Expired They All But Live In Our HEARTS

Trevor George McMahon (1928-2026) Test cap # 73

2026-03-13T09:54:00.004+05:00

Trevor Nyasha Madondo (1976-2001) Test Cap #:38

2026-02-18T08:07:29.313+05:00

Full name Trevor Nyasha Madondo
Born November 22, 1976, Mount Darwin, Mashonaland
Died June 11, 2001, Parirenyatwa Hospital, Harare (aged 24 years 201 days)
Major teams Zimbabwe (Test: 1997/98-2000/01)(ODI: 1998/99-2000/01); Matabeleland (1994/95-1996/97); Mashonaland (1998/99-2000/01); Matabeleland (1995/96-1996/97);(1998/99); Zimbabwe (1997/98-2000/01); Zimbabwe Cricket Union President's XI (1998/99-1999/00); Zimbabwe A (1998/99-2000/01); Zimbabwe Cricket Academy (1998/99); Zimbabweans (2000/01); Zimbabwe (1998/99-2000/01); Zimbabwe Cricket Academy (1998/99); Zimbabwe A (1998/99-1999/00); Zimbabweans (2000/01); Zimbabwe Under-19s (Under-19 Test: 1995/96); Zimbabwe Under-19s (Under-19 ODI: 1995/96); Zimbabwe Under-19s (Under-19 two innings: 1995/96); Zimbabwe Under-19s (Under-19 limited overs: 1995/96);
Batting style Right-hand bat
Bowling style Right-arm medium
Fielding position Wicketkeeper

Profile

Trevor Madondo died of malaria at the age of 24, becoming one the youngest Test cricketers to die. A right-hand batsman, he was the first black to be selected as a specialist batsman by Zimbabwe against Pakistan in 1997-98, playing three times in all. He also played 13 one-day internationals. While the statistics are nothing special, Madondo was learning, and his Test-best of 74 came in his final outing six months before his death. He was realising the need to build an innings rather than smash everything, and also the value of working the ball around the field. His development was further hampered by injuries and suspicions that he wasn't as disciplined off he field as he might have been. Madondo won a place in the Colts cricket team in Grade 3 and by the time he was in Grade 5, he was already playing in the school's first team.
He played as an opening bowler, right-arm medium-pace, and batted at No. 4. He also played for the school's rugby and hockey teams. In Grade 6 he was selected for the Partridges, the national primary schools cricket team. In 1989 he won selection for the Mashonaland Country Districts primary schools select team which toured England. Trevor then went to Falcon College in Bulawayo for his secondary education. The institution has produced many of Zimbabwe's Test players. After two dormant years, Trevor began to keep wicket and this led to his selection for the Fawns, the national Under-15 team, and he went on the tour of Namibia in 1992.
He also represented Zimbabwe Schools in South Africa for two years. While still at school, Trevor was chosen to make his first-class debut, as a wicketkeeper, for Matabeleland against the touring county side Glamorgan. By then he was already playing club cricket for Old Miltonians, making thirties and forties with the bat. After leaving school in 1995, Trevor won a place at Rhodes University in Grahamstown, South Africa, to study for a Bachelor of Commerce degree. He played in the first team at Rhodes where he made a highest score of 77. His university commitments prevented him from playing more regularly for Matabeleland in the Logan Cup. But he was a regular selection for the Zimbabwe Board XI to play in the UCBSA Bowl competition, when available. His best score was 86 against Transvaal B in a three-day match. In 1999 he was part of the first intake of the Zimbabwe Cricket Academy.

Test debut Zimbabwe v Pakistan at Bulawayo, Mar 14-18, 1998
Last Test New Zealand v Zimbabwe at Wellington, Dec 26-30, 2000
ODI debut Zimbabwe v India at Bulawayo, Sep 26, 1998
Last ODI West Indies v Zimbabwe at Perth, Feb 2, 2001
First-class span 1994-2001

Heath Streak (1974 – 2023)) Test Cap # 20

2026-02-18T08:06:00.002+05:00

Runako Shakur Morton (1978-2012) Test Cap #:262

2026-02-18T08:03:09.815+05:00

Full name Runako Shakur Morton
Born July 22, 1978, Nevis
Died March 4, 2012, Chase Village, Trinidad (aged 33 years 226 days)
Major teams West Indies, Leeward Islands, Nevis, Trinidad & Tobago
Playing role Batsman
Batting style Right-hand bat
Bowling style Right-arm medium, Right-arm offbreak

Biography

Runako Morton on his half-century,
West Indies v Australia, 1st Test,
Jamaica, May 24, 2008 © Getty Images

A batsman who played 15 Tests and 56 ODIs for West Indies, Runako Morton died in a car crash when just 33. His international career with West Indies spanned eight years, but he unable to win a regular place in the side, largely because of the controversies he was embroiled in.

