Retired Lancashire cricketer Kyle Hogg led the tributes following the tragic passing of former spin bowler Sonny Ramadhin at the age of 92.
The news of Ramadhin’s death was first announced on Sunday morning by Friarmere CC, the Pennine Cricket League club in Delph, Oldham.
Ramadhin served as club president as he lived in Delph for the final 12 years of his life, where his son Craig has played for the past 50 years.
Born in Trinidad in 1929, Ramadhin’s bowling helped the West Indies secure their first Test series victory in England back in 1950.
He was the first man of Indian heritage to represent the West Indies in cricket and was a genuine star of his time, claiming a sensational 158 wickets from 43 Tests during a decade-long international career.
Ramadhin formed a formidable partnership with Jamaican slow left-armer Alf Valentine, and the duo dominated England in that 1950 series.
They claimed 59 wickets between them as the West Indies - a team which included Frank Worrell, Everton Weekes and Clyde Walcott - established themselves as a genuine international side with the 3-1 series win.
The impressive performance was forever immortalise in the song Victory Calypso, whose composer Lord Beginner was among the first arrivals on the HMS Windrush in 1948.
He was also one of the fans who celebrated on the Lord’s pitch after Ramadhin’s match figures of 11 wickets for 152 runs set up an emphatic 326-run win in the second Test.
Ramadhin was a surprise debutant aged just 21 when the West Indies won the historic series and, after tallying just two appearances for Trinidad, he became a superstar renowned for his ability to make the ball swing both ways.
He took 758 first-class wickets at an average of 20.24, with an astonishing 51 five-wicket hauls.
Ramadhin had settled in the north‑west of England after his playing days were over after competing in the league for two seasons for Lancashire in the 1960s. He then enjoyed a separate spell with Lincolnshire in the Minor Counties Championship. His grandson, former seamer Hogg, also played for Lancashire, and he took to Twitter to pay tribute to his grandfather.
“Sad day - great innings grandad,” the 38-year-old wrote.
Further tributes are expected during England’s latest tour of the Caribbean and the three-match Test series for the renamed Richards-Botham trophy that starts in Antigua on March 8. The tour switches to Barbados for the second Test on March 16, before its conclusion in Grenada the following week.
