Sonny Ramadhin

Sonny Ramadhin, CM (1 May 1929 – 27 February 2022) was a West Indian cricketer, and was a dominant bowler of the 1950s. He was the first of many West Indian cricketers of Indian origin, and was one of the five Wisden Cricketers of the Year in 1951. He is most famous for his performance in the West Indies' 1950 tour of England, which was immortalised in the song "Victory Calypso".[1] He was also well known for his ability to turn the ball both ways and he was also largely known for using three short-legs along with close in fielders on the off-side during his playing days in order to exert more pressure on the batsmen.[2] He was referred to as "a small neat man whose shirt-sleeves were always buttoned at the wrist". He was the last surviving member of the 1950 West Indies team that secured the West Indies' first-ever Test series win in England.[3]

Sonny Ramadhin, CM
Personal information
Born(1929-05-01)1 May 1929
Esperance, British Trinidad and Tobago
Died27 February 2022(2022-02-27) (aged 92)
Delph, England
BattingRight-handed
BowlingRight-arm off break
International information
National side
Test debut8 June 1950 v England
Last Test30 December 1960 v Australia
Career statistics
Competition Test First-class
Matches 43 184
Runs scored 361 1,092
Batting average 8.20 8.66
100s/50s 0/0 0/0
Top score 44 44
Balls bowled 13,939 44,937
Wickets 158 758
Bowling average 28.98 20.24
5 wickets in innings 10 51
10 wickets in match 1 15
Best bowling 7/49 8/15
Catches/stumpings 9/– 38/–
Source: ESPNCricInfo, 7 January 2020

Biography

Ramadhin was born in Esperance Village, near San Fernando, Trinidad and Tobago, in 1929. He had no first name on his birth certificate; instead he was referred as "boy" in the birth certificate, and he later adapted his nickname "Sonny" as his first name.[4][5] He was introduced to cricket at the Canadian Mission School in Duncan Village, but did not bowl while in school.[6] Under the captaincy and coaching of Oscar Roach, who was also born in Esperance Village, he later played for the Palmiste Club and the Trinidad Leaseholds team. It is also believed that Ramadhin developed his spin bowling under Oscar Roach.[4]

Career

Breakthrough 1950 England tour

His trials for the West Indian team were two first-class matches bowling for Trinidad versus Jamaica, where he took 12 wickets at an average of 19.25.[7] This performance led to his selection for the 1950 tour to England at the age of 21.[8]

He made his test debut, along with Alf Valentine, in the first Test of that same Test series against England which started on 8 June 1950.[9] He thus became the first cricketer of East Indian origin to play for the West Indies in international cricket.[2] He decided to call himself as KT Ramadhin during his first international series.[5] The inclusion of both Valentine and Ramadhin for the test series was initially deemed as a surprise call in cricketing circles, especially someone like Ramadhin who received his maiden test call-up after having featured in only two first-class matches.[10]

England won the first match of the series at Old Trafford, but in the second Test, at Lord's, the West Indies recorded a 326-run victory, thanks to Clyde Walcott's 168 not out in the second innings, and to the bowling of Ramadhin (11 for 152) and Valentine (7 for 127).[11]

This was West Indies' first ever Test victory in England, and it was commemorated in the famous "Victory Calypso":[12]

Second Test and West Indies won
With those two little pals of mine
Ramadhin and Valentine[13]

The 1950 win by the West Indies led Lord Beginner to write the first in a deluge of calypsos celebrating West Indian cricketers, giving rise to calypso cricket. Ramadhin bowled the leg-break and off-break without a discernible change in his action.[14]

He and fellow spinner Alf Valentine continued to dominate and wreaking havoc on the English batting in the 1950 series, taking 59 wickets between them.[15] They also bowled in tandem for several overs in their debut series (Ramadhin bowled 377.5 overs while Valentine ended up bowling 422.3 overs).[10] West Indies won the series by three matches to one, which was their first series victory in England.[3][16] West Indies also notably secured historic win at Lord's for the first time during the series. The Wisden heaped praise on his bowling performance in England by stating "No blame could be attached to pitch... Ramadhin bowled with the guile of a veteran. He pitched a tantalizing length, bowled straight at the wicket and spun enough to beat the bat."[17] He also received praise from former English player Denis Compton who described Ramadhin as "the best match winning bowler in the world".[2]

Post 1950 series

When England returned to the West Indies in early 1954, Ramadhin took 13 wickets in the first two Tests and was instrumental in West Indies' victory.[18][19] He was the first bowler to take two five-wicket hauls in his first two Test matches, against England. In the 1957 tour of England Ramadhin still exerted his hold over batsmen, taking 7/49 to dismiss England for 186 in the first innings of the First Test at Edgbaston. The West Indies made 474 in its first innings. Then Colin Cowdrey joined Peter May at 113/3 in the second innings, still 175 runs behind. May and Cowdrey padded away any ball from Ramadhin outside off stump, where they could not be given out leg before wicket.[20] May made 285 not out and Cowdrey 154 and together added 411 runs in 511 minutes, the third highest stand in Test cricket at the time, the highest for the fourth wicket until 2009, the highest stand ever made for England and the highest stand against the West Indies by any team.[21] Ramadhin was forced to bowl 98–35–179–2, the most overs by a bowler in a first class innings. England won the series 3–0.[8]