His run-ins with authority started early, when he was expelled from the West Indian Academy in July 2001, for a series of regulation breaches. He refused to be bowed, however, and continued to accumulate runs for Leeward Islands in the Busta Cup. In February 2002, he was called into an injury-plagued West Indian squad as a replacement for Marlon Samuels, and was tipped to become one of the few Test cricketers from tiny island of Nevis.

But he threw away his opportunity when he pulled out of the ICC Champions Trophy in September 2002, after lying about the death of his grandmother. His career slipped further down the pan when he was arrested (though released without charge) in January 2004, following a stabbing incident, but in May 2005, he was given a third chance at redemption when he was recalled to the one-day squad to face South Africa although he didn't get a game.He got his chance later that month against Pakistan at home, and was then picked for the 2005-06 tour to New Zealand, where he proved his worth with a fighting century - his maiden one-day hundred - in a losing cause. He followed it up with another ton, in the away series against Zimbabwe, but soon made it into the record books for his painstaking 31-ball duck in the final of the DLF Cup against Australia in Malaysia. It was the slowest ODI duck, beating Phil Simmons's earlier record that had consumed 23 balls.
It certainly got his eye in, however, as Morton made an unbeaten 90 in his next meeting with the Australians, in the Champions Trophy. From that moment on, however, his form fell away, and he was omitted from the West Indian squad for the subsequent World Cup. His in-and-out career continued with a recall for the 2007 England trip and he made runs against Zimbabwe later that year but his form never remained consistent.

He had another crack at Test cricket in 2008 and continued to be given chances n the one-day set up up until early 2010. There were flashes of what he could achieve, such as an unbeaten 85 against India, but not enough to earn a sustained run.

Runako Morton punches the,
air after steering West Indies home,
West Indies v India, 2nd ODI,
Kingston, June 28, 2009 © AFP

Another Word For Tragedy
Runako Morton, the West Indies batsman, has died in a road accident on Sunday, police have confirmed. Morton, 33, crashed into a utility pole on the Solomon Hochoy Highway in Chase Village in central Trinidad. He was on his way home from a cricket match, and was the sole occupant of the vehicle. The accident occurred at around 11pm local time. When news spread about his death, many of his team-mates posted condolence messages on Twitter, like Wavell Hinds: "Gone far too soon brother Runako. I will treasure the great memories for sure. R.I.P. God knows best." Rayad Emrit, Morton's Trinidad team-mate, tweeted: "R.I.P. Morton. You'll always be remembered buddy. Gone but NEVER forgotten. We miss you bro." Julian Hunte, the president of the West Indies Cricket Board, sent his condolences: "Runako's passing, still in the prime of life, leaves us all in shock," Hunte said. "He will be remembered as a fierce competitor on the field who gave no quarter whether he was playing for West Indies, Leeward Islands, Nevis or Trinidad and Tobago." Morton played 15 Tests and 56 ODIs for West Indies, with his last appearance for his country coming against Australia in a Twenty20 international in 2010. He underachieved as a Test batsman, scoring 573 runs at an average of 22.03 with four half-centuries. He had a better record as a one-day player, scoring 1519 runs at an average of 33.75 with two centuries and ten fifties. Morton's career was blotted by disciplinary breaches. He was expelled from the West Indian Academy in July 2001, and a year later was called up to the injury-plagued West Indies squad as a replacement for Marlon Samuels. He pulled out of the ICC Champions Trophy in September 2002, after lying about the death of his grandmother. His career slipped further when he was arrested (though released without charge) in January 2004, following a stabbing incident.

