Frank Worrell’s central role in the transformation of West Indian cricket

Jeddah - Yasmine El Tohamy - On July 10, England’s men’s Test team opened play against the West Indies at Lords in the first of a three-match series.

There is a perception that England is the stronger side, largely because so many senior West Indian players are not in the squad. A number have chosen to play lucrative franchise cricket in North America in July and August.

In terms of Test cricket, there is a callowness about the West Indian squad. Only four have played more than 20 Tests, whilst the squad’s aggregate number of Tests is 237, only 60 more than that notched up by England’s James Anderson, for whom the Lords Test is scheduled to be his last.

The aggregate number of Tests played by England’s squad is 606, so it is well ahead on experience. In addition to Anderson, Joe Root has played 140 Tests and Ben Stokes 102, whilst four others exceed 20.

This imbalance is a far cry from the mid to late 1970s to the early 1990s when the West Indies dominated world cricket. The West Indian team won the inaugural ODI World Cup in 1975 and retained the title in 1979, before relinquishing it to India in 1983.

Since then, the West Indies have failed to reach an ODI final. During the 1980s the West Indies were imperious in Test cricket, setting a then record of 11 consecutive victories in 1984 and twice drubbing England 5-0. The success was based on a fearsome four-man fast bowling attack and four of the best batters in the world.

Seeds for this era of dominance had been laid during the 1960s, something that the captain of the 1980s dominant team, Clive Lloyd, has always been quick to point out and acknowledge. Two men, the previous captains, stand out, Sir Garfield (Gary) Sobers and Sir Frank Worrell.

Sobers, for me, is the finest all-round cricketer of all time, certainly the finest I ever had the privilege of watching. Worrell, by all accounts, was a fine player, batting in a languid, yet classical style. However, it was his role in the transformation of West Indian cricket that is his legacy.

In his autobiography, “Cricket Punch,” published in 1959, before he became captain of the West Indies, Worrell revealed little of himself. A biography in 1963 by a Guyanese broadcaster, Ernest Eytle, with commentary by Worrell, was a cricket book.

A slim biography appeared in 1969 by Undine Guiseppe, followed by one by English writer Ivo Tennant in 1987 that revealed much more about Worrell, the person. After a pictorial biography was published in 1992 by Torrey Pilgrim, interest in Worrell seemed to fade.

West Indian cricket also hit difficult times. Although high-class international cricketers emerged to replace those who retired, there was not enough strength in depth nor funding to counter the alternative attractions of basketball, athletics and football for young athletes.

Therefore, it is a surprise — a pleasant one — to discover that two new biographies of Worrell have been published recently. The first of these is “Son of Grace” by Vaneisa Baksh in 2023, a book in preparation for at least a decade.

The second is “Worrell” by Simon Lister, launched on June 6, 2024. Both have sought to establish the essence of the man within and beyond the cricket field. Both had to engage in prolonged research because many of the sources of information about their subject had been destroyed or lost.

Worrell died of leukemia in 1967, aged only 42. His wife, Velda, died in 1991, aged 69, whilst their daughter Lana, died shortly afterwards, aged 42. Two close, key sources of insights were not available.

Fortunately, Everton Weekes, one of the famous three “Ws” — Worrell, Weekes and (Clyde) Walcott — lived until 2020, aged 95, willingly providing insights into Worrell’s life. Other former playing colleagues also did, along with children of those with whom Worrell grew up and played alongside.

Etched in many, if not most of the minds of cricket aficionados of a certain age, is the iconic photograph which captures the moment when the first Test of the 1960-1961 series between Australia and the West Indies ends in a tie off the very last ball of the match.

Worrell, as captain, is credited with keeping his players relaxed but alert by virtue of his serene leadership. In 1963, he led the team to a 3-1 series victory over England, before retiring from cricket.

After that, he became warden of Irvine Hall at the Jamaican campus of the University of the West Indies and was appointed to the Jamaican senate in 1962. This exemplifies his sense of public duty, although he did say that he was not suited to politics.

It should be noted that these positions were in Jamaica, not his native island of Barbados, which he had left in 1947. It seems that he preferred the bigger island, which offered more job opportunities and represented an escape from the cloying color bar in Barbados that, according to the British colonial secretary in 1942, “divides the races more effectively than a mountain chain.”

Worrell was a federalist and nowhere was this more evident than in his captaincy. The West Indies is not one cricketing nation, but a collection of players from 13 independent island countries of different histories, cultures, religions and social mores.

Prior to Worrell becoming captain in 1960, the previous six captains had all been white, their positions reflecting ongoing systemic racial bias. But by 1960, a wind of change was blowing. Worrell’s appointment shut the door forever on the process by which a West Indian captain would be chosen based on race and color.

Worrell showed that it was possible to be black and successful. He knew that his players were all individually good and sought, successfully, to weld them into a cohesive force, with clarity of purpose. No longer were they to be treated as subordinates.

His passion for social equality extended beyond cricket. We will never know what he may have achieved in broader society had he lived longer. What is apparent is that the dominating Test teams for which he sowed the seeds no longer exist.

In their place are T20 players who have earned riches far beyond those which Worrell could ever have envisaged when advocating for social justice.