History of cricket in the West Indies to 1918

Historical background

The development of cricket in all countries has been shaped by historical events but perhaps nowhere else is this more so than in the West Indies where not only colonialism but also slavery shaped society.

In 1492, the "New World" was discovered by a Spanish naval expedition under Columbus which reached the Caribbean Sea

Caribbean Sea

The Caribbean Sea is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean located in the tropics of the Western hemisphere. It is bounded by Mexico and Central America to the west and southwest, to the north by the Greater Antilles, and to the east by the Lesser Antilles....

and found the Bahamas; and hence the West Indies.

In 1609, the first British settlement in the West Indies was on Bermuda

Bermuda

Bermuda is a British overseas territory in the North Atlantic Ocean. Located off the east coast of the United States, its nearest landmass is Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, about to the west-northwest. It is about south of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, and northeast of Miami, Florida...

by shipwrecked English colonists originally bound for Virginia

Virginia

The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...

. The settlement became permanent in 1612. In 1623, the first British colony in the Caribbean itself was established at St Kitts in the Leeward Islands

Leeward Islands

The Leeward Islands are a group of islands in the West Indies. They are the northern islands of the Lesser Antilles chain. As a group they start east of Puerto Rico and reach southward to Dominica. They are situated where the northeastern Caribbean Sea meets the western Atlantic Ocean...

. In 1628, British colonists began to settle on Barbados

Barbados

Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles. It is in length and as much as in width, amounting to . It is situated in the western area of the North Atlantic and 100 kilometres east of the Windward Islands and the Caribbean Sea; therein, it is about east of the islands of Saint...

which had been uninhabited. Sugar plantations were soon developed and large numbers of African slaves were brought in to work them. Another British colony was established on Nevis

Nevis

Nevis is an island in the Caribbean Sea, located near the northern end of the Lesser Antilles archipelago, about 350 km east-southeast of Puerto Rico and 80 km west of Antigua. The 93 km² island is part of the inner arc of the Leeward Islands chain of the West Indies...

. In 1632, more British colonies were established on Montserrat

Montserrat

Montserrat is a British overseas territory located in the Leeward Islands, part of the chain of islands called the Lesser Antilles in the West Indies. This island measures approximately long and wide, giving of coastline...

, Antigua

Antigua

Antigua , also known as Waladli, is an island in the West Indies, in the Leeward Islands in the Caribbean region, the main island of the country of Antigua and Barbuda. Antigua means "ancient" in Spanish and was named by Christopher Columbus after an icon in Seville Cathedral, Santa Maria de la...

and Barbuda

Barbuda

Barbuda is an island in the Eastern Caribbean, and forms part of the state of Antigua and Barbuda. It has a population of about 1,500, most of whom live in the town of Codrington.-Location:...

.

We do not know when or where cricket was first played in the West Indies but it is reasonable to assume that it was introduced by these early colonists.

1655 is a significant year in British colonisation of the West Indies for its forces under Admiral Sir William Penn

William Penn

William Penn was an English real estate entrepreneur, philosopher, and founder of the Province of Pennsylvania, the English North American colony and the future Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. He was an early champion of democracy and religious freedom, notable for his good relations and successful...

and General Robert Venables

Robert Venables

Robert Venables , was a soldier during the English Civil War and noted angler.Venables was lieutenant-colonel in the parliamentary army. He was wounded at Chester in 1645. He was appointed governor of Liverpool in 1648. He served with success in Ireland from 1649 until 1654...

seized the Spanish island of Jamaica

Jamaica

Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...

, full colonisation commencing in 1661. The cultivation of sugar cane and coffee by African slave labour made Jamaica one of the most valuable possessions in the world for more than 150 years. The colony’s slaves, who outnumbered their white masters 300,000 to 30,000 by 1800, mounted over a dozen major slave conspiracies and uprisings between 1673 and 1832.

By the 1660s, British holdings in the West Indies included Jamaica, Barbados, Bermuda, Bahamas, St Kitts, Nevis, Anguilla

Anguilla

Anguilla is a British overseas territory and overseas territory of the European Union in the Caribbean. It is one of the most northerly of the Leeward Islands in the Lesser Antilles, lying east of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands and directly north of Saint Martin...

, Montserrat, Antigua and Barbuda.

Great Britain's other West Indies territories came into the story later.