Chris Gayle on twitter"We lost a True Warrior W.I Cricketer Runako Morton-May is soul rest in peace! Our memories together Live On!-My Condolences to his Family His maiden ODI century (110*) came in a losing cause against New Zealand in 2006. Two months later, he scored another century, but in a washed-out contest against Zimbabwe in Trinidad. However, one of his most significant one-day knocks was his match-winning unbeaten 90 against Australia in the 2006 Champions Trophy. His in-and-out career continued with a recall for the 2007 England trip and he made runs against Zimbabwe later that year but his form never remained consistent. His most recent fifty was the unbeaten 85 against India at Kingston in 2009. His last Test appearance came in 2008 against Australia in Antigua. Morton was one of the few players from the tiny island of Nevis to play Tests for West Indies. He represented Leeward Islands from his debut in 1996-97 till 2009-10, when he shifted base to Trinidad and Tobago. He scored 4104 first-class runs for Leewards at 44.60 with 11 centuries and 25 fifties. He played five first-class matches for Trinidad, scoring 189 runs.

Test debut Sri Lanka v West Indies at Colombo (SSC), Jul 13-16, 2005
Last Test West Indies v Australia at North Sound, May 30-Jun 3, 2008
ODI debut Pakistan v West Indies at Sharjah, Feb 15, 2002
Last ODI Australia v West Indies at Adelaide, Feb 9, 2010
T20I debut New Zealand v West Indies at Auckland, Feb 16, 2006
Last T20I Australia v West Indies at Sydney, Feb 23, 2010
First-class debut1996/97
Last First-class Trinidad & Tobago v Leeward Islands at Port of Spain, Mar 11-14, 2011

Ezra Moseley (1958–2021) Test Cap # 195

2026-02-17T16:02:07.193+05:00

Thelston Payne (1957–2023) Test Cap # 187

2026-02-17T16:01:00.003+05:00

Clyde Butts (1957–2023) Test Cap # 184

2026-02-17T15:58:00.002+05:00

Rangy Nanan (1953-2016) Test Cap #: 174

2026-02-17T15:55:04.708+05:00

Full name Rangy Nanan
Born May 29, 1953, Preysal, Trinidad
Died March 23, 2016, Caroni, Trinidad & Tobago (aged 62 years 299 days)
Major teams West Indies, Trinidad & Tobago
Batting style Right-hand bat
Bowling style Right-arm offbreak

Profile

Rangy Nanan had the misfortune to be one of the Caribbean's leading spinners at the time Clive Lloyd's all-pace strategy was taking hold. A leading offspinner for Trinidad for almost two decades, his best season was in 1981-82 when he took 32 Shell Shield wickets in five matches and when he retired he was their leading wicket-taker in the competition. He was no mean batsman either with a first-class hundred to his name. His one Test came in Pakistan at Faisalabad in 1980-81 where he took four wickets but impressed with his tight control, and took two important catches. He is a police officer.

Only Test Pakistan v West Indies at Faisalabad, Dec 8-12, 1980
First-class span 1972/73 - 1990/91
List A span 1976/77 - 1990/91

Malcolm Denzil Marshall (1958-1999) Test Cap #:172

2026-02-17T15:54:00.014+05:00

Full name Malcolm Denzil Marshall
Born April 18, 1958, Bridgetown, Barbados
Died November 4, 1999, Bridgetown, Barbados (aged 41 years 200 days)
Major teams West Indies, Barbados, Hampshire, Natal
Batting style Right-hand bat
Bowling style Right-arm fast

In a nutshell Malcolm Marshall was perhaps the finest of West Indies' many formidable fast bowlers of the 1980s, endowed with fierce pace, swing, cut, a vicious bouncer, and above all, the ability to outthink any batsman.

Malcolm Marshall in action....
© Getty Images

Biography

Malcolm Denzil Marshall was a West Indian cricketer. Primarily a fast bowler, Marshall is regarded as one of the finest and fastest pacemen ever to have played Test cricket.His Test bowling average of 20.94 is the best of anyone who has taken 200 or more wickets.He achieved his bowling success despite being, by the standards of other fast bowlers, a short man – he stood at 5 feet 11 inches (1.80 m),while most of the great quicks have been well above 6 feet (1.8 m) and many great West Indian fast bowlers, such as Joel Garner, Curtly Ambrose and Courtney Walsh, were 6 feet 6 inches (1.98 m) or above. He generated fearsome pace from his bowling action, with a dangerous bouncer. Marshall was also a very dangerous lower-order batsman with ten Test fifties and seven first-class centuries.

