Cricket Special Report: The man they call, “The Black Bradman” -George Headley (Part 2)
George Headley’s hunger for runs wasn’t over. He carried his form to http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Australia-c746, scoring 2 more centuries in 1930/31, his team’s first tour to the land of Baggy-green.
Moreover, in 5 matches he hammered 336 runs at an average of 37. His 105, in the fifth game at Sydney, came in just 146 minutes as http://www.senore.com/Cricket/West-Indies-c760 recorded their maiden Test win on the Australian soil, defeating Kangaroos by 30 runs. In the process, he scores
his 1000 runs in just 17 innings and becomes the third fastest, at that time, to reach the milestone.
In 1935, at home, the Caribbean team registered their first ever series win against England. Going into the fourth contest, the series was levelled at 1-1. The master in the final Test did set up the win by an innings and 161 runs, taking the honours by
scoring his best ever of 270 runs, boosting his teams total of first innings to 591 runs.
In 1939, he became the first cricketer to score a twin of centuries at Lord’s. Headley, being a lone warrior achieved this feat with very little support on the other end as his team crumbled with scores of 277&225 on a damp pitch.
Surprisingly, his percentage of runs in his teams overall scores is the best ever by any batsmen in the history. He scored 29 percent of his teams run during his era that is even better than the great Don, who has smashed 27% if his team’s total.
The maestro’s career was divided into two phases as he lost his 9 promising years to the 2nd World War. Pre War, he played 19 matches, racking up 2135 runs at an average of 66 with. After war, he only managed to play 3 Test matches, just gathering
55 runs. Overall, he has 2190 runs to his name.
His ten centuries in 40 innings are evident of him being a truly great batsman, because the true measure of greatness can be judged by a batsman's ability to convert starts into big ones. His conversion rate of scoring tons after every four innings is second
only to Bradman.
His average of 60.83 is the third best Test average of all-times, considering a minimum of 20 games. Only Graeme Pollock (60.97) and Bradman (99.94) have bettered him in terms of overall career averages.
By far, he is one of the best number 3 batsman world has ever seen. All of his ten hundreds were mastered at one down position. He played 32 innings at the coveted position, amassing an amazing tally of 2064 runs at a brilliant average of 71.
His first class record is phenomenal, considering the fact he has played his cricket for almost 24 years. In 103 games, he piled up 9921 runs at an average of 69, including a best of 344. In his quest for big runs, he smothered 33 centuries.
Against all the odds, the old master became the first black man to lead the West Indies side in 1948 against England. His first outing as a captain wasn’t a bad one as his team secured a draw, though the skipper didn’t take any further part in the series
owing a back strain in the first battle. He played his last Test at the age of 44 years and 236 days. As a result, he became the oldest West Indian player to appear in a Test match.
To everyone’s grief, the legend passed away in 1983, at the age of 74 in Meadowbridge, leaving behind his great cricketing memories. The world of cricket will remember him as one the best willower, who always painted his brilliance of stroke play with the
brush of his devastating bat.
His son Ron Headley, in 1973, has also played for West Indies in two Test matches. Adding to this, His grandson, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Dean-c53369 Headley has represented England in 15 Test matches, from 1997 to 99.
According to Sir Don, “Headley is without a doubt one of the greatest batsmen of all-times”. Dentistry doesn’t know, what it has missed.
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