Vincent Valentine (cricketer)

Vincent Adolphus Valentine - An affable player of the 1930s, Vincent Valentine was born in Portland, Jamaica on April 4, 1908, and died in Kingston, Jamaica on July 6, 1972, aged 64. He was a fast-medium bowler that never really gave batsmen an easy shot, keeping as he did a perfect length, turning the ball both ways off the pitch and swinging it sharply through the air. He was also a forceful lower-order batsman and a safe fielder. He made his first-class debut for Jamaica in a memorable match at Melbourne Park, in February 1932 playing against Lord Tennyson's touring team. Although he did not bat, due solely to Jamaica's first innings score of 702 for 5 declared, he took four wickets in the match to play his part in Jamaica's victory by an innings and 97 runs. It was in this particular match that George Headley (344 not out) and Clarence Passailaigue (261 not out) made an unbeaten stand of 487 that remains a sixth-wicket record. After just one further match a year later, a match in which he did nothing of note with either the bat or the ball, he was selected for the West Indies tour to England in 1933. In truth, he only made the tour as a substitute for Learie Constantine who had availability restrictions due to his Lancashire League commitments for Nelson. Nineteen of Valentine's 24 first-class matches came on the tour, including his two Test matches (the 2nd and 3rd of the trip) in which his most noted achievement was his 19 not out in the visitor's second innings at Old Trafford. Valentine's death in 1972 went unreported at the time and therefore no obituary appeared for him within the pages of Wisden.