Sonny Ramadhin

Sonny Ramadhin, CM (1 May 1929 – 27 February 2022) was a West Indian cricketer, and was a dominant bowler of the 1950s. He was the first of many West Indian cricketers of Indian origin, and was one of the five Wisden Cricketers of the Year in 1951. He is most famous for his performance in the West Indies' 1950 tour of England, which was immortalised in the song "Victory Calypso". He was also well known for his ability to turn the ball both ways and he was also largely known for using three short-legs along with close in fielders on the off-side during his playing days in order to exert more pressure on the batsmen. He was referred to as "a small neat man whose shirt-sleeves were always buttoned at the wrist". He was the last surviving member of the 1950 West Indies team that secured the West Indies' first-ever Test series win in England. His birth certificate did not record a first name; he was listed simply as "boy", and he later adopted his nickname "Sonny" as his given name. He was introduced to cricket at the Canadian Mission School in Duncan Village, although he did not bowl while in school. Under the captaincy and coaching of Oscar Roach, who was also from Esperance Village, he went on to play for the Palmiste Club and the Trinidad Leaseholds team. It is also believed that he developed his spin bowling under Roach's guidance. This performance led to his selection for the 1950 tour to England at the age of 21. He thus became the first cricketer of East Indian origin to play for the West Indies in international cricket. The inclusion of both Valentine and Ramadhin for the test series was initially deemed as a surprise call in cricketing circles, especially someone like Ramadhin who received his maiden test call-up after having featured in only two first-class matches.

England won the first match of the series at Old Trafford, but in the second Test, at Lord's, the West Indies recorded a 326-run victory, thanks to Clyde Walcott's 168 not out in the second innings, and to the bowling of Ramadhin (11 for 152) and Valentine (7 for 127).

This was West Indies' first ever Test victory in England, and it was commemorated in the famous "Victory Calypso":

The 1950 win by the West Indies led Lord Beginner to write the first in a deluge of calypsos celebrating West Indian cricketers, giving rise to calypso cricket. Ramadhin bowled the leg-break and off-break without a discernible change in his action.

He and fellow spinner Alf Valentine continued to dominate and wreaking havoc on the English batting in the 1950 series, taking 59 wickets between them. They also bowled in tandem for several overs in their debut series (Ramadhin bowled 377.5 overs while Valentine ended up bowling 422.3 overs). West Indies also notably secured historic win at Lord's for the first time during the series. The Wisden heaped praise on his bowling performance in England by stating "No blame could be attached to pitch... Ramadhin bowled with the guile of a veteran. He pitched a tantalizing length, bowled straight at the wicket and spun enough to beat the bat." He also received praise from former English player Denis Compton who described Ramadhin as "the best match winning bowler in the world". He was the first bowler to take two five-wicket hauls in his first two Test matches, against England. In the 1957 tour of England Ramadhin still exerted his hold over batsmen, taking 7/49 to dismiss England for 186 in the first innings of the First Test at Edgbaston. The West Indies made 474 in its first innings. Then Colin Cowdrey joined Peter May at 113/3 in the second innings, still 175 runs behind. May and Cowdrey padded away any ball from Ramadhin outside off stump, where they could not be given out leg before wicket. May made 285 not out and Cowdrey 154 and together added 411 runs in 511 minutes, the third highest stand in Test cricket at the time, the highest for the fourth wicket until 2009, the highest stand ever made for England and the highest stand against the West Indies by any team. Ramadhin was forced to bowl 98–35–179–2, the most overs by a bowler in a first class innings. England won the series 3–0.

In 1964/65 he played for Lancashire, terminating his contract abruptly when he lost form. From 1968 until 1972, he represented Lincolnshire in the Minor Counties Championship.

In June 1988, Ramadhin was celebrated on the 75c Trinidad and Tobago stamp alongside the Barbados Cricket Buckle.

Personal life and death Ramadhin settled in England after retiring from international cricket. From 1965 until 1990, he and his wife ran the White Lion pub in Delph, His grandson, Kyle Hogg was a fast bowler who played for Lancashire between 2001 and 2014. His son-in-law Willie Hogg also played first-class cricket for Lancashire.