Bertie Harragin
Encyclopedia
Port of Spain
Port of Spain, also written as Port-of-Spain, is the capital of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago and the country's third-largest municipality, after San Fernando and Chaguanas. The city has a municipal population of 49,031 , a metropolitan population of 128,026 and a transient daily population...
, Trinidad
Trinidad
Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands and numerous landforms which make up the island nation of Trinidad and Tobago. It is the southernmost island in the Caribbean and lies just off the northeastern coast of Venezuela. With an area of it is also the fifth largest in...
– 21 May 1941 at Port of Spain
Port of Spain
Port of Spain, also written as Port-of-Spain, is the capital of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago and the country's third-largest municipality, after San Fernando and Chaguanas. The city has a municipal population of 49,031 , a metropolitan population of 128,026 and a transient daily population...
, Trinidad
Trinidad
Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands and numerous landforms which make up the island nation of Trinidad and Tobago. It is the southernmost island in the Caribbean and lies just off the northeastern coast of Venezuela. With an area of it is also the fifth largest in...
) was a West Indian cricketer who toured England in 1906 and was a member of the Trinidad team from 1896-97 when aged 19 to 1931-32 when he was 54. He was a hard hitting right-handed batsman.
He was educated at Queen's Royal College
Queen's Royal College
Still regarded as the bastion of secondary school education Queen's Royal College is the oldest secondary school in Trinidad and Tobago, referred to for short as "QRC", or "The College" by past alumni...
in Trinidad where he excelled as an athlete. Later on he was to hold a number of Trinidadian and West Indian records for various Athletic
Athletics (track and field)
Athletics is an exclusive collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking. The most common types of athletics competitions are track and field, road running, cross country running, and race walking...
events. He was also a record holder for throwing the cricket ball.
Apart from cricket he had other sporting interests including football, rowing, horse racing and cycling. He was a Deputy Inspector General in the Police Service.
He made his debut for Trinidad against Lord Hawke's team
Lord Hawke's XI cricket team in West Indies in 1896-97
A team of Amateurs under the captaincy of Lord Hawke toured the West Indies in the 1896-97 season playing matches between January and April 1897. They played a total of 14 matches of which 7 are regarded as first class...
and also played against Arthur Priestley's team
AA Priestley's XI cricket team in West Indies in 1896-97
A team of Amateurs under the captaincy of Mr. A. A. Priestley toured the West Indies in the 1896-97 season playing matches between January and March 1897. They played a total of 16 matches of which 9 are regarded as first class. They did not play in British Guiana....
. In 1901-02 he was selected for the combined West Indies team against RA Bennett's XI
RA Bennett's XI cricket team in West Indies in 1901-02
After a gap of 5 years the fourth team of English cricketers toured the West Indies in the 1901-02 season. The team was captained by Mr. R.A. Bennett and, like the earlier tourists, consisted solely of Amateurs. They played a total of 19 matches, of which 13 are regarded as first class, between...
and again against Lord Brackley's XI
Lord Brackley's XI cricket team in West Indies in 1904-05
Lord Brackley's XI was the fifth team of English cricketers to tour the West Indies, playing in the 1904-05 season. The team was captained by John Egerton, 4th Earl of Ellesmere and played a total of 20 matches between January and April 1905, of which ten are regarded as first class...
in 1904-05.
He was a selector for, and member of, the second West Indies
West Indian cricket team in England in 1906
The West Indian cricket team toured England in the 1906 season. The team played 19 matches between 11 June and 18 August 1906 of which 13 were regarded as first-class....
touring side that toured England in 1906
1906 English cricket season
The 1906 English cricket season saw the Championship decided on the very last day with Kent just pipping Yorkshire for the title. George Hirst achieved the unique feat of a "double Double", i.e...
. He was second in the West Indies batting averages, although he played only 11 of the 19 matches. He got a leg injury in the match against Kent and missed 7 matches, 6 of them first class. Before the 1906 tour he was described as a "good bat and field" and "a player who can punish all types of bowling. He captained the Trinidad team this season and had fared particularly well in the inter-colonial matches. A brilliant man in the country, fast and a sure thrower". His top scores in the first class matches were 50, 51, 57 and 51 while he scored 86, 68 and 63 in minor matches. During this tour he made attempts to beat his West Indies record for throwing the cricket ball of 128 yards 4 inches.
Back in the West Indies he scored a career high 123 for Jamaica in the 1907-08 Inter-Colonial Tournament
Inter-Colonial Tournament
The Inter-Colonial Tournament was the main first class cricket competition in the West Indies before World War II.- Competing teams :* Barbados* British Guiana* Trinidad...
, making further sporadic appearances for Jamaica for the next 25 years. He came out of retirement in 1931-32 to captain Trinidad in the Inter-Colonial Tournament
Inter-Colonial Tournament
The Inter-Colonial Tournament was the main first class cricket competition in the West Indies before World War II.- Competing teams :* Barbados* British Guiana* Trinidad...
and lead Trinidad to their first victory against Barbados in Barbados since 1903-04. In his career of 40 first class matches he had a respectable average of 26.