Malcolm Marshall in action.
© Getty Images

Marshall was born in Bridgetown, Barbados. His father, Denzil Marshall, was a policeman, but died in a road traffic accident when Marshall was one year old. His mother, Eleanor (née Welch) remarried and Marshall had one half-brother and one half-sister. He grew up in the parish of Saint Michael, Barbados and was educated at St Giles Boys' School from 1963 to 1969 and then at Parkinson Comprehensive from 1969 to 1973.He was partly taught cricket by his grandfather, who helped to bring him up after his father's death. He played cricket for the Banks Brewery team from 1976. His first representative match was a 40-over affair for West Indies Young Cricketers against their English equivalents at Pointe-à-Pierre, Trinidad and Tobago in August 1976. He made nought and his eight overs disappeared for 53 runs.

Malcolm Marshall celebrates a wicket...
© PA Photos

Marshall's first senior appearance was a Geddes Grant/Harrison Line Trophy (List A) match for Barbados on 13 February 1978; again he made a duck and did not take a wicket. Four days later, he made his first-class debut against Jamaica, and whilst he failed to score runs he claimed 6-77 in the Jamaican first innings. On the back of this single first-class appearance he was selected to tour India in 1978/79, many first-choice West Indian stars being unavailable having committed themselves to playing World Series Cricket. Marshall heard of his selection on the radio while working in the storeroom at Banks Brewery, and later claimed he did not know where India was.

Marshall made his Test début in the Second Test at Bangalore on 15 December 1978. He immediately developed a career-long antipathy to Dilip Vengsarkar due to his agressive appealing. Despite doing little of note in the three Tests he played on that tour, he did take 37 wickets in all first-class games, and Hampshire saw enough in him to take him on as their overseas player for 1979, remaining with the county until 1993. He was in West Indies' World Cup squad, but did not play a match in the tournament. Hampshire were not doing well at the time,[citation needed] but nevertheless he took 47 first-class wickets, as well as picking up 5-13 against Glamorgan in the John Player League.

Marshall came to prominence in 1980, when in the third Test at Old Trafford he accounted for Mike Gatting, Brian Rose and Peter Willey in short order to spark an England collapse, although the match was eventually drawn despite Marshall taking 7-24. After 1980/81 he was out of the Test side for two years, but an excellent 1982 season when he took 134 wickets at under 16 apiece, including a career-best 8-71 against Worcestershire, saw him recalled and thereafter he remained a fixture until the end of his international career.

In seven successive Test series from 1982/83 to 1985/86 he took 21 or more wickets each time, in the last five of them averaging under 20. His most productive series in this period was the 1983/84 rubber against India, when he claimed 33 wickets as well as averaging 34 with the bat and making his highest Test score of 92 at Kanpur. A few months later he took five in an innings twice at home against Australia. At the peak of his career, he turned down an offer of US£1 million to join a rebel West Indies team on a tour to South Africa, still suffering international sporting isolation due to apartheid.

I had my first encounter with Malcolm at the beginning of my first-class career in 1988 when Trinidad and Tobago was playing against Barbados. The first delivery I faced in the match was from Malcolm and of course his reputation with the ball preceded him. I was scared, my heart was pumping and I was out caught down the leg-side first ball. As he went past me with his hands in the air he stopped and touched me on the shoulder and said 'Tough luck!' That was the first time I had got close to him.Brian Lara describing the first time he faced Marshall.

Malcolm Marshall and Azhar Zaidi.
© Zaidi Sports

By 1984 Marshall was seen as one of the finest bowlers in the world, and he demoralised England that summer, especially at Headingley, where he ran through the order in the second innings to finish with 7-53, despite having broken his thumb whilst fielding in the first innings. He also came out to bat at number 11 in West Indies' first innings despite his injury, allowing his team to gain a further psychological advantage as Larry Gomes completed an unbeaten century (Marshall batted one-handed that day, with one arm in plaster).In that series, too, he also ended Andy Lloyd's Test career after just half an hour after hitting him on the head. West Indies won the "blackwash" series 5-0.

