West Indian cricket team in England in 1939
Encyclopedia
The West Indies cricket team toured England in the 1939 season
to play a three-match Test
series against England. England won the series 1-0 with two matches drawn. A total of 25 first-class matches was played and the West Indian side won eight of them and lost six, with the others drawn. The tour was cut short by the preparations for and then the outbreak of World War II
.
The manager of the team was John Kidney, who played 11 first-class matches for Barbados between 1909 and 1932 and who had managed the 1933 touring team in England
.
Of the 16 players in the side, Martindale, Barrow and Headley had toured with the previous West Indies side to visit England in 1933, and Constantine (who toured England in 1923 and 1928) and Grant had been co-opted to that side for a few matches. Constantine had played in West Indies' first-ever Test on the 1928 tour
and Sealy had played Test cricket in the first matches in the West Indies in 1929-30. Grant and Hylton had made their Test debuts in the 1934-35 series in the West Indies
.
Eight of the nine other players in the side made their Test debuts during the 1939 tour. They were Cameron, Clarke, Gomez, Johnson, the Stollmeyer brothers, Weekes and Williams. Only Bayley was not capped on this tour, and he never played Test cricket.
First Test at Lord's
West Indies (277 and 225) lost to England (404 for five declared and 100 for two) by 8 wickets. Headley, with 106 in the first innings and 107 in the second, became the first cricketer to make separate hundreds in a Test at Lord's. It was the second time he had achieved this feat against England, having made 114 and 112 at Georgetown
in 1929-30. Jeff Stollmeyer, on his Test debut, made 59 out of 147 in West Indies' first innings, and Bill Copson
, also making his Test debut, took five for 85. England's reply was based on 196 for Len Hutton
. Hutton shared a fourth wicket partnership of 248 with Denis Compton
, who made 120. With the whole of the final day to save the match, West Indies looked to be on course at 190 for four, but lost their last six wickets for 35 runs. Copson took four in the innings to finish with match figures of nine for 152. England had 110 minutes to make 99 for victory and did it with 35 minutes to spare.
made 76 out of 111 in 100 minutes. England declared when Hardstaff was out with the thought that the pitch would get more difficult, but Grant made 47 out of 56 with three sixes off Tom Goddard
. On the morning of the last day, only Headley, with 51, offered much resistance, Bill Bowes
taking six for 33 in 17.4 (eight-ball) overs. England's batsmen failed to take the initiative in the second innings, and the match petered out to a draw. The catch that Walter Hammond took to dismiss Headley in West Indies' second innings was his 100th in Tests: the first player to achieve this apart from wicketkeepers.
Third Test at The Oval
England (352 and 366 for three declared) drew with West Indies (498). Debutant Johnson took the wicket of Walter Keeton
with his first delivery in Test cricket, but Norman Oldfield made 80 on his first appearance for England, and with Hutton making 73 and Hardstaff 94, England were all out for 352 before the end of the first day. Jeff Stollmeyer and Headley both made 50s for West Indies in a cautious start on the second day, but then Vic Stollmeyer, making his Test debut, and Weekes added 163 in 100 minutes for the fifth wicket. Stollmeyer was out for 96 but Weekes went on to a hundred in 100 minutes and finished with 137. On the final morning, Constantine hit 79 out of 103 from the final 92 balls of the innings. England lost Keeton and Oldfield cheaply in their second innings, but Hutton (165 not out) and Hammond (138) shared a third wicket partnership of 264, then a world Test record, to make the match and the series safe.
1939 English cricket season
The 1939 English cricket season was the last before the Second World War and it was not until 1946 that first-class cricket could resume in England on a normal basis....
to play a three-match Test
Test cricket
Test cricket is the longest form of the sport of cricket. Test matches are played between national representative teams with "Test status", as determined by the International Cricket Council , with four innings played between two teams of 11 players over a period of up to a maximum five days...
series against England. England won the series 1-0 with two matches drawn. A total of 25 first-class matches was played and the West Indian side won eight of them and lost six, with the others drawn. The tour was cut short by the preparations for and then the outbreak of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
.
The West Indies team
- Rolph GrantRolph GrantRolph Stewart Grant was a West Indian cricketer who captained them in their 1939 tour of England.Grant was born in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago.-References:...
, captain - Ivan BarrowIvan BarrowIvanhoe Mordecai Barrow was a cricketer who played 11 Tests for the West Indies.A wicket-keeper and opening batsman, he was the first West Indian to score a century in a Test Match in England...
