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The kind of stories often heard after death.

The omission to Australia 1960

Gerry Alexander - Roy Gilchrist Controversy

In reply to Casper

Good read. Its a shame the way Butcher was treated in Guyana by the cricket powers that be.

In reply to Casper

I will read it..... but Gilchrist to my knowledge never knew slums, never came from slums.

He was a country boy from St Thomas, if I remember right.


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In reply to Casper

Wes Hall said Basil Butcher was for ever whistling - "whether he is going out to bat, on a tube in London, or having a bath".

Doesn't seem like he was whistling in those occasions you quoted.

In reply to Ewart
Yes. From the little town of Seaforth. Same place as our late departed friend and journalist, Lascelles Anthony (Tony) Becca

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From stories i read about that Indian tour,Gilchrist was bowling at an Indian friend of Alexander he knew at Cambridge and unleashed beamer after beamer at the batsman.It caused an uproar with the spectators and Gilchrist was taken off.Nobody told me that I read it in a cricket book.Gilchrist also bowled a lot of beamers at the Pakistani batsmen in 1958 who toured the Caribbean.Mr.Gilchrist once branded his wife in England with a hot Iron.I wish I could find the book,in it he said,when a batsman is wearing his pads he cannot see the wicket or very little of it,and will do anything to get him out,even if it is his son.A real bad man tu rass.

Gilchrist 's book. a sort of Biography, Hit Me For Six could shed some light on few things.
It may still be available. like most things cricket that I collected, it was lost when I lost my sizable
library.
And if I remember he had a reference to Butcher too. Basil was not a stellar fielder as Kanhai or Solomon on the 58-59
tour and in the First Test at Bombay(Mumbai) he earned the wrath of the pacer by misfielded /and or ducked
a catch off Gillie's bowling so at a fielding practice session between the 1st Test and the 2nd at Kanpur, he tossed a ball to Butch
and called him out as a 'soft One'. Alexander called him out on it.

That Gillie had a couple incidents prior ,one even very serious, he was sat down for the 2nd Test and given a stern warning by the
Management committee of Alexander,JK Holt and Manager Berkley Gaskin. The usual injury excuse was given to the press.

In the final game in India against North Zone, his encounter with Alexander's Cambridge buddy, Sawanjit Singh was his swan song.

After hitting a boundary off him ,Singh teased him that he had hammered him in the Caribbean ( Singh was a member of EW Stanton's team that played against
a West Indies XI captained by Rae in March/April of 1956.) But Gillie had not yet played FC cricket so he must have
mistook him for Syl Oliver who was the pacer in that team.

Gillie took exception and gave him a beamer, and teased back something to the effect' How you like that ?
Alexander told him not to bowl such delivery again. But Gillie's next ball was another beamer and his ticket to England where he went to to
continue his League Pro contract.

Hit Me For Six was a light read as I recalled ..it was ghost written..But useful to have as it recalls the tale of the first man from the WI to
be sent home from a tour and even with late intervention by Worrell,for the 61-62 Quadrangular series in BG ,was never to play again for West Indies.

In reply to Casper

So Basil Butcher asked Sir Frank Worrell

"Why was I not selected for the 1960 tour

of Australia?"

In reply to Casper

So Worrell answered and faith unto him;

"I wish I had known you BETTER?"

In reply to Bigzinc

These words are encoded in a "Hash" as

Computer security & network professionals

would say.

In reply to XFactor

But the politics of the TIME could be

The KEY to the words that Worrell used.

In reply to Yadi

It would appear as if some players might

have been loyal to former captain - Gerry

Alexander. While others wanted the

brilliant Frank Worrell to lead.

In reply to hubert

If my interpretation is correct then:

Worrell might have been telling Butcher,

Look man I could not be certain that you

we're not a Gerry Alexander loyalist.