In 1984/85 he had another successful series at home against New Zealand, although there were calls for the his bouncers to be ruled as intimidatory beyond what was acceptable, and that Marshall should have been admonished by the umpires. A rising delivery broke the nose of Mike Gatting, England's captain, in a one-day match in February 1986; Marshall later found bone fragments embedded in the leather of the ball. As well as the bouncer, however, Marshall succeeded in swinging the ball in both direction. He also used an in-swinging yorker as well as developing an effective leg-cutter, and with the exception of the 1986/87 New Zealanders, against whom he could only manage nine wickets at 32.11, no side seemed to have an answer to him.

1988 saw his career-best Test performance of 7-22 at Old Trafford, and he ended the series with 35 wickets in five Tests, at 12.65. Marshall was coming towards the end of his international career, moreover, and though he took 11 wickets in the match against India at Port of Spain the following winter, he played his last Test at The Oval in 1991. His final Test wicket – his 376th – was that of Graham Gooch.

Marshall's final appearances for West Indies came in One Day International cricket.the 1992 World Cup. However, in his five matches in the tournament, he took just two wickets, both in the penultimate game against South Africa at Christchurch. This was the only time Marshall played for West Indies against South Africa in his career, though he played provincial cricket for Natal in both 1992/93 and 1993/94. Whilst playing at Natal, his experience was invaluable, and his guidance was an influential spark in the early career of Shaun Pollock. Today, Shaun Pollock attributes much of his success to his mentor, Marshall.

Ian Botham is caught behind off Malcolm Marshall...
© Getty Images

He was in the Hampshire team that won the 1992 Benson & Hedges Cup. He played for Hampshire again in 1993, taking 28 wickets at a shade over 30 runs apiece, but that was to be the end of his time in county cricket, and in 1994 his only game in England was against the South Africans for the Scarborough President's XI during the Festival. He played five matches for Scotland in the 1995 Benson and Hedges Cup without much success, and his last senior games were for Natal in 1995/96. In his very last senior appearance, against Western Province in a limited-overs game at Cape Town, the first of his two victims was his former international team-mate Desmond Haynes. He took over 1,000 wickets for Hampshire, and received more than £60,000 (tax free) in his benefit year in 1987.

Sunday League winners 1986,
© Hampshire County Cricket Club

In 1996, Marshall became coach both of Hampshire and the West Indies, although the latter's steadily declining standards during this period brought a considerable amount of criticism his way.[citation needed] In 1999, during the World Cup it was revealed that Marshall had colon cancer. He immediately left his coaching job to begin treatment, but this was ultimately unsuccessful. He married his long-term partner, Connie Roberta Earle, in Romsey on 25 September 1999, and returned to his home town, where he died on 4 November aged forty-one, weighing little more than 25 kg.

"The worldwide outpouring of grief," wrote journalist-friend Pat Symes, "was testimony to the genuine love and admiration he engendered."At the funeral service at the Garfield Sobers Gymnasium in Wildey, Barbados, former West Indian fast bowler Rev. Wes Hall siffilated the last rites in the belief that Marshall, having found God again in the last few weeks of his life, was off to Heaven.His coffin was carried at the service by five West Indian captains. He was buried at St Bartholomew's Church, Barbados.

The Malcolm Marshall Memorial Trophy was inaugurated in his memory, to be awarded to the leading wicket-taker in each England v West Indies Test series. Another trophy with the same name was set up to be the prize in an annual game between Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago.Malcolm Marshall Memorial cricket games are also played in Handsworth Park, Birmingham. On the Sunday of the UK's August bank holiday, invitation XI's play against an individual's "select eleven".The entrance road to Hampshire's ground the Rose Bowl is called Marshall Drive in memory of Marshall and another West Indian Hampshire great Roy Marshall

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The epitome of fast bowling
Swing and cut, speed and bounce, and smarts above all - Maco had everything except height, and even that lack he turned into an asset
Mike Selvey


(from bottom) Richard Hadlee, Clive Rice, Kapil Dev, Ian Botham and Marshall. © PA Photos

They laid Malcolm Marshall to rest in the churchyard of St Bartholomew, out near Grantley Adams airport, the gateway to Barbados. His funeral service, at the Garry Sobers Gymnasium, had been conducted by the Reverend Wes Hall: one giant of West Indies cricket helping another on his way. It had been a state occasion in all but name, broadcast not just in Barbados but across the Caribbean. But the rest of the cricket world grieved too. Those who knew him and played with and against him, of course, but also those who revered and recognised the untimely passing of a great player. Such was the esteem in which Marshall had been held.

