Great Cricketer Dead

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31319, 15 March 1967, Page 13

Great Cricketer Dead

(N.Z.P.A.-Reuter—Copyright) KINGSTON (Jamaica), Mar. 14. The West Indies today mourns one of its greatest cricketers, Sir Frank Worrell, who died in Kingston yesterday from leukemia at the age of 42. His wife, Velda, who was with him when he died, will fly with his body to Barbados on Thursday. Their 18-year-old daughter, Lana, is flying home from school in Britain for the funeral. Sir Frank Worrell served as a senator in the Jamaican Assembly, and was Warden and Dean of Trinidad University. He was admitted to hospital in Kingston about a month ago after returning home from a tour of Indian universities. He had been reported to be responding to treatment, but had a relapse early yesterday. The former West Indies captain. Sir Frans Worrell was the man mainly responsible for establishing West Indian supremacy in world cricket ,as well as being one of the greatest batsmen of recent years.

Tributes to him as a cricketer and a man poured in from his old team mates and opponents in cricketing nations all over the world.

Clyde Walcott, who with Sir Frank Worrell and Everton Weekes formed the famous West Indian “Three W” batting formation, said in' Barbados: “I feel that cricket has lost a great man. I can think of no-one who has made a greater contribution to West Indian cricket.”

In London, Mr Billy Griffith, secretary of the M.C.C., which governs the sport, said his death was a loss to the game which would be hard to bear. Tributes to Sir Frank Worrell’s ability, personality and leadership also came from the many England captains who had played against him. Brian Close said: "Apart from being an exceptionally good cricketer he was a great man—and that is something you don’t say very often.” Sir Learie Constantine, the former West Indies test cricketer who was High Commissioner in London for Trinidad and Tobago, said: “The sporting world will mourn the loss of a great sportsman, a great gentleman and the first West Indian Negro to nail the lie of the incapacity of coloured people as leaders of men."

Flags flew at half-mast in Jamaica in honour of Sir Frank Worrell, and in Bridgetown, Barbados—where he was born on August 1, 1924—the Barbados and Rest-of-the-Com-monwealth cricket teams

stood in silence for two minutes. Sir Frank Worrell was knighted for his services to cricket within a few months of his virtual retirement from the game after the 1963 West Indian tour of England. Under his captaincy on that tour and in Australia the West Indians revitalised the game

and proved tremendously popular visitors. His highest first-class score was 308 not out for Barbados against Trinidad when he was only 19—the youngest player to make a triple century. He was also a fine left-arm bowler and fieldsman.

He played in 51 test matches—against England, Australia, New Zealand and India—between 1947 and 1963. In his career from 1942 to 1965 he scored 15,025 runs for an average of 54.43. He hit 40 hundreds and four times made 1000 runs in a season. He took 349 wickets at 29 runs apiece. In test matches he scored 3860 runs for an average of 49.48. He hit nine hundreds and had a highest Innings of 261 —in the third test against England at Trent Bridge in 1950. His finest piece of bowling in test matches brought him seven wickets for 70 in the first innings against England, at Leeds in 1957.

The New Zealand and Australian players stood in silence for two minutes at the start of play in the second test at Dunedin yesterday.