In reply to Casper

I can personally attest to the reverence Basil Butcher showed for Rohan Kanhai.It was around 2005 and there was a festival match featuring Port Mourant cricketers. I attended the event with the late Ron Legall and Basil spoke about Rohan Kanhai.He apologized for his absence and said it was due to Rohan's wife's health.He then went on to talk about Kanhai's brilliance and genius.The only other time I have ever heard top class batsmen speak about their peers like that was in December 1972 when Lloyd and Fredericks were talking about Garry Sobers.

In reply to Yadi

Your premise is very sound. And for two reasons too. Gillie thought that Alexander was protective of the rookie Butcher and he was Butch's only Test cappo to that point and he no doubt appreciated that.
More over the man who took his place fort he 60-61 Tour was Lashley who was less known by Worrell in terms of cricket accomplishment than Butcher.
Lashley on had two years of FC cricket and no Tests while Butcher had two Test tons and a couple 50s in 10 Tests and two of those Tests were with Worrell
who never played a game with Lashley at that juncture.
Butcher was a known and Lashley was not in that context.
Worrell,however was not known to be insular so something else could also have been in play.
I was at the time royally pissed that Butcher was not on that epic tour.

In reply to Ewart

I distinctly remember reading that Gilchrist grew up in a rural area growing sugar cane, and that he rode several miles to and from work everyday on his bicycle.

More caveage shite when there were no good teams existed nor live broadcast existed.

Fantasy lala land of caveage.

In reply to hubert

It’s funny that you should mention this. I do recall, growing up as a youngster in Bim in Australia the 60s, and really getting into cricket, hearing fairy rumours about Butcher and Alexander. As I recount this, the individual who mentioned that to me has come to mind for the first time in donkey years. He was a high school classmate of mine, with the initials J. C. I hope and pray, he’s still around in good health.

In reply to hubert

In fairness to Lashley, he was fast becoming a local and regional bully on the cricket scene. He was fierce competition for Nurse - he, a Spartan man, and Nurse of Empire in local cricket.

Recall also that Walcott was trying to make a comeback for that 60/61 Aus tour. He is the one who really robbed Butcher of an opportunity to stake his claim for Aus. Lashley was also picked as a backup opener to Cambie Smith and Conrad Hunte, especially after the dismal failure of McMorris on the home series with Eng.

In reply to Casper
That series, I learn about scoring, and was allowed to stay up, on Friday and Saturday night.
My best friend mom loved cricket, she would stay up every night and score ball by ball.
Basil and Seymoure are two of my favourite cricketers.

In reply to Casper

So, Sir Frank Worrell KNEW of the "TIGHT"

relationship between the former captain

and young Butcher?

In reply to Casper

Recall also that Walcott was trying to make a comeback for that 60/61 Aus tour. He is the one who really robbed Butcher of an opportunity to stake his claim for Aus.

Don't agree with you here. Walcott retired after the 1957-58 series against Pakistan in the WI. He was recalled for the 4th and 5th tests vs England in 59-60 series. Walcott did not want to tour Australia. Worrell wanted him to, he refused. This opened the way for Lashley or Butcher, Lashley was given the nod.
Now, Worrell did not know much about Butcher. Worrell stayed on in England following the 1957 tour in order to finish his degree in economics which he completed in 1959 at the univ of Manchester. He returned to WI in 1959 and played in the series vs England. It's possible that the first time he played with or saw Butcher played was in the first test. Worrell shared a partnership of 399 with Sobers, he made 197 no. Alexander gave Worrell close to half an hour to move from 190 to his double ton because he wanted to declare. The story goes that Worrell ran out of energy and could hardly lift up his bat. Hence Butcher was the one trying to force the pace. Worrell was out of shape plus the fact that he was boozing heavily the night before. Finally Alexander declared with him NO 197. Similar thing happened to kanhai I believe in the third test. He asked Peter May for a runner following a heavy night of drinking. May refused.

In reply to DonD

According to Clive Lloyd, selectors were very insular in those days and traded "favors" with each other, with the Bajans basically running things and controlling the "favors". Apparently both Butcher and Lloyd were victims of such favor trading.