, wicketkeeper - Peter BayleyPeter Bayley (cricketer)Herbert Peter Bayley was a first-class cricketer from British Guiana who toured with the West Indian cricket team in England in 1939.His uncle was fellow cricketer Benjamin Bayley.-References:...
- John CameronJohn Cameron (cricketer)John Hemsley Cameron was a cricketer who played in two Tests for the West Indian cricket team in 1939...
- Bertie ClarkeBertie ClarkeDr Carlos Bertram Clarke, OBE was a West Indian cricketer who played in three Tests in 1939...
- Learie ConstantineLearie ConstantineLearie Nicholas Constantine, Baron Constantine MBE was a West Indian cricketer who played 18 Test matches before the Second World War. He took West Indies' first wicket in Test cricket and was the team's leading all-rounder and opening bowler for the entirety of his career...
- Gerry GomezGerry GomezGerry Ethridge Gomez was a West Indian cricketer who played 29 Tests for the West Indies between 1939 and 1954, scoring 1,243 runs and taking 58 wickets. He captained in one match for the West Indies when England toured in 1947/8.Gomez was born in Port of Spain, Trinidad...
- George HeadleyGeorge HeadleyGeorge Alphonso Headley was a West Indian cricketer who played 22 Test matches, mostly before the Second World War. Considered one of the best batsmen to play for West Indies and one of the greatest cricketers of all time, Headley also represented Jamaica and played professional club cricket in...
- Leslie HyltonLeslie HyltonLeslie George Hylton was a West Indian cricketer, a fast bowler who played in six Test matches between 1935 and 1939 for the West Indies...
- Tyrell Johnson
- Manny MartindaleManny MartindaleEmmanuel Alfred Martindale was a West Indian cricketer who played in ten Tests from 1933 to 1939. He was a right-arm fast bowler and a lower-order right-handed batsman....
- Derek SealyDerek SealyJames Edward Derrick Sealy was a West Indian cricketer who played in 11 Tests from 1930 to 1939....
- Jeff StollmeyerJeff StollmeyerJeffrey Baxter Stollmeyer was a Trinidad and Tobago cricketer and footballer. He played 32 Tests for the West Indies, captaining 13 of these....
- Vic StollmeyerVic StollmeyerVictor Humphrey Stollmeyer was a West Indian cricketer who played in one Test in 1939.Vic Stollmeyer was the older brother of West Indian captain Jeff Stollmeyer....
- Ken WeekesKen WeekesKenneth Hunnel Weekes was a West Indian cricketer who played in two Tests in 1939....
- Foffie WilliamsFoffie WilliamsErnest Albert Vivian Williams was a West Indian cricketer who played in four Tests in 1939 and 1947-48....
The manager of the team was John Kidney, who played 11 first-class matches for Barbados between 1909 and 1932 and who had managed the 1933 touring team in England
West Indian cricket team in England in 1933
The West Indies cricket team toured England in 1933, playing three Test matches, losing two of them and drawing the other. In all, the side played 30 first-class matches, winning only five and losing nine....
.
Of the 16 players in the side, Martindale, Barrow and Headley had toured with the previous West Indies side to visit England in 1933, and Constantine (who toured England in 1923 and 1928) and Grant had been co-opted to that side for a few matches. Constantine had played in West Indies' first-ever Test on the 1928 tour
West Indian cricket team in England in 1928
The West Indian cricket team that toured England in the 1928 season was the first to play Test cricket. The team was not very successful, losing all three Tests by an innings and winning only five of the 30 first-class matches played....
and Sealy had played Test cricket in the first matches in the West Indies in 1929-30. Grant and Hylton had made their Test debuts in the 1934-35 series in the West Indies
English cricket team in West Indies in 1934-35
The English cricket team in the West Indies in 1934-35 was a cricket touring party sent to the West Indies under the auspices of the MCC for a tour lasting for two-and-a-half months in 1934-35...
.
Eight of the nine other players in the side made their Test debuts during the 1939 tour. They were Cameron, Clarke, Gomez, Johnson, the Stollmeyer brothers, Weekes and Williams. Only Bayley was not capped on this tour, and he never played Test cricket.
First Test at Lord'sLord's Cricket GroundLord's Cricket Ground is a cricket venue in St John's Wood, London. Named after its founder, Thomas Lord, it is owned by Marylebone Cricket Club and is the home of Middlesex County Cricket Club, the England and Wales Cricket Board , the European Cricket Council and, until August 2005, the...
