Spartan Cricket Club

Last updated

Spartan Cricket Club is a cricket club in Barbados.

Spartan was formed in 1893 as a club for middle-class black and creole cricketers who were denied entry into all-white cricket clubs such as Wanderers and Pickwick. [1] The inaugural president of the club was Sir William Conrad Reeves, Chief Justice of Barbados and other members consisted mostly of "lawyers, medical practitioners, elite schoolmasters, higher level civil servants and the few non-whites to have penetrated the managerial levels of the business, commercial and plantation worlds." [2] The club played its matches at the Belleville ground in Saint Michael and the first captain of the club was George Learmond. [3]

Cricket in Barbados at the time was strictly divided by colour and class. Spartan was seen as a middle-class club and in its early years efforts to admit working-class cricketers met with some resistance. In 1899, the club was divided about the admission of Fitz Hinds —a talented cricketer who had previously worked as a groundsman at Pickwick Cricket Club. After his admission, many of his team-mates refused to play with him. [3] The club was split again in 1913 when Herman Griffith attempted to join the club. Considered "too poor to enter", he was denied admission. This attitude distressed a significant minority of the club who split and established a club for working-class blacks, Empire Cricket Club in 1914. Spartan and Empire developed a strong rivalry. [3]

Before and after Barbadian independence, members of Spartan Cricket Club were influential members of Barbadian society, including Grantley Adams, the first Premier of Barbados. [4] It is claimed that Spartan has "produced more [ West Indies ] Test cricketers than any other [club] in the Caribbean". [5] The club now plays its games at Queen's Park in Bridgetown. [6]

Notable cricketers from Spartan include:

Notes

  1. ↑ Sandiford, p. 11.
  2. ↑ Stoddart, pp. 327–328.
  3. 1 2 3 Sandiford, p. 12.
  4. ↑ Stoddart, p. 328 "Interviewees invariably pointed to the fact that all post-independence Governors-General and Prime Ministers have been Spartan men, not to mention a preponderance of politicians and senior civil servants."
  5. 1 2 Wilde, Simon (15 February 2009). "Wisdom of Sulieman Benn". Sunday Times. Retrieved 30 June 2011.
  6. ↑ Brenkley, Stephen (4 April 2004). "Timely rock for cradle of the Caribbean". The Independent. Retrieved 30 June 2011.
  7. ↑ "Sir Clyde Walcott". The Independent. 28 August 2006. Retrieved 30 June 2011. The young Walcott also began playing for the famous Spartan Club ...
  8. ↑ Berry, Scyld (2008). "Never a cricketer of the year". Wisden Cricketers' Almanack. ESPNCricinfo. Retrieved 30 June 2011. Tony Cozier opened the batting for Lodge School against Hall, playing for Spartan ...

Related Research Articles

Clyde Walcott West Indian Test cricketer

Sir Clyde Leopold Walcott KA, GCM, OBE was a West Indian cricketer. Walcott was a member of the "three W's", the other two being Everton Weekes and Frank Worrell: all were very successful batsmen from Barbados, born within a short distance of each other in Bridgetown, Barbados in a period of 18 months from August 1924 to January 1926; all made their Test cricket debut against England in 1948. In the mid-1950s, Walcott was arguably the best batsman in the world. In later life, he had an active career as a cricket administrator, and was the first non-English and non-white chairman of the International Cricket Council.

Everton Weekes West Indian cricketer

Sir Everton DeCourcy Weekes, KCMG, GCM, OBE was a cricketer from Barbados. A right-handed batsman, he was known as one of the hardest hitters in world cricket. Along with Frank Worrell and Clyde Walcott, he formed what was known as "The Three Ws" of the West Indies cricket team. Weekes played in 48 Test matches for the West Indies cricket team from 1948 to 1958. He continued to play first-class cricket until 1964, surpassing 12,000 first-class runs in his final innings. As a coach he was in charge of the Canadian team at the 1979 Cricket World Cup, and he was also a commentator and international match referee.

Barbados national cricket team

The Barbados national cricket team is the national cricket team of Barbados, organised by the Barbados Cricket Association (BCA). Barbados is a member of the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB), which is a member of the International Cricket Council (ICC) in its own right, and Barbadians play internationally for the West Indies cricket team.

Seymour MacDonald Nurse was a Barbadian cricketer. Nurse played 29 Test matches for the West Indies between 1960 and 1969. A powerfully built right-hand batsman and an aggressive, if somewhat impetuous, shotmaker, Nurse preferred to bat in the middle order but was often asked to open the batting. A relative latecomer to high-level cricket, Nurse's Test cricket career came to what many consider a premature end in 1969.

Leslie Arthur Walcott was a West Indian cricketer who played for Barbados between 1925–26 and 1935-36 as a batsman, off-spinner and, in 1934-35, wicket-keeper.

