a 9ct, gold medal presented to Learie Constantine on the occasion of the Trinidad Test Match v MCC in 1926, the obverse with a cricket scene, the reve

a 9ct, gold medal presented to Learie Constantine on the occasion of the Trinidad Test Match v MCC in 1926, the obverse with a cricket scene, the reverse inscribed PRESENTED BY, TRINIDAD JEWELERY & LOAN Co. Ltd., M.C.C. WEST INDIES, TEST MATCH, TRINIDAD, 1926 It is highly unusual for a gold medal, or any medal, to be presented on the occasion of a Test Match - although interestingly this game has not been afforded full Test status. The WICB were, however, accepted into the international fold in 1926 with the first fully recognised official Test Match occurring in 1928. This particular medal was presented to the all rounder L N Constantine, who was playing on his home ground at the Queen's Park Oval, Port of Spain. Constantine is widely considered to have been the first West Indian player to make an impression of the cricketing public, with Neville Cardus writing in 1934 calling him ''genius ... the most original cricketer of recent years.'' Aside from cricket he was a lawyer and politician who served as Trinidad's High Commissioner to the United Kingdom. An advocate against racial discrimination, in later life he was influential in the passing of the Race Relations Act in Britain. He was knighted in 1962 and became the UK's first black peer in 1969.