Rolph Stewart Grant (15 December 1909 – 18 October 1977) was a

West Indian A West Indian is a native or inhabitant of the West Indies (the Antilles and the Lucayan Archipelago). According to the ''Oxford English Dictionary'' (''OED''), the term ''West Indian'' in 1597 described the indigenous inhabitants of the West In ...

cricketer 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 ...

who captained West Indies on their 1939 tour of England. He 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

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

in 1932 and 1933, and then for

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 ...

from 1934 to 1939.

Life and career

Rolph Grant was a middle-order batsman and off-spin bowler. He made his highest first-class score for

against

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 1933–34, when he scored 55 and 152, top-scoring in each innings. In the 10-wicket victory over

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...

on the 1939 tour he top-scored with 54 and took his best figures of 4 for 41 and 2 for 24. When the West Indies needed an opening batsman during the 1939 tour he took over the role, opening with

Jeffrey Stollmeyer Jeffrey Baxter Stollmeyer (11 March 1921 – 10 September 1989) was a Trinidad and Tobago cricketer who played as an opening batsman. He played 32 Test matches for the West Indies, captaining 13 of these. He was also a senator. Early life Stol ...

in all three Tests, with a highest score of 47. He took over the captaincy of the West Indies team from his brother

Jackie Grant George Copeland "Jackie" Grant (9 May 1907 – 26 October 1978) was a West Indian cricketer who captained the West Indies cricket team, West Indies in Test cricket between 1930 and 1935. He was later a missionary in South Africa and Rhodesia. ...

. Two other brothers played cricket but without the same level of success. Rolph had not always been picked for the Cambridge University team, but he was a gifted sportsman, being a national amateur footballer and being heavyweight boxing champion for his country. Later pundits put Rolph's selection as captain down to his race. The selectors wanted a white captain and Rolph fitted that requirement. Discussing the West Indian captaincy in his history of West Indian cricket,

Michael Manley Michael Norman Manley (10 December 1924 – 6 March 1997) was a Jamaican politician who served as the fourth prime minister of Jamaica, from 1972 to 1980, and from 1989 to 1992. Manley championed a democratic socialist program, and has been ...

described Grant as "a man of great decency and intelligence", but in his qualifications for the captaincy he was "far more importantly the son of a wealthy and powerful Trinidadian family ... It was the families who were accustomed to ruling who were assumed to produce the sons who were capable of leading."

, ''A History of West Indies Cricket'', Andre Deutsch, London, 1988, p. 66. Grant married Margaret Kennedy in

Windsor, Ontario Windsor ( ) is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada. It is situated on the south bank of the Detroit River directly across from the U.S city of Detroit, Detroit, Michigan. Geographically located within but administratively independent of Esse ...

, in 1934. They had three sons. They lived in Jamaica, where he was a director of the family company, Geddes Grant. He was also a prominent voluntary social worker, and was awarded the

OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

for this work in the

1961 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1961 were appointments by many of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. They were announced on 31 December 1960 in the ...

. He died in 1977.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Grant, Rolph 1909 births 1977 deaths Cricketers from Port of Spain Alumni of Queen's Royal College, Trinidad Trinidad and Tobago cricketers West Indies Test cricketers West Indies Test cricket captains Cambridge University cricketers Alumni of Christ's College, Cambridge Officers of the Order of the British Empire

Rolph Rolph is a surname and a masculine given name, and may refer to: Surname * C. H. Rolph, pen-name of C. R. Hewitt (1901–1994), English police officer, journalist, editor, and author * Ebony Rolph (born 1994), Australian basketball player * Gar ...

Trinidad and Tobago people of Canadian descent