Brief profile of McDonald Forde by CricketArchive

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Player:

M Forde

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DateLine: 24th November 2008

 

Harold McDonald Forde, usually known by the latter of his forenames, died in Barbados on 20 January 2004, but his passing was little noted outside the Caribbean at the time of his death. Educated at Harrison College Barbados, he travelled to Britain in 1935 to undertake medical studies at University College, London, and remained in the UK throughout the Second World War. Reported then as an all-rounder, he was a right-hand opening bat and right-arm medium pace bowler. He played regularly for Desmond Donnelly’s British XI around the London area in 1941, alongside other, more famous Caribbean cricketers. After graduating, he took up a post at the Bradford Royal Infirmary and played in the Bradford League for Bowling Old Lane in 1942 and more regularly in 1943. He joined the Colonial Medical Service in 1947 and returned to the Caribbean to Belize, later moving to Jamaica and then to Barbados, and to lectureships with the University of the West Indies. At the age of 36, in February 1952, he played two first-class matches for Trinidad, the island of his birth, taking nine wickets at 19.88 as an opening bowler. Towards the end of his professional career, he was Chief Medical Officer of the Bahamas and from 1984 to 1986, the Barbados High Commissioner in London, one of the most important postings in the Bajan diplomatic service.