1968–69 Shell Shield season

The 1968–69 Shell Shield season was the third edition of what is now the Regional Four Day Competition, the domestic first-class cricket competition for the countries of the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB). The tournament was sponsored by Royal Dutch Shell, with matches played from 17 January to 6 March 1969.

1968–69 Shell Shield season

Dates	17 January – 6 March 1969
Administrator(s)	WICB
Cricket format	First-class (four-day)
Tournament format(s)	Round-robin
Champions	Jamaica (1st title)
Participants	6
Matches	10
Most runs	Robin Bynoe (421)
Most wickets	Philbert Blair (23)
← 1966–67 1969–70 →

Six teams contested the tournament – Barbados, British Guiana, Jamaica, the Leeward Islands, Trinidad and Tobago, and the Windward Islands. The Leeward and Windward Islands both played fewer matches than the other teams, although the results from their matches still counted towards the title. Three teams – Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, and Barbados – were undefeated (either winning or drawing all their matches), but Jamaica had more points than the other teams, thus winning their inaugural title. Barbadian batsman Robin Bynoe led the tournament in runs, while Guyanese pace bowler Philbert Blair was the leading wicket-taker.

Points table

Team	Pld	W	L	DWF	DLF	DNC	Pts
Jamaica	4	1	0	2	0	1	24
Trinidad and Tobago	4	1	0	1	2	0	22
Barbados	4	1	0	0	3	0	18
Guyana	4	0	2	2	0	0	12
Leeward Islands	2	1	1	0	0	0	12
Windward Islands	2	0	1	0	0	1	0
Source: CricketArchive

Key

W – Outright win (12 points) L – Outright loss (0 points) DWF – Drawn, but won first innings (6 points)

DLF – Drawn, but lost first innings (2 points) DNC – Drawn, with both first innings not completed (0 points) P – Total points

Statistics

Most runs

The top five run-scorers are included in this table, listed by runs scored and then by batting average.^[1]

Player	Team	Runs	Inns	Avg	Highest	100s	50s
Robin Bynoe	Barbados	421	7	60.14	114	1	3
Renford Pinnock	Jamaica	346	6	69.20	175	2	1
Peter Lashley	Barbados	318	7	45.42	94	0	3
Maurice Foster	Jamaica	302	6	50.33	135	2	0
Joe Solomon	Guyana	281	5	56.20	169	1	0

Most wickets

The top five wicket-takers are listed in this table, listed by wickets taken and then by bowling average.^[2]

Player	Team	Overs	Wkts	Ave	5	10	BBI
Philbert Blair	Guyana	149.0	23	21.26	2	0	5/60
Vanburn Holder	Barbados	134.0	19	15.78	0	0	3/14
George Rock	Barbados	124.1	18	16.05	1	0	6/18
Willie Rodriguez	Trinidad and Tobago	87.3	17	14.17	2	0	6/30
Lloyd Cornelius	Guyana	128.2	17	32.94	2	0	6/104

References

1. Batting and fielding in Shell Shield 1968/69 – CricketArchive. Retrieved 1 April 2016.
2. Bowling in Shell Shield 1968/69 – CricketArchive. Retrieved 1 April 2016.