First-Class Matches Trinidad and Guyana 1958/59 to 1989/90

11 Trinidad and Tobago Background The south Caribbean island of Trinidad became a British territory in 1802, and cricket was being played there by the 1840s: the first reference is to Trinidad CC in 1842, where the club is stated to be ‘already of very long standing’. In the mid-1840s there began the process of ‘indenture’, whereby considerable numbers of Indians were brought to work on the island’s plantations, which has had such a lasting effect on its demography – and its cricket. The island of Trinidad played its first first-class match in January 1869, and since then Trinidad has played regularly in the various inter-colonial tournaments, also involving Barbados and British Guiana (later Guyana), and later Jamaica and the Leeward and Windward Islands, that are the principal domestic first-class competitions in the West Indies. From 1889 the neighbouring island of Tobago – under British rule since 1814 - was administered alongside Trinidad. On 31 August 1962 the new Republic of Trinidad & Tobago gained its independence from Britain. Prior to that date, the team representing the (former) colony had been known simply as ‘Trinidad’, but thereafter its name – its official name, at least – became ‘Trinidad & Tobago’. History of internal matches in Trinidad & Tobago Within the island of Trinidad, the principal cricket fixture prior to independence had been the annual match between North Trinidad and South Trinidad. This series was inaugurated with a match in August 1925, and in the following year a cup was donated by Rolland Beaumont, who had played Test cricket for South Africa between 1912 and 1914 but who was now living on Trinidad as Chairman of Trinidad Leaseholds Ltd (oil explorers and refiners). The Beaumont Cup was at stake in the annual North v South match for the next 46 years. From the first contest in 1925 until May 1958, a total of 34 matches between North and South Trinidad were arranged. Perhaps not surprisingly, North – the part of the island that includes the capital, Port-of-Spain – had the greater success in the competition, winning five of these matches, while South won one, one was abandoned, and as many as 27 were drawn. South’s only win came in June 1938 when they dismissed a full-strength North side for 39 and 51 and won the match by 136 runs. But such domination by the South was rare. Of the 33 matches started over this period, South took first-innings lead in only ten, eight of which ended as draws and one of which they lost anyway. One reason why so many of these earlier games ended as draws was that, from 1930 onwards, they were played in late May or June, which marks the onset of Trinidad’s rainy season, and many of the matches were seriously affected by bad weather. Another is that the matches were often scheduled for only two days, which – particularly at that time of year – greatly reduced the chances of securing a result in matches between sides that included pretty much all of the island’s best players. Up to 1949/50, only six of the planned 26 matches were scheduled for three days. But from 1950/51 onwards, all Beaumont Cup matches were scheduled for three days; and thus, whether purposely or not, the annual North v South Trinidad match had passed the first hurdle en route to achieving first-class status. 1 A further reason for the many draws, in the earlier matches in particular, was that for its first 30 years the competition rules decreed that first-innings lead in a drawn match would be sufficient for a side to win (or retain) the Cup. This rule, which encouraged the team in possession to secure 1 Since 1947 this status could only be awarded to matches scheduled for three or more days’ play.