Courtney Alexander Gonsalves (31 August 1950 – 31 March 2013) was a
Guyanese cricket
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 ...
er who played a single
first-class match for
Essequibo in the final of the 1980–81 inter-county
Jones Cup, and also represented the
Guyanese national side in the 1980–81 limited-overs
Geddes Grant/Harrison Line Trophy. He later coached the
Canadian national under-19 team.
Gonsalves, a right-arm
fast bowler
Fast bowling (also referred to as pace bowling) is one of two main approaches to bowling in the sport of cricket, the other being spin bowling. Practitioners of pace bowling are usually known as ''fast'' bowlers, ''quicks'', or ''pacemen''. T ...
, was born in
Suddie
Suddie is a community in the Pomeroon-Supenaam region of Guyana, located on the Atlantic Ocean, one mile north of Onderneeming.
Suddie Hospital is a small (approximately 100-bed) hospital. Rural outreach clinics are sent into the interior and al ...
in what was then
British Guiana
British Guiana was a British colony, part of the mainland British West Indies, which resides on the northern coast of South America. Since 1966 it has been known as the independent nation of Guyana.
The first European to encounter Guiana was S ...
(now part of Guyana's
Pomeroon-Supenaam
Pomeroon-Supenaam (Region 2) is a region of Guyana. Venezuela claims the territory as part of Guayana Esequiba.
It borders the Atlantic Ocean to the north, the region of Essequibo Islands-West Demerara to the east, the region of Cuyuni-Mazaruni ...
region). He was one of four Essequibo players from Suddie, the others being batsmen
Alfred Maycock and
Lennox Alves
Lennox Alves (born 7 March 1956) is a former Guyanese cricketer who played a single first-class match for Essequibo in the final of the 1980–81 inter-county Jones Cup.
Alves, a right-handed batsman, was born in Suddie in what was then Brit ...
, and wicket-keeper
Jeff Jones. In his match for Essequibo, played against
Berbice
Berbice is a region along the Berbice River in Guyana, which was between 1627 and 1792 a colony of the Dutch West India Company and between 1792 to 1815 a colony of the Dutch state. After having been ceded to the United Kingdom of Great Britain ...
at the
Kayman Sankar Cricket Ground in
Hampton Court
Hampton Court Palace is a Grade I listed royal palace in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, southwest and upstream of central London on the River Thames. The building of the palace began in 1514 for Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, the chief ...
(on the Atlantic coast), Gonsalves opened the bowling with
Egbert Stephens
Egbert Stephens (born 15 April 1952) is a former Guyanese cricketer who played a single first-class match for Essequibo in the final of the 1980–81 inter-county Jones Cup.
Stephens, a right-arm fast bowler, was born in Dartmouth in what w ...
in each innings. He took three wickets from 16 overs in the first innings, finishing with 3/69, and failed to take a wicket in the second innings, conceding seven runs from two overs. While batting, he recorded a
pair
Pair or PAIR or Pairing may refer to:
Government and politics
* Pair (parliamentary convention), matching of members unable to attend, so as not to change the voting margin
* ''Pair'', a member of the Prussian House of Lords
* ''Pair'', the Frenc ...
, the only Essequibian to do so.
[Essequibo v Berbice](_blank)
Jones Cup 1980/81 (Final) – CricketArchive. Retrieved 1 December 2014.
Berbice won the match by nine wickets in what was Essequibo's only first-class match – only the final of the three-team Jones Cup (later the Guystac Trophy) was accorded first-class status, and Essequibo made the final only once, having defeated
Demerara
Demerara ( nl, Demerary, ) is a historical region in the Guianas, on the north coast of South America, now part of the country of Guyana. It was a colony of the Dutch West India Company between 1745 and 1792 and a colony of the Dutch state fro ...
in an earlier match. The scorecards of the non-first-class matches played by Essequibo are not available before the late 1990s, and it is therefore uncertain how Gonsalves performed for Essequibo in earlier matches. However, later in the 1980–81 season, he played in the first two of Guyana's matches in the limited-overs Geddes Grant/Harrison Line Trophy.
Gonsalves made his debut for Guyana against the
Windward Islands
french: Îles du Vent
, image_name =
, image_caption = ''Political'' Windward Islands. Clockwise: Dominica, Martinique, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and Grenada.
, image_alt =
, locator_map =
, location = Caribbean SeaNorth ...
at
Arnos Vale in
Kingstown
Kingstown is the capital, chief port, and main commercial centre of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. With a population of 12,909 (2012), Kingstown is the most populous settlement in the country. It is the island's agricultural industry centre ...
,
Saint Vincent. He took 1/10 on debut from four overs, opening the bowling with
Ray Joseph and taking the wicket of Vincentian opening batsman
Lance John. He was less successful in his second match, played a week later against
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). ...
at
Kensington Oval
The Kensington Oval is a stadium located to the west of the capital city Bridgetown on the island of Barbados. It is the pre-eminent sporting facility on the island and is primarily used for cricket. it has hosted many important and exciting c ...
,
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 ...
, going wicketless and conceding 20 runs from three overs, mostly to
Desmond Haynes
Desmond Leo Haynes (born 15 February 1956) is a former Barbadian cricketer and cricket coach who played for the West Indies cricket team between 1978 and 1994.
Haynes favoured a more measured approach to batting and scored 7,487 runs in 116 Te ...
. Gonsalves was the first Essequibian to go on to play for the Guyanese national side, which was at that time dominated by players from Berbice and Demerara.
After the conclusion of his playing career, Gonsalves took up coaching, and was also at one stage a selector for the Guyanese national team. In 1998, he was awarded "Coach of the Year" by the
Guyana Cricket Board
The Guyana Cricket Board is the ruling body for cricket in Guyana.
Guyana Cricket Board
The Guyana Cricket Board has regions who play cricket in the Country. Below is the history of the regions of certain cricket boards in the country. And also ...
, for his role in coaching North Essequibo to victories at several national tournaments. In later life, Gonsalves emigrated to
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 ...
. He became involved in
Canadian cricket, and, assisted by
Pubudu Dassanayake
Pubudu Bathiya Dassanayake ( ; born 11 July 1970) is a Sri Lanka-born Canadian former international cricketer and coach who represented both Sri Lanka and Canada internationally. He has coached Everest Premier League side Bhairahawa Gladiator ...
, coached the
Canadian national under-19 side during its unsuccessful attempt to qualify for the
2008 Under-19 World Cup.
[Eddie Norfolk (9 August 2007)]
"Canada chase World Cup spot"
– ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 2 December 2014.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gonsalves, Courtney
1950 births
2013 deaths
Essequibo cricketers
Guyana cricketers
Guyanese cricket coaches
Guyanese cricketers
Guyanese emigrants to Canada
People from Pomeroon-Supenaam