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The Name Game.
- Thread starter yaju
- Start date
)
I think the rules at the start mention that the name's used should be as how the players are generally known by. ie - Bill Lawry (is how he is commonly known rather than William ). Otherwise same names can be used in either way ie. Bob Massie and Robert Massie etc. )viktor said:
Any way here goes -
Learie Constantine ( Ex Windies cricketer) Later Sir Learie Constantine
Excerpts from the Wisden Obituary (player page)
Learie – or “Connie” to 40 years of cricketers – came upon his historic cue as a man of his age, reflecting and helping to shape it. He made his mark in the only way a poor West Indian boy of his time could do, by playing cricket of ability and character. He went on to argue the rights of the coloured peoples with such an effect as only a man who had won public affection by games-playing could have done in the Britain of that period.
Learie Constantine was the son of Lebrun Constantine, a plantation foreman who toured England as an allrounder with the West Indian cricketers of 1900 – when he scored the first century for a West Indies team in England – and 1906. In 1923 they both played for Trinidad against British Guiana at Georgetown, one of the few instances of a father and son appearing together in a first-class match; both of them long cherished the occasion. In constant family practice the father insisted on a high standard of fielding which was to prove the foundation of his son’s success.
As C.L.R. James has written “he revolted against the revolting contrast between his first-class status as a cricketer and his third-class status as a man.” That, almost equally with his enthusiasm for the game, prompted the five years of unremitting practice after which, in 1928, he came to England under Karl Nunes on West Indies’ first Test tour as an extremely lively fast bowler, hard-hitting batsman and outstanding fieldsman in any position.
Muscular but lithe, stocky but long armed, he bowled with a bounding run, a high, smooth action and considerable pace. His batting, which depended considerably upon eye, was sometimes unorthodox to the point of spontaneous invention: but on his day it was virtually impossible to bowl at him. In the deep he picked up while going like a sprinter and threw with explosive accuracy; close to the wicket he was fearless and quick; wherever he was posted he amazed everyone by his speed and certainty in making catches which seemed far beyond reach. His movement was so joyously fluid and, at need, acrobatic that he might have been made of springs and rubber.
Although he did little in the Tests of that summer he performed the double and in public esteem was quite the most successful member of the party. He provided splendid cricketing entertainment. Everyone who ever watched him will recall with delight his particular parlour trick – when a ball from him was played into the field he would turn and walk back towards his mark: the fieldsman would throw the ball at his back, “Connie” would keep walking and, without appearing to look, turn his arm and catch the ball between his shoulder blades; no one, so far as can be ascertained, ever saw him miss.
Crowds recognised and enjoyed him as a cricketer of adventure: but the reports alone of a single match established him in the imagination of thousands who had never seen him play. At Lord’s, in June, Middlesex made 352 for six and West Indies, for whom only Constantine, with 86, made more than 30, were 122 behind on the first innings. When Middlesex batted again, Constantine took seven for 57 – six for 11 in his second spell. West Indies wanting 259 to win were 121 for five when Constantine came in to score 103 out of 133 – with two 6’s, twelve 4’s and a return drive that broke Jack Hearne’s finger so badly that he did not play again that season – in an hour, to win the match by three wickets. Lord’s erupted: and next day all cricketing England accepted a new major figure.
That performance confirmed the obvious, that Constantine was, as he knew he needed to be, the ideal league professional – surely the finest of all. He wanted a part-time living adequate for him to study law. England was the only place, and cricket his only means, of doing both. His batting could win a match in an hour; his bowling in a couple of overs, his catching in a few scattered moments. This was the kind of cricket nearest his heart: and he expressed himself through it. No man ever played cricket for a living – as Constantine needed to do more desperately than most professional cricketers – with greater gusto.
Because of his League engagements he played little more than a hundred first-class matches, in which he scored 4,451 runs at 24.32, and took 424 wickets at 20.60. In eighteen Tests between 1928 and 1939 his overall figures were poor – 641 runs at 19.42; 58 wickets at 30.10. On the other hand he virtually won two important Tests and shaped a third. At Georgetown, in 1930, when West Indies beat England for the first time, George Headley made a major batting contribution; but it was Constantine who twice broke the English batting with four for 35 and five for 87, figures not approached by any other bowler in the match. At Port of Spain in 1934-35 he levelled the series – which West Indies eventually won by one match – when, after scoring 90 and 31, he took two for 41 and ended his second innings three for 11 (in 14.5 overs) with the master stroke of having as great a resister as Maurice Leyland lbw with only one ball of the match remaining. In his last Test, at The Oval in 1939, when he was 37 years old, his five for 73 took West Indies to a first-innings lead.
