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John Trim! Blazing a trail as Berbice’s 1st Test Player
By Sean Devers
John Trim was born on January 25, 1915 in Corentyne, Berbice in British Guiana and was the first Test player from Guyana’s Ancient County.
A fast bowler, Trim was a big, strong individual who the paved the way for the other players from this county to gain selection at the highes
John Trim in 1953
t level after making his Test Debut on home soil against England in 1948 in the third Test of the five-match series.
The 33-year-old Trim took the last two wickets to finish with 2-6 from 10 overs and followed it up with 1-38 in the second innings as England were forced to follow-on giving West Indies a seven-wicket victory.
Trim had stacked a strong claim for Test selection by taking nine wickets, including a five-wicket haul in the second innings when British Guiana played the MCC X1 in a tour game played at Bourda two weeks before the Test in British Guiana.
In those days it was very hard for a ‘Country Boy’ to play Test cricket and his selection must have been a great motivator for the hundreds of Berbicans, many of whom worked on the Sugar Cane plantations, that they too could one day be rewarded for their cricketing talent with a Test call-up.
In 1947 India and Pakistan split because of religious rivalry. Attempts to come up with a compromise constitution favorable to both Muslims and Hindus failed resulting in the separation (years later in 1971, Pakistan was further divided and Bangladesh was formed).
The Indentured System was first introduced in the Caribbean in 1838 when the first batch of Indians arrived on these shores. So visiting India was a big thing for the decedents of Indentured Laborers when in 1948, West Indies embarked on their inaugural tour to the sub-continent.
Since their inauguration to Test cricket in 1928, West Indies had only played against England and Australia and the tour to India was an exciting experience for Trim who grew up in Corentyne, which had a predominantly Indian population. Born on January 25, 1915 in Skeldon, Upper Corentyne, Trim had to wait until the fourth Test to get his second Test Cap.
This was after Clyde Walcott, Gerry Gomez, Everton Weeks and who, like Trim, was from British Guiana, Robert Christiani, all scored tons in the opening Test in Delhi. This was the first time this was ever done in a Test match involving West Indies and was later repeated in 1983 (vs India) and 2005 (vs S/Africa) by the lads from the Caribbean. Christiani died at 84.
Trim, who died relatively young when he passed away at the New Amsterdam hospital on November 12, 1960 at age 45, made an auspicious entry to Test cricket in India with 4-48 from 27 overs and followed it up with 3-28 from 17 overs in the second innings as West Indies celebrated their first ever Test victory on Indian soil. They won the 5-Test series 1-nil.
The Berbician took three more wickets in the final Test to end with 10 wickets from his first two matches at the highest level and was said to be popular with Indian fans, in part because he knew some Hindi.
Trim played for the Fort Canje Mental Hospital before joining the Port Mourant, which later added Rohan Kanhai, Basil Butcher, Joe Soloman, Alvin Kallicharran and Mahendra Nagamootoo to its list of Test players.
After missing the first three Tests in 1951/52 five-match series to Australia, the bustling pacer captured his only five-wicket haul in the fourth Test at Melbourne which commenced on Old Year’s day of 1952. He captured 5-34. The Australia series was to be his last as he finished his Test career with 18 wickets and 21 runs from four Tests at an average of 16.16.
In a 34-match First-Class career which began for Berbice in 1942, Trim took 96 wickets including four 5-wicket hauls and a best of 7-80. He first played for his country in 1944 when he played against Trinidad & Tobago.
He dominated club cricket in Berbice playing for Fort Canje Mental Hospital alongside colleagues such as Rex Ramnarace (Sr), Cyril Plummer and John Nestor.
Trim missed the historical tour to England in 1950 when West Indies won at Lords for the first time but toured Australia and New Zealand in 1951-52, where he played in the fourth Test in Melbourne only.
Though he had his best innings haul of 5-34 Australia scraped home by one wicket. But by this time he was approaching his 37th birthday and was not selected for any further Tests.
Trim died on November 12, 1960 in New Amsterdam at age 45 years 292 days and was inducted into the Berbice Cricket Board Hall of Fame in 2008.
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