Above Sir Don!
Sir Donald George Bradman’s batting average in Test cricket
stands at 99.94! Many great batters over the decades have tried their best to
come near this astronomical figure. But all these legendary players have fallen
far short. No prominent batter has come anywhere near to the one and only Sir
Don.
It needed a short man however to show us the truth behind the
cliché, ‘lies, damned lies and statistics’. The man was from the island of
Trinidad. On his home ground at Port of Spain, the capital city of Trinidad,
Andrew Gordon Ganteaume was selected to
represent West Indies against MCC (then England) in 1947 in the 2nd
Test match of the series.
The deputy wicket-keeper was included at the last moment as
the regular opener was unavailable and he played as an opening batsman. While
batting, the debutant opener was his usual cautious self. Certainly more so
because of the opportunity to play for the Federation of West Indies for the
first time.
He was the highest scorer with 112 in the first innings and
was not required to bat in the next innings. He was certainly very happy and
looked forward to more opportunities. Little did he realize that selectors are
men of varying intelligence and have unusual interests. They can be vindictive
(SS Mitter’s and Amol Muzumder’s experience); they can be forgetful (Paras
Dogra of J&K, a recent example); they can be…
Ganteaume was dropped from the West Indies team for the
following Test as well as for the remainder of the series! And forever it
seemed…
Ten years later someone suddenly remembered the diminutive,
dogged opener. He went to England in 1957 but by then with the fantastic
strength of the West Indies batting line-up – Weekes, Walcott, Worrell, Kanhai,
Sobers and Collie Smith – no place could be found for him in the XI.
Thus ended the career of a man who played just one Test
innings, scored 112 and finished his Test career ahead of Sir Don with a
batting average of 112! Ganteaume achieved statistically what the legendary
batters of cricket could not: beat Sir Don somehow!
Born in 1921 his first class career stretched from 1940 to 1963.
Forlorn and anonymous he remained, except for that one day of glory.
Photo credits: Instagram (Sir Donald Bradman) & Facebook
(Andy Ganteaume)
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