The islands of Dominica

Dominica

Dominica , officially the Commonwealth of Dominica, is an island nation in the Lesser Antilles region of the Caribbean Sea, south-southeast of Guadeloupe and northwest of Martinique. Its size is and the highest point in the country is Morne Diablotins, which has an elevation of . The Commonwealth...

, Grenada

Grenada

Grenada is an island country and Commonwealth Realm consisting of the island of Grenada and six smaller islands at the southern end of the Grenadines in the southeastern Caribbean Sea...

, St Vincent

Saint Vincent (island)

Saint Vincent is a volcanic island in the Caribbean. It is the largest island of the chain called Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. It is located in the Caribbean Sea, between Saint Lucia and Grenada. It is composed of partially submerged volcanic mountains...

and the Grenadines

Grenadines

The Grenadines is a Caribbean island chain of over 600 islands in the Windward Islands.-Geographic boundaries:They are divided between the island nations of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and Grenada. They lie between the islands of Saint Vincent in the north and Grenada in the south. Neither...

were initially claimed by France in the 17th century but were all ceded to Great Britain under the terms of the Treaty of Paris 1763 that ended the Seven Years War.

St Lucia was first colonised by France in 1660 but seized by the British in 1663. It was then the subject of no less than 14 separate conflicts between the two before Britain finally secured control in 1814 at the end of the Napoleonic War.

The group now known as the British Virgin Islands

British Virgin Islands

The Virgin Islands, often called the British Virgin Islands , is a British overseas territory and overseas territory of the European Union, located in the Caribbean to the east of Puerto Rico. The islands make up part of the Virgin Islands archipelago, the remaining islands constituting the U.S...

had been settled by the Dutch in 1648 but they were annexed by the British in 1672. Sugar cane was introduced by the British and it soon became the main crop with the inevitable African slaves to work it.

Guyana

Guyana

Guyana , officially the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, previously the colony of British Guiana, is a sovereign state on the northern coast of South America that is culturally part of the Anglophone Caribbean. Guyana was a former colony of the Dutch and of the British...

was first settled by the Dutch, who established three separate colonies at Essequibo

Essequibo

Essequibo may refer to:* The Essequibo River is one of the larger South American rivers located in the country of Guyana.* The former Dutch colony of Essequibo, in the region of the river...

(1616), Berbice

Berbice

Berbice is a region along the Berbice River in Guyana, which was between 1627 and 1815 a colony of the Netherlands. After having been ceded to the United Kingdom in the latter year, it was merged with Essequibo and Demerara to form the colony of British Guiana in 1831...

(1627) and Demerara

Demerara

Demerara was a region in South America in what is now Guyana that was colonised by the Dutch in 1611. The British invaded and captured the area in 1796...

(1752). The British assumed control in 1796 and, following counter-revolts, the Dutch formally ceded the area in 1814. The three became a single British colony known as British Guiana

British Guiana

British Guiana was the name of the British colony on the northern coast of South America, now the independent nation of Guyana.The area was originally settled by the Dutch at the start of the 17th century as the colonies of Essequibo, Demerara, and Berbice...

in 1831. There were major slave revolts in 1763, and also in 1823

Demerara rebellion of 1823

The Demerara rebellion of 1823 was an uprising involving more than 10,000 slaves that took place in the former Crown colony of Demerara-Essequibo ....

. The Guyana plantations were originally coffee and cotton but, as elsewhere in the Caribbean area, sugar eventually superseded them.

Trinidad and Tobago

Trinidad and Tobago

Trinidad and Tobago officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago is an archipelagic state in the southern Caribbean, lying just off the coast of northeastern Venezuela and south of Grenada in the Lesser Antilles...

were found by Columbus in 1498. Although Spanish settlement of 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...

began in the sixteenth century, the population in 1783 was only 2,763 with the majority being Amerindians. In 1783, the proclamation of a Cedula of Population by the Spanish Crown granted 32 acres (129,499.5 m²) of land to each Catholic who settled in Trinidad and half as much for each slave that they brought. Uniquely, 16 acres (64,749.8 m²) was offered to each Free Coloured or Free Person of Colour and half as much for each slave they brought. In the tumult of the Haitian and French Revolutions, many people migrated from the French islands to Trinidad. This resulted in Trinidad having the unique feature of a large Free Coloured slave-owning class. By the time the island was surrendered to the British in 1797 the population had increased to 17,643: 2,086 whites, 1,082 free people of colour, 1,082 Amerindians, and 10,009 African slaves. Spanish rule over the island, which nominally began in 1498, ended when the final Spanish Governor, Don José Maria Chacón surrendered the island to a British fleet of 18 warships under the command of Sir Ralph Abercrombie on 18 February 1797.

