Joe: A Cricketing Hero
JOE SOLOMON, who played 27 Tests for the West Indies from 1958 to 1965, celebrated his 81st birthday in New York last Wednesday, August 24. ‘Little Joe,’ as he is affectionately referred to, hails from Port Mourant and was the hero of the first ever Tied Test: West Indies v Australia at Brisbane in 1960. While he is forever remembered as the man who sealed the Tied Test, it is often forgotten that he scored a hundred in each of his three first-class innings while playing for British Guiana in the 1950s.
This is still a world record in first-class cricket that is recognised by Wisden Cricketers Almanack, the self-professed documenter of the game’s records.

The first Test of the 1960-61 series was played at Brisbane. West Indies amassed 453 thanks to a fine innings of 132 from Garfield Sobers, 65s by both Frank Worrell and Little Joe, 60 by Jerry Alexander and 50 by Wes Hall.
Australia, led by Norman O’Neil’s 181 and Bobby Simpson’s 92, replied with 505. West Indies then made 284 thanks to another 65 by Worrell, 54 by Rohan Kanhai and 47 by Little Joe.
Australia set 233 to win lost their last wicket to a direct hit from Little Joe who had only one stump to aim at from point. And so the famous Tied Test was sealed by the little lad from the remote sugar estate of Port Mourant.

The match ended in temporary confusion as both sides believed they had won. Kanhai, in particular, was the most excited, running and shouting, “We are the Champions! We are the Champions!” all the while his arms were piercing the air as if he was dancing to the now famous Bhangra beat of the Punjabis.
It was only after the scores were checked and double-checked that it was officially declared a Tied Test. Little Joe had sealed it with what is still the most famous throw in Test history.

The Tied Test almost never happened. Peter Lashley, who debuted in the match, recounts, “I was at backward point. Joe was in the covers. The ball was to my right.
It was my natural hand. I was faster than Joe. I was about to bend and pick up the ball when I heard him shouting, “Move! Move! Move!” He was senior to me. It was my first Test.
So I pulled up and allowed Joe to field the ball. Luckily I did or else there would not have been any Tied Test.” This is the amazing stuff that history is made of.

The famous throw by Little Joe was no fluke. He had earlier run out Allan Davidson. Ashook Janak was a youngster who grew up with Little Joe. Ashook captained Port Mourant Cricket Club during the 1973 season. He recalled that the boys would park a Humber bicycle and aim to hit the bicycle’s bell. Invariably, it was Little Joe who would win.
He also developed his arm from pelting at mangoes that were high up in the trees. Basil Butcher recounts, “It was no fluke that throw hit the stump from side on. He used to throw a stone at anything he could see.” The moral of these stories: practice makes perfect.

Little Joe still holds a first-class world record. He has the unique distinction of scoring three consecutive hundreds in his first three first-class innings. They are:
114     British Guiana v Jamaica    Georgetown     1956
108    British Guiana v Barbados    Georgetown    1956
121    British Guiana v Pakistan    Georgetown    1958

The remarkable feature of this feat by “Little” Joe was that it was done over the extended period of three calendar years. Of his record breaking third consecutive hundred against the Pakistani tourists, Wisden reported “in a fine exhibition Butcher and Solomon added 217 at almost a run a minute.”
Butcher made 122. Little Joe’s feat has never been emulated. Given the abundance of first-class cricket throughout the cricketing world, it is remarkable that the little man from a remote sugar estate in British Guiana has achieved what no one else in the world has done.

Little Joe was a late comer to first-class cricket. The British Guiana selector Berkley Gaskin disliked the cricketers from Berbice and continually kept Little Joe out of the colony team.
It was not until the West Indian batsman Clyde Walcott was appointed Sports Organiser in British Guiana by the Sugar Producers Association in 1954 that the situation changed for the better.
Walcott travelled the colony, saw the talent at Port Mourant and insisted that the British Guiana selectors give the Berbice players an opportunity to play in the trials.
As a result, Little Joe, Rohan Kanhai, Basil Butcher, and Ivan Mardy went on to play Test cricket for the West Indies between 1957 and 1958.

The little man from Port Mourant has provided us with two everlasting memories on the cricket field. Happy 81st birthday to you Little Joe! Thanks for the wonderful memories!