Andy Ganteaume: The man with International Test cricket's highest batting average

Ganteaume (right) is also the oldest living international cricketer at 95

A walk down cricket’s history lane is filled with cricketers, both famous and infamous failing to perform on their debut match. Indian ODI Captain MS Dhoni began his career with a duck. However, imagine being dropped after scoring a century on debut. Such is the case of the cricketer with international Test cricket’s highest batting average, Andy Ganteaume.

Often a central question to sports quizzes across the globe, the West Indian cricketer is only one of two players to be dropped, after scoring a 100 on debut. Rodney Redmond from New Zealand was the only other batsman to have secured this distinction. He was forced to quit the sport because he was diagnosed with a catastrophic eye-disease.

Andy’s score of 112 against England on February 11, 1948, puts him on top of the average charts. Most statisticians do not calculate his efforts because he has failed to play the stipulated number of matches.

The first test at Kensington Oval saw both sides field a host of debutants. England had seven and West Indies went with seven, including the legendary batting duo Clyde Walcott and Everton Weekes.

West Indies introduced two more debutants in the second Test. The first being Ganteaume, who was replacing Jeffrey Stollmayer and Frank Worrell, Barbados’ first ever cricket hero. Ganteaume was brought in as an opening batsaman.

His only Test appearance

England Opener Billy Griffith initiated proceedings with a four and would eventually go on to score 140. Buoyed by his century, England eventually reached a target of 363, despite’s Wilf Ferguson’s five wicket haul.

On the other hand, West Indies began the match in style, with both openers crossing the 50 mark. At the end of day two, they recorded a score of 160 without loss. It was Ganteaume’s partner George Carew, who was doing the heavy hitting. Carew quickly reached the 100 mark, whereas Ganteaume give him support, with a sensible 52.

The next morning, Carew fell cheaply for 107, adding just six runs to his score. Worrell walked in with West Indies 136 runs behind the target. It is at this point the run-rate took a massive beating. With both debutants on the crease playing resolutely, Captain Gerry Gomez sent a note asking the duo to increase the scoring-rate.

The message stated, Dear Andy and Frank,”I want you to press on now. We are behind the clock and need to score more quickly.” Both batsmen barely troubled the scoring, during their time on the crease.

By the time the note arrived, Ganteaume had successfully reached his century. He also became the first cricketer from Trinidad and Tobago to In an attempt to press the opposition, he lifted the ball towards extra cover as Jack Ikin graciously accepted the catch.

Ganteaume was scoring at 122.4 runs per hour, this is the reason why he was never chosen. However, his partner Worrell, who also scored a century, was scoring at 129.8 runs per hour, not much more than Ganteaume.

In 1955/56, after a seven year wait, Ganteaume was selected for the national team again. His performances for Glamorgan, scoring 800 runs at an average of 27.58 earned him the call-up. However, Ganteaume didn’t feature in any of the matches.

He was selected again for the Pakistan Tour next year, but failed to play again. He retired in 1958, ending an international career that never left the starting block.