Brothers playing international cricket is by no means an unusual phenomenon. From the Grace brothers (WG, Fred and Edward) of England to the four Mohamed brothers (Hanif, Mushtaq, Sadiq and Wazir) who represented Pakistan to the Chappell brothers (Greg, Ian and the lesser known Trevor) and Waugh twins (Steve and Mark) of Australia to the Zimbabwean duo of Andy and Grant Flower brothers have been in the international mix across the generations.
Most recently there have been Carrot Top hair-styled twins Hamish and James Marshall of New Zealand, Irfan and Yusuf Pathan of India, Morne and Albie Morkel from South Africa and Michael and David Hussey from down under along with Blackcaps Brendan and Nathan McCullum.
Some are not as prominent in the headlines, such as the O’Briens (Niall and Kevin) from Ireland, Bangladeshi brothers Nafees and Tamim Iqbal and the Kenyan trio of Collins and David Obuya and Kennedy Otieno.
There can be a few quiz questions which can be formulated based on brothers playing for the West Indies. Those who immediately come to mind would be Jamaicans Robert and Marlon Samuels and Barbadian half brothers Pedro Collins and Fidel Edwards.
Robert and Marlon never played together but Collins and Edwards have.
What would not come as readily to mind is that Jeffrey Stollmeyer and his brother Vic played in a lone Test match against England in 1939. In the only West Indies innings Jeffrey made 59 and Vic, a stylish 96. That he ran out George Headley and that it was the last Test match before the Second World War meant he never played again. Jeffrey, of course, went on the captain the West Indies.
What even the most skilled quiz question researcher may not realise is that with the Bravo brothers now in the same West Indies squad it is the first time two pairs of brothers from the same area have been selected to the same international squad.
Both the Stollmeyers and Bravos are from Santa Cruz, Trinidad.
Dwayne John Bravo, the talismanic all rounder was born on October 7th 1983 while younger brother Darren Michael was born six years later on February 6th. Both came through to the West Indies side from Under 19 cricket and with strong performances in the regional four day competition.
Their father, Morgan Bravo, not surprisingly a keen cricket fan who, up to this point, travels the Caribbean to watch his older son must be packing his bags to Jamaica to be enthralled by the possibility of not just one but two sons playing for the West Indies in the Digicel ODIs.
Darren is not quite as energetic and spectacular in the field as Dwayne has come to be known as he sets cricket fields afire across the globe but the younger Bravo is by no means a slouch. And with bat in hand the left hander has already elicited comparisons with another left hander from Santa Cruz. You may have heard of him, that chap with a few world records in his back pocket. (Digicelcricket)
