Sonny Ramadhin

Sonny Ramadhin, CM (1 May 1929 – 27 February 2022) was a West Indian cricketer, and was a dominant bowler of the 1950s. He was the first of many West Indian cricketers of Indian origin, and was one of the five Wisden Cricketers of the Year in 1951. He is most famous for his performance in the West Indies' 1950 tour of England, which was immortalised in the song "Victory Calypso". He was also well known for his ability to turn the ball both ways and he was also largely known for using three short-legs along with close in fielders on the off-side during his playing days in order to exert more pressure on the batsmen. He was referred to as "a small neat man whose shirt-sleeves were always buttoned at the wrist". He was the last surviving member of the 1950 West Indies team that secured the West Indies' first-ever Test series win in England.

Biography

Ramadhin was born in Esperance Village, near San Fernando, Trinidad and Tobago, in 1929. He had no first name on his birth certificate; instead he was referred as "boy" in the birth certificate, and he later adapted his nickname "Sonny" as his first name. He was introduced to cricket at the Canadian Mission School in Duncan Village, but did not bowl while in school. Under the captaincy and coaching of Oscar Roach, who was also born in Esperance Village, he later played for the Palmiste Club and the Trinidad Leaseholds team. It is also believed that Ramadhin developed his spin bowling under Oscar Roach.

Career

Breakthrough 1950 England tour

His trials for the West Indian team were two first-class matches bowling for Trinidad versus Jamaica, where he took 12 wickets at an average of 19.25. This performance led to his selection for the 1950 tour to England at the age of 21.

He made his test debut, along with Alf Valentine, in the first Test of that same Test series against England which started on 8 June 1950. He thus became the first cricketer of East Indian origin to play for the West Indies in international cricket. He decided to call himself as KT Ramadhin during his first international series. The inclusion of both Valentine and Ramadhin for the test series was initially deemed as a surprise call in cricketing circles, especially someone like Ramadhin who received his maiden test call-up after having featured in only two first-class matches.

England won the first match of the series at Old Trafford, but in the second Test, at Lord's, the West Indies recorded a 326-run victory, thanks to Clyde Walcott's 168 not out in the second innings, and to the bowling of Ramadhin (11 for 152) and Valentine (7 for 127).

This was West Indies' first ever Test victory in England, and it was commemorated in the famous " Victory Calypso":

The 1950 win by the West Indies led Lord Beginner to write the first in a deluge of calypsos celebrating West Indian cricketers, giving rise to calypso cricket. Ramadhin bowled the leg-break and off-break without a discernible change in his action.

He and fellow spinner Alf Valentine continued to dominate and wreaking havoc on the English batting in the 1950 series, taking 59 wickets between them. They also bowled in tandem for several overs in their debut series (Ramadhin bowled 377.5 overs while Valentine ended up bowling 422.3 overs). West Indies won the series by three matches to one, which was their first series victory in England. West Indies also notably secured historic win at Lord's for the first time during the series. The Wisden heaped praise on his bowling performance in England by stating "No blame could be attached to pitch... Ramadhin bowled with the guile of a veteran. He pitched a tantalizing length, bowled straight at the wicket and spun enough to beat the bat." He also received praise from former English player Denis Compton who described Ramadhin as "the best match winning bowler in the world".

Post 1950 series

When England returned to the West Indies in early 1954, Ramadhin took 13 wickets in the first two Tests and was instrumental in West Indies' victory. He was the first bowler to take two five-wicket hauls in his first two Test matches, against England. In the 1957 tour of England Ramadhin still exerted his hold over batsmen, taking 7/49 to dismiss England for 186 in the first innings of the First Test at Edgbaston. The West Indies made 474 in its first innings. Then Colin Cowdrey joined Peter May at 113/3 in the second innings, still 175 runs behind. May and Cowdrey padded away any ball from Ramadhin outside off stump, where they could not be given out leg before wicket. May made 285 not out and Cowdrey 154 and together added 411 runs in 511 minutes, the third highest stand in Test cricket at the time, the highest for the fourth wicket until 2009, the highest stand ever made for England and the highest stand against the West Indies by any team. Ramadhin was forced to bowl 98–35–179–2, the most overs by a bowler in a first class innings. England won the series 3–0.

Later years

He decided to play in Lancashire League as a professional and then decided to play first-class cricket for Lancashire after ending a prolific international career which spanned for a decade. His international career came to a close in 1960 when Lance Gibbs started to make an impact as the lead spinner for West Indies especially taking over the reins from Ramadhin in historic test series against Australia in 1960-61.

He ended up his international career having taken 158 test wickets in 43 appearances.

In 1964/65 he played for Lancashire, terminating his contract abruptly when he lost form. From 1968 until 1972, he represented Lincolnshire in the Minor Counties Championship.

In June 1988, Ramadhin was celebrated on the 75c Trinidad and Tobago stamp alongside the Barbados Cricket Buckle.

Personal life and death

He settled in England after his retirement from international cricket. He lived in Delph in his final stages of his life for around nearly 12 years. He served as President of Friarmere Cricket Club for a considerable number of years. His son Craig Ramadhin eventually played for Friarmere Cricket Club for about 50 years.

Ramadhin died on 27 February 2022, at the age of 92. His grandson, Kyle Hogg was a fast bowler who played for Lancashire between 2001 and 2014. His son-in-law Willie Hogg also played first-class cricket for Lancashire.

References

External links

*

BBC overview of 1950 series

Biography at Caribbean Cricket


Interview with Ramadhin at BBC

Garry Steckles story on birth of calypso cricket

BBC history of East Indian cricketers in West Indies

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ramadhin, Sonny
1929 births
2022 deaths
West Indies Test cricketers
Trinidad and Tobago cricketers
Lancashire cricketers
Commonwealth XI cricketers
Trinidad and Tobago Hindus
Wisden Cricketers of the Year
Lincolnshire cricketers
Recipients of the Chaconia Medal
Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers