by Mahinda Wijesinghe
There cannot be many Test players who started their careers with a century on their first Test innings, not even Bradman or Sobers have achieved that feat. Yet, there were a couple of instances when players have begun and ended their careers after that solitary effort! Just imagine a hundred on their maiden appearance in a Test and never stepped into the arena again.

On the other hand there was a hoodoo amongst Indians who made a century on their Test debut. Until G. R. Viswanath, the little Indian genius and brother-in-law of an even more famous champion Sunil Gavaskar, changed it, every Indian Test batsman who scored a hundred on their debut never made another! They were Lala Amarnath (1933-34), R. H. Shodhan (1952-53), A. G. Kripal Singh (1955-56), A. A. Baig (1959) and Hanumant Singh (1963-64). Of course, Vishwanath changed all that as he compiled 13 more Test hundreds after having made his first on debut during his illustrious career of 91 Tests. Still some Indians persisted in carrying on with this dubious tradition! They were Lala Amarnath’s elder son Surinder (1975-76) and P. K. Amre (1992- 93)! Of course, the now disgraced Mohammad Azharuddin, not only made a hundred on his debut (1984-85), but also notched two more in successive Tests, and reached a new high.

The first occasion when a Test player made a hundred and was not selected again happened during the 1947-48 series in the second Test played between the West Indies and England at Port-of-Spain, Trinidad. There were two West Indians making their Test debuts. One was Frank Worrell and the other was Andrew Gordon Ganteaume, the latter being picked due to the non-availability of regular opener Jeff Stollmeyer who was out on injury. For England the debutants were S.C. (‘Billy’) Griffith and Johnny Wardle.

The match was drawn but not before some remarkable records were established. Batting first England totalled 362, thanks mainly to a solid innings of 140 runs by S.C. (‘Billy’) Griffith. The next highest scorer was Jim Laker (55) who batted at No. 9. Pressed into service as an opener due to injuries. Griffith - normally a wicket- though it was Godfrey Evans who served in this Test behind the stumps - batted for 154 minutes and hit 15 fours, and became the first England player to score his maiden first-class century in his first Test innings. Also, all four openers, England’s J. D. Robertson and S. C. Griffith, while Joey Carew, the man with the chocolate coloured felt hat, and debutant Andy Ganteaume of the West Indies scored centuries!

The other debutant tor the West Indies was the stylish Frank Worrell later to become a legend in the history of international cricket and become one of the triumvirates of a great or probably the greatest batting combinations, namely, one of the three W’s - the others of course being Clyde Walcott and Everton Weekes. Unlike fellow debutant Ganteaume who made a maiden century Frank Worrell missed his opportunity by a mere 3 runs. He was caught behind by Evans off the bowling of Cranston when precariously perched at 97! Worrell made ample amends later in his career when he recorded 9 Test hundreds with a highest of 261.

However, getting back to the second Test at Port of Spain, such was the strength of the West Indian batting that Ganteaume was never again picked to play a Test for his country though he did tour England in 1957. Such was the power of the Carribean batting at that time. In addition to Stollmeyer, there was Clyde Walcott, Everton Weekes, Gerry Gomez, Robert Christiani and Joey Carew as specialist batsmen skipper John Goddard had at his disposal. How the current West Indians would do with a batting side like this!
(Continued Next Week)

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