Herman Griffith

Who was Herman Griffith?

Herman Clarence Griffith was a West Indian cricketer who played in West Indies' first Test match in their inaugural Test tour of England and was one of the leading bowlers on that tour.

Griffith was born in Arima, Trinidad. His first tour was to England in 1928. He took 11 wickets in the three Tests, the most of any West Indian bowler. England only gave up 30 wickets in the three Tests, as they won each by an innings. Griffith's best bowling of the tour, and his best in Test cricket, came in the final match at The Oval when he took six for 103, at one stage taking five for 21 as England collapsed from 301 for two to 333 for seven.

On the tour as a whole, Griffith was less successful in first-class matches than Learie Constantine, but took 103 wickets in all matches to finish second in the tour bowling averages. He mostly batted at No 10 or 11, but was a more than useful batsman, making more than 300 runs on the tour and sharing in several partnerships that rescued earlier batting collapses.

He was the first bowler in Test cricket to send Donald Bradman back to the pavilion with a duck. This occurred during the Fifth Test of West Indies' tour of Australia in 1931.