In 1492, the "New World" was discovered by a Spanish naval expedition under Columbus which reached the Caribbean Sea and found the Bahamas; and hence the creation of the West Indies.
In 1609, the first British settlement in the West Indies was on Bermuda by shipwrecked English colonists originally bound for Virginia.
Sugar plantations were soon developed and large numbers of African slaves were brought in to work them.
We do not know when or where cricket was first played in the West Indies but it is reasonable to assume that it was introduced by these early colonists.
The cultivation of sugar cane and coffee by African slave labour made Jamaica one of the most valuable possessions in the world for more than 150 years.
By the 1660s, British holdings in the West Indies included Jamaica, Barbados, Bermuda, Bahamas, St Kitts, Nevis, Anguilla, Montserrat, Antigua and Barbuda.
The islands of Dominica, Grenada, St Vincent and the Grenadines were initially claimed by France in the 17th century but were all ceded to Great Britain under the terms of the Treaty of Paris 1763 that ended the Seven Years' War.
It was then the subject of no less than 14 separate conflicts between the two before Britain finally secured control in 1814 at the end of the Napoleonic War.
The Guyana plantations were originally coffee and cotton but, as elsewhere in the Caribbean area, sugar eventually superseded them.
In 1783, the proclamation of a Cedula of Population by the Spanish Crown granted 32 acres (130,000 m2) of land to each Catholic who settled in Trinidad and half as much for each slave that they brought.
By the time the island was surrendered to the British in 1797 the population had increased to 17,643: 2,086 whites, 1,082 free people of colour, 1,082 Amerindians, and 10,009 African slaves.
Spanish rule over the island, which nominally began in 1498, ended when the final Spanish Governor, Don José Maria Chacón surrendered the island to a British fleet of 18 warships under the command of Sir Ralph Abercrombie on 18 February 1797.
The two islands were incorporated into a single Crown Colony in 1888 with Tobago reduced to the status of a Ward of Trinidad.
The 1864–65 season included the inaugural first-class match in the West Indies between Barbados and British Guiana at Garrison Savannah in Bridgetown on 15–16 February 1865.
Edwin Beete, one of the British Guiana side, was later quoted as follows: On the Friday morning we went to the Garrison and practised on the pitch there.
British Guiana were then set 146 to win which they made with 2 wickets remaining, William Watson batting throughout for 39*.
One of the boats, the Lady Wodehouse, capsized in the falls and seven people were drowned including two of the British Guiana team, Henry Beresford and Richard Stewart.
By the time of the next tournament in 1893 a cup had been subscribed for but British Guiana were unable to take part, Barbados being winners again.
The tournaments took place irregularly until the Second World War, winners to 1918 being: The 1894–95 season featured the first tour of the West Indies by an English team.