nor has any West Indian left-arm spin bowler come close to matching Valentine’s 139 wickets in Test cricket. As a batsman, Valentine was right-handed. He never paid serious attention to this aspect of the sport and remained a rabbit throughout his playing days. He averaged exactly 5 runs per innings, from an aggregate of 470 runs in 142 trips to the crease. Batting invariably at No. 11, he was left unbeaten on 48 occasions. His highest score was 24*, which he achieved in the twilight of his career, while batting for the Rest against a West Indies XI at Kingston, Jamaica, in September 1963. At the Test match level, Valentine recorded 141 runs (av: 4.70). His highest score (14) came at the expense of Australia at Melbourne on 31 December 1951. For a long time, until he was eventually surpassed by Walsh in the 1990s, he held the West Indian record for the most ducks (30) in first-class cricket. Valentine’s fielding was only slightly more distinguished than his feeble batting, but it has to be admitted that it improved significantly as he gained experience. He finished his first-class career with 45 catches, including 13 in his 36 Tests. In the celebrated tied Test at Brisbane in December 1960, it was his nimble backing-up of an errant Wes Hall overthrow towards the end of the game that kept Australia from winning that exciting match outright with two wickets and four balls to spare. That 8