Andy Ganteaume
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| Full name | Andrew Gordon Ganteaume | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born |
22 January 1921 Belmont, Trinidad and Tobago |
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| Died | 17 February 2016 (aged 95) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Batting style | Right-handed | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Role | Wicket-keeper | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| National side | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Only Test (cap 60) | 11 February 1948 v England | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Years | Team | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1940–1963 | Trinidad and Tobago | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Source: Cricinfo, 31 October 2009 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Andrew "Andy" Gordon Ganteaume (22 January 1921 – 17 February 2016) was a Trinidadian cricketer who played one Test match for the West Indies in 1948 as a batsman. He scored 112 in his only Test innings, which left him with the highest Test batting average in history. Ganteaume played for Trinidad from a young age and was chosen to play in a Test match against England following his good batting form in 1948. However, his slow scoring probably cost him his place and he never played another Test, although he toured England with the West Indies in 1957. At the time of his death, Ganteaume was the oldest surviving West Indies Test cricketer.
Ganteaume was born in Belmont, Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago. He had no formal cricket coaching but made his first-class debut for Trinidad as a wicketkeeper in 1941 as a 19-year-old. He scored 87 batting at number eight. Over the next few seasons, Ganteaume played regularly for Trinidad in first-class competition and for North Trinidad in a non-first-class island competition. He also played football for the Trinidad team around this time, but his time for sport was restricted by his career in the civil service.
From batting in the middle-order, Ganteaume was eventually promoted to open the batting as a theory at the time suggested that wicketkeepers might make good openers as they became accustomed to the conditions while keeping wicket; Ganteaume neither believed this theory nor enjoyed being an opener. He scored his maiden first-class century in 1946; a second followed later in the year.
In the 1947–48 season, the England cricket team toured the West Indies. When the team played in Trinidad, Ganteaume scored 101 and 47 not out in the first match but journalists criticised him for scoring slowly in easy batting conditions. In a second match against the touring side, he scored 5 and 90 but was not selected in the team for the Test match which followed—Ganteaume later suggested his non-selection was a result of his underprivileged background. However, an injury to Jeff Stollmeyer, one of the West Indies' opening batsmen, before the game meant that Ganteaume was called up into the side.
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