Colin Francis Blades (born 13 August 1944) is a former West Indian

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 who played both for

Barbados Barbados, officially the Republic of Barbados, is an island country in the Atlantic Ocean. It is part of the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies and the easternmost island of the Caribbean region. It lies on the boundary of the South American ...

in West Indian domestic cricket and for

Bermuda Bermuda is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. The closest land outside the territory is in the American state of North Carolina, about to the west-northwest. Bermuda is an ...

internationally. He captained Bermuda at the

1982 ICC Trophy The 1982 ICC Trophy was a limited-overs cricket tournament held in England between 16 June and 10 July 1982. It was the second ICC Trophy tournament to be staged, with matches between the 16 participating teams played over 60 overs a side and wi ...

, where he was also the overall leading run-scorer. Blades was born in Saint Philip Parish,

. He made his first-class debut in February 1964, playing for Barbados against

British Guiana British Guiana was a British colony, part of the mainland British West Indies. It was located on the northern coast of South America. Since 1966 it has been known as the independent nation of Guyana. The first known Europeans to encounter Guia ...

. After his debut, Blades did not feature for Barbados again until the 1968–69 Shell Shield season, when he played in all four of his team's matches.First-class matches played by Colin Blades
– CricketArchive. Retrieved 3 February 2016. Against

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 ...

, he made what was to be his highest first-class score, 75 runs from third in the batting order (including ten fours and a six). During the 1969 English season, Blades appeared twice for

Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated ''Notts.'') is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. The county is bordered by South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. Th ...

in the

Second XI Championship The Second XI Championship is a season-long cricket competition in England that is competed for by the reserve teams of those county cricket clubs that have first-class status. The competition started in 1959 and has been contested annually eve ...

. Later in the season, he also played in several exhibition games for the International Cavaliers (including against the touring New Zealanders).Miscellaneous matches played by Colin Blades
– CricketArchive. Retrieved 3 February 2016. He eventually joined up with the Barbadian squad that was on its own tour of England, playing two first-class matches (against

and the Cavaliers) and a one-day fixture (against

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

). Having played his last games for Barbados during the 1969–70 season, Blades moved to Bermuda in the early 1970s. He is first recorded as playing for the Bermudian national side in 1975, when he represented the team against Jamaica. In 1979, Blades was selected for Bermuda in the inaugural edition of the

ICC Trophy The Cricket World Cup Qualifier (previously called the ICC Trophy and officially known as the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup Qualifier) is a One-Day International (ODI) cricket tournament that serves as the culmination of the qualification pro ...

.ICC Trophy matches played by Colin Blades
– CricketArchive. Retrieved 3 February 2016. He was one of six members of the squad with first-class experience, the others being Joseph Bailey, Noel Gibbons, Clarence Parfitt, Lionel Thomas, and Winston Trott. His biggest contribution at the tournament was as a bowler, with his best performances being 1/3 from 12 overs against

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

and 2/14 from 12 overs in the semi-final against

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. For the

, Blades was named Bermuda's captain, aged 37. He finished the tournament as the overall leading run-scorer, making 310 runs from eight matches (including innings of 69 not out against

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea, officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is an island country in Oceania that comprises the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and offshore islands in Melanesia, a region of the southwestern Pacific Ocean n ...

and 82 not out against

West Africa West Africa, also known as Western Africa, is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations geoscheme for Africa#Western Africa, United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Gha ...

). Bermuda made the tournament's final for the first and only time, but lost to

Zimbabwe file:Zimbabwe, relief map.jpg, upright=1.22, Zimbabwe, relief map Zimbabwe, officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Bots ...

, narrowly missing out on qualifying for the 1983 World Cup.Bermuda v Zimbabwe
ICC Trophy 1982 (Final) – CricketArchive. Retrieved 3 February 2016.

References

External links

a
CricketArchive

a
ESPNcricinfo
{{DEFAULTSORT:Blades, Colin 1944 births Living people Barbadian cricketers Barbados cricketers Bermudian cricketers International Cavaliers cricketers Barbadian emigrants to Bermuda Cricketers from Saint Philip, Barbados