In reply to Norm

That inning was more about Alexander, it was the first time, our school was able to listened to cricket, the afternoon of that test.
Our Head Master J O Morris was a good friend of Sir Frank, a man who taught us about apartheid, he knew Frank was not going to bat, 200 was not going to be in the cards.
It was an act of defiant.
Here is the scoreboard from that match
Link Text

In reply to DonD


Seemed they always picking on Frank. Gerry Gomez who was captain of the 2bnd Test in Trinidad, 1948,
also sent a note out to both Worrell and Ganteaume..instructing the Debutants to speed it up. Ganteaume was accused of
very slow batting and got a ton and that was his only Test innings. Frank got out in the 90s.
That match ended in a draw. Frank got his ton in the nhext Test at Bourda...
And as life would have it, Gomez was the manager of the 1960-61 Tour under discussion..Frank being captain of course.
Life has its cycles and where WI cric ket is concerned many rough rides and corners from 1900.

In reply to Casper

Thank you.

In reply to DonD

I guess captains selected the team in those days or had inordinate power. Was this unique to Worrell or did all captains wield this amount of power?

Regardless if Worrell was personally familiar with Butcher, or some other player, one would think, it would have been the purview of the panel of selectors to choose the players and for the captain to lead them.

Is this a more recent development?

One other question: I notice the wicketkeepers, Gerry Alexander and Jackie Hednricks, were both from Jamaica. How was this possible, and who kept for Jamaica?

In reply to DonD

I always found that very strange. Why recall Walcott, if he had no intention of going to Aus? Why not Butcher?

Worrell could not have been part of that discussion to include or not include Butcher for the homes series, as he was not a selector. And how come Alexander didn’t use his influence to find a slot for Butcher?

Now, at this time, we know CLR James was mounting the campaign for Worrell to be made captain. Did Worrell know during the 59/60 home series that he would definitely be captain, or was it after the series was completed?

If so, there must have been some tension between Alexander and Worrell. To be fair to Alexander, he performed magnificently under Worrell in the 60/61 tour to Aus and retired afterwards.

In reply to Casper

So why didn't Sir Frank not simply deny

any involvement in the Butcher dropping?

In reply to jacksprat

Was Skipper Worrell just "Phucking with

Butcher HEAD" - when he answered him????

In reply to Casper/ Don

Nice postings, as a youngster I heard similar chat about the relationship between Butcher and Alexander, and that Gillie thought Basil was soft.
Did the Cawmere connection with Lashley persuade Frankie to carry Peter down under ?

I heard the young Lashley was called left handed Frankie, and he was a very attractive player before he become “Cramp”.where is Sudden.
Casper you are correct, I heard many bajans had prefer Lashley to Nurse.

In reply to Casper
Walcott was recalled for the 4th and 5th tests mainly because WI was somewhat desperate. We lost the 2nd test in Trinidad. Butcher played in the first and second tests. He failed. Nurse was selected for the third test at Sabina as a sort of payment for his marvelous 213 vs Mcc vs Barbados. Nurse made a wonderful 70 in the first innings. Surprisingly, he was dropped for the 4th test and Walcott recalled. Remember, Walcott and Weekes retired after the Pakistan series in 59. They did not tour India and Pakistan. It was on that tour that Butcher and Solomon came into their own and kanhai established himself as a great.

WI was DESPERATE for a win vs England, hence Walcott's recall. Dropping Nurse and ignoring Butcher were pure stupidity. One other thing. We all know that CLR was championing the call for Worrell to be made captain. It was very likely that Worrell would have been appointed captain vs Pakistan in 1958. The likes of CLR and Learie prevailed on him to finish his degree, hence, Alexander got the captaincy. Weekes wanted him to at least consider taking on the captaincy. As far as I am concerned, Alexander did more than a decent job. Under his leadership, Hunte, Gibbs, Butcher, Solomon and Hall came to the fore. Sobers and kanhai established their greatness and Collie firmly established himself. In the end, Alexander voluntarily gave up the captaincy and served under Worrell as one of the most loyal vice captains imaginable. The questionable mark against Alexander
had to do with how he handled Gilchrist. This however is a story for another time.

