John Goddard (cricketer)
John Goddard in 1950
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Born |
21 April 1919 St Michael, Barbados |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Died | 26 August 1987 (aged 68) London, England |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Batting style | Left-handed batsman (LHB) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bowling style | Right-arm medium, offbreak | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| International information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| National side | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Career statistics | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Source: [1]
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
John Douglas Claude Goddard OBE (21 April 1919 – 26 August 1987) was a cricketer who captained the West Indies in 22 of his 27 Tests between 1948 and 1957.
Goddard was born in Fontabelle, Saint Michael, Barbados, into a family that controlled one of the leading trading companies in Barbados. He attended The Lodge School in Barbados, where he excelled at cricket, soccer and athletics.
He played for Barbados from 1936-37 to 1957-58. A middle-order batsman, he scored five first-class centuries in his career, all for Barbados in the period from 1942-43 to 1946-47, when in 12 matches he made 1219 runs at an average of 67.72. His highest score was 218 not out, against Trinidad in 1943-44, when he and Frank Worrell added 502 in 404 minutes in an unbroken partnership for the fourth wicket. He captained Barbados from 1946-47 until his retirement.
He made his Test debut in the West Indies' first series after the Second World War, when England toured in 1947-48. Goddard played in all four Tests, taking over the captaincy in the Third and Fourth Tests. His medium-paced off-spin bowling was more successful than his batting (he ran through the England top order in the Third Test to take 5 for 31, and in the series took 11 wickets at 26.09 and made 122 runs at 24.40) but it was in captaincy that he excelled. The first two Tests had been drawn, but under Goddard West Indies won the last two easily. After the Third Test, Wisden announced that West Indies had "discovered a really efficient captain"; after the Fourth Test it spoke of his "inspiring leadership" and called him "a great captain".
He led the West Indies in 1948-49 on their first tour of India, winning the five match series 1-0. Wisden noted: "The West Indian team found great inspiration in the leadership of Goddard, whose sound judgment and circumspection were attributes that counted so much for the success of the tour. A talented player and expert tactician, he commanded the respect of his men and so got the best out of them." He made 190 runs at 47.50 and took 9 wickets at 39.00 in the series.
The 1950 tour of England was a triumph for the West Indies. In their three previous tours of England they had never won a Test match – this time they won the series 3-1. Wisden commented: "A heavy responsibility falls on any touring captain, and Goddard with his strong personality showed ability to control his men both on and off the field. All of them had the utmost faith in him ... there can be no question that the flourishing state of cricket in the Caribbean to-day is partly due to his shrewdness and leadership." Goddard made only 106 runs at 26.50 batting at number eight, and bowled only 74.4 overs in the four Tests, taking 6 wickets at 20.33.
...
Wikipedia