Cecil Beaumont "Monty" Williams

OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(8 March 1926 – 20 September 1998) was a Barbadian

cricketer Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

who 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 one of three or more days' scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officiall ...

for

Barbados Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of the Americas, and the most easterly of the Caribbean Islands. It occupies an area of and has a population of about 287,000 (2019 estimate). ...

from 1948 to 1956. He later served as a Barbadian high commissioner and

ambassador An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or sov ...

Education

Cecil Williams was born in

St Michael Michael (; he, מִיכָאֵל, lit=Who is like El od, translit=Mīḵāʾēl; el, Μιχαήλ, translit=Mikhaḗl; la, Michahel; ar, ميخائيل ، مِيكَالَ ، ميكائيل, translit=Mīkāʾīl, Mīkāl, Mīkhāʾīl), also ...

Parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or m ...

, Barbados, in a family of 10 children. He went to school at Harrison College in

Bridgetown Bridgetown (UN/LOCODE: BB BGI) is the capital and largest city of Barbados Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of the Americas, and the most easterly of the Caribbean Island ...

, and won scholarships to

Codrington College Codrington College is an Anglican theological college in St. John, Barbados now affiliated with the University of the West Indies at Cave Hill. It is one of the oldest Anglican theological colleges in the Americas. It was affiliated to the U ...

in Barbados and

Durham University , mottoeng = Her foundations are upon the holy hills (Psalm 87:1) , established = (university status) , type = Public , academic_staff = 1,830 (2020) , administrative_staff = 2,640 (2018/19) , chancellor = Sir Thomas Allen , vice_chan ...

in England. He taught at Harrison College before being awarded a scholarship to study at

New College, Oxford New College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1379 by William of Wykeham in conjunction with Winchester College as its feeder school, New College is one of the oldest colleges at th ...

Cricket career

Williams was a middle-order batsman and leg-spin and

googly In the game of cricket, a googly refers to a type of delivery bowled by a right-arm leg spin bowler. It is different from the normal delivery for a leg-spin bowler in that it is turning the other way. The googly is ''not'' a variation of the ...

bowler. He played two matches for Barbados against the touring MCC in 1947–48 with only moderate success, but made a big impression in his two matches against

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 ...

in 1948–49, scoring 108 in one match and taking 6 for 28 in the other. He was expected to be prominent among the

West Indies team West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sunset, Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic languages, German ...

that toured England in 1950, but the younger spinners

Sonny Ramadhin Sonny Ramadhin, Chaconia Medal, CM (1 May 1929 – 27 February 2022) was a West Indian cricket team, West Indian cricketer, and was a dominant bowler of the 1950s. He was the first of many West Indian cricketers of Indo-Trinidadian, Indian orig ...

and

Alf Valentine Alfred Louis Valentine (28 April 1930 – 11 May 2004) was a West Indies cricket team, West Indian cricketer in the 1950s and 1960s. He is most famous for his performance in the West Indies' 1950 tour of England cricket team, England, which was ...

were so successful in the

Tests Test(s), testing, or TEST may refer to: * Test (assessment), an educational assessment intended to measure the respondents' knowledge or other abilities Arts and entertainment * ''Test'' (2013 film), an American film * ''Test'' (2014 film), ...

, taking 59 wickets between them, that Williams was unable to force his way into the Test team. ''

Wisden ''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" was first used in the 1930s by Alec Waugh in a ...

'' did note, however, that he showed "much promise". He achieved his best first-class bowling figures in the match against MCC at

Lord's Lord's Cricket Ground, commonly known as Lord's, is a cricket venue in St John's Wood, London. Named after its founder, Thomas Lord, it is owned by Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) and is the home of Middlesex County Cricket Club, the England and ...

, when he took 7 for 55 in the second innings. He captained Barbados in two first-class matches against E. W. Swanton's XI in 1955–56, scoring 133 in the second match. He played for a West Indies XI against E. W. Swanton's XI in the last match of the tour. After he retired from the game he served on the board of management of the Barbados Cricket Association.

Diplomatic career

In 1954 Williams joined the Barbados civil service, rising to Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Education by 1958. After his studies at Oxford he became in turn High Commissioner to Canada, Ambassador to the United States and High Commissioner to the UK. He was awarded the

in 1963 and made a

Companion of Honour of Barbados The Order of Barbados is a national Order of honours and decorations for Barbados. History The first Order of Barbados was instituted by Queen Elizabeth II by letters patent dated 25 July 1980. With Barbados becoming a republic on 30 November 20 ...

in 1982. On retirement from the diplomatic service in 1979, Williams joined Barbados Shipping and Trading, Barbados's largest company, in an executive position.

Personal life

Williams married Dorothy Marshall in 1952. They had two sons and a daughter. He died of cancer in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

, aged 72. One of his brothers, Sir

Denys Williams Sir Denys Ambrose Williams, KCMG, GCM (12 October 1929 – 7 August 2014) was a Chief Justice of Barbados. He served as acting Governor-General of Barbados from 19 December 1995 until 1 June 1996. Biography Early life and education Denys ...

, was

Chief Justice of Barbados The Chief Justice of Barbados is the head of the Supreme Court of Barbados as defined by the constitution. The constitution of Barbados states: *80.1 There shall be for Barbados a Supreme Court of Judicature, consisting of a High Court and a Cou ...

from 1987 to 2001.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Cecil 1926 births 1998 deaths People educated at Harrison College (Barbados) Alumni of Codrington College Alumni of Durham University Barbados cricketers Barbadian cricketers Ambassadors of Barbados to the United States High Commissioners of Barbados to the United Kingdom High Commissioners of Barbados to Canada Alumni of King's College, Newcastle