In reply to Casper

As captain, Worrell had a say but it was the selectors who always made the final call. Worrell wanted Walcott and Gilchrist
Walcott after retiring in 567-58n against Paksirtan was recalled for the 4th and 5th Tests versus England in 1960.He played those
two Tests with Worrell too so when Worrell was named Captain for Austrlia,he felt Walcott would be available for the Tour. But Walcott
went back into retirement.
Gilchrist who was still banned by the Board and was not avaailable. The Board however relented prior to India's tour of the Caribbean
in 6-62, allowing him to take part for in a quadrangular series in October in Guyana where he took a hammering from Hunte and Cammie Smith in
a huge 1st innings stand. McMorris and Teddy Griffith also hit tons in a big opening stand but it was not enough.
Gilchrist then took part in Two trial matches to select Jamaica's squad with Worrell as captain for the Jamaica game against India .

BUT in the second game he was called for throwing by Douglas Sang Hue who was an upcoming umpire on the Jamaica Senior Cup scene.
Gillie immediately packed his bags,took off England and that was in January and that was that.


As for any angst between Alexander and Worrell, I am not privy to that. But here is a piece of history.
After the 1957 Tour of England, Alexander was named captain for the home series against Pakistan in 1958, a move that surprised
many including Sobers and Kanhai the latter thought that honour should have gone to Collie Smith.

Worrell was still in England pursuing studies and did not take part in the Pakistan series.
However, he was named Captain for the 1958-59 Tour of India and Pakistan. But he declined. As a result Alexander remained captain and JK Holt and Wes
Hall were named to replace Worrell with the party of 16 becoming 17.
Alexander knew that the captaincy was Worrell's and this became evident when the political Colonial mindset of the Board became more
progressive with the Formalisation of THE WEST INDIES FEDERATION in 1958 //


Worrell only returned to the West Indies(Jamaica)after the passing of Collie Smith in September 1959, and tragic passing
was the final straw that led to Worrell cancelling his much controversial tour of SOUTH AFRICA slated for November 1959 -to January 1960.
The tour would only be to play games against Mixed races,Blacks.,Colored(like Basil Doliveira) and Indian..but would play the big 'Tests'
at the Traditional venues such as Capetown, Johannesburgh and would be open to all races.
By the time the tour was cancelled, Alexander was already confirmed as captain for the 1960 Home series against England.
But he knew once Worrrell was on the scene, the Captaincy would be his. He toured as VC to Worrell, had his most successful
stint with the bat and promptly retired after the massive send off in Melbourne.

The Federal Government and others had mounted plenty pressure on Worrell to cancel the tour but if not Smith's death, would have taken place as Worrell
was not one to bow to pressure of that kind having being hounded by the Board since 1948 when he refused to tour India because the terms of the
player contract were lacking in among other things, financial reward.
That's how I remembered it.

In reply to jacksprat

At the time especially in the 50s the three best wicketkeepers in the Caribbean were Binns and the younger Hendricks were recognized as the
leading keepers.Hendriks was his understudy for Jamaica but his talent was recognized all over.Alexander had taken his talent to Cambridge
but was not as competent as those two. But when he was named for the tour of England and then Test captain, Hendriks had to wait his turn again as Binns had called it quits after the trial matches to select the party for the 1957 England tour.
McWatt and Ralph Legall of Barbados by way of Trinidad and DePeiza of Barbados were the main co0mpetitors but none was as good as Alex Reid of
Dominica(?) who represented Trinidad in the mid to late 50s. He in fact was the wicketkeeper for the WI X1 against EW Swanton's team in Trinidad
1956 just after WI concluded their tour of Australia where Binns was the #1 keeper and Depeiza his back.
All three Jamaican keepers wereat the 1957 trials along with Reid but the touring party had Alexander as the #1 keeper and one Rohan Kanhai
as backup //


Alexander and Hendriks were keepers for the 1958-59 tour of India -Pakistan and one Lance Gibbs who took second/third fiddle to Ram and Smith
on that tour,always rated Jackie Hendriks as the very best and was happiest when he was behind the sticks.Lance Gibbs made no secret of this.

