As West Indies Test cricket approaches 100 years (2028), it is timely to serve recognition upon Trinbagonian players who have contributed to the rich history of a sport that has had a telling impact on the lives of Caribbean people at home and in the diaspora.
The 65 players from T&T to have represented the WI in Test cricket in order of appearance are: 1 Learie Nicholas Constantine; 2 Clifford Archibald Roach; 3 Wilton St Hill; 4 Joseph A Small; 5 Errol Ashton Clairmore Hunte; 6 Edwin St Hill; 7 Ellis Edgar Achong; 8 Nelson Betancourt; 9 Mervyn George Grell; 10 George Copeland Grant (aka Jackie Grant); 11 Cyril Arthur Merry; 12 Benjamin James Sealey; 13 Ralph Grant; 14 Jeffery Baxter Stollmeyer; 15 Gerry Ethridge Gomez; 16 Tyrell Fabian Johnson; 17; Victor Humphrey Stollmeyer; 18; Wilfred Ferguson; 19; Prior Erskine Jones; 20 Andy Ganteaume; 21 Lancelot Rupert Pierre; 22 Sonny Ramadhin; 23 Simpson Clairmonte Guillen; 24 Lennox Stephen Butler; 25 Hammond Allan Furlonge; 26 Nyron Sultan Asgarali; 27 Jaswick Taylor; 28 Charran Kamkaran Singh; 29 Willie Vincente Rodriguez; 30 Michael Conrad “Joey” Carew; 31 Deryck Lance Murray; 32 Brian Allan Davis; 33 Charles (Charlie) Allan Davis; 34 Jack Noreiga; 35 Inshan Ali; 36 Raphick Rasif Jumadeen 37 Bernard Denis Julien; 38 Imtiaz Ali; 39; Hillary (Larry) Angelo Gomes; 40 Rangy Nanan; 41 Augustine Lawrence Logie; 42 Anthony Hollis Gray; 43; Phillip Verant Simmons; 44 Ian Raphael Bishop; 45; Brian Charles Lara; 46; David Dewitt Williams; 47 Rajindra Dhanraj; 48; Mervyn Dillon; 49 Dinanath Ramnarine; 50 Daren Ganga; 51 Suruj Ragoonath; 52 Lincoln Roberts; 53 Marlon Ian Black; 54 Dave Mohammed; 55 Dwayne John Bravo; 56 Denesh Ramdin; 57 Amit Sheldon Jaggernauth; 58 Lendl Mark Platter Simmons; 59 Adrian Boris Barath; 60 Ravindranath Rampaul; 61; Darren Michael Bravo; 62 Shannon Terry Gabriel; 63 Sunil Philip Narine; 64 Joshua Da Silva; 65 Jayden Nigel Tristen Seales.
Joseph Small scored the first 50 for the West Indies in the second innings of the first Test in 1928 vs England. Clifford Roach scored the first century (122 vs England) and first double century (209 vs England) in 1930 in the West Indies.
Jackie Grant was captain when the West Indies won their first series against England 2-1 in 1934-35 in the West Indies. Brian Lara broke the world record for the highest Test score on two occasions scoring 375 vs England in 1994 to break Garfield Sobers then 36-year-old record of 365 not out vs Pakistan in 1958 and in 2004 Lara broke Matthew Hayden’s 380 (vs Zimbabwe) with the current world record of 400 not out (vs England).
Charlie Davis’s average of 54.20 is the fifth-highest for a West Indian batter behind George Headley, Everton Weekes, Garfield Sobers, and Clyde Walcott. Lara’s 52.88 is the sixth-highest average.
The top 15 batters- 1928 to 2021 are:
Batter-Matches-Innings-Not Outs-Runs-Highest Score-100/50-Average
- Brian Lara – 131-232-6-11953-400-34/48-52.88
2. Darren Bravo – 56-102-5-3538-218-8/17-36.47
3. Larry Gomes – 60-91-11-3171-143-9/13-39.63
4. Denesh Ramdin – 74-126-14-2898-166-4/15-25.87
5. Augustine Logie – 52-78-9-2470-130-2/16-35.79
6. Dwayne Bravo – 40-71-1-2200-113-3/13-31.42
7. Daren Ganga – 48-86-2-2160-135-3/9-25.71
8. Jefferey Stollmeyer – 32-56-5-2159-160-4/12-42.33
9. Deryck Murray – 62-96-9-1993-91-0/11-22.90
10. Charlie Davis – 15-29-5-1301-183-4/4-54.20
11. Gerry Gomez – 29-46-5-1243-101-1/8-30.31
12. Joey Carew – 19-36-3-1127-109-1/5-34.15
13. Philip Simmons – 26-47-2-1002-110-1/4-22.26
14. Clifford Roach – 16-32-1-952-209-2/6-30.70
15. Bernard Julien – 24-34-6-866-121-2/3-30.92
The top 15 bowlers – 1928 to 2021 are:
Bowler-Matches-Innings-Runs-WKTS-Best/Bowling-Average
- Ian Bishop – 43-76-3909-161-6/40-24.27
2. Shannon Gabriel – 55-96-5035-159-8/62-31.66
3. Sonny Ramadhin – 43-76-4579-158-7/49-28.98
4. Mervyn Dillon – 38-66-4398-131-5/71-33.57
5. Dwayne Bravo – 40-61-3426-86-6/55-39.83
6. Gerry Gomez – 29-46-1590-58-7/55-27.41
7. Learie Constantine – 18-29-1746-58-5/75-30.10
8. Bernard Julien – 24-45-1868-50-5/57-37.36
9. Ravi Rampaul – 18-33-1705-49-4/48-34.79
10. Dinanath Ramnarine – 12-22-1383-45-5/78-30.73
11. Wilfred Ferguson – 8-15-1165-34-6/92-34.26
12. Inshan Ali – 12-23-1621-34-5/59-47.67
13. Raphick Jumadeen – 12-22-1141-29-4/72-39.34
14. Prior Jones – 9-17-751-25-5/85-30.04
15. Anthony Gray – 5-10-377-22-4/39-17.13
After the 1st innings of the 2nd test match West Indies vs South Africa, Shannon Gabriel is now 2 wickets behind Ian Bishop’s 161. Jack Noreiga 9/95 vs India in 1971 is the best bowling figure in an inning by any West Indian bowler in all test matches. Gabriel’s 8/62 vs Sri Lanka in 2018 is the 8th best test bowling figure for a West Indian bowler and Gabriel’s 13/121 vs Sri Lanka in 2018 is the 3rd best match figures by a West Indian bowler behind Michael Holding 14/149 and Courtney Walsh 13/55.
In wicket keeping, Denesh Ramdin is 3rd behind Jeff Dujon (270) and Ridley Jacobs (219) with 217 dismissals (205 catches and 12 stumpings). Deryck Murray is 4th with 189 dismissals.
The top allrounders are:
1 Dwayne Bravo – 2200 runs and 86 wickets
2 Gerry Gomez – 1,243 runs and 58 wickets
3 Learie Constantine – 635 runs and 58 wickets
4 Bernard Julien – 866 runs and 50 wickets
Some other interesting details include Simpson Clairmonte Guillen representing both the West Indies (5 matches) and New Zealand (3 matches) and Ellis Edgar Achong (1954, WI vs England) and Gerry Gomez (1965, WI vs Australia) umpiring one test match each.
