George John (cricketer)

George John
Personal information
Bornc 1883
Saint Vincent
Died14 January 1944
Port of Spain, Trinidad
BattingRight-handed
BowlingRight-arm fast-medium
Domestic team information
YearsTeam
1909/10–1927/28Trinidad
Career statistics
Competition First-class
Matches 29
Runs scored 466
Batting average 14.12
100s/50s 1/0
Top score 111
Balls bowled 5,801
Wickets 133
Bowling average 19.24
5 wickets in innings 7
10 wickets in match 1
Best bowling 7/52
Catches/stumpings 16/–
Source: CricketArchive, 7 November 2022

George John (c. 1883 – 14 January 1944) was a West Indian fast bowler.

George John was a very fast bowler in his prime and could cut the ball into the batsmen. He toured England with West Indies side in 1923 but by then was past his best. He claimed 90 wickets at 14.68 in all matches, 49 of them at 19.51 in first class matches. Against Glamorgan he took 10 for 147 and at Scarborough, with George Francis, reduced a near Test quality HDG Leveson Gower's XI to 19 for 6 as they were chasing 28 to win in the second innings. John took 5 for 54 for Trinidad against MCC in 1925-26 when he was over forty years of age.[citation needed]

The Trinidadian writer C. L. R. James, who often played against him, has left a picture of what John the bowler looked like:

He was just the right height, about five foot ten, with a chest, shoulders and legs on him all power and proportion... He was one of those rare fast bowlers who proposed to defeat you first of all by pace and sheer pace. He ran about fifteen yards, a quick step or two first, a long loping stride that increased until near the crease he leapt into the air and delivered, his arm high ... Thunderbolts they were."[1]

  1. ^ C. L. R. James, Beyond a Boundary, Hutchinson, London, 1963, chapter 6.