The genius that was Headley

Tony Becca

FOR THE past few weeks Jamaicans have been casting their votes for their choices as the five greatest Jamaica cricketers of all time.

On Tuesday night, the five will be announced at the Scotiabank West Indian Jubilee banquet at the Pegasus Hotel and the fans are awaiting the occasion with great anticipation.

Will it be George Headley, Michael Holding, Courtney Walsh, Lawrence Rowe and Alfred Valentine, or will the likes of Jeffrey Dujon, Collie Smith and probably Allan Rae and Roy Gilchrist crash the party?

Listening to the many discussions that have been taking place since the voting got under way, Headley, Holding, Walsh, Rowe and Valentine seem to be the favourites. There are many fans pressing the claims of Dujon, Smith, Gilchrist and Rae, however, and based on the record of 'Duj', Rae's contribution to the great and historic victory in 1950 and the impact of 'Collie' and 'Gillie' during their short but brilliant careers, one or two of them could squeeze through.

If that happens, one or two of the fancied five would obviously be out, and from the look of things, from what the fans have been saying, if it is one, it would be Valentine, and if it is two, it would be Valentine and Rowe.

One thing is certain, it should not be Headley.

MASTER BATSMAN

Born on May 30, 1909, Headley, known around Jamaica as 'Mas George', around the West Indies as 'Atlas', and around the world as the 'Black Bradman', was a master batsman - a batsman whose career record of 2,190 runs in 22 Test matches and 40 innings at an average of 60.83 included some wonderful and outstanding performances, some of which took a long time to be bettered, one of which has never been surpassed.

In his first Test match, Headley scored a century - 176 against England at Kensington in 1930. In his third match, he became the first West Indian to score a century in each innings of a Test match - 114 and 112 against England at Bourda in 1930.

In his fourth match of the same series, he scored 223 to become not only the youngest batsman to score a double century, but also the first and only batsman to score four centuries before his 21st birthday.

After scoring two centuries - 102 not out of 193 at Brisbane and 105 at Sydney - against Australia in 1930-31, after scoring 169 against England at Old Trafford in 1933, Headley, who had earlier scored 44 run out of a total of 102 on a rain-affected pitch at Kensington Oval, 93 at Queen's Park Oval, and a top score 53 at Bourda, scored 270 not out against England at Sabina Park in the fourth and final Test of 1935.

SCORES

He then went back to England and in the three-match series scored 106 and 107 at Lord's, a top score 51 at Old Trafford, and 65 run out at The Oval.

For those who do not know, Headley's record as the youngest batsman to score a double century remained for 46 years until Javed Miandad of Pakistan broke it in the 1976-77 series against New Zealand.

His 270 remained the West Indies best for 39 years until Rowe broke it with his 302 against England in 1974 and his career average, the third best behind Don Bradman with 99.94 and Graeme Pollock with 60.97, remains, after so many years, the best by a West Indian batsman.

And but for the three Test matches he played after the Second World War interrupted his career in 1939, he would have been second only to Bradman.

In the first Test against England at Kensington Oval in 1948 - nine years after 1939, Headley, batting at number six and number 11, scored 29 and seven not out, in the first Test against India in Delhi in 1948, Headley, batting at number three, scored two, and in the first Test against England at Sabina in 1954 - 15 years after 1939, Headley, batting at number six, scored 16 and one.

Without those three matches, without those five innings (one not out) during which he scored only 55 runs, Headley's average would have been 66.71.

Headley's greatness, the many times it was Headley versus the opposition, and his obvious impact on West Indies cricket were such that even if it came down to one, he would have to be the one.

Headley, who batted on good pitches, on wet pitches, on drying pitches and who scored runs on all of them, was simply a genius