1. George Challenor was a Barbadian cricketer who was part of the first West Indies Test side, and who faced the very first ball bowled to a West Indian cricketer in a Test match.
13 Facts About George Challenor
1. 2.
George Challenor was recognised as the first great West Indian batsman, his obituary in Wisden Cricketer's Almanack ending with the words "His admirable batting did much toward raising cricket in West Indies to Test match standard".
3.
George Challenor visited England three times as a member of a West Indian touring team; in 1906,1923 and 1928.
4.
George Challenor's brother Edward was a well known cricketer who played for Barbados, Western Province, Natal, Leicestershire and the Army.
5.
George Challenor is an attractive bat who combines brilliant hitting with sound defence.
6.
George Challenor was something of a success on the tour scoring 684 runs in 12 first class matches at an average of 28.50.
7.
George Challenor was then 34, exactly twice the age he had been in 1906.
8.
George Challenor was particularly brilliant on this tour, scoring 1,556 runs in first-class matches with six centuries and an average of 51.86 runs per innings.
9.
George Challenor eventually finished third in the 1923 batting averages behind Patsy Hendren and Phil Mead.
10.
George Challenor played in the three Tests during the tour but, turning 40 years of age during the tour, was not the power he had been five years earlier.
11.
All three Test matches were lost by an innings in just over two days; in each of them, George Challenor made runs and shared in decent opening partnerships in the first innings, but then failed in the second innings.
12.
George Challenor played for Barbados against the tourists in their first match.
13.
George Challenor scored 51 but this marked the end of his first class career.