Seymour MacDonald Nurse (10 November 1933 6 May 2019) was a Barbadian cricketer. Nurse played 29 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 ...

between 1960 and 1969. A powerfully built right-hand

batsman In cricket, batting is the act or skill of hitting the cricket ball, ball with a cricket bat, bat to score runs (cricket), runs and prevent the dismissal (cricket), loss of one's wicket. Any player who is currently batting is, since Septembe ...

and an aggressive, if somewhat impetuous, shotmaker, Nurse preferred to bat in the middle order but was often asked to open the batting. A relative latecomer to high-level cricket, Nurse's Test cricket career came to what many consider a premature end in 1969. Nurse was a member of the famous Empire Cricket Club, and his cricketing mentor was club-mate

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 ...

. He made his

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 ...

debut 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 1958. The following year he made a double century for Barbados against the touring English and quickly found himself called up for Test duties with the West Indies. Over the next five years, Nurse struggled to establish himself as a permanent fixture in the West Indies team. It was not until the West Indies toured England in 1966 that Nurse was able to perform consistently at international level. Nurse retired from Test cricket at the peak of his powers, having just dominated the

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

bowlers in a three Test series. His last Test innings of 258 is still the highest score by a cricketer in his final Test innings. Nurse continued to play at club level and for Barbados for some years. He would later manage and coach the Barbados team and was the head coach of the Barbados National Sports Council. 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 1967.

Early life and career

Nurse was born on 10 November 1933 in

Saint Michael, Barbados The parish of St. Michael is one of eleven parishes of Barbados. It has a land area of and is found at the southwest portion of the island. Saint Michael has survived by name as one of the original six parishes created in 1629 by Governor Sir Wil ...

. From a humble background, Nurse was the son of a carpenter and the youngest of a family of two boys and two girls. His older brother Sinclair showed an early aptitude for cricket as a leg-spin bowler but did not carry on with the game. The younger Nurse went to school at St Stephen's Boys School where he excelled in both

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 cricket. A severe leg injury brought an end to Nurse's football career along with advice from his father to "stay in cricket and quit football, otherwise you are on your own. Football in Barbados is too rough." Nurse was good academically, but, keen to start working for a living, he left school aged 16, a decision he would later regret. Like many Barbadian cricketers from humble circumstances, Nurse started his cricket career in the Barbados Cricket League. He played for the Bay Street Boys' Club; the same club where

Garfield 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 ...

and Conrad Hunte played as young men. His talent was soon noted and he progressed to the elite Barbados Cricket Association competition, joining the famous Empire Cricket Club. It was there he met

, a major influence in Nurse's life in cricket. Nurse did not play for

until he was 25, making his

debut 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 ...

at Melbourne Oval in

Kingston, Jamaica Kingston is the Capital (political), capital and largest city of Jamaica, located on the southeastern coast of the island. It faces a natural harbour protected by the Palisadoes, a long spit (landform), sand spit which connects the town of Por ...

in July 1958. Nurse made 21 in the first innings and followed that by top-scoring with 35 in the second innings where Barbados were bowled out for 90—Barbados losing the match by 6 runs after forcing Jamaica to follow-on. In a second match against Jamaica later that month at Sabina Park, Nurse scored his maiden first-class

century A century is a period of 100 years or 10 decades. Centuries are numbered ordinally in English and many other languages. The word ''century'' comes from the Latin ''centum'', meaning ''one hundred''. ''Century'' is sometimes abbreviated as c. ...

—128

not out In cricket, a batsman is not out if they come out to bat in an innings and have not been dismissed by the end of an innings. The batsman is also ''not out'' while their innings is still in progress. Occurrence At least one batter is not out at ...

. The following year, Nurse scored 213 against the touring

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

team, sharing a 306-run

partnership A partnership is an agreement where parties agree to cooperate to advance their mutual interests. The partners in a partnership may be individuals, businesses, interest-based organizations, schools, governments or combinations. Organizations ...

with Gary Sobers. Note: Until 1971, England national teams outside England played as "

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 ...

" in all matches other than internationals.

Playing style

Nurse credited his Empire teammate

for his success in cricket, telling ''Wisden'' that "Weekes made him into a first-class cricketer, a batsman able to get a line on the ball to know precisely where to hit it." A powerfully built man, Nurse was a forceful, aggressive batsman who liked to play his shots early in an innings—sometimes to his detriment.Martin-Jenkins, p. 321. His strokeplay was attractive, if sometimes unorthodox, and he was a "superb driver off the back foot". Later in his career he was able to graft when necessary. Nurse bowled occasional off-spin and was a specialist close-to-the-wicket fielder.