Tobago

Tobago

Tobago is the smaller of the two main islands that make up the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. It is located in the southern Caribbean, northeast of the island of Trinidad and southeast of Grenada. The island lies outside the hurricane belt...

’s development was similar to other plantation islands in the Lesser Antilles

Lesser Antilles

The Lesser Antilles are a long, partly volcanic island arc in the Western Hemisphere. Most of its islands form the eastern boundary of the Caribbean Sea with the Atlantic Ocean, with the remainder located in the southern Caribbean just north of South America...

but quite different from that of Trinidad. During the colonial period, French, Dutch, British and Courlanders (Latvians) fought over possession of Tobago and the island changed hands 22 times: more often than any other West Indian island. Tobago was finally ceded to Great Britain in 1814. The two islands were incorporated into a single Crown Colony

Crown colony

A Crown colony, also known in the 17th century as royal colony, was a type of colonial administration of the English and later British Empire....

in 1888 with Tobago reduced to the status of a Ward of Trinidad.

Slavery is the key factor in any consideration of the British exploitation of the West Indies and a significant population figure is the one quoted above for Jamaica that there were 300,000 slaves to 30,000 white "masters" by 1800. Some slaves were native Amerindians but the vast majority of those peoples died out because they had no immunity to European diseases. Africans were much more resilient and so the slave trade essentially concerned the capture and coercion of black African people, mainly from the western coastal regions, and their transportation to destinations in the Americas where they would be sold like livestock and forced by their "owners" to perform hard labour on the plantations.

Slavery

Slavery

Slavery is a system under which people are treated as property to be bought and sold, and are forced to work. Slaves can be held against their will from the time of their capture, purchase or birth, and deprived of the right to leave, to refuse to work, or to demand compensation...

in Britain itself had moreorless disappeared by 1500 but a form of serfdom had continued in some mining areas. Meanwhile, a vogue developed for having black "servants" towards the end of the 18th century and matters came to a head when the legal status of a runaway was decided in a 1772 court case, although it did nothing to actually abolish slavery per se. But the case did make a large number of British people aware of the slavery issue and, by 1783, Britain for the first time had an anti-slavery movement that, ultimately, achieved the abolition of slavery. This happened in stages.

The Abolition of the Slave Trade Act was passed by the British Parliament on 25 March 1807. The Act imposed a fine of £100 for every slave found aboard a British ship. The intention was to entirely outlaw the slave trade within the British Empire

British Empire

The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...

, but the trade continued and captains in danger of being caught by the Royal Navy

Royal Navy

The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...

would often throw slaves into the sea to reduce the fine. In 1827, Britain declared that participation in the slave trade was piracy and punishable by death.

After the 1807 Act, slaves were still held, though not sold, within the British Empire. In the 1820s, the abolitionist movement again became active, this time campaigning against the institution of slavery itself. The Anti-Slavery Society was founded in 1823. Many of the campaigners were those who had previously campaigned against the slave trade.

On 23 August 1833, the Slavery Abolition Act

Slavery Abolition Act

The Slavery Abolition Act 1833 was an 1833 Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom abolishing slavery throughout the British Empire...

outlawed slavery in the British colonies. On 1 August 1834, all slaves in the British Empire were emancipated, but still indentured to their former owners in an apprenticeship system which was finally abolished in 1838. £20 million was paid in compensation to plantation owners in the Caribbean.

Early cricket references

1780s – the Barbados Cricket Buckle, depicting a mulatto batsman wearing a slave collar being bowled out, suggests that slaves in the West Indies were playing cricket as early as 1780.
On 10 May 1806, a meeting of St Anne’s Cricket Club in Barbados was announced in the 'Barbados Mercury' to take play on 12 May
1842 – Trinidad Cricket Club already "of very long standing"
1850 – cricket being played by the pupils of St. George's College, Kingston, Jamaica
1857 – Vere and Clarendon Cricket Clubs founded in Jamaica, neither last long
1858 – formation of Georgetown Cricket Club in Briitsh Guiana
1861 – first full score of a Barbados match: St Michael's Club against The Lodge School
1863 – Kingston Cricket Club founded in Jamaica

1865 to 1890

Inter-Colonial matches were sporadic in the early years of West Indian cricket, mainly because of travel difficulties between the islands and there were only 10 such matches up to 1890, involving Barbados

Barbados national cricket team

The Barbadian cricket team is the representative first class cricket team of Barbados.It does not take part in any international competitions , but rather in inter-regional competitions in the Caribbean, such as the Regional Four Day Competition and the WICB Cup, and the best players may be...

