West Indian cricket team

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The early Tests (1930s and 1940s)

The West Indies played 19 Tests in the 1930s in four series against England and one against Australia. 1929–30 saw an England team tour the West Indies under the leadership of the Honourable Freddie Calthorpe. As was the practice at the time, the West Indian teams for each Test were selected by the local cricket board, which led to them having four different captains for the four Test matches. As Harold Gilligan was leading another English team to New Zealand at exactly the same time, this was not a full-strength England side. However, on 26 February 1930 the West Indies scored their first Test win. The series was drawn at one-all when Calthorpe's team left, with West Indians George Headley scoring the most runs (703) and Learie Constantine taking most wickets (18) in the series.

Related Topics:
England - Australia - 1929 - 30 - Honourable Freddie Calthorpe - Harold Gilligan - New Zealand - 26 February - George Headley - Learie Constantine

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The Windies were invited to tour Australia in 1930–31, and left in March 1931 having lost 4–1, but they made a good impression despite losing three Tests by an innings. The fifth and final Test showed some promise – after winning the toss and batting first, West Indies spent the first three days earning a 250-run lead with five wickets down in their second innings. A bold declaration was backed up by their bowlers, as Herman Griffith took four wickets and West Indies won by 30 runs, their first overseas Test victory. The team were faced with several cultural differences – for example, heir hosts did not at first appreciate that the tourists' Roman Catholic beliefs would mean they would refuse to play golf on Sundays or engage in more ribald behaviour. The West Indian sides of the time were always led by white men, and the touring party to Australia comprised seven whites and eleven "natives", and the West Indian Board of Control wrote to their Australian counterparts saying "that all should reside at the same hotels". Australia at the time was implementing its "White Australia" policy, with the Australian Board having to guarantee to the Government that the non-whites would leave at the end of the tour. When the West Indians arrived in Sydney, the whites were immediately given a different hotel from the blacks. They complained, and thereafter their wishes were met. The tour lost a lot of money, part of which was down to the Great Depression then engulfing Australia. The West Indians won four and lost eight of their 14 first-class fixtures.

Related Topics:
1930–31 - 1931 - Toss - Declaration - Herman Griffith - Roman Catholic - White Australia - Great Depression

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1933 saw another tour of England. Their hosts had just come back from defeating Australia in the infamous Bodyline series, where England's aggressive bowling at the body with a legside field attracted much criticism. England won the three-Test series of three-day Tests against the Windies 2–0. The second, drawn, Test at Old Trafford, Manchester, provided an intriguing footnote to the Bodyline controversy. Manny Martindale and Learie Constantine bowled Bodyline – fast, short-pitched balls aimed at the body – against the Englishmen, most notably against Douglas Jardine, the English captain who ordered his players to bowl it against the Australians. Jardine did not flinch as he scored his only Test century, making 127 out of England's 374.

Related Topics:
1933 - Bodyline - Old Trafford - Manchester - Manny Martindale - Learie Constantine - Douglas Jardine - English captain

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Another England tour of the West Indies followed in 1934–35. England won the first Test in Barbados on a poor pitch, affected by rain, and in a match where 309 runs were scored, England took a four-wicket victory. Both sides declared one of their innings closed to have their bowlers take advantage of the poor pitch. It would be 60 years before another touring side won in Barbados – yet again, it was England who were responsible. The second Test saw the Windies win by 217 runs, and a drawn third Test saw the series go to a decider at Sabina Park in Jamaica. A massive 270 not out from George Headley saw the Windies declare on 535 for 7. Despite a century from Les Ames, England could not avoid going down by an innings and 161 runs – the West Indies had secured their first Test series victory.

Related Topics:
1934 - 35 - Declared - Sabina Park - Jamaica - George Headley - Les Ames

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The West Indies toured England in 1939. England won the first Test at Lord's easily by 8 wickets, then there was a rain-affected draw in Manchester, and finally a high-scoring draw at the Oval in mid-August. The highlight of the series for the West Indies was George Headley scoring hundreds in both innings in the Lord's Test. With the clouds of World War II seemingly about to envelope Europe, the rest of the tour was cancelled and the Windies returned home. They would play no more Tests for eight and a half years.

Related Topics:
1939 - Lord's - The Oval - World War II

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21 January 1948 saw the start of the first Test the West Indies played since the War, which resulted in a draw against the MCC side from England. The second Test was also drawn, with George Carew and Andy Ganteaume both making centuries. Ganteaume was then dropped, ending with a Test average of 112 – the highest in Test history. The West Indies won the final two Tests chasing sub-100 totals, and wrapped up the series 2–0, their first away-series victory.

Related Topics:
21 January - 1948 - George Carew - Andy Ganteaume

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In 1948, West Indies toured newly independent India for the first time for a five Test tour. The tour was preceded by a non-Test tour of Pakistan and followed by a similar short tour of Ceylon. After three high-scoring draws against the Indians, the West Indians wrapped up the fourth by an innings before a thrilling fifth Test, which left the Indians six runs away from victory with two wickets in hand as time ran out, and West Indies thus won 1–0. Carrying on from his hundred in the series against England, Weekes set a record of scoring hundreds in five successive Test innings.

Related Topics:
1948 - India - Pakistan - Ceylon

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