Test cricket

Debut and early struggles

Nurse made his Test cricket debut for the West Indies against England at Sabina Park in Jamaica in the third Test of the 1959–60 series in February 1960. He was called up into the team as a result of an ankle injury to Frank Worrell just before the match. Nurse had only one bat and that was held together with tape so before the match the England cricketer

Trevor Bailey Trevor Edward Bailey (3 December 1923 – 10 February 2011) was an England Test cricketer, cricket writer and broadcaster. An all-rounder, Bailey was known for his skilful but unspectacular batting. As the BBC reflected in his obituary: "His ...

gave Nurse one of his bats. Nurse came out to bat in the first

innings An innings is one of the divisions of a cricket match during which one team takes its turn to bat. Innings also means the period in which an individual player bats (acts as either striker or nonstriker). In cricket and rounders, "innings" is ...

when Easton McMorris was forced to retire hurt after being hit by repeated bouncers bowled by

Fred Trueman Frederick Sewards Trueman, (6 February 1931 – 1 July 2006) was an English cricketer who played for Yorkshire County Cricket Club and the England cricket team. He had professional status and later became an author and broadcaster. Acknowled ...

and

Brian Statham John Brian Statham, (17 June 1930 – 10 June 2000) was an English professional cricketer from Gorton, in Manchester, who played for Lancashire County Cricket Club from 1950 to 1968 and for England from 1951 to 1965.boundary from the first ball he faced. In what was described as a "sparkling" innings Nurse made 70 runs before lofting the England off spinner

Ray Illingworth Raymond Illingworth Commander of the Order of the British Empire, CBE (8 June 1932 – 25 December 2021) was an English cricketer, cricket commentator and administrator. , he was one of only nine players to have taken 2,000 wickets and made 20, ...

to mid on where he was caught by M. J. K. Smith. Commenting on the dismissal some years later, Nurse said, "Inexperience got the better of me. I could have had an easy hundred, but that's life." Nurse made 11 in the second innings but was omitted for the next Test when fellow Barbadian Clyde Walcott was recalled to the team.Walcott, p. 68. Problems with injuries and a perception that his "temperament asnot really suitable to the rigours of international cricket" saw Nurse in and out of the West Indies team in the early 1960s. The West Indies batting lineup at the time was strong. Nurse was competing for a place in the team against more accomplished cricketers such as Gary Sobers and Rohan Kanhai. In addition, more conventional batsmen such as Joe Solomon and Basil Butcher were often preferred by West Indies team selectors. Nurse was selected in the West Indies team to tour Australia in 1960-61 but struggled to find his best form; not selected for the first Test in Brisbane—the famous

Tied Test A tied Test is a Test cricket match in which the side batting second is bowled out in the fourth innings, with scores level. This is a very rare result; only two ties have occurred, , in the 2,573 Tests played since 1877. The first was in 1960 and ...

—and again omitted for the final Test in Melbourne. He ended the tour on crutches having injured his ankle in play. After the Australia tour, Nurse began the first of his three seasons in England with Lancashire League team

Ramsbottom Ramsbottom is a market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Bury, Greater Manchester, England. The population at the 2011 census was 17,872. Historically in Lancashire, it lies on the River Irwell in the West Pennine Moors, north-west of Bur ...

. It was not until the fourth Test of the series against India in 1962 that Nurse was given another opportunity at Test level. Nurse made only one run in the first innings and in the second innings was 46

at the end of the match—the West Indies won by 7 wickets. Nurse's next opportunity was with the West Indies team to England in 1963 but again he was affected by an injury that kept him lame for the greater part of the tour.Goodwin, p. 142. He did not play a Test match but there was some qualified praise for his efforts in ''

Wisden Cricketers' Almanack ''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 ...

'': "Nurse took a long time to justify the nice things claimed for him. He got himself out far too often through always being in too big a hurry to get on with the scoring, but in August he looked a very fine player." He was given another opportunity to succeed in the sub-continent with a Commonwealth XI tour of Pakistan in 1963. Nurse scored 369 runs in six matches on tour including 126 not out in the final match 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# ...

Bangabandhu National Stadium National Stadium, Dhaka () is a multipurpose sports arena and the national stadium of Bangladesh. Located in the Motijheel area of Dhaka, it is predominantly used for Association football, football matches and serves as the home venue for the B ...

