Larry Gomes
Source: Arima Information Resource Centre
Hilary Angelo Gomes popularly known as “Larry” is a Trinidad and Tobago and West Indian former cricketer.
Larry was born in Arima on 13th July, 1953, to the parents of Cecil and Kimlan Gomes.
He attended the Arima Boys’ Government School and Holy Cross College in Arima.
He established his reputation as an international cricketer playing for Trinidad and Tobago and the West Indies.
He toured England with the West Indian Schoolboys team in 1967 and he made his first-class debut as a left-handed batsman for Trinidad & Tobago versus the New Zealanders in 1971/72. He joined Middlesex in 1972 and played for the English County between 1973 and 1976.
He scored prolifically for Middlesex against the counties hitting 1393 runs with five centuries, including 190 against Derbyshire. He left Middlesex in 1976 and spent two profitable years with Nelson in the Lancashire League scoring nearly 1100 runs in his first summer surpassing Learie Constantine’s record seasonal aggregate. He followed that performance with another 1000 runs the next year.
The Packer years gave him his first international opportunity for West Indies and later, when the fences had been mended, he still kept his place. He was the slim, calm figure of reason amongst the mayhem that was created by the massive strokemakers that surrounded him. In this regard he was not the average Caribbean batsman at all: slightly built, upright, elegant in that way that left-handers have, and an efficient batsman in times of strife rather than an exuberant destroyer.
Larry Gomes scored six centuries against Australia, most notably one on a bouncy Perth strip in 1984 that set up an innings victory.
He made his Test debut versus England in the 3rd Test at Nottingham, England on 1st June 1976 and his One Day International debut versus Australia at Victoria Park, Castries, St. Lucia on 12th April 1978.
Following his debut tour with the West Indies team to England in 1976, he lost his place but returned to the Test arena in 1978 against Australia and led an assault by taking a century off the Aussie bowlers and, in the final Test in Kingston, Jamaica, he showed his grit by scoring 115.
Gomes toured India in 1978-1979 under Alvin Kallicharan and got three fifties in the first two Tests at Bombay and Bangalore. His omission from the side to England in 1980 infuriated his supporters but he was selected for the tour of Pakistan later that same year. He finished second in the averages with 48.12 and staked his claim to a regular position in the side.
Gomes underlined his advance by topping the batting averages in the subsequent three-match series against Australia in 1981-1982, scoring centuries at Sydney and Adelaide, on the latter occasion helping West Indies to a five-wicket win to square the series. All this contrived to give him a tour average of 78.60.
He developed a knack of rescuing the West Indies when better-known batsmen had failed. He excelled in the tour to Australia in 1984 heading the batting averages with 64.42. He and Jeff Dujon both scored hundreds as they put on 146 for the sixth wicket in the first Test at Perth.
Larry represented the West Indies in a total of 143 International Matches and was a key member of Clive Lloyd’s all-conquering team in the 1970s and 1980s. He played in the World Cup final in 1983.
He amassed a total of ten centuries during his Test career.
His highest Test score of 143 was made against England at Edgbaston in June 1984 in an innings victory for West Indies and he was named Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1985.
When he retired from Test cricket he spent several years as Coach of the Canadian National team and was their Head Coach at the 1997 ICC Trophy in Malaysia.
Larry still resides in Arima where the Larry Gomes Stadium has been named in his honour.
Source: Arima Information Resource Centre