As he grew older he grew more astute. As his pace dropped – though he was always likely to surprise with a faster ball or deal a yorker of high speed – he developed a superbly concealed slower ball; and at need he was an effective slow bowler with wrist or finger spin.
Meanwhile he fought discrimination against his people with a dignity firm but free of acrimony.
Half Learie Constantine’s life was spent in England and, although his doctors had long before advised him that a lung condition endangered his life if he did not return to the warmer climate of the West Indies, he died in London. He remained in England during the Second World War as a Ministry of Labour welfare officer with West Indian workers. In 1944 he fought one of the historic cases against colour prejudice when he won damages from The Imperial Hotel in London for “failing to receive and lodge him”.
He was deeply moved – and never forgot it – when the other players – all white-skinned – elected him captain of the Dominions team that beat England in the magnificent celebratory, end-of-war match at Lord’s in 1946. He rose to the occasion in a fine forcing partnership with Keith Miller and his shrewd captaincy decided a narrow issue with only minutes to spare.
By then, however, his serious cricketing days were drawing to an end.
Years of dogged study were rewarded when he was called to the Bar by the Middle Temple in 1954. Returning to Trinidad he was elected an M.P. in his country’s first democratic parliament; became Minister of Works in the government and subsequently High Commissioner for Trinidad and Tobago in London from 1962 until 1964. He was awarded the M.B.E. in 1945; knighted in 1962; made an honorary Master of the Bench in 1963; and created a life peer in 1969. He served various periods as a governor of the B.B.C., a Rector of St. Andrews, a member of the Race Relations Board and the Sports Council.
Wisden Almanack 1972
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Victor Trumper (Australian legend)
Has he been mentioned already ?
this from the Wisden player page -
Wisden obituary
Victor Trumper died at Sydney on June 28, 1915. Of all the great Australian batsmen Victor Trumper was by general consent the best and most brilliant. No one else among the famous group, from Charles Bannerman - thirty-nine years ago - to Bardsley and Macartney at the present time, had quite such remarkable powers. To say this involves no depreciation of Clem Hill, Noble, or the late WL Murdoch. Trumper at the zenith of his fame challenged comparison with Ranjitsinhji. He was great under all conditions of weather and ground. He could play quite an orthodox game when he wished to, but it was his ability to make big scores when orthodox methods were unavailing that lifted him above his fellows.
For this reason Trumper was, in proportion, more to be feared on treacherous wickets than on fast, true ones. No matter how bad the pitch might be from the combined effects of rain and sunshine, he was quite likely to get 50 runs, his skill in pulling good-length balls amounting to genius. Of this fact our English bowlers had convincing evidence day after day during the season of 1902. Trumper paid four visits to this country — in 1899, 1902, 1905, and 1909 — but it was in 1902 that he reached his highest point.
In that summer of wretched weather he scored 2570 runs in thirty-five matches for the Australian team, with the wonderful average, in the circumstances, of 48. He was as consistent as he was brilliant, and did not owe his average to a few exceptional scores. Of eleven innings of over a hundred, the biggest was 128. Trumper did not again touch the same level in this country. He played very well in 1905 and 1909, but he was no longer pre-eminent. He was fifth in the averages in 1905, and in 1909 he was overshadowed by Bardsley and Ransford. In the latter year, however, he was seen at his best, notably against England at The Oval, when he played DW Carr’s googlies with perfect ease, and in the second match against MCC at Lord’s. When he came here first, in 1899, he jumped at once into the front rank, playing a splendid innings of 135 not out against England at Lord’s and scoring 300 not out against Sussex at Brighton. His innings at Lord’s was in itself sufficient to prove that Australia had found a world’s batsman. Nothing could have been better.
