In highlighting notable feats during the 1980s of the Barbados Cricket Association (BCA) highest division Competition, remember the name Hubert “Ellis” Brathwaite.
Brathwaite was a reliable batsman, who slammed a record six centuries in amassing over 900 runs for St. Catherine in the 1983 First division Championship.
Then aged 33, Brathwaite scored the most runs (918) at an average of 65.57 – the only one above 50.
It was his second season for St. Catherine after leaving his long-standing club Banks as captain and where he was still an employee.
A tall right-hander, his highest score was 151 against Carlton at Bayfield in the third series.
Brathwaite’s other centuries were 120 not out v BCL at Bayfield (Series 2); 101 v Wanderers at Dayrells Road (Series 4); 126 not out v YMPC at Beckles Road (Series 5); and 109 and 104 v Combined Schools at Bayfield in the 11th and final round.
Between 1981 and 1983, Brathwaite scored 1868 runs (Ave: 40.60) – twice boasting of the most runs in a season. He made 604 (Ave: 40.26) in 1981 and 346 (Ave: 20.35) in 1982.
Brathwaite’s tremendous performance led to a recall to the Barbados team for the 1984 Shell Shield first-class Championship – he had played just a single match in 1979 against Jamaica at Sabina Park – in which he turned out in all five matches, as Barbados captured the title under the captaincy of Carlisle Best.
Best, himself, was one of the stars in the 1983 Division 1 Competition with 854 runs including two hundreds at an average of 47.44 for Empire, of which he was the skipper.
Apart from Brathwaite and Best, five other batsmen passed 500 runs: BCL wicket-keeper/batsman Ricky Skeete (664; Ave: 44.26); veteran YMPC all-rounder Arlington Hunte, a right-hand batsman and left-arm spin bowler (629; Ave: 37.00; he also took 33 wickets (Ave: 15.48); Timothy Boyce, the Empire opener (542; Ave: 36.13); Pickwick opener Clinton St. Hill (539; Ave: 29.94) and Police all-rounder Geoffrey Mapp, an opener, who bowled leg-breaks (520; Ave: 37.14).
It was an outstanding season for Skeete, who was the top ‘keeper with 25 victims (22 catches and three stumpings).
St. Hill led the way among the fielders with 20 catches.
Two bowlers got over 50 wickets. Lawrence Maxwell, the Police off-spinner, grabbed 63 at 11.47 runs apiece and left-arm pacer Elvis Reifer of Pickwick took 52 (Ave: 12.30).
There were 26 centuries.
Police (47 points), captained by batsman Leslie Reifer, edged out Empire by just one point to capture what was to be the first of a hat-trick of titles.
Fifteen players represented Police. (matches in brackets) – Leslie Reifer (captain), Geoffrey Mapp, Stanley Kirton, Nigel Johnson, Kenneth Sandiford, Roland Robinson, Sylvester Louis, Lawrence Maxwell (11), Trevor Greenidge (9), Kenrick Marshall (7), Anthony Depeiza (5), Clyde Husbands, Ronald Graham (4), Holburn Smith, Kenneth Edey (2).
POINTS: Police 47, Empire 46, Wanderers 43, BCL 40, Pickwick 37, Maple 36, St. Catherine 33, Spartan 25, YMPC 24, Combined Schools 20, Banks 20, Carlton 15.
