Claude Vibart Wight (28 July 1902 – 4 October 1969) was a

West Indian A West Indian is a native or inhabitant of the West Indies (the Antilles and the Lucayan Archipelago). For more than 100 years the words ''West Indian'' specifically described natives of the West Indies, but by 1661 Europeans had begun to use it ...

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 two

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), ...

in the 1920s and 1930s. Wight was born in Georgetown,

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 ...

and made his first-class debut in 1925. He was a useful middle-order

batsman In cricket, batting is the act or skill of hitting the ball with a bat to score runs and prevent the loss of one's wicket. Any player who is currently batting is, since September 2021, officially referred to as a batter (historically, the ...

and an occasional bowler who represented

against the visiting M.C.C. in February 1926 and a few days later he represented 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 ...

, not then a

Test 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), ...

playing nation, against the same tourists, scoring 90 in the second match and sharing a seventh-wicket partnership of 173 with

Snuffy Browne Cyril Rutherford "Snuffy" Browne (8 October 1890 – 12 January 1964) was a West Indian Test cricketer who was a member of the first West Indies Test cricket team, playing against England in 1928. Browne was born in Robert's Tenantry, St Mich ...

. In 1928, despite having no leadership experience, Wight was appointed vice-captain for West Indies’ first Test

visit Visit refer as go to see and spend time with socially. Visit may refer to: *State visit, a formal visit by a head of state to a foreign country *Conjugal visit, in which a prisoner is permitted to spend several hours or days in private with a visit ...

and series against

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. It was not a successful tour for Wight, scoring just 343 runs (average 20.17) but he made his Test debut in the third match of the series played at

the Oval The Oval, currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Kia Oval, is an international cricket ground in Kennington, located in the borough of Lambeth, in south London. The Oval has been the home ground of Surrey County Cricket Club since ...

, scoring 23 and 12 not out. His only other Test was the third match of the return series, played in February 1930 at his hometown of

Bourda Bourda, or officially Georgetown Cricket Club Ground, is a cricket ground in Georgetown, Guyana, used by the Guyanese cricket team for matches with other nations in the Caribbean as well as some Test matches involving the West Indies. The groun ...

, British Guiana. Unfortunately, his contribution to a West Indian victory was just 10 and 22. In all first-class matches, Wight scored 1,547 runs at a respectable average of 30.94 and amassed three scores over 100. These came in January 1928 at Bridgetown, Barbados, for Rest of West Indies v. a 'British Born' team when he scored 119 not out, in September 1934 at Bourda for British Guiana v.

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). ...

when he scored 130 and 76, and in October 1937 again at Bourda for British Guiana 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 ...

when he hit his own wicket with his score at 127. His death in Kingston, Georgetown,

Guyana Guyana ( or ), officially the Cooperative Republic of Guyana, is a country on the northern mainland of South America. Guyana is an indigenous word which means "Land of Many Waters". The capital city is Georgetown. Guyana is bordered by the ...

, in 1969 went unrecorded in ''

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 ...

'' at the time. Wight's nephew Leslie Wight also played Test cricket for the West Indies, while eight other relatives played first-class or important matches.

References

* Martin-Jenkins, C. (1996) ''World Cricketers - A Biographical Dictionary'', Oxford University Press: Oxford. . * Frindall, B. (2000) ''The Wisden Book of Test Cricket'' Headline Book Publishing: London. . * Lawrence, B. & Goble, R. (1991) ''The Complete Record of West Indian Test Cricketers'', ACL & Polar Publishing (UK) Ltd. .

External links

*
BBC summary of 1928 series
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wight, Vibart 1902 births 1969 deaths West Indies Test cricketers Pre-1928 West Indies cricketers Guyanese cricketers Guyana cricketers Sportspeople from Georgetown, Guyana