West Indies steamrole over England

FLASHBACK: In cricket, there is a saying that a good start is half done and that is to say that if a side starts well, that side has won half the battle. This is very much the way the game went when the West Indies who were the visitors, beat England by 10 wickets in their Test match at Trent Bridge in 1950.

Batting first England made 223 in their first innings and 436 in their second turn, while West Indies rattled up 558 runs in their first innings and made 103 for no loss in their second innings.

The England side was somewhat bothered by the pace-spin combination of H.H. Johnson (3 for 59) and Frank Worrell (3 for 40) when they batted first and were all out for 223. After the opening bowlers there was the famous spin combination of Ramadhin (2 for 99) and Alf Valentine (2 for 43) who caused some problems to the English batsmen and the English team really could not get going when they batted first.

When it came for the West Indies to bat, there was that famous duo of Frank Worrell and Everton Weekes who plundered at the English bowlers and rattled up the runs.

Worrell made 261 runs and Weekes 129 runs and before that partnership, the openers A.F. Rae (68) and J.B. Stollmeyer (46) gave the much needed push with an opening partnership of 77 runs. So, the Windies never looked back and slotted up 558 runs in the first innings.

The Windies frontline batsmen gave the side a real push and that turned out to be a big advantage.

For the Englishmen, Alec Bedser (5 for 127) who opened the attack commanded some respect, but the Windies top-order batsmen saw the side get a respectable score, though the middle-order somewhat collapsed.

The Windies were 521 for 4 wickets at one stage, but they lost wickets regularly thereafter and were all out for 558 in their first innings.

England put up a better show in their second innings and made 436, with Cyril Washbrook (102) and R.T. Simpson (94) being involved in a rollicking opening partnership of 212 runs. Thereafter W. Parkhouse (69), J.G. Deeves (67) and Godbey Evans (63) contributed useful runs and England finally made 436 runs in their second innings.

It was that famous spin combination of S. Ramadhin (5 for 135) and Alf Valentine (3 for 14) who were involved in the grabbing of the English wickets.

Finally West Indies had to make 102 runs for victory and they made 103 for no wickets with Rae making 46 not out and Stollmeyer 52 not out and with extras 5, the West Indies wrapped up the match.

AC De S

SCOREBOARD

ENGLAND – 1ST INNINGS
R.T. Simpson c Walcott b Johnson	  	04
C. Washbrook c Stollmeyer b Worrell	 	03
W.B.A. Parkhouse c Weekes b Johnson		13
J.G. Deeves c Gomez b Worrell	  		00
N.W.D. Yardley c Goddard Valentine	 	41
D.J. Insole lbw b Ramadhin	 		21
T.G. Evans b Ramadhin	 			32
D. Shakleton b Worrell	 			42
R.O. Jenkins b Johnson	 			39
A.V. Bedser c Stollmeyer b Valentine	 	13
W.E. Hollies not out	  			02
Extras	 					13
Total					       223

Fall of wickets: 1-6, 2-18, 3-23, 4-25, 5-75, 6-105
		 7-147, 8-174, 9-191
Bowling: H.H. Johnson 25.4-5-59-3
	 F.M. Worrell 17-4-40-3
	 G.E. Gomez 3-1-9-0
	 J.D.C. Gooddard 6-3-10-0
	 S. Ramadhin 29-12-49-2
	 A.L. Valentine 18-6-43-2

WEST INDIES – 1ST INNINGS
A.F. Rae st. Evans b Yardley	 		68
J.B. Stollmeyer c and b Jenkins	 		46
R.J. Christiani lbw b Shakleton	 		10
F.M. Worrell c Yardley b Bedser		       261
E.C. Weekes c and b Hollies		       129
C.L. Walcott b Bedser	  			08
G.E. Gomaz not out				19
J.D.C. Goddard c Yardley b Bedser	  	00
H. Johnson c Insole b Bedser 			00
S. Ramadhin b Bedser	 			02
A.L. Valentine b Hollies	 		01
Extras						14
Total					       558

Fall of wickets: 1-77, 2-95, 3-238, 4-521, 5-535
		 6-537, 7-538, 8-539, 9-551
Bowling: A.V. Bedser 48-9-127-5
	 D. Shackleton 43-7-128-1
	 N. Yardley 27-3-82-1
	 R.O. Jenkins 13-0-73-1
	 W.E. Hollies 43.4-8-134-2

ENGLAND – 2ND INNINGS
R.T. Simpson run out	 			94
C. Washbrook c Worrell b Valentine	       102
W.G.A. Parkhouse lbw b Goddard	 		69	
J.G. Deves lbw b Valentine	 		67
N.W.D. Yardley b Ramadhin			07
D.J. Insole st. Walkot b Ramadhin		00
T.G. Evans c Stollmeyer b Ramadhin	 	63
D. Shakleton c Weekes b Valentine	  	01	
R.O. Jenkins not out	  			06
A.V. Bedser b Ramadhin	  			02
W.E. Hollies lbw b Ramadhin	  		00
Extras	 					25
Total					       436

Fall of wickets: 1-212, 2-220, 3-326, 4-346, 5-350
		 6-408, 7-410, 8-434, 9-436

Bowling: H. Johnson 30-5-65-0
	 F.M. Worrell 19-8-30-0
	 G.E. Gomez 11-3-23-0
	 J.D.C. Goddard 12-6-18-1
	 S. Ramadhin 81.2-25-135-5
	 A.L. Valentine 92-49-140-3

WEST INDIES – 2ND INNINGS
A.F. Rae not out	 			46
J.B. Stollmeyer not out	 			52	
Extras	  					05
Total (for no wicket)			       103

Bowling: A.V. Bedser 11-1-35-0
	 D. Shackelton 6-2-7-0
	 R.O. Jenkins 11-1-46-0
	 W.E. Hollies 7-6-1-0
	 R.T. Simpson 1.3-0-9-1