Francis Ignatius de Caires (12 May 1909 – 2 February 1959) was a British Guianese cricketer who played three Test matches for West Indies in the 1930s.

Frank De Caires
Frank de Caires in 1930
Personal information
Full name
Francis Ignatius de Caires
Born(1909-05-12)12 May 1909
British Guiana
Died2 February 1959(1959-02-02) (aged 49)
British Guiana
BattingRight-handed
BowlingRight-arm
RelationsDavid de Caires (son)
Josh de Caires (great-grandson)
International information
National side
Test debut (cap 16)11 January 1930 v England
Last Test3 April 1930 v England
Domestic team information
YearsTeam
1928–1938British Guiana
Career statistics
Competition Test First-class
Matches 3 18
Runs scored 232 945
Batting average 38.66 28.63
100s/50s 0/2 1/7
Top score 80 133
Balls bowled 12 66
Wickets 0 1
Bowling average 48.00
5 wickets in innings 0
10 wickets in match 0
Best bowling 1/20
Catches/stumpings 1/– 7/–
Source: CricketArchive, 3 November 2010

De Caires, who was of Portuguese descent,[1][2][3] was born in British Guiana and developed into a sound right-handed batsman who made his first-class debut for British Guiana against Trinidad at Port of Spain in the 1928/29 Inter-Colonial Tournament, a match Trinidad won comfortably despite de Caires top-scoring in the visitor's first innings.

When Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) toured the Caribbean the following season, de Caires was selected for three of the four Test matches, including the inaugural one by the West Indies on home soil, played at Bridgetown, Barbados, in January 1930. De Caires scored 80 runs in the first innings and 70 in the second to earn his side a creditable draw.[4] Later that year he was selected for the first tour of Australia by a West Indian Test team but did not play in any of the five Test matches.

Personal life edit

He was a director of the family company, De Caires Bros Ltd. His son David was a lawyer and newspaper proprietor.[5] David's daughter Isabelle is married to former English Test captain Mike Atherton.[6]

References edit

  1. ^ "The Portuguese presence". Guyana Chronicle. Retrieved 2023-05-14.
  2. ^ "David de Caires: Man, mission and the media".
  3. ^ "In The Diaspora".
  4. ^ "1st Test, England tour of West Indies at Bridgetown, Jan 11-16 1930". Cricinfo. Retrieved 11 December 2018.
  5. ^ "Obituary". Stabroek News. 9 November 2008. Retrieved 11 December 2018.
  6. ^ Haynes, Andre (8 November 2008). "David de Caires remembered as man who touched many lives". Stabroek News. Retrieved 12 December 2018.
  • Martin-Jenkins, C. (1996) World Cricketers - A Biographical Dictionary, Oxford University Press: Oxford.
  • Frindall, B. (ed.) (1995) The Wisden Book of Test Cricket, Volume 1 (1877–1977), Headline Book Publishing.
  • Lawrence, B. & Goble, R. (1991) The Complete Record of West Indian Test Cricketers, ACL & Polar Publishing (UK) Ltd.

External links edit