Stop this caveage nonsense which no one cares about. During caveage WOUNDIES were regarded as cheaters and pelters. How much you people want to twist and turn, the cheating habits will never change.

Now with broadcasting and strict umpiring guidelines your guys are exposed and are at the bottom.

No one bothers about caveage, so please stop posting all this shite.

In reply to hubert

Nice, keep it going.

In reply to hubert, DonD

Next rounds is on me. Keep the gaff going!
Fascinating.

In reply to Norm

1.Only in those days? Actually, better question is: was there a time in WI hx that they were not insular?

2.What kind of favors? Pray tell.

Edit: Btw, I typed this yesterday but it didn't click.
Now read Hubert and DonD for the answers.

In reply to hubert

Thank you. Appreciated.

In reply to hubert

It is not only Gibbs who rated Hendriks as the best.EVERY SINGLE WI PLAYER of that time who I have spoken to rates him as the best.The list is not exhaustive but include Sobers,Lloyd,Fredericks,Gibbs,Butcher, and Umpire Kippins.

In reply to hubert

Thanks for the clarification. Much appreciated.

In reply to jacksprat

Hubert, thanks very much for this very informative historical account; to you also DonD.

Only on a MB, with knowledgeable “old heads”, could one get such an account. I guess, this is the kind of pieces of information which could only be got in the old-time Rum Shops..

Just wish someone could write on the history and the inside stories of Windies before they go to the graves with holders of them; giving of such accounts is not something very common in the West Indies. Maybe a bit in politics, to which Ewart could attest to.

Could you imagine getting the likes of Weekes, Sobers of others of that vintage really letting us in on some of the behind the scenes stories?

In reply to goofballs

Insularity, and racism, were open "privileges" in those days. Dotties and Indians stood virtually no chance of playing for WI, no matter how good they were. The WI captaincy was reserved for Whites - a policy accepted and supported by many non-Whites too.

Bajans solidly believed that they were better cricketers than other WI people - a problem that guys like Frank Worrell recognized as standing in the way of removing White control of WI cricket. Butcher was unfortunate to get caught up in the Bajan efforts to assert regional cricket superiority.

Ironically, Butcher's dad and thousands of other Bajans had migrated to Guyana largely because of White domination of Bajan society, including domination of top Bajan cricket clubs. The thought that it was okay for the British to control Bajan cricket, on the basis of race only, had worked its way deep into Bajan society, so that many Bajans felt that emigrating was the only way to escape it.

So, Worrell had much more to contend with, than just the Whites wanting the captaincy. What happened to Basil Butcher in 1960 made the need to get started on the problem even more clear. One problem gone - the other still here.

In reply to Casper

Barber shops too. There was one in Kitty where the big men with big positions and knowledge would hang out all day and talk cricket.

In reply to Norm

Nurse who was Bajan had a harder time than butcher....so much for bajan dominance.

In reply to FuzzyWuzzy

Denial - a common defence. It won't change history. Guyana benefited by acquiring many capable Bajan sons and daughters, including the Butchers, Lloyds, Gibbs, etc.

Still a Bajan problem, to this day. Just ask JHo.

In reply to Norm

Worrell chose to relocate to Jamaica.

His colleagues, who stayed in Barbados,

never forgave.

In reply to hubert

Excellent stuff Hubert.

Now, here is some more stuff from an older Oracle.

1. Butcher did not miss the tour of Australia because Worrell didn't like him or know much about him.

It was no mystery. After a successful tour of India and Pakistan he failed badly in the first two Tests: 13, and then twice lbw to Statham for 9 in the second Test which we lost. He was justifiably replaced for the third Test in Jamaica by Nurse who had made 218 for Barbados in the earlier colony match. Nurse made a magnificent 70 at Sabina Park on debut.

