Goodbye, Gerry Alexander

Tony Becca, Contributing Editor

The Test series of 1960-61, between the West Indies and Australia, paraded some of the world's best cricketers, they included Franz Copeland Murray 'Gerry' Alexander.

On one side were the likes of Frank Worrell, Garry Sobers, Rohan Kanhai, Conrad Hunte, Wes Hall, Sonny Ramadhin, Alfred Valentine, and Lance Gibbs, on the other side were players like Richie Benaud, Neil Harvey, Norman O'Neil, and Alan Davidson, and the Test series produced some outstanding performances, including an unforgettable one, the first tied Test.

It was the series which, it was said, saved Test cricket from boredom, and it was the series in which the character, and the cricketing skills, of Alexander were paraded for all to see.

Gerry Alexander stood tall among those cricketers. In each and everyone of those nail-biting Test matches, every time that the West Indies needed him, on or off the field, he stood up and answered the call.

Although the West Indies lost the series 2-1, Alexander scored at least 50 runs in at least one innings in every Test match, he scored 108 when the team was in trouble in the third Test at Sydney while batting at number eight, he batted twice not out for 63 and 87 in the fourth Test. He scored 484 runs in the series, bettered only by O'Neil and Kanhai, and he averaged 60.50 to top the West Indies averages, to finish ahead of Kanhai, Sobers, Hunte, Worrell, Seymour Nurse, and Joe Solomon in that order.

His batting, as it was throughout his career, had no 'style' about it, and there was nothing 'pretty' about it. He batted simply and correctly, doing the right things at the right time.

And so was his wicketkeeping. He simply did what he had to do, and like his batting, he did it without flair, without complication.

He seldom dropped catches, and in that series he hardly dropped any.

Once the world's co-record holder for the number of victims in a Test series, Alexander took one of his six six-wicket hauls in the Test matches of 1960-61, and he was in at the tail end of the tied Test when he caught Benaud off Hall in the final over and then, after catching the ball, diving to the stumps, and ringing out an ear-shattering appeal, ran out Wally Grout to leave the scores level with nine wickets down.

history-making tour

The quality, the capacity of the man, there for all to see day after day, was obvious when he gave up the West Indies captaincy to allow Worrell, the people's favourite, to take over for that wonderful, history-making tour of 1960-61.

Although he was no longer the captain, Alexander, from all reports, from teammates, opposing players, and journalists, was a tremendously loyal member of the team. He gave support in every way he could, and he was one of the most popular members of the West Indies team.

He was a friend to all.

He was one reason why the team was so successful, why the tour was so successful, and why the West Indies got a ticker-tape farewell in Melbourne at the end of the series.

Gerry Alexander, a veterinary surgeon, was honoured in 1982 with a national award, the Order of Distinction, for his services to sport, he served as manager of the West Indies team, as a selector of the Jamaica team, and he was once the president of the Kingston Cricket Club where he spent many a Saturday afternoon looking out, from the balcony, on the playing field of Sabina Park.

Alexander, who attended Wolmer's and Cambridge University, captained Wolmer's in both cricket and football, he represented both institutions at cricket and football, he represented the England Amateurs in football, and he won a FA Amateur Cup Winner's medal in football.

Alexander also captained Jamaica in both cricket and football, and probably would have captained the West Indies football team to England in 1959 had he not been captain of the West Indies cricket team to India and Pakistan.

Alexander, as a cricketer and footballer, was a master, as a captain and leader, he was quality, one of a kind, and as a man, he was top of the class.

Goodbye, Gerry Alexander, cricketer, footballer, leader, gentleman, and scholar. Thanks for all the memories.NOTE: The funeral for Dr Franz 'Gerry' Alexander will take place today at Sts Peter and Paul Church, Liguanea, St Andrew, starting at 2 p.m.