Freddie Martin

Frank Reginald 'Freddie' Martin was the all-round star in West Indies' second win - their first away - in Test cricket. This was in Sydney in February-March 1931, when Martin, opening the batting, scored 123 not out and 20 and chipped in with 2 for 67 and 2 for 44 with his left-arm spin in West Indies' 30-run win. For Martin, past 37 by then, it was his ninth and last Test appearance.

Born in the last decade of the 19th century, Martin started playing first-class cricket (three-dayers then) in 1924-25, and made an impression straightaway. On debut, for Jamaica against Barbados, he scored 195 not out at No. 4. There were opportunities against the visiting sides from England, and he hit 204 not out, again at No. 4, against Tennyson's XI in one of their seven games on tour in Jamaica in March 1927 at his home ground, Sabina Park. That, and consistent runs otherwise, got him on West Indies' first tour (also their first Test series) to England, and he played all three Tests, which England won 3-0. He was by far West Indies' best batter in the Tests, with 175 runs from six innings, but didn't bowl much.

Martin didn't feature in the first three Tests of the return series in the Caribbean in early 1930 and only played the fourth, but then played all five Tests on West Indies' next tour, this time to Australia in 1930-31. Australia won 4-1 against the new cricketing "nation", but Martin was one of West Indies' better performers with the bat, third on the run-scoring chart with 254 runs (behind George Headley's 336 and Jackie Grant's 255), to go with seven wickets.

Just shy of 40, Martin toured England with West Indies again in 1933, but didn't play any of the Tests. He did remarkably well in the first-class matches, though, scoring consistently and even recording his best first-class bowling figures of 5 for 90 in a game against Glamorgan, bowling 45.1 overs to complete his haul.