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Cricket's Brightest Summer : West Indies Tour Of Australia 1960-1961

10 little-known facts about Sir Frank Worrell
From Barbados rum recipes to Raj Kapoor movies, Frank Worrell has done it all.

Ok those that saw this individual play, any special
memories you can recall?

Dukes, Narper et al?

Frank Worrell: One of the greatest-ever statesmen in world cricket

In reply to sgtdjones

A lil before my time.

I listened to BBC cricket commentary in 1963...and saw my first test in 1965 at Bourda

Ask the Don , I heard many stories about Sir Frank..

In reply to sgtdjones

I never saw Worrell bat as I only started watching cricket in 1965 BUT I saw Clyde Walcott up close and personal towards the end of his cricketing days.His late son Ian (AKA JUGGIE) was my schoolmate at school in Guyana.

In reply to sgtdjones
"Cricket's Brightest Summer" - The first cricket book I ever bought. I took it with me to England in 1962 where it promptly vanished. I was also fortunate to hear Strebor Roberts spoke about the tour. Here are a few books and one video to encourage your interest on Frank Worrell:
1. Frank Worrell - A Biography - Ivo Tennant
2. Frank Worrell - His record innings - by- innings -Famous Cricketers Series - no. 37
3. The 3 Ws of West Indian Cricket - Keith Sandiford and Arjun Tan
4.Cricket Lovely Cricket - West Indies vs England 1950 - Vijay p. Kumar
5.A History of West Indies cricket - Michael Manley
6.Jamaica at the Wicket - Arnold Bertram
7.Calypso summer 1960-61 - Australia vs West Indies - video.

I saw worrell bat and play quite a few times. The last time was in 1964 when he captained WI vs England on an improvised tour of England following his triumphant test tour of 1963.

BTW on that 64 tour, Kanhai scored two centuries; one at Scarborough and the other at Edgbaston. The third game was washed out. Those two centuries inspired CLR james to write his famous essays on Kanhai. I was very tempted to contribute to the thread on kanhai. I believe however, that the originator of the thread had an agenda.
Frankie Worrell, Tom Graveney and David Gower are the three most elegant batsmen I have ever seen. I know quite a few stories about Worrell. I was even fortunate to spend an entire evening with the nurse who nursed him in his final days at UH in Kingston. She is getting on in age now, but she did promise me that she would be willing to be interviewed by anyone who is doing a biography on Worrell.

In reply to DonD

I saw Graveney and I agreed with your opinion.

Do you or Dukes know what was the relationship between Worrell and Walcott, many of they contemporaries that I knew have passed on.

In reply to tc1
There is a rumour that relationship between Worrell and Walcott got somewhat strained on the 1957 tour to England. Walcott was appointed VC under John Goddard. The appointment took place while the players were enroute on the ship to England. Apparently, Worrell did not like the way this was done. He made his displeasure apparent to Walcott. On the 1960 tour to Australia, Worrell wanted Walcott to be a member of the team. Walcott refused, preferring to remain retired.

In reply to DonD

Thanks.

In reply to DonD

Thanks Don

I couldn't stop reading Cricket brightest summer finished it in two days

Will buy those books you noted

Do you know who was the closest friend of Worrell
on the team?

In reply to DonD

I, along with many on this board really appreciate your insights into our former heroes and would like to thank you and encourage you to continue to share your knowledge of this great game.

In reply to Dukes

Your comments are appreciated also Dukes

CWI need to keep such a rich history alive as I see
CA does about its own, in various TV ads and magazine.

The marketing department at CWI is like the extinct dodo bird, allowing a colorful history to fade .

Wherever I travel, I constantly hear that the West Indies brought excitement into Test Cricket, calypso cricket they call us.

Today, we cannot bring such to minnow cricket.

In reply to sgtdjones
I suspect that Alfred Valentine was his closest friend on the team towards the end of his career. He did insist that Valentine tour with the 1963 team to England even though Val had clearly passed his best. Hubert might be able to offer a comment on this. Worrell was a serious drinker, from what I heard as a teen ager, Val was his regular drinking partner.

Thanks for your kind words Dukes. You are a real boon to this board SIR. I always read your posts when I venture on to the board these days.

In reply to DonD

Thanks for the info Don.

Can you post what you wanted to about Rohan Kanhai
on this thread.