It didn't help Butcher that the purists (sounds very much like Alan Rae) thought his bat came all the way from gully! When Walcott, recalled for the last two Tests v MCC, declined to tour Australia, the next in line was Lashley, a regional flat-track bully who had hit 200 not out v Guyana a year earlier.

Incidentally, among all the in and outs, the less flamboyant but more correct and reliable Joe Solomon kept his place.

2. Finally, finally, someone comes up with the correct explanation as to why Worrell, 177 not out over the weekend, could muster only 20 more runs in two hours on Monday morning of the first Test forcing Alexander to declare with the great man 197 not out. It had nothing to do with any Alexander-Worrell feud or that Worrell didn't want to make his double century.

DonD notes (correctly) that Worrell was boozed from the night before.

An understatement. Ivo Tennant, in an UNAUTHORIZED biography of Worrell, which few in West Indies have read, goes into great detail of what the great man had been drinking ........and not just the night before either. English writer Alan Ross notes in his book on the tour "Worrell's almost total immobility at the other end" from Butcher, scoring only 8 runs in the first hours play and that Alexander "several times signalled to Worrell for more action". Worrell ignored him.

3. Re wicketkeepers: from WI debut in Test cricket in 1928 selectors, rightly or wrongly, favoured BATSMEN/ wicket-keepers.("Can't bat, can't keep") Thus:Karl Nunes, Errol Hunte, Ivan Barrow (also opening batsmen), Derek Sealy, Clyde Walcott. (Bob Christiani went as backup to Walcott on the 1950 England tour; Kanhai, described as "a fieldman with gloves" kept in the first three Tests v England in 1957).

Those who came along in the 1950s and were not Test standard BATSMEN....Simpson Guillen, Alfie Binns, Ralph Legall, Cliff McWatt, either didn't last long or, like Jackie Hendriks and Alex Reid, did not make the cut. Only dePeiza and Alexander were considered Test batsmen. Ganteaume would have been okay also but he, in spite of advice from then vice-captain Stollmeyer, gave up wickeet-keeping right after he had scored his Test century on debut...and then complained that everyone and his uncle didn't like him.

4. Nor is there any mystery why Alexander was chosen captain when Worrell was unavailable in 1958 against Pakistan. Alexander was an outstanding LEADER. He is the only man to have captained Jamaica All Schools in cricket AND football, captain Jamaica in cricket AND football, would likely have captained the only West Indies football team in 1958/59 had he not been too busy captaining the West Indies cricket team!

To which I can only add that Wolmers Boys School in Jamaica has produced at least five wicket-keepers for the West Indies:

Gerry Alexander, Jackie Hendricks, Jeff Dujon, Carlton Baugh, and Jose Walton.

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In reply to Ewart

Good stuff!

Are/were you a sports writer?

In reply to Ewart

Justifiably replaced after failing in 2 Tests?

In reply to Ewart

Low level scums of caveage come to the field by boozing. It can't get any lower than this. Rightfully these wasteundians are shown their real place in world cricket of today and placed at the bottom. It is no wonder they brag about dominating in caveage while no broadcasting nor umpiring standards nor accountability existed. If it is in modern age cricket all those skunts from so called great Viv to garner would have been banned from world cricket or injured by today's quality fast bowlers.

In reply to Norm

Your ignorance of Bajans and Barbados society is trifling, bajans emigrated for economic reasons.
Butcher failed against England period.Nurse outperformed him during the England series , Lashey and Cammie Smith also played well as did Young Ro in Bynoe.
David Holford was one of the best young players in 1963 according to Everton Weekes, but was not selected to tour, he made it in 1966.
Barbados was the dominant team in the 60s.

In reply to tc1

I guess the Brits did a bad job on me, and left me ignorant.


Snuffy Browne was a lawyer, or magistrate. He complained a lot about how the Brits were running cricket in Bdos. I guess he was ignorant too.

Anyway, Butch and Lloyd felt they were done in by Bajan cricket politics of the time.