Colonial XI remains a mystery.

posted by John Winn

A  week ago Brian sent me this picture of a page of autographs of a Colonial XI which played a match at or against South Shields CC on August 1952 asking me if I could find further details of the match. I have entered the names of those players I could decipher from their autographs into Cricket Archive with no luck. This may be because they cricket careers never reached a level that scorecards of the matches they played in were preserved or, and Cricket Archive is a stickler for accuracy, I have made mistakes in deciphering their names.

For example one of the clearest is J Reuben Ramsammy who adds the helpful information British Guiana in brackets after his name. Stick that in Cricket Archive and nothing appears. Try google and it unearths a former senior lecturer of the university of British Guiana and who would have been 24 in 1952 but in  a very lengthy obituary there is no mention of cricket. Other investigations yield nothing of interest.

Seeking further inspiration I turned to a book I mentioned in a posting I made as far back as 2013 'A Geordie All-Rounder. by Malcolm Scott the former Northamptonshire cricketer and Darlington* footballer. This book was in my possession not long after it was first published but 'disappeared' since when I have managed to get hold of another copy. Scott was born and brought up in South Shields and played for Shields' first XI when only 15. His captain at this time was Benny Taylor whose name appears at the foot of Brian's sheet.

Scott's book devotes several pages to his time at Wood Terrace, Shields' ground, where he played until aged only 19, he was invited to be professional at nearby Boldon. Alas despite this coverage there is no reference to the Colonial XI. There is however listed in the bibliography a book by Clive Crickmer 'Grass Roots: A history of South Shields Cricket Club 1985'. Searching for this on Amazon I find a copy available through rbm books at the modest price of £986.81 plus £2.80 delivery. At that price the decimal point would have to move at least two places to the left before I might consider making a purchase. I'm not sure which is the more remarkable, the price approaching £1000 or the fact that on top of that they have the cheek to ask for an extra £2.80 for delivery. For a book costing that much I would expect free delivery  by armed guards. Although the book was published in 1985 it is hard to believe it is now such a rarity and that a search in the second hand bookshops in that corner of County Durham would not turn up a copy.  In the meantime the Colonial XI for me at least can remain a mystery. 

* In fairness I should point out that Scott also played for Newcastle United for several seasons until he was, perhaps unfairly part of a big clear out following The Magpies' relegation  from Division 1 in 1961. Swopping black and white stripes for black and white hoops he went on to have two seasons with The Quakers until the problem of being a professional in two different sports brought about his departure from Feethams.