Robert Kenneth ABLACK 1919-1920

	Player number 212 (f-c debut for Northamptonshire – 29 June 1946)
Birthplace	Port-of-Spain, Trinidad
First-Class	3 matches, 24 runs @ 12.00; 6 wickets @ 36.66

Trinidadian Ken Ablack achieved greater fame as a cricket commentator than as a player, but after turning out frequently in wartime matches (mainly for the fundraising British Empire XI, but also in fixtures between a West Indies XI and Northamptonshire at Spinney Hill) he appeared three times for the County – twice in 1946 and once in 1949. A left-arm spinner, he claimed five wickets on Championship debut, helping to secure victory in a tight match against Glamorgan at Rushden, only to endure a tough time (with somewhat bruising figures of 1-111 from 31 overs) when he returned to the side against Lancashire three years later. He worked as a producer with the BBC’s Caribbean Section – overseeing the programme We See Britain – and played for the Corporation’s own cricket club as well as representing the Club Cricket Conference XI. Ablack was the West Indian voice on BBC radio during the Test series in England in 1950 and 1957 – the latter coinciding with the advent of Test Match Special to broadcast continuous commentary. Ablack shared the microphone that summer with John Arlott, Rex Alston, Jim Swanton, Norman Yardley and Gerry Gomez. He returned home in 1962 and became chairman of Trinidad and Tobago’s national broadcasting service. He also played a significant role in the political life of his country as Director of Public Relations for the prime minister Dr Eric Williams after independence from the UK – and later as a founding member of the National Alliance for Reconstruction.