England XI in West Indies Jan/Apr 1905 - Tour Review

England XI in West Indies Jan/Apr 1905 - Tour review

During 1904-05 an English team, captained by Lord Brackley, had a
very successful tour in the West Indies playing their first match
at Kingston, on the 12th January, and finishing up at St.Clair on
the 4th April.

The team consisted of many county players, namely:

Lord Brackley           Eton (born 14 Nov 1872)
Capt. E.G.Wynyard       Hampshire and England (Apr 1861)
C.P.Foley               Middlesex (1 Nov 1868)
H.Hesketh Prichard      Hampshire (17 Nov 1876)
C.H.M.Ebden             Sussex (29 June 1880)
G.H.Simpson-Hayward     Worcestershire and England (7 June 1875)
R.C.W.Burn              Oxford Uni. (29 Oct 1882)
E.G.Hayes               Surrey (6 Nov 1876)
G.J.Thompson            Northamptonshire (27 Oct 1877)
A.F.Somerset
G.H.Drummond
H.J.Powys-Keck
T.G.O.Cole

J.Moss, the well-known umpire, accompanied the  team  as  umpire,
and took part in two matches.

In all twenty matches were played of  which  the  Englishmen  won
eleven,  lost  three,  and  drew six.  Some friction arose out of
faulty umpiring at St.  Vincent, but otherwise  the trip   passed
off    in   the   pleasantest  way.   Hayes,  as an  all-rounder,
Capt.Wynyard as a batsman and Thompson as a bowler,  carried  off
the  honours of the tour, all three coming out with fine records.
Hayes was of even more value than his figures suggest, his field-
ing  wherever he was placed being superb.  It was quite a triumph
for Capt. Wynyard, at nearly forty-four years of age, to head the
batting   averages.   He made four scores of over one hundred and
Hayes three.  Thompson stood out quite by himself  as  a  bowler,
taking  126  wickets for just under ten and a half runs each.  By
general consent the best feature of the Englishmen`s cricket  was
their fielding, the catching being exceptionally good.  A bad in-
jury to his leg prevented Capt.  Wynyard from playing in the last
two  fixtures.   The team won both their matches against the com-
bined West Indies, but were beaten by All Barbados and  twice  by
All  Trinidad.  In scoring 173 at St.Lucia, Hayes set up a record
for English teams in the West Indies.

 Contributed by J.R.F.Evans (en92jrfe@exeter.ac.uk)