I read what Dukes posted and any further tidbit would be appreciated.

Thanks

In reply to sgtdjones

Well the Tradewinds remembered "Frank Worrell late cutting Laker for FOUR" from Boyhood Days

In reply to DonD

I agreed with you here that Al was the closest friend , the rest of the group were his proteges.

In reply to DonD
DonD, folklore, as you know, is an inseparable part of WI cricket. As the story goes, on that 60-61 tour when Kanhai was in full cry at Brisbane, Grout walked up to Benaud and asked rather perplexedly whether the heat (the temperature was soaring that day) was bothering Kanhai. Benaud, somewhat surprised, asked Grout why did he think such a thing. To which Grout replied: well when he first came to the crease he was defending the same balls that he was now blasting to the boundary. Benaud smiled and replied: No its not the heat or any such thing, but that is Kanhai and that's the way he bats.

Great cricket games in the 60s. Never saw though. Burnham tell the Guyanese, no TV, allyuh skunts must be kept in ignorance

I have a copy of this book in my library... My father bequeathed it to me.....
Have read it so many times it has dog ears

I saw Sir Frank Worrell at the crease
batting with Sobers in 1960 , vs England in 1960 vs England In Barbados
It was thrilling and enthralling in January 1960 . Worrell and Sobers had
a magnificent Partnership and it was
wonderful to behold .

They both cheered me up after seeing
my favourite batsman Rohan Kanhai cleaned bowled by a beauty from Freddie Truman .

I was sitting in the Stadium right
behind the end that Freddie Truman was bowling from . The ball moved in the air like an outswinger to Kanhai
who played a forward defensive stroke , the ball when it hit the pitch then jacked back and clean bowled Kanhai .

This obviously was before the Tour to Australia that year. I bought a used copy of the Australian Tour some years ago , from some usd bookseller
in Australia .

In the book were some Pictures of both West Indies & Australian Players . Interestingly however was a full length page dedicated to the passing of Sir Frank Worrell .

This was from THE SPORTING GLOBE ,
DATED SATURDAY mARCH 18, 1967 -
Page 9. The article is entitled :

" CARIBBEAN'S CHIVALROUS

KNIGHT PASSES ON "

Written by : IAN JOHNSON .

I would recommend that those who are interested read it . In the age of the Internet etc , this should not be difficult .

In reply to POINT

Thanks POINT will google and see what I find

In reply to sgtdjones

In he book I bought online , the original Owner had some black & white
Photos of some of the West Indies Team Players & also some of the Australian
Players .

He also included in the book an article dated 13 March 1967 , I guess
it was from the Sports Section of one
of the Melbourne Newspapers . The
Article pays homage to Sir Frank
Worrell and is entitled :

WORRELL: HE LOVED OUR CITY . THE

ARTICLE WAS WRITTEN BY ALAN TRENGOVE.

Included also was an Article written
by a Jamaican entitled :

WORRELL'S DEATH - 'LOSS TO CRICKET '

In the same article was Sir Frank
Worrell's Cricket Record . Worrell
played in 51 Test Matches , and made
3860 Runs at an average of 49.48

In all first class Cricket from 1942-
1965 He scored 15,025 runs at an average of 54.43.

He Hit 40 centuries , 9 in Test Matches . Highest score 308 not out
for Barbados vs Trinidad in 1943-44 .

He took 349 wickets at 29.00

His Fourth wicket partnership of 574 with Clive Walcott for Barbados vs
Trinidad in 1945 -46 is the second highest partnership in First class
Cricket .

The above was written at the time of
Sir Frank Worrell's Death .

In reply to POINT
Great man and great ambassador of cricket. And like every human being he also had his shortcomings too. He anointed Gary for the captaincy over Hunte, more on a personal agenda level rather than what was best for WI cricket. Gary was not ready for captaincy and it showed in his tenure.

In reply to CricSham

In reply to CricSham

In reply to DonD

It is uncanny how everything I was planning to respond to in terms of what might have been said is in your piece.I did not want to pummel Hunte until I heard why he was being touted.I am with you 100% here.

In reply to Dukes

Hunte was a good person.However, I believe he would have made a poor captain. He was totally consumed with the teachings of MRA.

In reply to Bigzinc

Frank Worrell was the master of the late cut.... before Lawrence Rowe. In comparison, Worrell's late cut flowed with more poetry.





