Ramadhin and Valentine dominated against England's batsmen

By A. C. De Silva

CRICKET: Talk of cricket in the past - about 50 years back, the team that probably comes to mind in a flash is the team from the West Indies. They were a wonderful side in the 1950s.

What made them such a strong outfit was the presence of some West Indian cricketers of Indian origin. They held the stage at that time and it was some marvellous games on the international scene.

Two names that come to one's mind in a flash are those of Sonny Ramadhin and Alf Valentine.

Ramadhin born on May 1 in 1929, was a West Indian cricketer, and a dominant bowler of the 1950s. He was the first (of many) West Indian cricketers of Indian origin, and one of the five Wisden Cricketers of the Year in 1951.

At the time of his birth in the Esoerance Village, Trinidad and Tobago in 1929, his birth certificate had no first name, simply the descriptive "Boy".

This easily turned into Sonny, giving rise to his "official" name. He was introduced to cricket at the Canadian Mission School in Duncan Village, Trinidad but did not bowl while at school.

After playing in some small games, he came into the big league of Test cricket in 1950 where he had his debut in England.

He and fellow spinner Alf Valentine dominated the English batting, taking 59 wickets between them.

West Indies won the series by three matches to one, which was their first series victory in England.

When England returned to the West Indies in early 1954, Ramadhin took 13 wickets in the first two Tests and was instrumental in the West Indies victory.

The 1950 triumph by the West Indies led Lord Beginner to write the first in a deluge of Calypsos celebrating West Indian cricketers, giving rise to Calypso cricket.

Batsmen baffled

Ramadhin, though a wrist spinner, his leg-break hardly turned: hence the description of him as an "off-spinner". He was the first East Indian to represent West Indies, was a small man whose shirt-sleeves were always buttoned at the wrist. After just two first-class matches he was called up for the famous 1950 tour of England, where he baffled the batsman with his ability to spin the ball both ways.

He bowled right-arm off-breaks and leg-breaks with hardly any change in action when delivering the ball. At Lord's, Ramadhin took 11 wickets for 152 runs in 115 overs as West Indies recorded their first win there. The team relied heavily on him and his "spin twin" Alf Valentine, and the long spells both contributed probably reduced their later effectiveness.

At Edgbaston in 1957 Ramadhin bowled 98 overs (that's 588 balls) in the second innings - 129 in the match... as Peter May and Colin Cowdrey played him largely with their pads. But in that first series, he was devastating.

He didn't play later in Lancashire - for the county and in the leagues. Ramadhin's 'bowl' of 588 balls is the highest in an innings and Australian off-spinner Tom Vievers bowled 95.1 overs with 36 maidens, 155 runs and 3 wickets against England in the Fourth Test at Manchester in 1964 and that is 17 balls short of the record number of 588 bowled in an innings by West Indian Sonny Ramadhin against England at Birmingham in 1957.

Ramadhin and Valentine took 59 wickets between them in four Tests.

West Indies beat England 3 - 1 in the series of 1950, and they saved their best performance for last: The Oval Test, where they trounced England by an innings.

WEST INDIES: 503 (Worrell 138, Rae 109) beat ENGLAND: 344 (Hutton 202 not out; Goddard 4 for 25, Valentine 4 for 121) and 103 (Valentine 6 for 39, Ramadhin 3 for 38) - West Indies won by an innings and 56 runs.

Ramadhin bowled most

In the above match, West Indian Sonny Ramadhin sent down 774 balls in 129 overs against England. It was the most delivered by any bowler in a Test, beating N. Verity's 766 for England against South Africa at Durban, 1939.

The highest number of balls bowled by one man in a first-class match is 917 by C. S. Nayadu of India for Holkar vs Bombay, 1944-45.

It should be noted that six balls were bowled in the overs in the Australia-England Test series of 1928-29 and 1932-33 when the eight-ball over was otherwise in force in Australia.

The West Indies batting prospered, however, the main reason for West Indies success was the unexpected effectiveness of their two contrasting slower bowlers - Sonny Ramadhin and Alf Valentine: who almost single-handedly dismissed England in three Tests on very good pitches. This was very unusual as in the past it had been their pasemen who had caused the damage.

Surprisingly, West Indies lost the first Test on a sub-standard Old Trafford pitch that was ideal for the spinners. Although Ramadhin and Valentine took 15 wickets, the England trio, Jim Laker, Eric Mollies and Bob Berry, exploited the conditions better. West Indies, then bounced back in the Lord's Test, where Ramadhin and Valentine demolished England with 18 wickets between them. That proved to be the turning points.

Batsmen unable to sport

Ramadhin was an unconventional, slow, very accurate off-break bowler who also possessed a flighted leg-break, which many of the batsmen were never able to pick from his hand. Valentine was a brisk left-arm spinner. From round the wicket he was frequently able to deviate the ball sufficiently to beat the bat and take the edge, just like a wrist-spinner.

England were handicapped by injuries and by electorial blunders, with the result that no one player figured in all four Tests.

Twenty-five players played, including two amateur captains whose combined contributions with bat and ball in the series came to 123 runs, and two wickets at the cost of 168 runs.

Had England been able to open with Len Hutton and Cyril Washbrook, with world-class Denis Compton, Bill Edrich and Reg Sipmson to follow in all four games, they would certainly have drawn the series - perhaps even won.