Following are the statistics for batsmen with over 300 runs and bowlers with at least 20 wickets:
BATTING: Hubert Brathwaite (St. Catherine) 918 (Ave: 65.37); Carlisle Best (Empire) 854 (Ave: 47.44); Ricky Skeete (BCL) 664 (Ave: 44.26); Arlington Hunte (YMPC) 629 (Ave: 37.00); Timothy Boyce (Empire) 542 (Ave: 36.13); Clinton St. Hill (Pickwick) 539 (Ave: 29.94); Geoffrey Mapp (Police) 520 (Ave: 37.14); George Reifer (Pickwick) 490 (Ave: 30.62); Arnold Gilkes (Banks) 486 (Ave: 28.58); Nigel Johnson (Police) 466 (Ave: 27.21); Terry Hunte (YMPC) 434 (Ave: 28.93); Thelston Payne (St. Catherine) 431 (Ave: 30.78); Leslie Reifer (Police) 417 (Ave: 26.06); Sherlon Greaves (Empire) 399 (Ave: 24.93); Ricky Gilkes (Maple) 377 (Ave: 23.56); Dexter Toppin (Spartan) 371 (Ave: 21.82); Nigel Kellman (Spartan) 360 (Ave: 21.17); Stanley Kirton (Police) 356 (Ave: 20.94); Sylfred Ramsay (Maple) 346 (Ave: 21.62); Richard Holder (Banks) 342 (Ave: 19.00); Adrian Grant (Pickwick) 333 (Ave: 20.81); Orlando Greaves (Schools) 324 (Ave: 23.14); Trevor Greenidge (Police) 323 (Ave: 26.91); Byron Agard (BCL) 317 (Ave: 17.61); Mark Sealy (Wanderers) 314 (Ave: 20.93); Junior Chandler (YMPC) 312 (Ave: 20.80); Tennyson Gill (Maple) 311 (Ave: 26.27); Derwin Thompson (Schools) 311 (Ave: 23.92); Victor “Vibert” Greene (Wanderers) 309 (Ave: 18.17); Winston Herbert (BCL) 303 (Ave: 25.25); Christopher King (Carlton) 303 (Ave: 20.20).
BOWLING: Lawrence Maxwell (Police) 63 (Ave: 11.47); Elvis Reifer (Pickwick) 52 (Ave: 12.30); Charles Griffith (Banks) 48 (Ave: 14.08); Sherlon Greaves (Empire) 44 (Ave: 13.68); Odwin Gilkes (Pickwick) 43 (Ave: 14.04); Neville Mason (St. Catherine) 43 (Ave: 20.16); Kenrick Marshall (Police) 42 (Ave: 11.90); Winston Downes (Empire) 40 (Ave: 16.72); Trevor Clarke (St. Catherine) 40 (Ave: 17.82); Dave Cumberbatch (Schools) 38 (Ave: 18.78); George Linton (Spartan) 37 (Ave: 9.70); Peter Bowen (Maple) 37 (Ave: 16.83); Richard Edwards (Wanderers) 36 (Ave: 10.50); Henderson Wallace (Schools) 36 (Ave: 12.05); Noel Broomes (BCL) 36 (Ave: 17.11); Chetwyn Burnham (Maple) 36 (Ave: 18.58); Arlington Hunte (YMPC) 33 (Ave: 15.48); Roland Robinson (Police) 33 (Ave: 19.27); Milton Small (Wanderers) 30 (Ave: 15.33); Victor “Vibert” Greene (Wanderers) 29 (Ave: 19.13); Anderson Campbell (BCL) 28 (Ave: 18.42); Anthony Collins (YMPC) 27 (Ave: 16.96); William Hutchinson (Carlton) 26 (Ave: 19.73); Keith Beckles (Maple) 25 (Ave: 11.32); Winston Reid (YMPC) 24 (Ave: 13.58); Sylvester Louis (Police) 23 (Ave: 21.13); Alan Rogers (Carlton) 23 (Ave: 23.13); Richard Holder (Banks) 23 (Ave: 27.43); Charles Alleyne (YMPC) 22 (Ave: 11.36); Stephen Farmer (Wanderers) 21 (Ave: 16.09); Jeffrey Mascoll (Spartan) 21 (Ave: 20.66); Tyrone Knight (BCL) 20 (Ave: 9.55); Anthony Johnson (Schools) 20 (Ave: 29.65).
