Clifford Roach

West Indian cricketer

Clifford Archibald Roach (13 March 1904 – 16 April 1988) was a West Indian cricketer who played in West Indies' first Test match in 1928. Two years later, he scored the West Indies' first century in Test matches, followed two matches later by the team's first double century. Roach played for Trinidad, but before having any great success at first class level, he was chosen to tour England with a West Indies team in 1928 and scored over 1,000 runs. When England played in the West Indies in 1930, he recorded his ground breaking centuries but had intermittent success at Test level afterwards. He toured Australia in 1930–31 and returned to England in 1933, when he once more passed 1,000 runs, but was dropped from the team in 1935. Within three years, he lost his place in the Trinidad team. Roach was generally inconsistent, but batted in an attacking and attractive style. Outside of cricket, he worked as a solicitor. Later in his life, he suffered from diabetes which necessitated the amputation of both his legs.

Roach was born in Port of Spain, Trinidad, He played his early cricket on matting pitches in Trinidad, and represented Maple, a cricket club for middle class players. He was coached by George John from an early age. He made his first class debut for Trinidad in February 1924, when he scored 44 and 22 against British Guiana. He did not play for Trinidad again until 1926, when he faced the touring Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) in two games without much success. Despite another unproductive match for Trinidad in January 1927, this time against Barbados, That December, he passed fifty for the first time in first class matches, when he scored 84 runs for a combined Trinidad and Guiana team. The latter match was played to assist in selecting a team for the forthcoming West Indian tour of England; Roach played a further two such games without success in early 1928. Meanwhile, he trained as a solicitor, and successfully took his examinations shortly before the tour began.

The West Indian tour of England in 1928 included the team's first Test matches. However, all three Test matches were lost by an innings and the poor overall results led commentators to judge the team unsuccessful. The review of the tour in Wisden Cricketers' Almanack suggested: "Everybody was compelled to realise that the playing of Test Matches between England and West Indies was a mistake". The batsmen in particular struggled to adapt to the unfamiliar conditions and the wet summer. The Wisden report singled out Roach as a success, and the best of the batsmen who had not toured England before: "Possessed of strong defence and a nice variety of stroke—especially on the off side—he created a distinctly favourable impression, and he added to his abilities as a run getter the further qualifications of being a brilliant fieldsman—especially at cover point." with a highest score of 92 against the Minor Counties. Making his Test debut in the first Test match, Roach scored 0 and 16. In the second match, promoted to open the batting, he scored 50 and 0, and in the final game had scores of 53, part of an opening partnership of 91 in 70 minutes with George Challenor, and 12. He was fourth in the West Indian Test batting averages, but only one other player, Joe Small, reached fifty in the series, and he only did so once.

Returning to Trinidad, Roach scored two fifties in three first class matches in 1929. and several star English bowlers were missing. Roach played in the first Test and, opening the batting, scored 122 in the first innings, the first Test century for West Indies and Roach's maiden century in first class cricket. He shared partnerships of 144 for the first wicket with Errol Hunte, and 192 with George Headley for the second wicket. His second hundred runs were scored in 74 minutes. Inter island politics meant that selectors tended to pick players from the island hosting the Test. In the series, 29 players represented the West Indies and the team had a different captain in each match. Late in 1930, the West Indies team toured Australia for the first time. They played five Test matches in the 1930–31 season, losing all but the last which they won by 30 runs. For much of the tour, the team was outplayed. Roach was expected to be one of the leading batsman, along with Headley, on the tour, and he scored 56 in the first Test, but only reached double figures twice in his next seven Test innings until he scored 31 and 34 in the final game. In other first class matches, he scored 104 against Victoria and, in total, scored 637 runs at 24.50. A report in the Sporting Chronicle, a Trinidad newspaper, in April 1931 suggested, without elaboration, that he "was not himself" during the tour, which accounted for his poor form.

Roach was unsuccessful playing for Trinidad in 1932. he failed in a trial match in early 1933, but was picked to tour England during the 1933 season. In total, Roach scored 1,286 runs at 25.72 in first class matches to finish ninth in the team averages, and 141 runs at 23.50 in Tests. Wisden suggested that, had his defensive abilities matched the style of his strokeplay, he would have been more successful. There were suggestions that Roach should have dropped down the batting order to counter his periods of poor form, but the captain, Jackie Grant, suggested that his aggressive approach made him an attraction and that he was happier opening the batting.

Roach played twice for Trinidad in 1934. Unsuccessful in his first game in February, in September he scored 128 against British Guiana. Roach continued to play for Trinidad. In the same month as his final Test, he played for Trinidad against the MCC team, scoring 28 and 0. He played twice for the team in 1936, scoring a fifty in the second game. His final first class games came in 1937. Against Barbados, he scored 89, and in his final game he scored 7 and 28 against British Guiana. In 98 first class games, he scored 4,851 runs at 28.04, with five centuries, and took five wickets. Roach also had some success as a footballer. He played for the Maple team, for whom he played at inside right until the late 1930s, but also represented Trinidad at international level. He and his wife, Edna, had nine children. She suggests that he provided a bridge in West Indian batting between George Challenor, the first notably successful batsman to represent the West Indies, and George Headley, the leading West Indian batsman before the Second World War. playing risky but attractive shots outside off stump. From this description, the journalist Frank Keating suggested a playing resemblance to Gordon Greenidge. On another occasion, James described Roach as "an untalkative but cheerful soul." Roach's form may have been affected by his lack of a regular partner to open the batting; he frequently had different partners from one Test to the next.