Alfred Ernest Albert Harragin (4 May 1877 in Port of Spain,

Trinidad Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands of Trinidad and Tobago. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is often referred to as the southernmos ...

– 21 May 1941 at Port of Spain,

) was a West Indian cricketer who toured England in 1906 and was a member of the Trinidad team from 1896-97 (when aged 19) to 1931–32 when he was 54. He was a hard-hitting right-handed batsman.

Biography

He was educated at

Queen's Royal College Queen's Royal College ( St.Clair, Trinidad), referred to for short as QRC, or "The College" by alumni, is a secondary school in Trinidad and Tobago. Originally a boarding school and grammar school, the secular college is selective and noted for it ...

in Trinidad where he excelled as an athlete. Later on he was to hold a number of Trinidadian and West Indian records for various

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping eve ...

events. He was also a record holder for longest cricket ball throw. Apart from cricket he had other sporting interests including football, rowing, horse racing and cycling. He was a Deputy Inspector General in the Police Service. He made his debut for Trinidad against Lord Hawke's team and also played against Arthur Priestley's team. In 1901–02 he was selected for the combined West Indies team against RA Bennett's XI and again against Lord Brackley's XI in 1904-05. He was a selector for, and member of, the second West Indies touring side that toured England in

1906 Events January–February * January 12 – Persian Constitutional Revolution: A nationalistic coalition of merchants, religious leaders and intellectuals in Persia forces the shah Mozaffar ad-Din Shah Qajar to grant a constitution, ...

. He was second in the West Indies batting averages, although he played only 11 of the 19 matches. He got a leg injury in the match against Kent and missed seven matches, six of them first class. Before the 1906 tour he was described as a "good bat and field" and "a player who can punish all types of bowling. He captained the Trinidad team this season and had fared particularly well in the inter-colonial matches. A brilliant man in the country, fast and a sure thrower".Gerry Wolstenholme, ''The West Indian Tour of England 1906'', p. 8. His top scores in the first class matches were 50, 51, 57 and 51 while he scored 86, 68 and 63 in minor matches. During this tour he made attempts to beat his West Indies record for throwing the cricket ball a distance of 128 yards 4 inches. While on tour he won the 1906 AAA Championship for the pole vault, with 10 feet 4 inches/3.15 metres. Back in the West Indies he scored a career high 123 for Jamaica in the 1907-08

Inter-Colonial Tournament The Inter-Colonial Tournament was the main first class cricket competition in the West Indies held between 1892-93 and 1938-39. Competing teams * Barbados * British Guiana * Trinidad In the early tournaments British Guiana were sometimes ...

, making further sporadic appearances for Jamaica for the next 25 years. He came out of retirement in 1931-32 to captain Trinidad in the

and lead Trinidad to their first victory against Barbados in Barbados since 1903-04. In his career of 40 first-class matches he had a respectable average of 26.

References

External links

CricketArchive stats
{{DEFAULTSORT:Harragin, Bertie Pre-1928 West Indies cricketers Trinidad and Tobago cricketers 1877 births 1941 deaths Alumni of Queen's Royal College, Trinidad