Lord Brackley's XI cricket team in West Indies in 1904-05

The fifth team of English cricketers toured the West Indies in the 1904-05 season. The team was captained by Lord Brackley and played a total of 20 matches, of which 10 are regarded as first class, between January and April 1905. For the first time Professionals were taken; Hayes of Surrey and Thompson of Northamptonshire.

A party of 13 was taken:

*Lord Brackley, Captain
*Mr. R.C.W. Burn
*Mr. T.G.O. Cole
*Mr. G.H. Drummond
*Mr. C.H.M. Ebden
*Mr. C.P. Foley
*Mr. H.V. Hesketh-Prichard
*Mr. H.J. Powys-Keck
*Mr. G.H.T. Simpson-Hayward
*Mr. A.W.F. Somerset
*Mr. E.G. Wynyard
*E.G. Hayes
*G.J. Thompson

J. Moss was taken as umpire and played in minor matches. None of the players had been in the earlier touring sides to the West Indies. The inclusion of the two Professionals considerably strengthened the team. Thompson had played for Northamptonshire in 1904, their last season as a minor county. He was, however, well up to first class standard. The Amateurs were of mixed standard, including a number of useful players like Simpson-Hayward, Somerset and Wynyard together with a number of borderline first class standard including the captain himself. G. Bellamy accompanied the team as scorer and played in a first class against Jamaica. S. Beton played in a minor match.

Matches played were:

* January 12, 13 : v Jamaica
* January 14, 16 : v XVIII of Jamaica, odds match 12 v 18
* January 17 : v Jamaica Garrison, 12-a-side
* January 19, 20, 21 : v Jamaica
* January 31, February 1, 2 : v Barbados
* February 3, 4 : v XVIII of Barbados, odds match 12 v 18
* February 6, 7, 8 : v West Indies (in Barbados)
* February 8, 9, 10 : v Barbados
* February 15, 16 : v St. Lucia
* February 17, 18 : v Garrison XI (in St. Lucia)
* February 20, 21 : v St. Lucia
* February 27 : v Barbados Garrison
* March 2, 3, 4 v : British Guiana
* March 6, 7, 8 v : British Guiana
* March 14, 15, 16 : v St. Vincent
* March 17, 18 : v St. Vincent
* March 21, 22, 23 : v Queens' Park (in Trinidad)
* March 25, 27, 28 v : Trinidad
* March 31, April 1, 3, 4 v : West Indies (in Trinidad)
* April 4, 5, 6 v : Trinidad

First class matches are highlighted.

Of the 10 first class matches, 6 were won, 3 lost and 1 drawn. Overall 11 matches were won, 3 lost and 6 drawn. The first matches of the tour were in Jamaica rather than Barbados as had happened on previous tours. The tourists were lucky to draw the first match against Jamaica but the next week won heavily by an innings and 169 runs. The tourists lost the second match against Barbados and then twice to Trinidad. Both match against the combined XI were won. A number of the minor matches were drawn but the tourists did win by an innings in all their matches in St. Lucia with the home team never scoring more than 102 in any innings. St. Vincent took the first innings lead in both their games but both matches were drawn.

Although in their mid to late 40s Wynyard and Somerset were highly successful batsmen supported well by Hayes. Other batsmen performed well in the minor matches but were less successful in the important games. Thompson was the mainstay of the bowling taking 75 first class wickets and 126 in all matches. Hayes and Simpson-Hayward also made useful contributions with the ball.

Averages

The following averages are in the 10 first class matches ( [http://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Seasons/Seasonal_Averages/WI/1904-05_f_Batting_by_Average.html Batting] [http://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Seasons/Seasonal_Averages/WI/1904-05_f_Bowling_by_Average.html Bowling] ).

Batting

Bowling

References

External sources

* [http://www.cricketarchive.co.uk/Archive/Seasons/WI/1904-05_WI_Lord_Brackleys_XI_in_West_Indies_1904-05.html CricketArchive]

Annual reviews

* Wisden Cricketers' Almanack 1906, pages 514 to 534

Further reading

* Peter Wynne-Thomas, "The Complete History of Cricket Tours at Home & Abroad", Guild, 1989