Gerry Alexander
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Franz Copeland Murray Alexander OD (2 November 1928 – 16 April 2011), known as Gerry Alexander, was a Jamaican
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 25 Test matches 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 ...
. He was a
wicket-keeper In cricket, the wicket-keeper is the Cricket player, player on the fielding (cricket), fielding side who stands behind the wicket, ready to stop Delivery (cricket), deliveries that pass the batsman, and take a Caught, catch, Stumped, stump the ...
who had 90 dismissals in his 25 Test appearances and, though his batting average was around 30 in both Test and first class cricket, his only first-class century came in a Test on the 1960–61 tour of Australia. Alexander was the last white man to captain the West Indies cricket team. He led the West Indies against Pakistan at home in 1958, on the tour of India and Pakistan in 1958–59 and against England in 1960. He would not tolerate the indiscipline of Roy Gilchrist on the tour of India and sent him home before the team reached Pakistan.


Early life

He was educated at Wolmer's Boys' School, which was founded in 1729 and is one of the oldest schools in the West Indies. He then attended
Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge Gonville and Caius College, commonly known as Caius ( ), is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1348 by Edmund Gonville, it is the fourth-oldest of the University of Cambridge's 31 colleges and ...
. He played for the
Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...
cricket team in both 1952 and 1953, winning a
Blue Blue is one of the three primary colours in the RYB color model, RYB colour model (traditional colour theory), as well as in the RGB color model, RGB (additive) colour model. It lies between Violet (color), violet and cyan on the optical spe ...
in both years for appearing in the University Match against Oxford. He also won a Blue at
football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...
, and went on to win an England amateur cap and an
FA Amateur Cup The FA Amateur Cup was an English football competition for amateur clubs. It commenced in 1893 and ended in 1974 when the Football Association abolished official amateur status. History Following the legalisation of professionalism within footb ...
winner's medal in 1953 playing for
Pegasus Pegasus (; ) is a winged horse in Greek mythology, usually depicted as a white stallion. He was sired by Poseidon, in his role as horse-god, and foaled by the Gorgon Medusa. Pegasus was the brother of Chrysaor, both born from Medusa's blood w ...
. He played cricket for
Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfor ...
in 1954 and 1955.''Daily Telegraph'' obituary
Retrieved 20 April 2011

Retrieved 20 April 2011
He represented
Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...
at football in 1956 in a qualifying game versus Bulgaria on 12 May 1956 at Wembley. The match ended 3–3.