, British Guiana

Guyana national cricket team

The Guyana cricket team is the representative first class cricket team of Guyana.It does not take part in any international competitions, but rather in inter-regional competitions in the Caribbean, such as the Carib Beer Cup and the KFC Cup, and the best players may be selected for the West Indies...

and Trinidad. These 10 games are generally regarded as major cricket matches.

The British Guiana team was often referred to as Demerara

Demerara

Demerara was a region in South America in what is now Guyana that was colonised by the Dutch in 1611. The British invaded and captured the area in 1796...

and the two names seem to have been interchangeable at first. British Guiana

British Guiana

is used here throughout until the country was renamed as Guyana

Guyana

Inaugural major cricket matches

The 1864-65 season included the inaugural major cricket match in the West Indies between Barbados and British Guiana at Garrison Savannah

Garrison Savannah

The Garrison Savannah in the country of Barbados, is a horse racing venue located within the Garrison Historic Area, just outside of the capital-city Bridgetown...

in Bridgetown

Bridgetown

The city of Bridgetown , metropolitan pop 96,578 , is the capital and largest city of the nation of Barbados. Formerly, the Town of Saint Michael, the Greater Bridgetown area is located within the parish of Saint Michael...

on 15-16 February 1865. Barbados won a low scoring match by 138 runs. Augustus and Frederick Smith, two uncles of Sydney Smith

Sydney Smith (cricketer)

Sydney Gordon Smith, born at San Fernando, Trinidad on 15 January 1881, and died at Auckland, New Zealand, on 25 October 1963, was a cricketer who had three distinct careers, playing for Trinidad in the West Indies, for Northamptonshire in England and for Auckland in New Zealand...

took the wickets for Barbados and dismissed British Guiana for 22 and 38.

Edwin Beete, one of the British Guiana side, was later quoted as follows: On the Friday morning we went to the Garrison and practised on the pitch there. Consequently the islanders had to prepare a pitch on the Savannah. And such a pitch! The outfield was very high with grass, you could not run after a ball. The pitch itself was so studded with small pieces of corral that the ball had to be changed twice in an innings which lasted about two hours and mangled balls were brought back as a memento. We practised on Saturday and the match was fixed for the Monday and Tuesday following but was postponed until the Wedmesday and Thursday.

A return match was arranged for the following season in September 1865. Barbados batted first and scored 111 with Thomas Daly taking 4-30 bowling underarm. In reply British Guiana were all out for 82 which included 34 extras, George Whitehall taking 4-16. British Guiana were then set 146 to win which they made with 2 wickets remaining, William Watson batting throughout for 39*. As in the previous match the Smith brothers took most of the wickets for Barbados.

After this game, various social events were organised including a boat trip on the steamer Berbice up the Essequebo River to the Penal Settlement at the junction of the Cuyuni and Massaruni Rivers and to take place from 18 to 20 September. A trip up the Massaruni was arranged in three smaller boats and during this it was decided to shoot the Koestrabraek Falls. One of the boats, the Lady Wodehouse, capsized in the falls and seven people were drowned including two of the British Guiana team, Henry Beresford and Richard Stewart.

Matches and events to 1890

British Guiana played two matches in Trinidad in January 1869. Trinidad won the first by 5 wickets and British Guiana the second by 27 runs.
September 1871 – Barbados defeated British Guiana by 8 wickets
October 1876 – Trinidad defeated British Guiana by an innings and 28 runs
September 1882 – British Guiana defeated Trinidad by an innings and 6 runs. The highlight of this match was the first century in major West Indian cricket matches by Edward Fortescue Wright
Edward Fortescue Wright
Edward Fortescue Wright CMG was a Gloucestershire cricketer who emigrated to the West Indies. He was a right-handed batsman and a round-arm right-hand fast bowler. He was educated at Sydney College, Bath...

who scored 123 out of the British Guiana total of 168.
September 1883 – Barbados defeated British Guiana by 6 wickets
A West Indian side toured North America in August and September 1886 and played 12 two-day matches mostly against club sides, 6 matches being played in Canada and 6 in the USA plus an additional fill-up game in the USA. A return tour by the Gentlemen of the USA following in 1887-88. The tourists were not at all representative of the strength of the USA at the time. Neither of these two tours is regarded as first-class but they are important in being the first tours involving West Indies teams.
September 1887 – Barbados lost twice to British Guiana by 108 runs and by 6 wickets.

