Sir Charles Christopher Griffith,
KA,
SCM (born 14 December 1938) is a West Indian former
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 in 28
Tests
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* 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) ...
from 1960 to 1969. He formed a formidable fast bowling partnership with
Wes Hall during the 1960s, but experienced a number of controversies during his career, notably being called for throwing twice, and fracturing the skull of Indian cricket captain
Nari Contractor with a bouncer.
Griffith started playing club cricket in Barbados at a young age, as a right-arm spinner. During one game he decided to bowl right arm fast and finished with figures of 7 for 1. He remained a fast bowler and soon after was chosen to represent Barbados. His first-class debut was made against the
Marylebone Cricket Club
The Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) is a cricket club founded in 1787 and based since 1814 at Lord's, Lord's Cricket Ground, which it owns, in St John's Wood, London, England. The club was the governing body of cricket from 1788 to 1989 and retain ...
who were touring the Caribbean in 1959–60 and in the space of two overs he dismissed England internationals
Colin Cowdrey,
Mike Smith and
Peter May.
In the match between Barbados and the touring
Indians in 1961–62, captain
Nari Contractor was hit on the back of the head by a Griffith
bouncer, fracturing his skull, and leading to the premature end of his career. Later in the match Griffith was no-balled by umpire
Cortez Jordan for
throwing, the first of two times that he was called during his career. The other occasion was a tour match against Lancashire in 1966, when Griffith was called by
Arthur Fagg.
Griffith had a successful tour of England in 1963, finishing the summer with 119 wickets at 12.3, 32 of them coming in the Test series. In the first innings of the Headingley Test he took 6 for 36 and finished the match with 9 wickets. He was a
Wisden Cricketer of the Year
The ''Wisden'' Cricketers of the Year are cricketers selected for the honour by the annual publication ''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack'', based "primarily for their influence on the previous English season". The award began in 1889 with the naming ...
in 1964.
Griffith was made a
Knight of St Andrew by the Barbadian government in 2017, having previously been given the
Silver Crown of Merit in 1992.
[Stuart E (2017]
It's Sir Charles
''National News'', 1 December 2017. Retrieved 26 June 2019.
References
1938 births
Living people
Barbadian knights
West Indies Test cricketers
Barbadian cricketers
Barbados cricketers
Commonwealth XI cricketers
Cricket people awarded knighthoods
International Cavaliers cricketers
Wisden Cricketers of the Year
{{Barbados-cricket-bio-stub