, June 24, 26, 27
West Indies (277 and 225) lost to England (404 for five declared and 100 for two) by 8 wickets. Headley, with 106 in the first innings and 107 in the second, became the first cricketer to make separate hundreds in a Test at Lord's. It was the second time he had achieved this feat against England, having made 114 and 112 at GeorgetownBourda
The Bourda is a cricket ground in Georgetown, Guyana, used by the Guyanese cricket team for matches with other nations in the Caribbean as well as some Test matches involving the West Indies. Located in Bourda in Georgetown, Guyana, between Regent Street and North Road, it is home to the Georgetown...
in 1929-30. Jeff Stollmeyer, on his Test debut, made 59 out of 147 in West Indies' first innings, and Bill Copson
Bill Copson
Bill Copson was an English cricketer who played for Derbyshire between 1932 and 1950, and for England between 1939 and 1947. He took over 1,000 wickets for Derbyshire, and was prominent in their 1936 Championship season...
, also making his Test debut, took five for 85. England's reply was based on 196 for Len Hutton
Len Hutton
Sir Leonard "Len" Hutton was an English Test cricketer, who played for Yorkshire County Cricket Club and England in the years around the Second World War as an opening batsman. He was described by Wisden Cricketer's Almanack as one of the greatest batsmen in the history of cricket...
. Hutton shared a fourth wicket partnership of 248 with Denis Compton
Denis Compton
Denis Charles Scott Compton CBE was an English cricketer who played in 78 Test matches, and a footballer...
, who made 120. With the whole of the final day to save the match, West Indies looked to be on course at 190 for four, but lost their last six wickets for 35 runs. Copson took four in the innings to finish with match figures of nine for 152. England had 110 minutes to make 99 for victory and did it with 35 minutes to spare.
Second Test at Old Trafford, July 22, 24, 25
England (164 for seven declared and 128 for six declared) drew with West Indies (133 and 43 for four). Rain and bad light ruined the match, with only 35 minutes play possible on the first day. Clarke's leg-spin and Grant's off-spin caused an England collapse to 62 for five, but Joe HardstaffJoe Hardstaff junior
Joseph Hardstaff junior was an English cricketer, who played in twenty three Tests for England from 1935 to 1948...
made 76 out of 111 in 100 minutes. England declared when Hardstaff was out with the thought that the pitch would get more difficult, but Grant made 47 out of 56 with three sixes off Tom Goddard
Tom Goddard
Tom Goddard was the fifth highest wicket taker in first-class cricket....
. On the morning of the last day, only Headley, with 51, offered much resistance, Bill Bowes
Bill Bowes
Bill Bowes was one of the best bowlers of the interwar period and, for a time, the most important force behind Yorkshire's dominance of the County Championship...
taking six for 33 in 17.4 (eight-ball) overs. England's batsmen failed to take the initiative in the second innings, and the match petered out to a draw. The catch that Walter Hammond took to dismiss Headley in West Indies' second innings was his 100th in Tests: the first player to achieve this apart from wicketkeepers.
Third Test at The OvalThe OvalThe Kia Oval, still commonly referred to by its original name of The Oval, is an international cricket ground in Kennington, in the London Borough of Lambeth. In the past it was also sometimes called the Kennington Oval...
, August 19, 21, 22
England (352 and 366 for three declared) drew with West Indies (498). Debutant Johnson took the wicket of Walter KeetonWalter Keeton
William Walter Keeton was an English cricketer who played in two Tests in 1934 and 1939...
with his first delivery in Test cricket, but Norman Oldfield made 80 on his first appearance for England, and with Hutton making 73 and Hardstaff 94, England were all out for 352 before the end of the first day. Jeff Stollmeyer and Headley both made 50s for West Indies in a cautious start on the second day, but then Vic Stollmeyer, making his Test debut, and Weekes added 163 in 100 minutes for the fifth wicket. Stollmeyer was out for 96 but Weekes went on to a hundred in 100 minutes and finished with 137. On the final morning, Constantine hit 79 out of 103 from the final 92 balls of the innings. England lost Keeton and Oldfield cheaply in their second innings, but Hutton (165 not out) and Hammond (138) shared a third wicket partnership of 264, then a world Test record, to make the match and the series safe.
External sources
Further reading
- Bill FrindallBill FrindallWilliam Howard Frindall, MBE was an English cricket scorer and statistician. He was familiar to cricket followers from his appearances on the BBC Radio 4 programme Test Match Special, nicknamed the Bearded Wonder by Brian Johnston for his ability to research the most obscure cricketing facts in...
, The Wisden Book of Test Cricket 1877-1978, Wisden, 1979