George Alphonso Headley was born on 30 May 1909 in Colón, Panama, to Jamaican and Barbadian parents, and moved to Jamaica as a child, where he developed into a cricketer of such extraordinary skill that he narrowly missed selection for the West Indies tour of England in 1928.
Headley made his Test debut in 1930 and quickly established himself as the one genuinely world-class player in an otherwise inconsistent West Indies side, scoring twin centuries, 114 and 112, against England that year, becoming the first West Indian to achieve the feat.
During the West Indies' 1930-31 tour of Australia, Headley's batting prowess earned him the nickname 'the Black Bradman', after the legendary Australian batsman Don Bradman, with some fans reportedly calling Bradman 'the White Headley' in return, an exaggeration that nonetheless reflected his standing in the game.
Headley finished his 22-Test career with 2,190 runs at an extraordinary average of 60.83, including ten centuries, and in 1948 he became the first Black man appointed captain of the West Indies cricket team, though injuries and the politics of the era limited him to leading the side for a single Test.
Headley's influence carried into the next two generations of his family: his son Ron Headley played Test cricket for the West Indies, and his grandson Dean Headley played for England, making the Headleys the only family to have three generations represent Test cricket for two different nations; George Headley died in Jamaica in 1983 and was inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame.
- Scored 2,190 Test runs at an average of 60.83, among the highest in cricket history
- First West Indian to score centuries in both innings of a Test match
- First Black man appointed captain of the West Indies cricket team, 1948
- Inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame
- Part of a three-generation Test cricket family alongside his son and grandson
- Individual excellence can carry an entire team's reputation. As the only consistently world-class player in a weak West Indies side, Headley's batting alone kept the team competitive for over a decade.
- Barriers broken by one generation can open doors for the next. Headley's status as the first Black West Indies captain preceded his son and grandson also playing Test cricket, for two different nations.