The legendary Jamaica cricket ground, Sabina Park, will host its 50th Test match when the West Indies meet Pakistan from April 21 to 25.

In recognition of the tremendous impact that the greatest Jamaican batsman of all time, George Headley, has had on the game, today we carry an article by former Jamaica cricketer Paul Buchanan, taken from his recent book ‘Jones Town Trench Town The Journey Back’, in which the author traces the historical performance by the Panama-born Headley and the overall contribution that he made to the game.

Mitigating hope for the black man in a colonial and racist time was provided by the exploits of the great West Indian cricketer, the double immortal, George Alphonso Headley, who answered Marcus Garvey’s call to greatness.

He gave meaning and inspiration to the despondent masses with his grand performances, dominating the white man’s game in the white man’s world. Consistent with Garvey’s determinism, he showed with magnificence that the black man was equal to, and could surpass anyone in their chosen field of human endeavour.

CLR James in his 1963 book,

A Majestic Innings, authoritatively sums up his batting persona:

“He is a Negro, finely built but short and small, and only a careful judge of physique would notice him in a crowd. But at the wicket no one can miss his mastery. He is that type which uses a bat as if it is an extension of the arm. Ease, poise and balance, he has them all. Good as his footwork is for defensive play, it is even better in the way he makes ground to the ball.”

We rely once more on former Prime Minister Michael Manley, who in his

History of West Indian Cricket has brilliantly captured Headley’s dramatic intervention, igniting his people’s pride, dignity and self-respect, which Garvey never stopped promoting in that culture of racism and self-denial:

“When he walked to the wicket, brisk, self-assured

and took guard in his quaintly

old-fashioned, two-eyed stance, he became the

focus for the longing of an entire people for

proof: proof of their own self-worth, their own

capacity. Furthermore, they wanted this proof to

be laid at the door of the white man who owned

the world, which in turn defined their

circumstances. What better place to advance this

proof than in cricket?”

When we had nothing, we had cricket and we had Headley

Where Garvey espoused a philosophy of ‘I am’, ‘I can’, in confirmation of the history of the Negro’s excellence, Headley expressed this world view in his batsmanship.

Cricket was the barometer, a measure of our possibilities in the world and Headley’s batting determined that measurement, eloquently expressing our capacity for self-determination and sovereignty. When we had nothing, we had cricket and we had Headley. After watching a Test innings by Headley, the crowd at Sabina Park would leave with their backs straightened and heads erect, in clear confidence, despite their depressing circumstance.

With cricket as his medium, he joined the revered line of exclusive practitioners of his race who have achieved double immortality. He scored a century (176) on debut at Kensington Oval, Barbados, in the 1929-30 series against England and then became the first West Indian to score a century in each innings of a Test match, 114 and 112 in the third Test in Guyana. In the fourth Test, he followed with 223 to become the youngest double centurion and even more remarkable, the first and only batsman in the history of the game to score four centuries in his first four Test matches before his 21st birthday.

In the following series against Lord Tennyson’s XI in 1930, he amassed 723 in the three matches including scores of: 344, 84, 155 not out and 140 for an average of 361.5 runs.

Headley, called ‘Atlas’ for carrying the burden of the West Indies batting throughout his career, and ‘The Master’ by Everton Weekes, was to enhance his status alongside Don Bradman as one of the two greatest batsmen the game has known.

His claim at the top was dramatically advanced, when he electrified the Australians, who targeted him as an offside player, with two brilliant centuries predominated by onside shots; 102 not out at Brisbane and 105 at Sydney in the 1930-31 series. Time cannot fade the genius of his epic 270, appropriately witnessed by his own people at Sabina Park in the 1934-35 series against England, which is still considered one of the greatest instances of batsmanship the game has known. Then in the 1939 England away series, he awoke the cricketing world with another moment of immortality, scoring 106 and 107 at Lord’s.

Once again Stollmeyer, with his enviable ringside view, has conclusively settled all arguments about Headley’s place among the high constellation of great West Indian batsmen in his book,

Everything UnderThe Sun:

“He was the greatest batsman that the West Indies produced. Of this I have no doubt, and my association with Test cricket in the West Indies spans a period from 1939 to the present day, during which I have seen and or played with the three Ws, Gary Sobers and Rohan Kanhai in their prime; also, Viv Richards of the current crop, great players all. Why should I be of this opinion? Simply because George never looked like getting out… He reduced errors to a minimum and he played as well on difficult wickets as he did on good ones.

His 61 versus Yorkshire on a sticky dog at Harrogate in 1939 was the best innings, technically, that I have ever seen.”

We can also go outside the Caribbean to that respected English commentator and historian, Sir Neville Cardus, for a reaffirmation of Stollmeyer’s perspective. In one of Headley’s many instances of supreme craftsmanship, Cardus tells of his second century at Lord’s on a dangerous, declining wicket:

“His batting was of such sure judgement and aim that if ever he edged a viciously spinning ball, he did so with the edge’s middle.”

The unique career of Headley not only speaks to his genius but the ever-present undercurrent of racism and subterfuge that was part of the black experience. An account is given by former West Indian fast bowler Tom Dewdney, that with his score on 96, approaching his second century and immortality in the second Test match at Lord’s in 1939, the Jamaican, Reggie Matcham, who established the Matcham Cup, then a spectator, jumped to his feet shouting in the hallowed home of cricket: “Mas George close you back pocket!” The simple translation urged Headley to ensure that the ball did not touch his pads, as he would be given out leg before wicket whether or not it was a legitimate appeal. The prospect of the black Headley becoming an immortal at Lord’s was almost blasphemous but ultimately unstoppable. It is this inexorable brilliance that has caused the scribes to ponder at what might have been, if World War II had not intervened at the towering heights of his genius.

Headley, though possessed of tremendous cricketing insight and experience, like Worrell, had to endure the mediocrity of a number of white captains throughout his career. He was reluctantly entrusted with the leadership for one match at the end of his cricketing days. His country would recognise his monumental contribution to the dignity and pride of his race by according him the Order of Jamaica after years of inexplicably vulgar delay. His statue now stands at the entrance of the famous Sabina Park, which houses the Kingston Cricket Club where he was once ordered to leave during a Test match.

My All-Time West Indies Test Team

(1) Gordon Greenidge

(2.)Frank Worrell (Captain)

(3) George Headley (Vice-Captain)

(4) Brian Lara

(5) Everton Weekes

(6) Vivian Richards

(7) Garfield Sobers

(8) Jackie Hendriks (Wicket Keeper)

(9) Malcolm Marshall

(10) Curtly Ambrose

(11) Joel Garner

Reserves: Clyde Walcott, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Lance Gibbs, Courtney Walsh and Michael Holding.

It is conceded that the opening pair of Greenidge and Worrell will elicit some controversy; but it must quickly be remembered that players are chosen at their best and neither Allan Rae, Jeffrey Stollmeyer, Conrad Hunte, Roy Fredericks and Chris Gayle, the other serious claimants, were better players.

The case of Chris Gayle demands further discussion, with his two triple centuries as a Test opener and phenomenal records in the shorter version of the game. The analysts will argue, however, that he was highly suspect to the moving ball with poor foot movement and having a disappointing Test average of 42.18, which undermines his claim to the first 11.