Frank Worrell: the elegant batsman who united a team as captain

Some players are remembered for their runs and some for their leadership. Frank Worrell of Barbados is remembered for both. In 51 Test matches he scored 3,860 runs at an average of 49.48, hit nine centuries and took 69 wickets¹. According to ESPNcricinfo, he was a fine and graceful batsman, but he is remembered most as a strong captain and a figure who united his team².

Early life and start in cricket

Frank Mortimer Maglinne Worrell was born on 1 August 1924 in Bank Hall, Barbados. According to Wisden, his home was only a few yards from the Empire Cricket Ground, and during holidays he played there with friends almost all day. He batted right-handed and bowled left-arm, both fast-medium and slow².

In the Barbados side he began at number eleven and then moved up the order. In 1943-44 he put on an unbeaten 502 with John Goddard, and in 1945-46 an unbeaten 574 with Clyde Walcott. In 1947 he moved to Jamaica and later played for Jamaica².

On 11 February 1948, in the first Test against England in Port of Spain, he scored 97 and 28 not out. In the very next Test, in Georgetown, he made 131 not out¹. After that series he became a professional with Radcliffe in England’s Central Lancashire League, and also studied economics at Manchester University. According to Wisden, in 1964 a street near the Radcliffe cricket ground was named "Worrell Close" after him².

England in 1950: the three Ws

The 1950 tour of England was a bright chapter of his career. According to Wisden, in that series he scored 539 runs at an average of 89.83 and topped the Test averages². On 20 July 1950 at Trent Bridge, Nottingham, he scored 261 in 335 minutes, with 35 fours and 2 sixes. It is his highest Test score. At The Oval he also made 138¹.

In that era the three great West Indies batsmen, Worrell, Everton Weekes and Clyde Walcott, were known as the three Ws. According to Wisden, Walcott battered bowlers and Weekes dominated them, while Worrell dismissed them with finesse. Of the three, Worrell’s batting had the most style and beauty. England captain Norman Yardley said it was impossible to set a field for him, and the noted writer Neville Cardus said he never played an ugly or clumsy shot².

In Australia in 1951-52 he scored 108 in Melbourne and took 6 wickets for 38 in Adelaide. On 28 March 1953 in Kingston he scored 237 against India in an innings of 570 minutes. In 1957 at Nottingham he made 191 not out as opener, and on the same tour took 7 wickets for 70 at Leeds, his best bowling figures. In January 1960 at Bridgetown he batted for 682 minutes and made 197 not out¹.

Captaincy: the Brisbane tied Test and the Worrell Trophy

Worrell was made West Indies captain for the 1960-61 tour of Australia². The first Test, which began in Brisbane on 9 December 1960, was tied. That is, the two teams’ totals were level and nobody won. In that match Worrell scored 65 in each innings. In the same series he also made 82 in Sydney and 71 and 53 in Adelaide¹.

According to Wisden, Worrell told his batsmen that if the umpire gave them out, they should leave the crease at once without showing displeasure, and soon the whole team did so. At the end of the tour, half a million Australians lined the streets of Melbourne to bid his team farewell. According to ESPNcricinfo, the Test series trophy between the two countries was named the "Frank Worrell Trophy" in memory of that tour, and the two teams compete for it²³.

During India’s tour of the West Indies in 1962, Indian captain Nari Contractor was seriously injured when a ball hit him on the head. According to Wisden, Worrell was among those whose blood donations saved his life². In the same series he made 98 not out in Kingston¹.

He was 38 on the 1963 tour of England, but his influence as captain was such that it was not possible to rest him from any Test. Before the thrilling last over of the Lord’s Test, his only advice to fast bowler Wes Hall was not to bowl a no-ball and give the match away². His last Test began at The Oval on 22 August 1963. In all he captained West Indies in 15 Tests¹.

Statistics

Source: ESPNcricinfo Statsguru¹. The figures are for his international career.

Legacy and memorial

After the 1963 tour Worrell announced his retirement, and the following year he was knighted. During Australia’s tour of the West Indies in 1965 he was manager of the West Indies team. According to Wisden, he had prepared Garry Sobers for the captaincy².

On 13 March 1967, at the age of only 42, he died of leukaemia in Kingston, Jamaica. According to Wisden, a memorial service was held for him at Westminster Abbey in London, an honour no cricketer had received before². In 2009 the ICC inducted him into the Cricket Hall of Fame³. An elegant batsman, a useful bowler and a captain who wove his team into one, Frank Worrell lives on in every series that West Indies and Australia play for his trophy.