The 1965–66 Shell Shield season was the inaugural edition of what is now the Regional Four Day Competition, the domestic first-class cricket competition for the countries of the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB). The tournament was sponsored by Royal Dutch Shell, with matches played from 27 January to 14 March 1966.
Five teams contested the tournament – Barbados, British Guiana, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, and a Combined Islands team (drawn from the Leeward and Windward Islands). Each team played the others once, making for a total of ten matches. Barbados were undefeated during the competition, winning three matches and drawing the other to win the inaugural title. Jamaican batsman Easton McMorris and Barbadian bowler David Holford, led the tournament in runs and wickets, respectively.
Teams Gary Sobers (c) David Allan Arthur Bethell Rawle Brancker Robin Bynoe Richard Edwards Charlie Griffith David Holford Tony Howard Conrad Hunte Peter Lashley Seymour Nurse Tony White Lance Gibbs (c) Basil Butcher Steve Camacho Rex Collymore Roy Fredericks Sydney Jackman Rohan Kanhai Clive Lloyd Vincent Mayers Edwin Mohamed Randolph Ramnarace Burlin Saheed Joe Solomon Clem John (c) Hesketh Benjamin Henry Elwin Adolphus Freeland Edgar Gilbert Evelyn Gresham Len Harris Auckland Hector Kaleb Laurent Winston Mauricette Jerome Mellow Hilson Phillip Jerome Pierre Melford Roach Irvine Shillingford Jackie Hendriks (c) Kenneth Barnett Herman Bennett Leonard Chambers Rudolph Cohen Maurice Foster Teddy Griffith Ferdie Harvey Ron Headley Leonard Levy Easton McMorris Lawson Matthews Renford Pinnock Altemont Wellington Willie Rodriguez (c) Eddie Aleong Jamiel Ali Joey Carew Alvin Corneal Bryan Davis Charlie Davis Richard de Souza Bruce Eligon Kenneth Furlonge Leo John Arthur Paul Kenneth Roberts Pascall Roberts
Points table Team 4 3 0 0 1 0 42 4 1 1 0 2 0 24 4 1 1 0 0 2 16 4 0 1 1 1 1 12 4 0 1 0 1 2 10 Source: CricketArchive
Key
W – Outright win (12 points) L – Outright loss (0 points) LWF – Loss, but won first innings (4 points)
DWF – Drawn, but won first innings (6 points) DLF – Drawn, and lost first innings (2 points) P – Overall points
Fixtures
Statistics
Most runs The top five run-scorers are included in this table, listed by runs scored and then by batting average.Batting and fielding in Shell Shield 1965/66 – CricketArchive. Retrieved 16 December 2015.
Player Team Runs Inns Avg Highest 100s 50s Easton McMorris 553 8 92.16 190 3 0 Peter Lashley 387 4 129.00 121* 2 2 Seymour Nurse 364 4 91.00 153 2 1 Clive Lloyd 344 5 86.00 194 2 0 Irvine Shillingford 308 7 51.33 113* 1 2
Most wickets
The top five wicket-takers are listed in this table, listed by wickets taken and then by bowling average.Bowling in Shell Shield 1965/66 – CricketArchive. Retrieved 16 December 2015.
Player Team Overs Wkts Ave 5 10 BBI David Holford 152.3 18 21.44 0 0 4/51 Charlie Griffith 75.5 15 13.73 0 0 4/41 Gary Sobers 94.3 14 20.57 1 0 6/56 Edgar Gilbert 129.3 13 26.07 0 0 3/12 Willie Rodriguez 104.3 12 27.25 1 0 5/71
References