Test career

Having not played a first-class match since 1953, he appeared for
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 ...
in two matches against the touring Duke of Norfolk's XI in March 1957. He also appeared in a trial match for the West Indies tour to England that summer, sharing a stand of 134 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 ...
. As a result, he was chosen as wicketkeeper for the touring team, though his selection was controversial. He only appeared in the final two Tests of that series, Rohan Kanhai being preferred as a makeshift keeper for the first three. Alexander distinguished himself in neither match, scoring 0 not out, 11, 0 and 0 and not keeping well, and West Indies lost both matches by an innings. After the series John Goddard, the captain, retired. For the first time it seemed possible that a black captain would be appointed as his replacement. However Frank Worrell declined the position because he was studying for a degree in economics at
Manchester University The University of Manchester is a public university, public research university in Manchester, England. The main campus is south of Manchester city centre, Manchester City Centre on Wilmslow Road, Oxford Road. The University of Manchester is c ...
, and the other senior players
Everton Weekes Sir Everton DeCourcy Weekes, Order of St Michael and St George, KCMG, Gold Crown of Merit, GCM, Order of the British Empire, OBE (26 February 19251 July 2020) was a cricketer from Barbados. A right-handed batsman, he was known as one of the har ...
and Clyde Walcott were apparently not considered suitable. Thus Alexander was offered the job and, as his ''Telegraph'' obituarist writes "through patience, skill and encouragement... succeeded in forging the array of talent in the West Indies side into a coherent and successful team." In his first series as captain, in 1958, West Indies won at home by three matches to one against
Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...
. He also performed better both as batsman and keeper, including playing an important innings of 57 in the second innings of the second Test." West Indies next toured
India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
and
Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...
. For the first time since
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
they had to manage without any of the "three Ws" who had been the core of their batting: Worrell, Weekes and Walcott. Nevertheless, they won three Tests against India and drew the remaining two. On the only occasion that they were in difficulties, against the leg-spin of Subhash Gupte in the second Test, Alexander scored 70 to save the day." Against North Zone in the last match of the Indian leg of the tour, Roy Gilchrist, who in earlier matches had already shown a tendency to bowl beamers when angry or frustrated, unleashed a barrage of such deliveries against Swaranjit Singh, whom Alexander had known at Cambridge. Gilchrist ignored his captain's instruction to cease this form of attack. During the lunch interval Alexander substituted Gilchrist. Subsequently Gilchrist was sent home, while the other players proceeded to Pakistan for the remainder of the tour. Alexander told Gilchrist: "You will leave by the next flight. Good afternoon." This was the end of Gilchrist's Test career. There were suggestions that he had pulled a knife on Alexander. West Indies lost their first two Tests against Pakistan but won the third, Pakistan's first home defeat. The following winter, West Indies lost by one Test to nil against England, with four matches drawn, under Alexander's captaincy. He had the consolation of finishing the series with 23 victims as wicketkeeper, equalling
John Waite John Charles Waite (born 4 July 1952) is an English rock singer and musician. As a solo artist, he has released ten studio albums and is best known for the 1984 hit single "Missing You (John Waite song), Missing You", which reached No. 1 on th ...
's world record. The West Indies lost heavily in the second Test in
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 ...
, and the crowd rioted when they collapsed in their first innings. As a white man and a Jamaican, Alexander was an unpopular figure with the Trinidad crowd. Frank Worrell's return to the West Indies team for that series encouraged
CLR James Cyril Lionel Robert James (4 January 1901 – 31 May 1989),C. Gerald Fraser, Fraser, C. Gerald (2 June 1989)"C. L. R. James, Historian, Critic And Pan-Africanist, Is Dead at 88" ''The New York Times''. . who sometimes wrote under the pen-n ...
, the editor of ''The Nation'', to campaign for him to replace Alexander as captain, and Worrell was chosen to lead the tour to Australia the following winter. Alexander took the decision well, and was supportive of Worrell, who was a close friend. According to his obituarist: "The dismissed captain had taken over a side in total disarray and laid the foundations for future triumphs." He had a remarkably successful tour of Australia with the bat, scoring 60, 5, 5, 72, 0, 108, 63, 87 not out, 11 and 73 in the Tests. His century at Sydney was an important factor in enabling West Indies to win, and was the only one of his first-class career. He also kept wicket well. At the end of the tour he retired from cricket.


Later life

After retiring as a cricketer he returned to the West Indies, where he pursued a career as a
veterinary surgeon Veterinary surgery is surgery performed on non-human animals by veterinarians, whereby the procedures fall into three broad categories: orthopaedics (bones, joints, muscles), soft tissue surgery (skin, body cavities, cardiovascular system, GI/u ...
. He eventually became Chief Veterinary Officer. In 1982 Jamaica awarded him the
Order of Distinction The Order of Distinction (OD) is a national order in the Jamaican honours system. It is the sixth in order of precedence of the Orders of Societies of Honour, which were instituted by an Act of Parliament (''The National Honours and Awards Ac ...
for his contribution to sport. He died on 16 April 2011 at the age of 82 in Orange Grove, Jamaica. His wife Barbara had died only four weeks previously; they had two children.


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Alexander, Gerry 1928 births 2011 deaths Cambridge University cricketers Jamaican cricketers Cricketers from Kingston, Jamaica West Indies Test cricketers West Indies Test cricket captains Jamaica cricketers Cambridgeshire cricketers Jamaican expatriate cricketers in England Alumni of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge Cambridge University A.F.C. players England men's amateur international footballers Officers of the Order of Distinction Men's association football fullbacks English men's footballers Wicket-keepers Wolmer's Schools alumni