I
n the early days of West Indies cricket, good opening batsmen were few and far between. In fact, as it was in the middle order, in those days there was one and only one man.
His name was Clifford Roach, he was a Trinidadian, he was a right-hander, and apart from scoring West Indies' first half-century, in their second Test - 50 at Old Trafford in 1928 - he ended up scoring six half-centuries in 16 Test matches, including the first century and the first double-century by a West Indian.
However, after the watershed series of 1950, when the West Indies won away from home for the first time with a 3-1 victory over England, things changed immensely, to the point where the pioneer is not numbered among the top West Indies openers off all time.
His name was Clifford Roach, he was a Trinidadian, he was a right-hander, and apart from scoring West Indies' first half-century, in their second Test - 50 at Old Trafford in 1928 - he ended up scoring six half-centuries in 16 Test matches, including the first century and the first double-century by a West Indian.
However, after the watershed series of 1950, when the West Indies won away from home for the first time with a 3-1 victory over England, things changed immensely, to the point where the pioneer is not numbered among the top West Indies openers off all time.
https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/west-indies-all-time-xi-openers-shortlist-463040
