Name:

Headley, George A

Nickname:

Black Bradman

Date of Birth:

30 May 1909

Gender:

Male

Place of Birth:

Colon, Panama

Career:

Test: 1930 - 1954

Teams:

West Indies (Country)
Jamaica (Regional)

George Headley: brilliant batting held Windies together

George Headley: One of the best ever batsman, compared often to Bradman

Born : 30 May 1909 at Colon, Panama
Died : 30 November 1983 at Meadowbridge, Kingston, Jamaica

One of the very few players to have a batting average over 60 in Test cricket, George Headley was the first great West Indies batsman. He was born in Panama but moved to Jamaica at the age of 10. He was a short man who was a master of back-foot strokes particularly the cut and played the ball very late.

His first Test series was against England in 1930 and he scored 703 runs at an average of 87.87 in four matches including four centuries. His highest Test score of 270* came against England at Kingston in 1935. In first-class cricket he had a batting average of 69.86 with a best of 344* for Jamaica against Lord Tennyson's XI at Kingston in 1932. His son Ron (West Indies) and grandson Dean (England) both played Test cricket, making the family the first to have three generations of international cricketers.

Jamaican George Headley was acknowledged as one of the finest batsmen of all time and his career batting average in Test cricket an exceptional 60.83 is the third highest of any player with a completed career behind Don Bradman and Graeme Pollock.

He played 22 Tests between 1930 and 1954 scoring 2190 runs with 10 centuries. He was Wisden's Cricketer of the Year in 1934. In 1948 he became the first black man to captain the West Indies and in his final appearance in January 1954 he set a record as the oldest West Indian Test cricketer 44 years and 236 days which is unlikely to be beaten.

Source: CricketCrowd Staff Reporter