Success

Nurse was finally given an extended period in the West Indies team in the home series against Australia in 1964-65. he was asked to

open Open or OPEN may refer to: Music * Open (band), Australian pop/rock band * The Open (band), English indie rock band * ''Open'' (Blues Image album), 1969 * ''Open'' (Gerd Dudek, Buschi Niebergall, and Edward Vesala album), 1979 * ''Open'' (Go ...

in the first Test at Sabina Park and failed, scoring 15 and 17. Left out for the second Test in Trinidad, he returned for the remaining Tests batting in the middle order. In the fourth Test on his home ground of

Kensington Oval The Kensington Oval is a stadium located in the western part of Bridgetown, Barbados. It is the pre-eminent sporting facility on the island and is primarily used for cricket. It has hosted many important cricket games between local, regional, ...

, Nurse finally broke through for his maiden Test century. The West Indies needed to respond to a very large first innings total set by Australia, featuring a record first-wicket partnership of 382 between Bob Simpson and

Bill Lawry William Morris Lawry (born 11 February 1937) is an Australian former cricketer and commentator who played for Victoria and Australia. He captained Australia in 25 Test matches, winning nine, losing eight and drawing eight, and led Australia ...

. Nurse responded on behalf of the West Indies with a quickfire double century—201 runs including 30 boundaries. This was followed by a duck in the second innings, but Nurse had now secured himself a permanent spot in the West Indies line-up. Nurse played in a leading role in the 1966 West Indian tour of England. He scored 501 runs in the Test series at an

average In colloquial, ordinary language, an average is a single number or value that best represents a set of data. The type of average taken as most typically representative of a list of numbers is the arithmetic mean the sum of the numbers divided by ...

of 62.62, on both counts only surpassed by his captain, Sobers. In the third Test at

Trent Bridge Trent Bridge Cricket Ground is a cricket ground mostly used for Test cricket, Test, One-day cricket, One-Day International and county cricket located in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England, just across the River Trent from the city of Nott ...

Nurse scored 93 in the first innings from a total of only 235. His reluctance to curb his aggressive batting saw him again miss out on a century in an innings described by ''Wisden'' as "a fine display" on a "fast true pitch which encouraged the pace bowlers". In the fourth Test at

Headingley Headingley is a suburb of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, approximately two miles out of the city centre, to the north west along the A660 road. Headingley is the location of the Beckett Park campus of Leeds Beckett University and Headingley ...

, Nurse scored his first century against England—"a most valuable innings of 137 out of 367 which covered five and three-quarter hours". Nurse's performances that season were highly praised with ''Wisden'' listing him as one of its Cricketers of the Year, declaring the "reliable consistency of Nurse was a great asset" to the West Indies team and " reover he always made his runs attractively". Nurse was part of the West Indies cricket team in India in 1966-67 but had limited opportunities, scoring 82 runs in the two Tests he played. When Conrad Hunte retired from cricket to pursue his interest in Moral Re-Armament, Nurse was asked to replace him opening the batting for the West Indies—a position for which he was not suited. During England's 1967–68 tour of the West Indies, after making 41 and 42 in the first Test at

Port of Spain Port of Spain ( ; Trinidadian and Tobagonian English, Trinidadian English: ''Port ah Spain'' ) is the capital and chief port of Trinidad and Tobago. With a municipal population of 49,867 (2017), an urban population of 81,142 and a transient dail ...

, Nurse was pushed down the batting order for the second Test. In the fourth Test at

Queen's Park Oval The Queen's Park Oval is a sports stadium in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, used mostly for cricket matches. It opened in 1896. Privately owned by the Queen's Park Cricket Club, it is currently the second largest capacity cricket ground in ...

Nurse—batting first wicket down—shared a partnership of 273 with Kanhai that put the West Indies in a winning position but a controversial declaration by West Indian captain Sobers helped England to a win by seven wickets. England won the series by one Test to nil. ''Wisden'' said of Nurse's efforts "Nurse had a good series, though he was not entirely happy as an opener."

