Famous Cricketers No 94 - Alfred Lewis Valentine

Bowling O M R W BB Ave 5i 10m Other matches (8-ball) 119.3 22 367 22 7-112 16.68 3 1 Career (6-ball) 1268.4 491 } 2764 147 8-26 18.80 13 4 (8-ball) 119.3 22 1951/52 - West Indians in Australia Great deeds were expected from the West Indians when they visited Australia this winter after having so comprehensively crushed England in 1950. But they played far beneath their potential and lost the Test series 4-1. Of the 13 first-class matches they played on Australian soil, the West Indies won only four, including two against Tasmania, while losing 8. They failed to cope with the aggressive fast bowling of Ray Lindwall and Keith Miller and they also fielded and caught too poorly. Too little use was made of Wilfred Ferguson, Gerry Gomez, Prior Jones and John Trim as bowlers, while Ramadhin and Valentine were constantly overworked. In the first Test, which the West Indies certainly ought to have won, no fewer than five catches were missed off Valentine’s bowling “inside twenty minutes”, and in the fourth Test, very faulty tactics and palpably feeble out-cricket allowed Australia’s last pair to score the 38 runs still necessary for victory. In the midst of the constant gloom, only Gerry Gomez and Valentine emerged with their reputations enhanced. The former batted with greater intelligence and determination than did his more famous colleagues and the latter “so impressed the Australians that they acclaimed him as the best of his type that they had met in post-war cricket”. While Ramadhin tended to struggle after bowling finely in the first Test at Brisbane, the more consistent Valentine claimed 24 wickets in the five Tests. This was more than any other bowler on either side and was then a record for the West Indies in a series against Australia. In 10 first-class matches, he ended with 53 wickets (ave 24.54), still the best by any West Indian bowler on an Australian tour. His best return came against South Australia at Adelaide in December when he claimed 12/164 from 55.5 eight-ball overs. This has survived as a West Indian record against that state. By the end of the Australian campaign, he had lifted his tally to 200 first-class wickets in 35 matches. His 200th victim was Keith Miller (caught by Everton Weekes at first slip) in the second innings of the fifth Test. Valentine’s batting showed considerable improvement as he raised his personal best to 13 against Australia in the first Test at Brisbane and then to 14 in the fourth Test at Melbourne. Own Team O M R W Opp Ct Total Total 26. WEST INDIES v AUSTRALIA, Brisbane, November 9, 10, 12, 13 (Australia won by three wickets) st G.R.A.Langley b D.T.Ring 2 216 25 4 99 5 K.A.Archer c J.D.C.Goddard 226 1 A.R.Morris c A.F.Rae R.N.Harvey lbw K.R.Miller c and b G.B.Hole lbw c A.R.Morris b D.T.Ring 13 245 40.7 6 117 1 K.R.Miller b 236-7 27. West Indians v New South Wales, Sydney, November 16, 17, 19, 20 (New South Wales won by 24 runs) c G.S.Trueman b A.K.Walker 1 134 14 1 74 1 R.R.Lindwall c F.M.M.Worrell 239 not out 0 355 24 6 67 0 274-3d 28. WEST INDIES v AUSTRALIA, Sydney, November 30, December 1, 3, 4, 5 (Australia won by seven wickets) not out 0 362 30.5 3 111 4 K.R.Miller b 517 G.B.Hole b D.T.Ring c S.Ramadhin W.A.Johnston b b K.R.Miller 1 290 10 0 45 0 137-3 29. West Indians v South Australia, Adelaide, December 7, 8, 10, 11 (South Australia won by 227 runs) c L.E.Favell b G.Noblet 6 233 38 5 112 5 H.N.Dansie c W.Ferguson 398 L.E.Favell c R.E.Marshall E.J.England c K.R.Rickards G.R.A.Langley c P.E.W.Jones J.S.Manning b 14