George Headley - Style, Technique and Legacy

Style, Technique and Legacy

Headley is regarded by critics as one of the best batsmen from the Caribbean and one of the greatest batsmen of all time. In his history of West Indies cricket, Michael Manley described Headley as "the yardstick against whom all other West Indian batsmen are measured". In 1988, The Cricketer magazine placed him in an all-time West Indian team, as did a panel of judges for another such team in July 2010, while in 2004, another panel of experts named him among the top five West Indian players. He was given the nicknames "the Black Bradman" and "Atlas" by commentators, and was the first world-class batsman from the West Indies who was black. According to historian Gideon Haigh, his role was made harder by the weakness of his colleagues, as few outstanding players find it easy to play in teams which lose frequently. Although he was a naturally attacking player, Headley felt the need to play cautiously owing to the way his team depended on him. C. L. R. James believed that no other great batsman had to carry such a burden for so long. In the years before the war, Headley scored 25.61% of the runs scored in Tests by West Indies, more than twice as many as the next best batsman, and two-thirds of the team's centuries, scoring ten of the team's first fourteen centuries in Test cricket. Headley usually batted at number three and as the opening batsmen were often dismissed quickly, he frequently began his innings early.

As of 2012, Headley's average in Test matches of 60.83 is third highest among those with 2,000 runs, behind Bradman and Graeme Pollock, and but for the Tests he played after the war, he would have been above Pollock. In all first-class matches, he has the third highest average with 69.86, behind Bradman and Vijay Merchant among those who played 50 innings. He averaged a century every fourth innings in which he batted, second again to Bradman, and did not suffer a poor series in his career before the war.

Manley describes Headley as just under medium height with sloping shoulders. His movements were precise and economical on the cricket field; his cap was usually at a slight angle and his sleeves were buttoned down to the wrist. Wisden noted in 1933 that his timing and placement of the ball was perfect. Exceptionally quick on his feet, he watched the ball onto the bat more than any other batsman. According to Wisden, all his shots were equally good but most notable was his on drive played from the back foot. He hit the ball hard and was very difficult to get out. He faced criticism for playing off the back foot so often, but R. C. Robertson-Glasgow believed his square cut, late cut, and hook were exceptionally good. Headley was particularly effective on bad batting wickets. C. L. R. James calculated that Headley averaged 39.85 and passed fifty on seven occasions in thirteen innings on difficult wickets. According to James's reckoning, Bradman in similar conditions passed fifty once, and averaged 16.66 in fifteen innings. Headley himself preferred batting when the odds favoured the bowlers as he had to go for his shots and play his natural attacking game. He stated: "On a bad wicket, it was you and the bowler ...no nonsense."

Beyond cricket, Headley's success was regarded as important. Of Headley's meeting with the king of England in 1939, the West Indian writer Frank Birbalsingh said: "That one of us—a black man—could shake the hand of a king introduced possibilities formerly undreamt of in our colonial backwater of racial inferiority, psychological subordination and political powerlessness". Manley notes that Headley rose to success at a time of political awakening in Jamaica, when the black majority of the population were increasingly determined to end the minority rule of landowners and challenge the racism of the time. According to Manley, the middle classes saw in Headley "the reassurance which they needed. He demonstrated black capacity." The white upper classes were proud of his achievements as a West Indian, but Manley writes "it was to the black masses that Headley had the deepest significance ... became the focus for longing of an entire people for proof: proof of their own self-worth, their own capacity. Furthermore, they wanted this proof to be laid at the door of the white man who owned the world which defined their circumstances." Manley sees the title of "Atlas" not just in sporting terms, but in his carrying "the hopes of the black, English-speaking Caribbean man ... He was black excellence personified in a white world and in a white sport."