Can it really be 11 years ago this November that the colon cancer that ravaged him for six months finally took him? He was only 41 years old, his prime long since past, but still good enough to make good young players acting above their station look foolish when he chose to turn his arm over in the nets. Perhaps, just as Don McLean recognised the death of Buddy Holly as the "day the music died", November 4, 1999 was the day West Indies cricket, no longer top dog, began its final descent from such sustained dominance as no side had ever managed before, into turmoil and obscurity. In life, Viv Richards and he, above all, represented the central pillars of supreme excellence within the West Indies side. In his passing, he became a metaphor for the demise of cricket in the Caribbean.

Marshall was central to the West Indies side through their most dominant period in the mid-80s, when happenstance not heritage, history now tells us, produced such a rich crop of fast-bowling talent, the like of which had never been seen before or since, and they brushed aside opposition as if flicking away irritant horseflies. Traditionally fast bowlers have been seen to hunt in pairs, their names synonymous with one another: Gregory and McDonald, Constantine and Martindale, Lindwall and Miller, Trueman and Statham, Hall and Griffith, Lillee and Thomson, Wasim and Waqar, McGrath and Gillespie, Donald and Pollock. But in that glorious period, West Indies hunted in packs: Roberts, Holding, Garner, Croft, Patterson, Daniel, Clarke, Bishop, Walsh, and Ambrose.

Malcolm Marshall fells Andy Lloyd..
© Getty Images

And, of course, there, as the linchpin, was Marshall. For a period of three years, from 1982-83 to 1985-86, he was irresistible, the best, taking 21 or more wickets in seven successive series, with an average in the last five of less than 20. In India in 1983-84, he took 33 wickets, a staggering achievement, including one of Test history's seminal new-ball spells on the disheartening track in Kanpur, where he claimed Sunil Gavaskar, Jimmy Amarnath (for ducks), Anshuman Gaekwad (4), and his arch-enemy Dilip Vengsarkar (14), to get figures of 8-5-9-4.

Yet it was England, his second home, that suffered most, it seemed. At Headingley in 1984, he broke his left thumb while fielding earlier in the match. But with his hand in plaster, and in considerable pain, he bowled 26 overs in the second innings to take 7 for 53 and win the game. Four years on, at Old Trafford, with the England team in a maelstrom of unrest, he showed versatility on a pitch deliberately prepared to negate pace and give excessive help to spin, by simply pitching the ball up and swinging it, taking 7 for 22 as England were humiliated for 93. "Don't ever try that on us again," said Richards in the aftermath.

He was open-chested at delivery, against the teaching of the manuals, but in such a neutral position that he didn't need telegraph, through a change in action, any intention to swing the ball one way or another. And his arm was wickedly fast - twitch fast, as could be said, for example, of the golf swing of Tiger Woods

Perhaps most telling, though, is the fact that in such stellar fast-bowling company, where duty and the spoils were shared, he took five wickets in an innings 22 times and four times claimed 10 in a match. For the bulk of his career, he averaged five per match.

He could outshine anyone. In 1987, as part of their bicentenary celebrations, the MCC staged a match at Lord's against a Rest of the World side. The assemblage of fast bowling was magnificent: on the MCC side came Marshall, Richard Hadlee and Clive Rice; on the other team were Imran Khan, Courtney Walsh and Kapil Dev. This was to be an exhibition of batting, however, on a pitch designed for runs and the emasculation of pace. Only Marshall rose above the conditions. Gavaskar was palpably lbw to the first ball of the game from Marshall, but was allowed to stay and went on to make 188 (revenge came second time around, when Marshall did away with the need for the umpire's help and castled him for nought), but he reserved his greatest effort for Dilip Vengsarkar. The antipathy went back to Marshall's first Test tour to India in 1978, when he believed Vengsarkar claimed an unfair catch. Marshall - what a name for the purpose - got his man, going round the wicket, extracting pace where none ought to have existed, and with no way out of the road bombarded his man brutally into submission. And yes, when unrestrained by strong umpiring, he could be brutal.