His career culminated when the South Africans visited Australia in the season of 1910–11. He then recovered his finest form, and on the beautiful wickets at Melbourne, Adelaide, and Sydney the googly bowlers had no terrors for him. In the five Test matches he scored 662 runs, with an average of 94. It was agreed on all hands that he had not played so well since his trip to England in 1902. Under all conditions Trumper was a fascinating batsman to watch. His extreme suppleness lent a peculiar grace to everything he did. When he was hitting up a big score batting seemed quite an easy matter. He took so many liberties, however, and scored from so many good balls, that in order to do himself justice he had to be in the best possible health and condition. The strokes with which he drove even the best bowlers to despair demanded a marvellous union of hand and eye. His game at its highest point of excellence could only be played by a young man.
Trumper was the most popular Australian cricketer of his time. A match played for his benefit — between New South Wales and the Rest of Australia — at Sydney in February, 1913 – produced in gate-money and donations nearly £3000. Born on November 2, 1877, Trumper was in his thirty-eighth year. He had been in bad health for some little time, and the latest accounts of his condition received in this country were so discouraging as to prepare his friends for the worst. He died of Bright’s disease. Trumper was never spoilt by success in the cricket field. When his name was in everyone’s mouth he remained as modest and unaffected as on the day he first set foot in England.
Wisden Cricketers' Almanack
Has he been mentioned already ?
this from the Wisden player page -
Wisden obituary
Victor Trumper died at Sydney on June 28, 1915. Of all the great Australian batsmen Victor Trumper was by general consent the best and most brilliant. No one else among the famous group, from Charles Bannerman - thirty-nine years ago - to Bardsley and Macartney at the present time, had quite such remarkable powers. To say this involves no depreciation of Clem Hill, Noble, or the late WL Murdoch. Trumper at the zenith of his fame challenged comparison with Ranjitsinhji. He was great under all conditions of weather and ground. He could play quite an orthodox game when he wished to, but it was his ability to make big scores when orthodox methods were unavailing that lifted him above his fellows.
For this reason Trumper was, in proportion, more to be feared on treacherous wickets than on fast, true ones. No matter how bad the pitch might be from the combined effects of rain and sunshine, he was quite likely to get 50 runs, his skill in pulling good-length balls amounting to genius. Of this fact our English bowlers had convincing evidence day after day during the season of 1902. Trumper paid four visits to this country — in 1899, 1902, 1905, and 1909 — but it was in 1902 that he reached his highest point.
In that summer of wretched weather he scored 2570 runs in thirty-five matches for the Australian team, with the wonderful average, in the circumstances, of 48. He was as consistent as he was brilliant, and did not owe his average to a few exceptional scores. Of eleven innings of over a hundred, the biggest was 128. Trumper did not again touch the same level in this country. He played very well in 1905 and 1909, but he was no longer pre-eminent. He was fifth in the averages in 1905, and in 1909 he was overshadowed by Bardsley and Ransford. In the latter year, however, he was seen at his best, notably against England at The Oval, when he played DW Carr’s googlies with perfect ease, and in the second match against MCC at Lord’s. When he came here first, in 1899, he jumped at once into the front rank, playing a splendid innings of 135 not out against England at Lord’s and scoring 300 not out against Sussex at Brighton. His innings at Lord’s was in itself sufficient to prove that Australia had found a world’s batsman. Nothing could have been better.
His career culminated when the South Africans visited Australia in the season of 1910–11. He then recovered his finest form, and on the beautiful wickets at Melbourne, Adelaide, and Sydney the googly bowlers had no terrors for him. In the five Test matches he scored 662 runs, with an average of 94. It was agreed on all hands that he had not played so well since his trip to England in 1902. Under all conditions Trumper was a fascinating batsman to watch. His extreme suppleness lent a peculiar grace to everything he did. When he was hitting up a big score batting seemed quite an easy matter. He took so many liberties, however, and scored from so many good balls, that in order to do himself justice he had to be in the best possible health and condition. The strokes with which he drove even the best bowlers to despair demanded a marvellous union of hand and eye. His game at its highest point of excellence could only be played by a young man.
Trumper was the most popular Australian cricketer of his time. A match played for his benefit — between New South Wales and the Rest of Australia — at Sydney in February, 1913 – produced in gate-money and donations nearly £3000. Born on November 2, 1877, Trumper was in his thirty-eighth year. He had been in bad health for some little time, and the latest accounts of his condition received in this country were so discouraging as to prepare his friends for the worst. He died of Bright’s disease. Trumper was never spoilt by success in the cricket field. When his name was in everyone’s mouth he remained as modest and unaffected as on the day he first set foot in England.
Wisden Cricketers' Almanack