Chester Donald Watson (born 1 July 1938) is a former

Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

er. Watson played seven

Tests Test(s), testing, or TEST may refer to: * Test (assessment), an educational assessment intended to measure the respondents' knowledge or other abilities Arts and entertainment * ''Test'' (2013 film), an American film * ''Test'' (2014 film) ...

for the

West Indies The West Indies is an island subregion of the Americas, surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, which comprises 13 independent island country, island countries and 19 dependent territory, dependencies in thr ...

in the late 1950s and early 1960s.

Career

A tall right-arm fast bowler, Watson played

first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is of three or more days scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officially adju ...

for

from 1958 to 1962. During the England tour of the West Indies in 1959–60, when he opened the West Indies bowling with

Wes Hall Sir Wesley Winfield Hall (born 12 September 1937) is a Barbadian former cricketer and politician. A tall, strong and powerfully built man, Hall was a genuine fast bowler and despite his very long run up, he was renowned for his ability to bow ...

, the two were accused by some of the

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

of intimidatory bowling. The English batsman

Ken Barrington Kenneth Frank Barrington (24 November 193014 March 1981), was an English international cricketer who played for the England cricket team and Surrey County Cricket Club in the 1950s and 1960s. He was a right-handed batsman and occasional leg-sp ...

was hit on the elbow by a Watson bouncer during the series and others had near misses, but the West Indies' champion all-rounder

Garry Sobers The Right Excellent Sir Garfield St Aubrun Sobers, NH, AO, OCC (born 28 July 1936), also known as Sir Gary or Sir Garry Sobers, is a Barbadian born former cricketer who played for the West Indies between 1954 and 1974. A highly skilled bowle ...

later claimed this was more due to the English batsmen being unaccustomed to West Indian pitches than intimidatory bowling. Watson toured Australia with the West Indies in 1960–61. His best first-class bowling figures were 6 for 33 for Jamaica against

Trinidad Trinidad is the larger, more populous island of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, the country. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is the southernmost island in ...

in October 1959. Watson played as the professional for

Church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a place/building for Christian religious activities and praying * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian comm ...

in the Lancashire League from 1961 to 1967, and from 1968 to 1971 he played as the professional for

Royton Royton is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, Greater Manchester, England, with a population of 21,284 in 2011. Close to the source of the River Irk, near undulating land at the foothills of the South Pennines, it is northwest of Ol ...

in the

Central Lancashire League The Central Lancashire Cricket League (CLCL) was a fifteen team cricket league, traditionally based in Lancashire and the West Riding of Yorkshire. It was then based in Greater Manchester and West Yorkshire. The league ran competitions at First T ...

. In 1962 he took 117 wickets at an average of 7.58 to lead the Lancashire League averages and take Church to the championship. In September and October 1962, Watson toured East Africa, Rhodesia and Malaya with a

Commonwealth XI cricket team The Commonwealth XI cricket team played over 100 first-class cricket matches from 1949 to 1968. The team started out as a side made up of mostly English, Australian and West Indian cricketers, that toured the subcontinent but later on played first-c ...

. He then spent a season in India, representing

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, but spread chiefly to the west, or beyond its Bank (geography ...

in the

Ranji Trophy The Ranji Trophy is a premier domestic first-class cricket championship played in India and organized annually by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). The teams representing regional and state cricket associations participate. BCCI ...

and North Zone in the

Duleep Trophy The Duleep Trophy, is a domestic First Class Cricket competition played in India. Named after former cricketer Duleepsinhji, the competition has largely been contested by teams representing various geographical zones of India since the first ed ...

. He was one of four West Indian fast bowlers who played a season of domestic cricket in India in 1962–63 in order to give Indian batsmen more experience of playing fast bowling. He toured Pakistan with the Commonwealth XI in 1963–64."Commonwealth XI in Pakistan, 1963", ''

Wisden ''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack'', or simply ''Wisden'', colloquially the Bible of Cricket, is a cricket reference book published annually in the United Kingdom. The description "Bible of cricket" (or variations thereof) has been applied to ''Wi ...

'' 1965, pp. 849–51.

Personal life

While living in England, Watson married a woman from

Ribchester Ribchester () is a village and civil parish within the Ribble Valley district of Lancashire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Ribble, northwest of Blackburn and east of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. The village has a long history w ...

, and studied accountancy during the Lancashire winters. When he returned to Jamaica he took up a position as a company secretary. He served as chairman of the Jamaican Board of Control for Cricket.

References

Sources

* Sobers, G. (1988) ''Sobers: Twenty years at the top'', Pan Books: London. .

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Watson, Chester 1938 births Living people Commonwealth XI cricketers Jamaican cricketers West Indies Test cricketers International Cavaliers cricketers Jamaica cricketers Delhi cricketers Cricketers from Westmoreland Parish Jamaican cricket administrators 20th-century Jamaican sportsmen