Ridley Jacobs


Ridley Detamore Jacobs, is a former Antiguan cricketer, who played as a left-handed batsman for the West Indian cricket team in the 1990s and 2000s. He was the first opening batsman
to carry his bat in the history of Cricket World Cup and was the fourth batsman to do so.

International career

He made his Test match debut in 1998 on his 31st birthday, playing in 65 Tests in six years. In this time he took over 200 catches behind the stumps, making him only the second West Indies keeper to achieve the feat. He also played 147 ODIs. However, he was gradually pushed out of the team during 2004 and 2005, with Courtney Browne and Carlton Baugh, Jr. challenging for his position.
He is widely known for playing a valuable knock as opener scoring unbeaten 49 off 142 balls against Australia at the 1999 Cricket World Cup and became the first ever batsman to carry his bat in a World Cup match, 20 years later at the 2019 Cricket World Cup Sri Lankan captain Dimuth Karunaratne joined him in the elite list of carrying the bat in Cricket World Cups.
Jacobs also jointly holds the world record for taking seven catches in a Test innings, which he achieved against Australia in Melbourne in 2000. He shares the feat with Wasim Bari, Bob Taylor and Ian Smith. He also featured in an outstanding partnership in the record breaking innings of Brian Lara against England in which Jacobs made a hundred and Lara made 400 not out.