Michael Campbell Frederick was a Barbadian cricketer who played one Test for the West Indies in 1954 and first-class cricket for Barbados in 1944–45, Derbyshire in 1949 and Jamaica in 1953–54.

The Barbados Defence Force Sports Program (BDFSP) is the sporting arm of the Barbados Defence Force. BDFSP recruits and trains athletes in five disciplines; football, cricket, table tennis, athletics and boxing. The program provides an opportunity for talented Barbadian athletes to concentrate on their chosen sport.

Combermere School

Combermere School is a school in Barbados. It was initially established in 1695 as the Drax Parish School by the 1682 will of Colonel Henry Drax. The school underwent several name changes and relocations until it settled at Waterford, St. Michael, on the outskirts of Bridgetown, Barbados, with the present site dating to 1819. The school, named after a colonial governor of Barbados, Stapleton Cotton, 1st Viscount Combermere, bears tribute to some of the school forefathers through the naming of areas such as the Drax Square, the De Vere Moore Gardens, and the Major Noot Hall.

The Barbados Cricket Association is the ruling body for cricket in Barbados. The BCA was established in 1933 by an Act of Parliament to replace the Barbados Cricket Challenge Cup Committee, which had administered Barbadian cricket since its formation in 1892. The current president is Conde Riley.

Sports in Barbados are many and varied. The large Barbadian diaspora around the globe and wide-scale availability of International television covered on the local cable service and DirectTV has meant that Barbadians have always been up to date on international trends. Barbadians now follow a wide cross-section of sport from across the world. In recent years, the Barbadian government has implemented a policy of sport-based tourism. Including the hosting of the 2007 Cricket World Cup and various other events locally. Beyond this, the Barbadian calendar has many sporting events throughout the year.

Harrison College is a co-educational grammar school in Bridgetown, Barbados. Founded in 1733, the school takes its name from Thomas Harrison, a Bridgetown merchant, who intended it to serve as "A Public and Free School for the poor and indigent boys of the parish".

Empire Cricket Club is a cricket club in Barbados. The club plays in Barbados Cricket Association Division 1 championship. The club was formed on 24 May 1914—Empire Day—from which it took its name. The club was formed by a defection of disaffected members of Spartan Cricket Club, when Spartan had refused membership to the "socially inferior" Barbadian cricketer Herman Griffith in 1913.

Wanderers Cricket Club is a Barbadian cricket club. The club plays in the Barbados Cricket Association Elite Division, the highest division of domestic cricket in Barbados. A multi-sport club, Wanderers also possesses a masters football team and a hockey team.

Carlton Club is a cricket club in Barbados, competing in the Barbados Cricket Association Division 1 championship. The club is based in Black Rock, north of Bridgetown and its home ground is the Desmond Haynes Oval. Carlton was founded on 1 April 1940 as a club for "lower middle income whites and near whites for whom there was no space in Pickwick and Wanderers [cricket clubs]". Changes in Barbadian society meant that from the 1960s onwards, the membership of Carlton gradually came to reflect the general Barbadian population.

YMPC Cricket Club is a cricket club in Barbados. The club plays in the Barbados Cricket Association Division 1 championship. The club is part of the Young Men's Progressive Club of Barbados; established in 1935 for "lower middle income whites and near whites for whom there was no space in Pickwick and Wanderers [cricket clubs]". Changes in Barbadian society meant that from the 1960s onwards, the membership of YMPC gradually came to reflect the general Barbadian population. YMPC's home ground is at Beckles Road, Saint Michael. The club motto is mens sana in corpore sano.

St. Catherine Sport and Social Club is a cricket club in Barbados. The club competes in the Barbados Cricket Association Division 1 championship with its home ground at Bayfield, Saint Philip. Unlike other Barbadian clubs such as Pickwick, Wanderers and Carlton, St Catherine began as a club primarily for the black population.

Wildey Sports and Cultural Club is a cricket club in Barbados. The club competes in the Barbados Cricket Association Elite Division competition, the premier cricket competition in Barbados. The club was established in 1964 for and by employees of Banks Brewery, a leading brewery in Barbados and until 2014 was called Banks Sports and Cultural Club Until 2013, the club played at the Brewery ground; it now plays at the Samuel Jackman Prescod Institute of Technology at Pine Hill.

Harry Wakefield Ince was a Barbadian cricketer who represented West Indies in matches before they attained Test match status.

Keith Arlington Patrick Sandiford GCM is a Barbadian-born Canadian historian. He has been professor emeritus at the University of Manitoba since 2002.

Jacob Graham Bethell is a Barbadian born cricketer who plays for the England under 19s cricket team. Bethell was born in Barbados and moved to Warwickshire, England, when he was 12. He made his Twenty20 debut on 20 June 2021, for Warwickshire in the 2021 T20 Blast.

References


This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.