23 Facts About Jackie Grant

George Copeland "Jackie" Grant was a West Indian cricketer who captained the West Indies in Test cricket between 1930 and 1935.

Jackie Grant was later a missionary in South Africa and Rhodesia.

Jackie Grant went on to be a teacher in Southern Rhodesia, Trinidad and Tobago and Grenada, and inspector of schools in Zanzibar.

Jackie Grant then undertook missionary work in Rhodesia, concentrating on the education and welfare of black Africans, until the Ian Smith government refused him permission to return to the country in 1975.

George Copeland Jackie Grant was born in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago.

Jackie Grant's grandfather, Kenneth James Grant, was a Canadian Presbyterian missionary who lived in Trinidad from 1870 to 1907.

Jackie Grant captained the school's cricket and soccer teams, and because of his cricket ability he was sent to Christ's College, Cambridge, unlike his older brothers and sisters, who had studied at Canadian universities.

Jackie Grant attended Cambridge from 1926 to 1930 to study History and qualify as a teacher, with the intention of returning to Queen's Royal College to teach.

Jackie Grant played first-class cricket for the university, and gained Blues in cricket and soccer.

Jackie Grant met a fellow student, Ida Russell from Southern Rhodesia, daughter of Sir Fraser Russell, and they became engaged at Cambridge and later married.

Jackie Grant improved on this record in 1930, when he scored 716 runs in 11 matches at an average of 44.75, including his first century, 100 against Sussex.

Jackie Grant led the team's Test batting averages with 255 runs at 42.30, including 53 not out and 71 not out in the Second Test.

Jackie Grant was the first player in Test cricket to score two unbeaten fifties in the same match.

Jackie Grant scored 1195 runs in the season at an average of 30.64, with two centuries, including his highest first-class score of 115 against an England XI at the end of the tour when he added 226 for the third wicket with Headley.

When Jackie Grant had to leave the field with an injury late in the Fourth Test he asked Constantine to captain the side in his absence, and Constantine led the team to victory.

Jackie Grant began his teaching career in Southern Rhodesia in 1931.

Jackie Grant taught for two terms at Plumtree School and then briefly at Milton High School before accepting the offer of a position at his old school, Queen's Royal College.

Jackie Grant taught at Queen's Royal College until 1935, when he accepted an offer of the Principalship of Grenada Boys' Secondary School, where he stayed until 1943.

Jackie Grant worked in Zanzibar for the British Colonial Education Service from 1944 to 1949, including a period as Inspector of Schools, but he and his wife found it difficult to live in a predominantly Muslim country where there was little scope for the kind of Christian work they wanted to do.

Jackie Grant accepted an offer of the position of Principalship of Adams College near Durban, where he began work early in 1949.

Cricket had been introduced to the school in the 1930s, and Jackie Grant raised the status of the game among the black population around Durban and made Adams College a centre for the sport.

The school was sold to the government and Jackie Grant left South Africa.

Jackie Grant had agreed to be Christian Aid secretary for the Cambridge area, but died suddenly in hospital there before he could begin, aged 71.