Final matches and premature Test retirement

Nurse's last tour with the West Indies was to Australia and New Zealand in 1968-69. Nurse took some time to find his best form in Australia; like many of his teammates he struggled with John Gleeson's unorthodox bowling and Garth McKenzie's ability to move the ball early in the innings. In the fifth and final Test of the series at

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

Nurse scored a second innings 137 but was unable to prevent Australia winning the match by 382 runs. During this series Nurse, annoyed by some events on the tour, advised the

West Indies Cricket Board Cricket West Indies (CWI) is the governing body for cricket in the West Indies (a sporting confederation of over a dozen mainly Commonwealth Caribbean, English-speaking Caribbean countries and dependencies that once formed the British West Ind ...

that he no longer wanted to be considered for selection in future West Indies teams. Sobers claimed that Nurse had told him earlier that "the West Indies will never throw him away, he will get rid of them first".Sobers, pp. 137–138. Sobers, his captain, told Nurse he was a required player for the coming tour of England but Nurse felt he could not change his mind. Nurse continued on to New Zealand where he was the "outstanding performer" for the West Indies, scoring 826 runs on the tour at an average of 91.8. In the first Test, Nurse made a chancy but exciting innings of 168; a "brilliantly sustained exhibition of strokeplay".Goodwin, p. 143. ''Wisden'' stated that "although making many magnificent shots" Nurse had some luck as there were "many mis-hits which fell just clear of fieldsmen and three times all but played on". Nurse went public with his desire to leave international cricket at the end of the tour before the third and final Test at

Lancaster Park Lancaster Park, also known as Jade Stadium and AMI Stadium for sponsorship reasons, was a sports stadium in Waltham, a suburb of Christchurch in New Zealand. The stadium closed permanently due to damage sustained in the February 2011 earthqu ...

. He finished his Test cricket career in Christchurch in style with an innings of 258—his highest score in Tests. Batting in very poor light Nurse "punished the New Zealand pace bowlers with superb drives off the back foot" in an innings described by ''Wisden'' as a "magnificent display of aggressive but responsible batting" featuring 35 fours and one six. Nurse's innings was the highest score by a cricketer in his final Test innings and his 558 runs at an average of 111.60 for the Test series is still a record for the highest average for a player's final Test series (minimum 3 Tests).

After Test retirement

After his Test cricket career finished, Nurse continued playing cricket in Barbados, both at club level and in the West Indies first-class cricket competition.Sobers, p. 138. His last first-class match was for Barbados against the touring New Zealanders in 1972 where he scored 76 and a

duck Duck is the common name for numerous species of waterfowl in the family (biology), family Anatidae. Ducks are generally smaller and shorter-necked than swans and goose, geese, which are members of the same family. Divided among several subfam ...

. Watching him play in local cricket in Barbados in later years, Gary Sobers described his early retirement as "a waste". Another commentator claimed Nurse's retirement "on the threshold of a really great career" denied the West Indies of "a run maker who could have taken them unscathed into the 1970s". Nurse managed and coached the Barbados team in the 1990s and was a respected member of the Barbados Cricket Association board. He also served as head coach of the Barbados National Sports Council. Nurse mentored Desmond Haynes.

Character and personal life

Described by Sobers as a "proud man", Nurse nevertheless did have a lighter side. He acquired the nickname "Casso" from his West Indian teammates as a result of the interminable

tall tale A tall tale is a story with unbelievable elements, related as if it were true and factual. Some tall tales are exaggerations of actual events, for example fish stories ("the fish that got away") such as, "That fish was so big, why I tell ya', it ...

s he told about his "hero", Casso the marathon runner.Hall, pp. 15–16.

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 ...

described Nurse as a "wonderful singer" and an excellent mimic with his best "performance" a take-off of Freddie and the Dreamers, complete with comic antics. A keen footballer as a young man, Nurse played for Empire and made the

national team A national sports team (commonly known as a national team or a national side) is a team that represents a nation, rather than a particular club or region, in an international sport. The term is most commonly associated with team sports, for exa ...

. He helped found his own football club and in England in 1966 saw as many matches of the

1966 FIFA World Cup The 1966 FIFA World Cup was the eighth FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial Association football, football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was played in England from 11 to 30 July 1966. England defeated West Germany 4–2 in the 1966 FI ...

as he could. Nurse was the father of twin daughters, born in 1966. Nurse died at

Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Bridgetown The Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) is located in Barbados' capital city Bridgetown, which is located in the parish of Saint Michael. The hospital is the main General Hospital A hospital is a healthcare institution providing patient treatm ...

in May 2019 after an illness. He is survived by his twin daughters.

References

Citations

* * * * * *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Nurse, Seymour 1933 births 2019 deaths Cricketers from Saint Michael, Barbados Barbados cricketers Commonwealth XI cricketers West Indies Test cricketers International Cavaliers cricketers Wisden Cricketers of the Year Barbadian cricketers E. W. Swanton's XI cricketers