I must extend congratulations to young Matthew Nandu for scoring a century on debut against Barbados at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua in the first round of the Cricket West Indies regional four-day championships. Nandu, whose father Arjune, also played for Guyana, joins a small list of players scoring centuries on their first-class debuts led by West Indies legend, Joe Solomon.
The others are Stephen Camacho, Carl Hooper and Sudesh Dhaniram.
Solomon scored an unbeaten century, 114 not out, against Jamaica at GCC, Bourda in October 1956 while Camacho scored 106 against Trinidad & Tobago at Queen’s Park Oval in February 1966. Hooper scored a flamboyant 126 in February 1985 at the ‘Mecca’ Kensington Oval, Barbados, while Dhaniram, made a debut 102 also against Barbados at GCC, Bourda April 1987. In offering congratulations to young Nandu the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) mentioned Nandu’s compatriots who achieved the honorable feat before him but omitted the name of Chatterpaul Persaud. Persaud is a player of East Indian descent who scored a century for the Land of the Majestic Kaieteur Falls. A member of the then East Indian Cricket Club which is now known as the Everest Cricket Club, Persaud, on debut scored a magnificent 174 against Barbados at the Georgetown Cricket Club ground, Bourda in September of 1937.
He featured in a record fourth-wicket partnership with Peter Bayley who scored 268.
British Guiana won that encounter by an innings and 229 Runs.
The 1937 British Guiana XI vs Barbados
Charles Jones- Malteenoes
Celso DeFreitas- GCC
Peter Bayley- GCC
Vibert Wight- Captain GCC
David Hill- DCC
Chatterpaul Persaud- EICC
Berkley Gaskin- DCC
Harold Fraser- GCC
Cyril Rutherford Browne- BGCC
William Maurice Greene- GCC
Cyril Christian- BGCC
