Cyril Merry

Cyril Arthur Merry, the former West Indian Test cricketer, died suddenly of a heart attack at his St. Clair, Port of Spain, home on April 19. at the age of 53. A son of the late Archdeacon Merry, he was born in Trinidad on January 20, 1911, and was educated privately and at Queen's Royal College, which he represented at both cricket and football. He later played for many years for Queen's Park C.C., captained the club, and at the time of his death was a member of its board. A big man physically, he was a sound right-handed batsman, often a fine hitter, and was a useful change bowler and excellent fielder, especially in the slips. He captained Trinidad in inter-colonial matches in 1932, 1934, 1936 and 1937, and played for his colony against the M.C.C. touring sides of 1929-30 and 1934-35: in the first colony match on the latter tour he scored a vigorous 49 as an opening bat, having earlier in the match dismissed DCH Townsend and RES Wyatt with successive balls. He toured England with GC Grant's 1933 side playing in the Tests at Lord's and The Oval and ending the tour with 856 runs in first-class matches at an average of 28.53: he scored a fine 146 in 140 minutes against Warwickshire at Edgbaston, sharing a brilliant stand of 228 for the fifth wicket in only two hours with G. A. Headley. When he retired from active cricket he excelled as an administrator, becoming honorary secretary of Queen's Park CC and later for a period honorary secretary of the West Indies Cricket Board of Control. On several occasions he served on the Board as a Trinidad representative, and in 1951-52 proved himself an excellent manager of the West Indian side that toured Australia and New Zealand. He was also a prominent businessman and politician, having been nominated to the Legislative Council in 1956: he resigned in 1959 to take up the post of chairman of the Trinidad and Tobago Industrial Development Corporation, which position he held at his death. He visited England in 1963 to watch part of the Test series between England and West Indies, and visited England again this year on a one-month tour as a guest of the British Government.
The Cricketer