Cricket Special Report: The man they call, “The Black Bradman” -George Headley (Part 1)
In a nutshell, George Headley is the first great batsman to emerge from the islands of the http://www.senore.com/Cricket/West-Indies-c760, perhaps the greatest of them all, he set the standards for the new generation of the country's batsmen to follow, he was the one and only who played Test matches like limited overs game in the era of match savers.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Panama-c2978. He then shifted to Jamaica in order to improve his English as his mother language was Spanish, and his father wanted him to take dentistry as a career in United States of America. As he was about to leave for U.S.A to fulfil his father’s dream, suddenly he falls in love with cricket and leaves behind his aim. Adding to it, he made his first-class debut in 1928, playing against a visiting English side where he scored, a 78 and 211 runs in a first-class match.
Keeping Sir Donald Bradman aside, there was nobody in the era of Headley, who matched his cracking stroke play and ability to build long innings with the same excellence as it started. Mainly, he was a back-foot player, so he was a definite hooker and puller of the red cherry. The Black Bradman was a compact batsman with a very solid defence. In addition, his lightening fast footwork was backed up by his perfect balance on the crease. It is with all the great players that they pick up gaps while placing their shots, the West Indian great was from the same league as his timing and placement of the cricket ball was immaculate.
Sir Len Hutton said in his praise that he has never seen a batsmen, play the ball so late. Clarrie Grimmett described him the best on-side player he has ever seen. Cut shot was his favourite, but he was equally good with driving the ball on both sides of the wicket at will. For a player of his calibre, he had an appetite for big runs and great powers of concentration with a constant brilliance throughout his every single innings.
He was the motivation for the upcoming coming black players, an inspiration for his followers, an absolute delight for his fans and a lone warrior for his country. The Panama batsman was the first black great batsman to emerge from the country.
It is a sad story that the great West Indian only took part in 22 matches, but certainly, he has left a telling impact on the generations to follow in the cricketing fraternity. Previously, his team had played only 3 Test matches, and the struggling batting line-up definitely needs a hero, Headley stands tall and marks his appearance with a scintillating century in the 2nd innings. Evidently, a legend is born.
The master was not a player of single conditions as he scored runs where ever he played. At home, he played 10 matches, gathering 1241 runs at a breathtaking average of 77 with a best of 270. His tally of runs includes 5 Test centuries.
Moreover, he scored runs on green tops of England and bouncy wickets of http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Australia-c746. Away from home, he appeared in 12 games, mustering a tally of 949 runs at an average of 47 with a best of 169. In his hunt for runs, he struck 5 scintillating hundreds.
The master batsman made his debut in the home series against England in 1929/30. In his first series, he made his mark by proving his worth as a new star on the block.
In his first Test match, he scored a brilliant 176 run innings against one of the greatest bowlers of all-times, including the left armers http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Stevens-c91368, in circumstance when England was leading by 98 runs.
Furthermore he followed, his debut century by a string of 3 more, including a double ton at Kingston in the fourth Test. In the 3rd game at Georgetown, he became the youngest player to score a hundred in each innings of the match, until Phil Hughes surpassed him in 2009. In doing so, he sets up the first-ever Test win for the West Indies, ending the series with 703 runs at a remarkable average of 87, consisting 4 centuries.
(To be continued)
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