George Headley was known as the Black Bradman. The guy only played 22 tests, scored 2000+ runs, scored 10 centuries averaged 60. In FC averaged 70. So how great of a batter and how influential George Headley actually was? Surely would have been an inspiration for the greats like Sobers.
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It's difficult to assess Headley as a batsman because a) there's very little archive footage and b) he played a relatively small number of Tests. Obviously neither are his fault. West Indies gained Test status in 1928 and only played 7 series in their first 20 years, that too interrupted by WW2.
The interesting thing is he was born in Panama (his father worked on the Canal) and grew up playing baseball, not cricket. However it helped him develop his hand-eye coordination and reflexes. He moved to Jamaica aged 10.
He carried West Indies' batting lineup and his runs as a proportion of his team's innings is similar to Bradman's contributions for Australia if counting pre-WW2 Tests only. He performed well in the Lancashire League which was of a pretty high standard as the lucrative pay meant it attracted many quality cricketers, including from the Caribbean.
In a misguided move, he played another 3 Tests after WW2 when he was well past his prime and that slightly dents his still impressive overall record. His last Test was in 1954 (aged 45) at home in Jamaica after a public clamour with fans crowdfunding his travel expenses from England (now WI fans might crowdfund some of their batsmen to stay away from cricket).
He was the first black West Indies captain but not appointed full-time. The WICB in the early years was dominated by the white plantocracy and a succession of largely mediocre white cricketers held the captaincy. West Indies wasted years of development because of the captaincy mess and the divide it created within the team.
Overall Headley's legacy is that he began the lineage of great Caribbean batsmen and arguably was the biggest black cricketing icon in the early 20th Century. These are some good articles on him:
George Headley was the first iconic black batter but his path to cricket greatness was very different from his contemporary Don Bradman.
www.bbc.co.uk
