The seventh team of English cricketers toured the West Indies in the 1912–13 season. The tour was organised by MCC. As in 1910–11, the team was captained by AWF Somerset. The tour involved a total of 9 matches, all of which are regarded as first-class, between January and March 1913.
The players
A party of 13 was taken:
Arthur Somerset senior, Captain
Cecil Burton
Bernard Dobson
George Docker
Mordaunt Doll
Sydney Fairbairn
Punter Humphreys
Arthur Jaques
Albert Relf
Sydney Smith
Razor Smith
Arthur Somerset junior
Tom Whittington
Arthur Somerset senior, his son Arthur Somerset junior, Burton, Sydney Smith and Whittington had toured with the previous MCC team of 1910–11. Three good professionals were included, Humphreys, Relf and Razor Smith. Burton, Sydney Smith and Whittington had performed well on the previous tour and were arguably the best of the amateurs. As in the previous MCC tour the remaining players had little first-class experience. Despite being 57 years old the captain kept wicket in all the matches.
The tour
The side arrived in Barbados on the RMS Magdalena on 27 January.
Matches played were:
30–31 January and 1 February : v Barbados
3–5 February : v Barbados
6–8 February : v West Indies XI (in Barbados) 14–16 February : v Trinidad 17–19 February : v Trinidad 20–22 February : v West Indies XI (in Trinidad) 1–4 March : v British Guiana 6–8 March : v West Indies XI (in British Guiana) 11–13 March : v British Guiana
Of the nine first class matches played in Barbados, Trinidad and British Guiana, five were won, three lost and one drawn.
The tourists lost the first two matches against Barbados by an innings but then defeated a West Indies XI with Humphreys taking 13 wickets.
Moving on to Trinidad, the tourists won the first match but were lucky to draw the second. In the second match against the West Indies XI, Ince made 167 for the home side and they won by an innings. Cumberbatch was bowled when he shouldered his bat because he had been distracted by leaves blowing across the pitch. Given out by the umpire, he appealed to Somerset and was allowed to continue his innings, a sporting gesture by the captain. Burton and the captain added 89 for the last wicket in the MCC second innings and were only separated with 20 minutes remaining.
In British Guiana, the two matches against the colony were won comfortably and the third match against the West Indies XI was also won by 10 wickets with Humphreys scoring a century adding 152 with Whittington. Jaques and the captain added 80 for the last wicket. Moulder carried his bat in the West Indies second innings.
The three professionals headed the batting averages and, with Sydney Smith, took most of the wickets. Burton, Whittington and Sydney Smith also performed well with the bat.
Averages
The following averages are from the 9 first class matches (Batting Bowling).
Batting
Bowling
References
External sources
CricketArchive
Annual reviews
Wisden Cricketers' Almanack 1914
Further reading
Peter Wynne-Thomas, The Complete History of Cricket Tours at Home & Abroad, Guild, 1989 Cricket – A Weekly Record of the Game. Cricket Magazine (1913). A Guide to First Class Cricket Played in the West Indies. Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians. Complete First-class Match List, Volume 1 1801–1914. Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians. First Class Cricket Matches 1913. Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians.