A book review by Albert Baldeo
“Can a batsman be dismissed by one ball bowled? Who is the only West Indian (WI) batsman to have made a century on test debut, but was dropped immediately-never to have played another test? Who is the only bowler to take 9 test wickets in an innings, but never played for the WI again? Where and when did the legendary Rohan Kanhai make his epic 256, and when did he become an immortal (scoring 2 hundreds in a test)? Which innings are rated as Alvin Kallicharran’s and Roy Fredericks’ greatest feats? In what match winning partnership did Chanderpaul and Sarwan script their record breaking run chase against Australia? Was Clive Lloyd WI’s most successful captain? For how long did Lance Gibbs’ and Courtney Walsh’s world record for the most test wickets stand? How long did Sir Garfield Sobers’ record highest test score of 365* not out stand, and how many times did Brian Lara accomplish this feat?”
For cricket lovers, players, and officials-indeed, the global cricket fraternity, the answers to these and other questions will amaze your cricket instincts. Noteworthy records and cricket feats of West Indians are repletely memorialised in this cricket lovers’ compendium. In forwarding what can only be described as a painstaking labor of love by the author, Lance Gibbs, the greatest off spinner the West Indies has produced, captured the essence of Mr. Sambhudat’s collection of facts and feats relating to West Indies Test matches when he said of this masterpiece, “In this pioneering reference book, the author has drawn all the strands together to produce descriptive and statistical sections, which in my opinion has made this book a must for all those interested in WI cricket.”
Indeed, cricket lovers and statisticians all over the world will welcome this enduring work as a worthy collection to their libraries. It will be hard to find another work on West Indies test cricket that chronicles such complete and in-depth factual data. Highlights of West Indies’ first test series in 1928 to their last test match against Zimbabwe in 2013 are well researched and documented. No cricket fact-however small or trivial-is omitted. The hard facts are all there, including the indelible contributions of the great players of the game, who have all enriched the tapestry of cricket. There are also chapters on “West Indians sent home for disciplinary reasons, the great cricket grounds of the West Indies, Do you know, cricket jokes and funnies.” There is even a trivia section.
Crabwood Creek, and all Guyana, and indeed, the Caribbean, would be proud to acknowledge the work of one of its sons. WI records from 1928 to 2013 in batting, bowling, wicket keeping, fielding, partnership, all-round, individual, records in the WI, records against the WI, WI records against all Test playing countries, WI players who have played over 100 test, WI best opening batsmen, Guyanese contributions to WI cricket, all East Indians who represented the WI, all WI cricketers from 1928 to 2013 with their statistics, WI captains, all centuries scored by WI batsmen and foreign batsmen in and against WI and all centuries scored on all WI cricket grounds-424 pages of wide ranging research are captured. 62 nostalgic black and white photos-some very rare, abound plentifully, as are a host of other topics of interest a true cricket fan would love.
Photos of the inimitable triumphant falling hook of Kanhai, WI’s first ever test team, the famous run out by Joe Solomon that sparked the 1960-61 tied test, “Supercat” Clive Lloyd, Basil Butcher, the feats of Shivnarine “Tiger” Chanderpaul, Ronnie Sarwan, Carl Hooper, and the great legends-IVA Richards, Sobers, Lara, Headley, Learie Constantine, the 3 W’s-Worrell, Weekes and Walcott, Hall and Griffith, Ramadhin and Valentine, the feared quartet of Roberts, Holding, Croft and Garner, followed by Malcolm Marshall, Ambrose, Walsh and other WI greats are all reproduced in photographs-in addition to their iconic cricket feats.
This is certainly a work I would recommend to all cricket connoisseurs and fans. Priced at US$24.95, it is a small price to pay in appreciation of the author’s sleepless nights of research.
The author can be contacted on email at: vadrinarayan@cfl.rr.com or by phone at 863-852-8678 (H), 407-218-0867 (C).
