Charles Augustus Ollivierre-Early Vincentian Cricketing Hero

One of the things the World Cup has done is to cause us to reminisce about old times and to look at our early cricket heroes. Channel 63 has been replaying old matches and stoking our memories. Today I look a bit at one of our early cricket celebrities. Charlie Ollivierre. Because of the name Ollivierre many persons have associated him with Bequia. I have even heard Red’s Pereira on a cricket broadcast speaking about the famous Charlie Ollivierre from Bequia. Actually Charles Augustus Ollivierre was born in Kingstown on July 20, 1876. I believe his birth place was Rose Place. He was born to Mary Rose Ollivierre, formerly Cordice and Helon Ollivierre who was a Butcher.{{more}}

Charlie brought immense pride to Vincentians when he was selected to join the West Indies team to England in 1900, a time before official test matches. On his way to Barbados to meet with the rest of the team Vincentians on the initiative of the local cricket committee flocked to the jetty to wish him ‘bon voyage’ and to present him with money contributed by friends and well wishers and a letter encouraging and congratulating him. He was one of two persons from the small islands, the other being W. Mignon from Grenada who was described as a useful bowler.

Charles was the eldest of three Ollivierre brothers, all outstanding cricketers with Richard also touring with the West Indies team in 1906 and playing matches against the MCC in the West Indies. Helon, the youngest brother migrated to Trinidad and represented Trinidad in cricket. There seemed to have been a Trinidad connection because Charles was educated at Queen’s Royal College in Trinidad and represented that College in 1893. In one of the matches he played for his College he featured with the elder Constantine who was representing Maraval CC, both men being the principal run getters, getting over 80 runs. Helon’s visit to Trinidad in 1901 seemed to have been sponsored by a gentleman named Blenman who had some Vincentian connection. But significantly Blenman was a butcher as was Ollivierre’s father, so Blenman might also have been responsible for Charlie getting to school in Trinidad.

The 1900 team was not successful. In fact they were the subject of jokes in the British press. Charles, however, headed the batting with an average of 32.70 from 29 innings and was twice not out, making a total of 883 runs with 159 being his highest score. His first wicket partnership with Pelham Warner against Leicestershire was one of the highlights of the tour. He also featured in another first wicket stand with Percy Cox against Surrey, his personal score then being 94 runs. He was also a ‘useful’ change bowler and got 13 wickets during that tour.

Charlie Ollivierre was described as “A very stylish bat, he was no respecter of bowling and was credited with the rare feet (then) of cutting a ball for six over cover point’s head.” The Sentry newspaper followed his progress in England. It claimed that “Ollivierre’s reputation as the best all-round cricketer on the side has spread throughout the country being reproduced in several of the daily newspapers” CLR James writing in the 1960s stated that he was credited until recently by some persons with being the best batsman the West Indies had ever produced. He was according to James, a powerful man who at school threw a ball 126 yards and cut one-handed for six. “He made most of the strokes with a few of his own, chiefly a glorious lofting drive over extra cover’s head”

Testimony to Charlie’s worth was the fact that he was able to qualify to play for Derbyshire. He did in fact stay on in England and played for Derbyshire. He was according to reports the mainstay of that team’s batting until he had to retire in 1907 at age 31 because of failing eyesight. A news report in the Vincentian newspaper noted that on one occasion he barely missed scoring two centuries in consecutive innings in a match. After scoring 207 in the first innings he scored 94 not out in the second innings.

A brief telegram to the country in April 1949 informed the public that its son, the renowned Charlie Ollivierre had died at Yorkshire at age 72. It must be remembered when we are examining the place of Charles Augustus Ollivierre that his visit to England was not as part of an official test team. The period was one in which we saw the development of inter-colonial games and contests with international teams. The first inter-colonial match was actually in 1846 between British Guiana and Barbados. The first inter-colonial tournament was in 1891 with British Guiana, Barbados and Trinidad which became more regular after 1893. In 1896 there were exchange visits between Barbadian and Vincentian teams. There were also visits here by English teams in the 1890s.

Those were interesting times because cricket reflected the colour and class divisions in West Indian society. C.L.R James gives the story of a match played by the West Indian team against Gloucester on June 28, 1900 when a West Indian fast bowler asked Captain Archer Warner to allow him to take off his boots to bowl to a batsman who had been devastating the bowling. Mr Warner, he pleaded, “let me take off one, just one, and I could get him-just one, Sir”. Blacks from the estates were, at that time, used mainly as fast bowlers to bowl to the whites, largely people of British background. Some of them were found useful and were then brought on to the team and supported. Charlie, however, was not a specialist bowler and as one who had gone to QRC would certainly have been in a different category. In any event by that time the country had begun to produce outstanding cricketers who could hold their own. There were cricketers like James Vanloo, also black and the captain of the team He was a man who was largely responsible for the reputation that St.Vincent Cricket had achieved.

Although I have singled out Charles Ollivierre, he spent the most critical part of his cricketing career in England but his brothers remained in the region and Richard was still a force to be reckoned with up to 1912. A West Indies Cricket Board of Control was established in 1926 and was recognised by the English authorities, after which official overseas tours began. St.Vincent through Charles and Richard Ollivierre had made an early impact on West Indian cricket.