Lives in Cricket No 30 - MJK Smith

57 In the glare of the Caribbean off some of the pitches out there bothered me. If I had gone again, I have no doubt I would have benefited from tinted glasses.’ For the Test that followed Mike was moved down to number five. His useful 39 came after May had failed but was dwarfed by centuries from Barrington, his first in Tests, and Dexter that enabled England to reach 482. It was lunch time on the third of the six five-hour days allocated for the match when West Indies began their long and laboured reply. After three wickets had fallen for 102, a stand of 399 between Frank Worrell and Sobers began that evening, spanned the fourth and fifth days and the intervening rest day before ending with Sobers’ dismissal on the sixth morning. When Gerry Alexander declared at lunch, West Indies were only 81 ahead and a tame draw was almost inevitable. Worrell had spent the morning adding 20 runs and ended 197 not out, leaving onlookers wondering why such a talented stroke-player had not pressed harder to allow a more challenging declaration. ‘He was shattered,’ says Mike, ‘not having played Test cricket in the West Indies for five years. But more than two days without getting a wicket – that was a new experience!’ The tourists moved on to Trinidad, where two matches were played against the island team. In the first, at Port of Spain, Mike made an undefeated 47 in a race against the clock that saw MCC home by six wickets with ten minutes to spare. The win had come after a declaration in a match where the tourists had trailed by 130 on first innings, having collapsed against the bowling of Charran Singh, a left-arm spinner playing only his second first- class match. Singh’s five for 57 did not secure him a place in the second Trinidad match played at Pointe-à-Pierre, where MCC won by ten wickets, but he was nevertheless chosen for the ensuing Test at Port of Spain. At one time Sonny Ramadhin would have been the local star for Trinidadians, but he had settled in England and had not played for his native island for seven years, so Charran Singh’s selection made him the hero of the hour in a side in which he and Ramadhin were Trinidad’s only representatives. This was to have profound consequences as the match gradually unfolded. As they would throughout the series, England won the toss and chose to bat first. The pace bowlers, Wes Hall and Chester Watson, both warned during the innings for intimidatory bowling on an exceptionally fast pitch, made early inroads into the England batting. At 57 for three, Pullar, Cowdrey and May were all out. Dexter and Barrington then restored the position with a stand of 142. When Dexter gave a