Dilly Come in! McWatt, Binns, Depeiza, Walcott, Nunes

I think McWatt did too in the fifties against the Oz....though he did not last long.  he had a penchant for hitting the ball hard.
::LOL::
his grandson used to hang out in a bar in near Scarberia Ontario, around Warden and St Clair when cricket was on.  old man Robert Christiani used to be there too.  I had a conversation with him one day about Peter Bailey the BG batsman of the 1930's  who made the 1939 tour to england before another Guyanan who was more deserving

that was Satnarine or Seepersaud Chatterpaul..who went to Trinidad to live after that..or lived in Trinidad before he played for BG

bwoy!  studying west indian history by way of cricket is the stuff of dreams...sweet you know.  my life growing up was not the best of lives but I did not care...once I found some cricket to read.  Tim Tarilton, C A Olieverre, Learie Constantine,  Lebron Constantine, the St Hills, Nelson Betancourt.. another one who died early, a west indian captain.  Grell, Grants, Cipriani..Hoad and Carew the Bajan opener

the west indies is a brutal place but that aspect of it, my experience relevant to cricket was/is to me pure, glorious, sunny and bright..still so in my memory.  that deh cyar touch.  its mine and mine alone..protected by my personal encryption. ::LOL:: ::LOL:: ::LOL::

I believe Guillen went there with the 1951 team that also went to Oz and got clobbered.  he apparently fell in love with New Zealand and emigrated.

same way with Bruce Pairedeau from BG who went in 1956 with Atkinson's team..then to england on the 1957 disaster tour..then packed up went there to live in NZ.

it was easy for those guys to move to the 'dominions'.... huge Canada, NZ and the 'continent' of Oz.  we could not so move to those places.  we could go to england free sheet for a while.  but that was it.

What was the reasoning behind Betancourt only playing the one Test? I know he debuted at age 42 but seems odd to play just the one Test.

yes!  he was a white man..and white men made west indies cricket...chief of whom was HBG Austin the Bajan/west indian ariostocrat.

that was 1930, the first ever official test tour of the region.  they agreed that there would be a different captain in each test..of the island itself. they tended to use players of the territory as well as a means to cut costs I believe.  Players like Headley travelled because they were too good to be left out..but some did not

so it was Betancourt in Trinidad, M P Fernandes in BG, Karl Nunes in Jamaica. and I believe Hoad in Bim..but I have to check that out again

Teddy Hoad......

thats right...thats the man who led in the bim test match 1929-30

You should write a book, Maps. I'd love to read all of your own stories. I was just reading more about Maurice Fernandes. Do you have any stories on him?

he led because he was a Trinidad jefe..a big bwoy..a real one.  he had the choice.  he was also a universal favourite.  and that is why he only played one test.  he was not a test class player and by then he was too old.  it was entirely ceremonial from what I gathered

Some old, grainy footage from the 1928 Test at Lord's.

I did not know those guys..they were before my time by many years. I did not know Fernandes by anything but biography..written and word of mouth.  he was Guyanan.

the Grants for eg. are a different matter.  they were right there in port of spain..T.Geddes Grant..a large west indian Corporation..a huge family that sadly are all now gone, no longer a west indian bloodline.  and they were always in the papers...

I knew about them, knew them by sight..as I knew Jeffery Stollmeyer and Gerry Gomez, Andy Ganteume and many top Titty players..Joey Carew. 

I knew Carews brother who was an agricultural officer with the ministry of agriculture in Titty. several times our work intersected in trinidad and we used to talk more cricket than agriculture.  he had a strong confidence in the leadership ability of Joey Carew who was certainly a capable leader of men on a cricket field

that was short!  however the picture of learie constantine is clear.

and in the full shot of the team Karl Nunes is in the centre, the older, sharp-faced one with the slight mustache