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In reply to DonD

In reply to DonD

A friend of mine, who did not work at the Gleaner, rather unkindly described Roberts' book Cricket's Brightest Summer, as Cricket's Dullest Book.



Roberts who was the Sports Editor, never forgave ME. He said it was my friends who wrote it.

I was never able to get anything I wrote on cricket published by him after that...


//

In reply to Dukes

Dukes I have much respect for your knowledge of the game and I will try to answer some of your concerns.
Worrell was uncomfortable with Hunte’s humanity. He felt He did not measure up to hunt as a person. That is not hear say it was the prevailing view.
I spoke with Sir Garry In the late 70s and he said to me that actually the players looked forward to the messages that Hunte would leave in their rooms or at the table. And from everything I’ve read in that era the players had a high respect and regard for Conrad Hunte.
How much of the early success was due to the teams ability rather than sobers captaincy? No one from that era and everything I have read Support the view that hunte was the right choice for captaincy.
When Sobers was appointed for two days Hunte did not speak to him. He then went to Gary and apologize to him. Gary asked him what for and hunt said for silently cherishing ill feelings towards you when you were appointed captain. He then assured Gary of his full support.

In reply to Ewart

Interesting story about Strebor Roberts. It's quite possible that Roberts' book was quite dull. It's more than 50 odd years since I read it. Obviously, I cannot recall it's style after so many years. Cricket writings and commentaries in those days were quite flowery. eg Cardus on Worrell's batting, "He never made a crude or ungrammatical stroke" or something to that effect. Don't think that Strebor was in the league of a Cardus or Swanton or Arlott or even our own Roy Lawrence despite his frequent faux pas. Strebor was a good friend of my cricket coach.

I certainly believe your story about Hunte. That was his style and his cricketing fame reinforced it. I recall spending a weekend at Tirley Garth Castle in Cheshire, with among others; Hunte and Dickie Dodds a former Essex county cricketer,Rajmohan Gandhi-grandson of the Mahatma- and a large group of England's who is who in the MRA movement.Also, many Oxbridge and elite English Public schools 6th form students. I believe their tactic was to get young commonwealth students together and expose us to MRA. Incidentally, our former GG, Howard Cooke was a devoted follower of MRA. A good Canadian MRA friend of mine met him a couple times at their annual conference at Bern in Switzerland.

In reply to DonD

You have covered it all.Well played,nice drives and delicate cuts. Let me add that Sobers was seen by Worrell as more nuanced
than his contemporaries whom he tested in various on the field,some not being totally aware of what Frank was doing. He was developing men
and all to be potential leaders. Of those who played with him and especially those who toured would let them
lead the team in list A games and a few FC games outside of himself and VC Hunte.
Those who did not actually lead a team were sometimes ask for input on the field. Frank felt that any of Sobers,Kanhai,Carew and Hall,yes Wes, would be
able to captain WI.He was a bit disappointed with Carew whom he felt was not totally committed to the cause.One does not tell Frank who is your cricket leader that cricket is not in your top four priorities in life as I was told.
His bond with Sobers developed in 60-61.Sobers turning to quick stuff on that toiur was not on the suggestion of Frank only. Neither was his
promotion above Kanhai in an innings when the ball was swinging in a Test match in England.The concern about Sobers was his high workload as peerless
allrounder being given the extra responsibility. What is forgotten is that Sobers was the senior man in terms of International scene since 17 years old, four years before Hunte debuted And he had far more experience as a Test cricketer and exposure to the game at the highest level.
Having met Hunte in 1962 during the 2nd Test against India when at Mico College. He was invited to address us after a day's play on the topic of Moral Rearmament.I could see where the players would be uncomfortable.After the speech I engaged him about that and his innings that I saw earlier in the day but he was totally oblique about it and only wanted to talk about M.R. Anyway, I got his autograph and he remains the only Cricketer that I ever got.
Mico then being the Institution of High Moral Rectitude,he thought he would be on fertile soil. Not for me. Meeting him was not the same
as engaging Kanhai or Sobers who along with Val and JK Holt suited my cricket lifestyle.
However nice a guy Hunte was, I always remember him for an incident recounted by some of his peers during the tour of India in 66-67,his last,when fans caused a riot in Calcutta(?) and with the players beating a retreat to escape harm ,Conrad could not be found.Only for him to appear later,gasping for breath as he
retrieved the West Indies flag which was in danger of being burnt..to hear it from his team mates is highly amusing which I am unable to explain.But suffice it to say,I always laugh when I remember Hunte and that incident.That tour also marked the last association Worrell had with the the team.He was there for part of the tour and died a few months after he returned to Jamaica.

