Learie Nicholas Constantine, Baron Constantine, was a Trinidadian cricketer, lawyer and politician who served as Trinidad and Tobago's High Commissioner to the United Kingdom and became the UK's first black peer. He played 18 Test matches for the West Indies before the Second World War and took the team's first wicket in Test cricket. An advocate against racial discrimination, in later life he was influential in the passing of the 1965 Race Relations Act in Britain. He was knighted in 1962 and made a life peer in 1969.
Clifford Archibald Roach was a West Indian cricketer who played in West Indies' first Test match in 1928. Two years later, he scored the West Indies' first century in Test matches, followed two matches later by the team's first double century. Roach played for Trinidad, but before having any great success at first-class level, he was chosen to tour England with a West Indies team in 1928 and scored over 1,000 runs. When England played in the West Indies in 1930, he recorded his ground-breaking centuries but had intermittent success at Test level afterwards. He toured Australia in 1930–31 and returned to England in 1933, when he once more passed 1,000 runs, but was dropped from the team in 1935. Within three years, he lost his place in the Trinidad team. Roach was generally inconsistent, but batted in an attacking and attractive style. Outside of cricket, he worked as a solicitor. Later in his life, he suffered from diabetes which necessitated the amputation of both his legs.
George Challenor was a Barbadian cricketer who was part of the first West Indies Test side, and who faced the very first ball bowled to a West Indian cricketer in a Test match. He was recognised as the first great West Indian batsman, his obituary in Wisden Cricketer's Almanack ending with the words "His admirable batting did much toward raising cricket in West Indies to Test match standard". Challenor was born in Waterloo, St. Michael, Barbados and died in Collymore Rock, St. Michael, Barbados. He visited England three times as a member of a West Indian touring team; in 1906, 1923 and 1928.
Maurius Pacheco Fernandes, known as Maurice Fernandes, was a West Indian Test cricketer who played first-class cricket for British Guiana between 1922 and 1932. He made two Test appearances for the West Indies, in 1928 and 1930. Fernandes played as a right-handed top-order batsman and occasional wicket-keeper. He scored 2,087 first-class runs in 46 appearances at an average of 28.20.
George Nathaniel Francis was a West Indian cricketer who played in West Indies' first Test in their inaugural Test tour of England. He was a fast bowler of renowned pace and was notably successful on West Indies' non-Test playing tour of England in 1923, but he was probably past his peak by the time the West Indies were elevated to Test status. He was born in Trents, St. James, Barbados and died at Black Rock, Saint Michael, also in Barbados.
Wilton H. St Hill was a West Indian international cricketer who played in West Indies' first Test match during their inaugural Test tour of England. A right-handed batman who played in a variety of batting positions, he represented Trinidad in first-class cricket between 1912 and 1930 and played in three Test matches in total. Although his Test record was poor, he was highly regarded in Trinidad. In particular, writer C. L. R. James considered St Hill to be among the top batsmen in the world and dedicated a chapter of Beyond a Boundary to him. At the peak of his career, Lord Harris described him as the best batsman in the West Indies.
Edwin Lloyd St Hill was a Trinidadian cricketer who played two Test matches for the West Indies in 1930. His brothers, Wilton and Cyl, also played for Trinidad and Tobago; in addition, the former played Test matches for the West Indies.
This article describes the history of West Indies cricket to 1918.
The West Indian cricket team that toured England in the 1928 season was the first to play Test cricket. The team was not very successful, losing all three Tests by an innings and winning only five of the 30 first-class matches played.
The English cricket team in the West Indies in 1934–35 was a cricket touring party sent to the West Indies under the auspices of the Marylebone Cricket Club for a tour lasting 2+1⁄2 months in 1934–35. The team played four Test matches against the West Indian cricket team, winning one match but losing two – the first series defeat of an English side by the West Indies.
Lord Brackley's XI was the fifth team of English cricketers to tour the West Indies, playing in the 1904–05 season. The team was captained by John Egerton, 4th Earl of Ellesmere and played a total of 20 matches between January and April 1905, of which ten are regarded as first-class.
A team of Amateurs under the captaincy of Arthur Priestley toured the West Indies in the 1896-97 season playing matches between January and March 1897. They played a total of sixteen matches of which nine are regarded as first-class. They did not play in British Guiana.
The West Indies cricket team toured England in 1933, playing three Test matches, losing two of them and drawing the other. In all, the side played 30 first-class matches, winning only five and losing nine.
Lebrun Samuel Constantine was a West Indian cricketer who toured England in 1900 and 1906 and was a regular member of the Trinidad team from 1893-94 to 1922-23. He was primarily a batsman. He often kept wicket but was also a useful occasional bowler. He was an overseer on a cocoa estate in Diego Martin.
George Cyril Learmond was a West Indian cricketer who toured with both of the first two touring sides to England in 1900 and 1906.
The West Indian cricket team toured England in the 1906 season. The team played 19 matches between 11 June and 18 August 1906 of which 13 were regarded as first-class.
The West Indies cricket team toured England in the 1939 season to play a three-match Test series against England. England won the series 1–0 with two matches drawn. A total of 25 first-class matches were played and the West Indian side won eight of them and lost six, with the others drawn. The tour was abandoned a few days after the final test match because of the worsening international situation with the Second World War imminent. The last six matches from 26 August to 12 September were cancelled.
This article describes the history of cricket in the West Indies from 1919 to 1945.
Victor S Pascall was a Trinidadian cricketer who represented the West Indies in the days before they achieved Test status. His primary role was as a left-arm spinner, but was regarded as a reasonable batsman. Pascall was related to the Constantine family; he was the maternal uncle of Elias and Learie Constantine and was a possible coaching influence on the latter. At the time he played, critics considered him the best left-arm spinner in the West Indies.
Elias Constantine was a Trinidadian cricketer who played first-class cricket for Trinidad between 1932 and 1949. He was the younger brother of Learie Constantine, who represented West Indies in Test matches; his father Lebrun and uncle Victor Pascall also played representative cricket for West Indies and Trinidad.