Later years

He decided to play in Lancashire League as a professional and then decided to play first-class cricket for Lancashire after ending a prolific international career which spanned for a decade. His international career came to a close in 1960 when Lance Gibbs started to make an impact as the lead spinner for West Indies especially taking over the reins from Ramadhin in historic test series against Australia in 1960-61.[4]

He ended up his international career having taken 158 test wickets in 43 appearances.[22]

In 1964/65 he played for Lancashire, terminating his contract abruptly when he lost form.[23] From 1968 until 1972, he represented Lincolnshire in the Minor Counties Championship.[24]

In June 1988, Ramadhin was celebrated on the 75c Trinidad and Tobago stamp alongside the Barbados Cricket Buckle.[25]

Personal life and death

He settled in England after his retirement from international cricket. He lived in Delph in his final stages of his life for around nearly 12 years.[1] He served as President of Friarmere Cricket Club for a considerable number of years. His son Craig Ramadhin eventually played for Friarmere Cricket Club for about 50 years.[1]

Ramadhin died on 27 February 2022, at the age of 92.[26][8][10] His grandson, Kyle Hogg was a fast bowler who played for Lancashire between 2001 and 2014.[6] His son-in-law Willie Hogg also played first-class cricket for Lancashire.[1]

References
  1. "West Indies spinner Ramadhin, 92, dies". BBC Sport. Retrieved 28 February 2022.
  2. Mukherjee, Abhishek (28 April 2016) [1 May 2013]. "Sonny Ramadhin: The mystery man from the East who took the cricketing world by storm". Cricket Country. Retrieved 28 February 2022.
  3. "Sonny Ramadhin: 'In 1950 we had the three Ws – England had Len Hutton'". The Guardian. 7 July 2020. Retrieved 28 February 2022.
  4. "Sonny Ramadhin Profile - ICC Ranking, Age, Career Info & Stats". Cricbuzz. Retrieved 28 February 2022.
  5. "Legendary West Indies spinner Sonny Ramadhin passes away". www.icc-cricket.com. Retrieved 28 February 2022.
  6. "Sonny Ramadhin, revered West Indies spin bowler who made a habit of taking England apart in the 1950s – obituary". The Telegraph. 27 February 2022. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 28 February 2022.
  7. "Trinidad v Jamaica at Port of Spain, 2-8 February 1950". Static.espncricinfo.com. Retrieved 16 November 2021.
  8. "Sonny Ramadhin obituary". The Guardian. 27 February 2022. Retrieved 27 February 2022.
  9. "Full Scorecard of England vs West Indies 1st Test 1950 - Score Report". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 28 February 2022.
  10. "Former West Indies spinner Sonny Ramadhin dies aged 92". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 28 February 2022.
  11. "Full Scorecard of West Indies vs England 2nd Test 1950 - Score Report". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 28 February 2022.
  12. "Calypso Kings West Indies came into big cricket in 1950". Sunday Observer. Sri Lanka. Retrieved 28 February 2022.
  13. LORD BEGINNER - Victory Test Match, retrieved 28 February 2022
  14. Sonny Ramadhin at ESPNcricinfo
  15. Berry, Scyld (27 February 2022). "Farewell to Sonny Ramadhin - West Indies mystery spinner who ran through England". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 28 February 2022.
  16. "Sonny Ramadhin: A Self-Taught Bowler Of Remarkable Merit". Wisden. 9 May 2020. Retrieved 28 February 2022.
  17. "Sonny Ramadhin". Cricinfo. 8 June 2007. Retrieved 28 February 2022.
  18. "West Indies v England first test in 1954". cricketarchive.com. Retrieved 28 February 2022.
  19. "West Indies v England second test 1954". cricketarchive.com. Retrieved 28 February 2022.
  20. p. 96, Bob Willis and Patrick Murphy, Starting With Grace, Stanley Paul, 1986.
  21. "Records | Test matches | Partnership records | Highest partnerships for any wicket". ESPNcricinfo.com. Retrieved 16 November 2021.
  22. "Sonny Ramadhin profile and biography, stats, records, averages, photos and videos". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 1 March 2022.
  23. The Cricketer, 1965
  24. "Sonny Ramadhin, West Indies legendary spinner, dies aged 92". The Guardian. 27 February 2022. Retrieved 28 February 2022.
  25. "Sonny Ramadhin – Wisden Cricketer of the Year 1951". archives.sundayobserver.lk. Retrieved 28 February 2022.
  26. "Former West Indies spinner Sonny Ramadhin dies, aged 92". The Cricketer. 27 February 2022. Retrieved 22 February 2022.
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