Inter-Colonial Tournament

The 1891-92 season saw the first 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...

in the West Indies take place in Barbados

Barbados

between Barbados, British Guiana and Trinidad

Trinidad and Tobago cricket team

The Trinidad and Tobago cricket team is the representative cricket team of the country of Trinidad and Tobago.The team takes part in inter-regional cricket competitions in the Caribbean, such as the Regional Four Day Competition and the WICB Cup, with the best players selected for the West Indies...

. Matches took place at the Wanderers Ground, Bay Pasture, Bridgetown

Bridgetown

between 1 September and 10 September 1891. Barbados beat British Guiana by 4 wickets, British Guiana beat Trinidad by 151 runs and Barbados beat Trinidad by an innings and 93 runs. The final was then contested between Barbados and British Guiana. Barbados won this match by an innings and 55 runs.

During this tournament a suggestion was made by Hon. Aucher Warner

Aucher Warner

Robert Stewart Aucher Warner was a West Indian cricketer. He was known as Aucher Warner...

that there should be a regular series of matches between the three colonies to be played alternately at each colony. By the time of the next tournament in 1893 a cup had been subscribed for but British Guiana were unable to take part, Barbados being winners again. This 1893 match is regarded as the first proper tournament because of the trophy being awarded.

It should be noted that the inter-colonial tournament was restricted to amateurs and that this excluded many of the leading black cricketers who were often professionals. In addition, because of the distances and travelling costs involved, Jamaica never took part in the tournament.

The tournaments took place irregularly until the Second World War, winners to 1918 being:

1891-92 – Barbados
1893-94 – Barbados
1895-96 – British Guiana
1897-98 – Barbados
1899-00 – Barbados
1901-02 – Trinidad
1903-04 – Trinidad
1905-06 – Barbados
1907-08 – Trinidad
1908-09 – Barbados
1909-10 – Trinidad
1910-11 – Barbados
1911-12 – Barbados

English tours of the West Indies

The 1894-95 season featured the first tour of the West Indies by an English team. This was a team of amateurs captained by R Slade Lucas. They played a total of 16 matches between January and April 1895 of which 8 are considered major cricket matches. See: RS Lucas' XI cricket team in West Indies in 1894-95

RS Lucas' XI cricket team in West Indies in 1894-95

A team of Amateurs under the captaincy of Mr. R. Slade Lucas toured the West Indies in the 1894-95 season playing matches between January and April 1895. They played a total of 16 matches of which 8 are regarded as first-class.-Touring team:...

.

The 1896-97 season had two English teams on tour. See: AA Priestley's XI cricket team in West Indies in 1896-97

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....

and Lord Hawke's XI cricket team in West Indies in 1896-97

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...

. There were further privately organised tours in the next ten years: RA Bennett's XI cricket team in West Indies in 1901-02

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 Lord Brackley's XI cricket team in West Indies in 1904-05

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...

.

The first team organised by MCC

Marylebone Cricket Club

Marylebone Cricket Club is a cricket club in London founded in 1787. Its influence and longevity now witness it as a private members' club dedicated to the development of cricket. It owns, and is based at, Lord's Cricket Ground in St John's Wood, London NW8. MCC was formerly the governing body of...

arrived in 1910-11 and played 12 matches, 11 of which are major cricket matches. See: English cricket team in West Indies in 1910-11

English cricket team in West Indies in 1910-11

The sixth team of English cricketers toured the West Indies in the 1910-11 season. For the first time the MCC organised the tour. The team was captained by AWF Somerset and played a total of 12 matches, of which 11 are regarded as first-class, between February and April 1911.A party of 11 was...

.

Another MCC team toured in 1912-13. See: English cricket team in West Indies in 1912-13

English cricket team in West Indies in 1912-13

The seventh team of English cricketers toured the West Indies in the 1912-13 season. The tour was organised by MCC. As in 1910-11, the team was captained by AWF Somerset...

External sources

From Lads to Lord's; The History of Cricket: 1300 – 1787

Historical background

Early cricket references

1865 to 1890

Inaugural major cricket matches

Matches and events to 1890

Inter-Colonial Tournament

English tours of the West Indies

External sources

Further reading