Simpson Clairmonte "Sammy" Guillen (24 September 1924 – 1 March 2013) was one of the few men to have played

Test cricket Test cricket is a form of first-class cricket played at international level between teams representing full member countries of the International Cricket Council (ICC). A match consists of four innings (two per team) and is scheduled to last fo ...

for two countries. He played five

Test matches Test match in some sports refers to a sporting contest between national representative teams and may refer to: * Test cricket * Test match (indoor cricket) * Test match (rugby union) * Test match (rugby league) * Test match (association football) ...

for the

West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greater A ...

and three for

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

in the 1950s, including New Zealand team's first victory, over the West Indies. He sealed the win by stumping

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 ...

in what was his final Test.

Life

Born 24 September 1924 at

Port of Spain Port of Spain (Spanish: ''Puerto España''), officially the City of Port of Spain (also stylized Port-of-Spain), is the capital of Trinidad and Tobago and the third largest municipality, after Chaguanas and San Fernando. The city has a municip ...

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago (, ), officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous much smaller islands, it is situated south of ...

, Guillen came from a family of cricketers which include: Victor Guillen (Simpson's father, a Test umpire in the West Indies), Noel Guillen (Simpson's brother, whom the Queen's Park Oval's outdoor practice nets are named after), Jeffrey Guillen (a well-known real estate mogul who played cricket competitively throughout his teens and well into his 30s; Noel's son), Charles Guillen (a former player who played a major factor in the coaching of West Indies all-rounder

Dwayne Bravo Dwayne John Bravo (born 7 October 1983) is a Trinidadian cricketer and a former captain of the West Indies cricket team. A genuine right arm seam bowling all-rounder, Bravo is well known for his aggressive lower-order batting and for his bowli ...

) and

Justin Guillen Justin Christopher Guillen (born January 2, 1986) is a West Indian cricketer who plays for the Trinidad and Tobago national cricket team. He made his debut for the side in the 2008 Stanford Super Series The 2008 Stanford Super Series was a c ...

, an all-rounder for

. His grandson

Logan van Beek Logan Verjus van Beek (born 7 September 1990) is a New Zealand-Dutch cricketer. He has played for the Netherlands national cricket team since 2012 and represents Wellington in New Zealand domestic cricket. He is an all-rounder who bats right-ha ...

plays for the

Canterbury Wizards Canterbury is a first-class cricket team based in Canterbury, New Zealand. It is one of six teams that compete in senior New Zealand Cricket competitions and has been the second most successful domestic team in New Zealand history. They compete ...

in cricket and for the

Christchurch Cougars The Christchurch Cougars were a New Zealand basketball team based in Christchurch. The Cougars competed in the National Basketball League (NBL) and played their home games at Cowles Stadium. The Cougars pulled out of the NBL in 2011 after just ...

in the NBL. Internationally, he represents the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

in cricket. Simpson resided in

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River / ...

with his wife Val Guillen, a former wicketkeeper for the province of Canterbury women's team. In 2004 he published his memoirs, ''Calypso Kiwi''. On the death of

Colin Snedden Colin Alexander Snedden (7 January 1918 – 24 April 2011) was a New Zealand Test cricketer. His father, Nessie Snedden, and brother, Warwick Snedden, both played first-class cricket; Warwick's son, Martin Snedden, played in 25 Tests and 93 On ...

on 24 April 2011, Guillen became the oldest surviving New Zealand Test cricketer; he was also the second-oldest surviving West Indian Test cricketer. He died at

on 1 March 2013.ESPNCricinfo Sammy Guillen dies aged 88
/ref>

Soccer career

Guillen held the further rare distinction of also playing in the final of New Zealand's premier

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

competition, the

Chatham Cup The Chatham Cup is New Zealand's premier knockout tournament in men's association football. It is held annually, with the final contested in September. The current champions of the Chatham Cup are 2022 winners Auckland City, who defeated Eastern ...

, gaining a runners-up medal for

Western AFC Western A.F.C. is a semi-professional association football club in Christchurch, New Zealand. They compete in the Robbie's Premier Football League. History 1913–1920 Western A.F.C kicked off in 1913 when a small group of keen soccer playe ...

1954 Events January * January 1 – The Soviet Union ceases to demand war reparations from West Germany. * January 3 – The Italian broadcaster RAI officially begins transmitting. * January 7 – Georgetown-IBM experiment: The fir ...

. Unsurprisingly for a wicket-keeper, his position in the Western side was

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

References

External links

*
Obituary
by Bryan Davis {{DEFAULTSORT:Guillen, Sammy 1924 births 2013 deaths Canterbury cricketers Dual international cricketers New Zealand Test cricketers New Zealand cricketers Trinidad and Tobago cricketers West Indies Test cricketers Cricketers from Port of Spain New Zealand people of Caribbean descent Trinidad and Tobago emigrants to New Zealand Wicket-keepers

Life

Soccer career

See also

References

External links