FIELDING: Wicket-keepers: Ricky Skeete (BCL) 25 (22 catches/3 stumpings); Tony Small (Empire) 24 (21/3); Sylfred Ramsay (Maple) 19 (17/2); Michael Worrell (Wanderers) 18 (16/2); Ralph Taylor (Pickwick) 17 (16/1); Milton Farley (Spartan) 17 (11/6); Arnold Gilkes (Banks) 15 (10/5); Derwin Thompson (Schools) 14 (9/5); Curtis Campbell (Carlton) 13 (11/2); Thelston Payne (St. Catherine) 13 (10/3); Trevor Greenidge (Police) 12 (8/4); Wayne Holder (YMPC) 12 (10/2).
Other than wicket-keeper: Clinton St. Hill (Pickwick) 20; Kenneth Sandiford (Police) 17; Marven Alleyne (Empire) 16; Ricky Gilkes (Maple) 14; Carlisle Best (Empire), Geoffrey Mapp (Police), Christopher King (Carlton) 13; Richard Holder (Banks), Stanley Kirton (Police) 12; Hubert Brathwaite (St. Catherine) 11; Victor Greene (Wanderers), Stephen Farmer (Wanderers), Alan Rogers (Carlton) 10.
CENTURIES(26): Arlington Hunte (YMPC) 176 v St. Catherine at Beckles Road (Series 5).
Hubert Brathwaite (St. Catherine) 151 v Carlton at Bayfield (Series 3).
Timothy Boyce (Empire) 139 not out v Spartan at Queen’s Park (Series 1).
Richard Holder (Banks) 134 v Wanderers at Dayrells Road (Series 3).
Geoffrey Mapp (Police) 134 v Carlton at Black Rock (now Desmond Haynes Oval) (Series 7).
Orlando Greaves (Combined Schools) 133 v Banks at Harrison College, Crumpton Street ‘A’ (Series 1).
Ricky Skeete (BCL) 127 v Empire at Bank Hall (Series 3).
Hubert Brathwaite (St. Catherine) 126 not out v YMPC at Beckles Road (Series 5).
Carlisle Best (Empire) 123 v Combined Schools at Ellerslie, St. Stephen’s Hill (Series 7).
Hubert Brathwaite (St. Catherine) 120 not out v BCL at Bayfield (Series 2).
Nigel Johnson (Police) 118 not out v YMPC at Beckles Road (Series 3).
Nolan Clarke (Spartan) 117 v Banks at Queen’s Park (Series 9).
Kenrick Marshall (Police) 116 v YMPC at Beckles Road (Series 9).
Carlisle Best (Empire) 109 v Spartan at Queen’s Park (Series 1).
Graham Bethell (Combined Schools) 109 v Banks at Harrison College, Crumpton Street ‘A’ (Series 1).
Hubert Brathwaite (St. Catherine) 109 v Combined Schools at Bayfield (Series 11).
Terry Hunte (YMPC) 108 v St. Catherine at Beckles Road (Series 5).
Arnold Gilkes (Banks) 107 not out v St. Catherine at The Brewery (Seres 6).
Tennyson Gill (Maple) 106 not out v Pickwick at Kensington Oval (Series 9).
Geoffrey Mapp (Police) 105 v Maple at Weymouth (Series 11).
Hubert Brathwaite (St. Catherine) 104 v Combined Schools at Bayfield (Series 11).
Byron Agard (BCL) 103 v YMPC at Beckles Road (Series 1).
George Reifer (Pickwick) 102 v Carlton at Black Rock (now Desmond Haynes Oval) (Series 1).
Hubert Brathwaite (St. Catherine) 101 v Wanderers at Dayrells Road (Series 4).
Stanley Kirton (Police) 101 Combined Schools at Weymouth (Series 5).
Neil Phillips (Maple) 101 not out v Police at Weymouth (Series 11).
Keith Holder is a veteran, award-winning freelance sports journalist, who has been covering local, regional and International cricket since 1980 as a writer and commentator. He has compiled statistics on the Barbados Cricket Association (BCA) Division 1 (rebranded Elite in 2012) Championship for four decades and provides statistics and stories for the BCA website (www.barbadoscricket.org). Email: Keithfholder@gmail.com
