naming names

posted by John Winn

As a schoolboy in the 1950s it was a point of honour with me that I would commit to memory the names of the members of touring sides whose visits at that time were so eagerly anticipated. They would arrive in April, usually after a sea voyage and would be pictured coming ashore at Tilbury protected from the chill of the English spring by gabardine raincoats. Traditionally their first class programme opened at Worcester and for the next five months they would play up and down the land, six days a week finishing at Scarborough in September.

The process by which their names of the sixteen or seventeen tourists became part of one's essential knowledge was rather like osmosis for reports of their matches were printed in the national press and soon became familiar. Some names would be a little more difficult to retain than others and I confess to some problems with the Pakistanis in 1954 but even now I can recall the names of many of those who filled the county grounds and against whom the counties turned out strong sides. Ramadhin and Valentine, the three Ws, McLean, McGlew, Ring and Hole, Phadkar, Divecha, Fazal Mahmood, etc etc. Perhaps a little less well known than this illustrious company but still with a splendid resonance are three West Indians from the 1957 tour, Ganteaume, Pairaudeau and Asgarali, a well known firm of solicitors with branches in Port of Spain and Georgetown. More seriously they, along with Rohan Kanhai made up a quartet of opening batsmen whose failings, according to Wisden, contributed much to West Indies downfall.

Seven years had elapsed since their last visit when Goddard's men had triumphed by three tests to one but with the same captain their experience this time was in great contrast, losing three tests inside three days, without reply. My three musketeers played just four tests between them. Ganteaume was not selected and the other two totalled only 82 runs in the series. By the third test Worrall and Sobers were openers and although Asgarali opened with Worrall at The Oval and scored 29 in the first innings only Sobers offered real resistance to Laker and Lock on a shocking pitch.

My interest in Andy Ganteaume has been revived by the discovery of his short and rather quirky autobiography. He is the oldest living West Indies test player and in' My Story The Other Side Of The Coin' he hits back at what he calls 'the establishment' and gives his explanation for why he played only one test in which he scored a century and finished with an average higher than that of Bradman. Intrigued? I hope so for I have this controversial figure in mind as the subject of a future posting.

There is a nice personal postscript to  the 1957 tour for I was present on the opening day, a Saturday, of the last first class match of the tour, the traditional end to tours in those days against T N Pearce's XI at Scarborough. Because school restarted on Monday we saw only the first day when the 'home' team declared on 355 for 9, PBH May 119 DB Close 50, leaving The West Indians to see out a few overs against Tyson and Trueman. Ganteaume opened with Asgarali and the latter was lbw Tyson for 0. Joined by Sobers, Ganteaume was still there at stumps and went on to make 75 on the Monday, his third highest score of the tour. He played only two more first class matches after this, his only tour of England, but curiously played against the 1963 West Indians for Constantine's XI in a 12 a side one day match when he opened the batting with Len Hutton. Neither was particularly successful but what an honour for Ganteaume and for Sir Len to open with a man with a test average higher than The Don's.