On the matter of Valentine. I have known no other person who adored another than he did in his relationship with Frank Worrell.It went far beyond drinking buddy status. They were touring partners but Worrell ,to Val was 'The Man. To hear him speak of his cri9cket savvy,man management,on and off the field ,his exemplary ways in all his actions,made him a hero in Val's eyes. In conversations we had even when watching cricket;he being a selector at the time for Jamaica..Val would often observe..Frank would do this..Frank would do that..That could not happen with Frank..Frank would fix that etc etc.Those were the days when cricketers forged some long lasting relationships with opponents.Bradman had one with Headley and they corresponded..Val also had a lasting one with Keith 'Nugget' Miller
forged during the 51-52 tour so much so that Miller greeted Val on arrival in Jamaica for the '55 tour before he greeted the official reception party at Manley Airport(Then Palisadoes Airport.). Miller also embraced young Collie Smith and Sobers and practically 'adopted them' and encouraged them in their career.He was also among the leadership of the the Aussie team to identify one Rohan Kanhai as the best batsman they saw outside of the Tests on that tour.
Good knock Don. Sorry I saw this post late..Enjoy the JA weather and other things. My USA passport does not allow me in the Yard.

In reply to hubert

Good to see you having a knock Hubert. So true about Sobers coming of age in on field captaincy skills on the OZ 1960 tour. Sobers was a very intuitive captain. He is arguably the most brilliant on field captain Windies ever produced. I can recall two incidents, one on the 63 English tour. At Lords, Dexter's magical 70 -certainly one of the best innings I have ever seen-was cut short by Sobers' savvy. Enshrined in folklore is the tale that Worrell was completely hypnotized and enthralled by Dexter's brillance. Sobers went up to him, told him to slow down the game and to bring him on in a couple overs. Result, Sobers got him out for 73. At Trent Bridge in 1966, he outfoxed Boycott for 0 after allowing Boycott to believe that Wes was opening the bowling.
Re Val and Worrell. The last really brillant innings I saw Worrell played was in a senior cup game at Kensington Park in early 1962. He and Bunny Shaw shared a good partnership for Boys Town. Worrell made 93 bowled by Valentine.Poor Chester Watson was made to look like a pedestrian medium pacer.It was the elegance of that innings that I will always remember. I always feel peeved when I think of Val and the way the WI cricket board virtually ignored his passing while at the same time bigging up the passing of Glen McGrath's wife.

In reply to Ewart

I did not get an opportunity to see
Lawrence Rowe's Late Cuts , I did however saw Frank Worrell's version ,
and they were Superb .

I want to thank ALL here who have contributed to Stating their Knowledge
etc of various Famous West Indies Players .

Test Cricket in those days were not played in SVG , I was fortunate to be
going to School in Barbados in 1960,
and saw the First Test Match vs England .

In reply to DonD
Good that you saw that Worrell innings.Kenny was his first club in JA too but after Collie's death he went to Boys Town
when he returned from England.
I too was peeved when I saw nothing about Val from the WI Board's view.
Sobers was a very good captain. But he demonized after the two declarations in that fateful Test at QPO. He was brought up playing aggressive enjoyable cricket and he captained that way too.That 1968 series was a terrible one..Cowdrey the England captain instituted dour cricket from the 1st Test. He batted into the 3rd day of a 5 day 51/2 hour days series and made for poor watching. That would have been a drawn 5-0 series Boycott,Graveney and D'oliveira not insisted that he
take up the challenge and go for the runs.Had Murray not drop an early catch in the Chase that match probably would have been drawn.

It was such dour cricket in 58-59 Ashes in OZ, that led to WI reviving the game with the greatest series of all under Worrell/Bennaud in 60-61 and the Brighter cricket mantra stirred England in 1963 series that led to the change of Tour schedule with WI returning in '66, 69,73,76 and given a 4-year cycle with England.
After 63'the schedule then was for WI to return in 71.But MCC introduced double tours in '65 allowing more frequent visits by all but OZ who remain to this day with their 4 year cycle.

After the criticism for that Trinidad Test Sobie became a more defensive cappo and following the loss to India in '71,the next home series in 1972 all 5 Tests against NZ were drawn ..a first and only event in WI cricket. That WI team for the 4th Test,Kalli's debut had pure batsmen and few bowlers
Strebor Roberts' book,Cricket's Brightest Summer was also dubbed' 'cricket's dullest Book'. Tony Becca and I shared many a laugh when he told me that he heard that on one of this sojourns in OZ and England. The best book I had of that 60-61 series was by Johnny Moyes, who was also an ace Radio Commentator.In it he lauded Sobers' strokeplay but also wondered about Kanhai being the best batsman in the world. The ' Lal' was Great.
Never thought I would have a seen a more elegant player than Worrell until I saw Rowe in full flight. I saw signs of him when I played against him when he was
fourteen(14).

Of course as you may have heard I lost my wonderful cricket Library.My favourite Aussie writer was Ray Robinson.He wrote of Weekes that although he
did not have a great 51-52 Tour when he was targeted,nevertheless in Triniada 1955 he made Lindwall look like a schoolboy bowling with a rubber ball.Sweet.
The only Aussie book I got now is 'Flying Stumps' by Lindwall. He described the 51-52 tour in detail too.That book was among the lost library but my son surprised me with a copy for my retirement some years ago.Now if only I can find it among my junk.
Oh well. I got the memories

Good to know that Sir Frank and Val were close. I remember as a little boy being mad with Val, because he could not hang on with Sir Frank so that he could score a ton against India in 1962. Val got out and Sir Frank was stuck not-out on 98 (don't remember which test but remembered listening on the radio). I was aware that Worrell was coming to the end of his career and I felt that he might not get another chance to score another century. At the end of the day I guess that they might have had a drink and a laugh about the situation.

In reply to CWWeekes

Treasure trove of Windies golden era...tenks all fi thread....

In reply to hubert

In reply to tc1

In reply to tc1


I know Wes. He is a wonderful speaker and can be real funny. I know you could not but enjoy it.
Wonderful man, Wes.

In reply to che

In reply to hubert
yes indeed

In reply to hubert



True!





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Speaking of our legends.

Today's Jamaica Observer is only now reporting on the dedication of the Collie Smith statue, which took place on the 21st of March, a month ago. Strange.
And here I was thinking that I had missed the press reports on the event.

In reply to Ewart
He was in Calgary during that period, my Antiguan buddy and I joined him for lunch.
My friend asked him about Gary getting the captaincy ahead of him, he was so polite in answering the question saying, Gary eat, drink and sleep cricket, and he was busy with other things, included Moral Rearmament , so he was not disappointed by not being name captain.
Conrad's sister, Juanita Hunte was one of my teachers in Primary school

In reply to CWWeekes


Was his twin brother (Garry) at the dedication, maybe the Don or Hubert could shed light on this friendship.

Interestingly , in the early stage of the partnership between Worrell & Sobers , the English Spinner David Allen was giving Sobers some trouble ,
and Worrell had a midpitch conference
with Sobers , they took a quick single and Worrell decided to bat out of his crease when he faced Allen .

He hit Allen for 4 runs , and then got a single , Sobers then started following the example of Worrell , by batting out of his crease ; Allen never again troubled Sobers .

Sobers made 226 and Worrell made 197
not out . This was the first & so far
the only Test Match I had saw .

In that era , the Windward & Leeward Islands were not hosts of Test Matches, played in the Region ; neither were Players from the Windward & Leeward Islands given opportunities to vie for places on the West Indies Team .

In reply to tc1

Per press report Gary was not there. However, he sent a recorded message, in which he said he played better because when he was in a game he was playing for both himself and Collie.

In reply to CWWeekes


Yes, he did say that.


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In reply to CWWeekes

That is very True , I was once in England and he made that same statement then .

I was in England , but not at the game when he hit those 6 sixes against , I believe Nash , it was on TV .

In reply to CWWeekes

kool

In reply to DonD

In reply to Baje

Which brother Hugh {Hass]?
Hass was a good school boy player,I played a couple of years with him in NY, a great guy, he did not give a hell.