Marshall's supreme excellence created debate that, from the rum shops of Oistins to the clubs and bars around the world, continues to this day. Who has been the fastest? Who is considered the best? Was it Ray Lindwall, the supreme craftsman, with complete control of swing, yorker and bouncer, or his compatriot Dennis Lillee, bristling and explosive, with a command of cut like no other of his pace before? Could it be the aristocratically haughty Imran Khan or Wasim Akram - both magicians of reverse-swing - or the deadly Waqar Younis, whose strike rate in his pomp was second to none? What about Curtly Ambrose, portrayed in calypso as The Master, the professor Andy Roberts, the inquisitor Glenn McGrath, or the surgeon that was Hadlee? Will the rampant South African, Dale Steyn, one day be so regarded?

Always the argument seems to come back to Marshall. There was nothing he seemed to lack, except perhaps height. But at 5ft 9in or so, around the same as Harold Larwood, he managed to turn that to his advantage, skidding the ball on where others might stick the ball in the pitch. He offered swing and cut, searing pace, a bouncer that seemed to climb to chin height rapidly and then level off, coming skimmingly flat; a supreme cricketing intellect that could spot flaws in an instant and smell fear, and a ruthless streak that made no concession in the pursuit of success for his team or, as in the case of Vengsarkar, occasionally of a personal vendetta.

Malcolm Marshall takes the wicket of Imran Khan,
World Cup 1983 semi-final © Getty Images

We can start with his action. In his younger days he ran a distance, the vogue thing that had little to do with rhythm and everything to do with menace. He came in on the angle, slithering to the crease, his twinkling feet encased not in heavy bowling boots but little more than carpet slippers. Later in his career he recognised that his speed did not depend on the length of the run, but that stamina did, and he cut it down. He was open-chested at delivery, against the teaching of the manuals, but in such a neutral position that he didn't need to telegraph, through a change in action, any intention to swing the ball one way or another. And his arm was wickedly fast - twitch fast, as could be said, for example, of the golf swing of Tiger Woods.
Next came the tools of the trade. He swung the ball - manipulated it with hand and wrist rather than relying on a body action to do the job as many so-called swing bowlers do - outswing and inswing at will, the latter being the pace bowler's googly. He was all but impossible to read, though, for his grip remained essentially the same for both, the change coming only in a movement of the supporting thumb. Of his bouncer, we have already spoken, a potent weapon, occasionally used to excess when allowed, occasionally, for no apparent reason, against lesser batsmen, who were left bemused, not to say bruised, by the assault.

From Dennis Lillee he learned the legcutter, which he employed on dusty wickets. Against England in Gwalior, in the Nehru Cup of 1989, he produced a first ball of such startling pace to Allan Lamb - a rare England thorn in West Indian flesh during his career - that it pitched around middle stump, squaring the batsman, before jagging away and plucking out off stump. In its way it was as devastating a delivery as can ever have been bowled. He could assess the pace and productivity of a pitch, could adjust accordingly, and possessed the gift of analysis allied to instinct, which could undermine any batsman. Finally came resilience, stamina and courage.

Almost invariably the debate returns to the two figures: Lillee, the prototype modern fast bowler, and Marshall. Most would admit little more than a coat of varnish between the pair. None would quibble if the other got the nod. But Lillee had no record on the heartbreaking pitches of the subcontinent, in the days before reverse-swing made their abrasiveness into a virtue, not playing a single Test in India, and managing only three wickets in as many Tests on desperate surfaces in Pakistan in 1979-80. Marshall succeeded in Pakistan and in India. Both were complete fast bowlers. When they buried Marshall though, they interred the epitome of sustained fast-bowling excellence. He really was the best of the very best.
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First among equals
In a team of several fast-bowling stars, Malcolm Marshall stood out for his sheer versatility and genius
S Rajesh
There have been several bright stars in the fast-bowling pantheon - and indeed, many from the West Indies - but the luminosity of Malcolm Marshall stands out even in such exalted company. He was relatively short-statured for a fast bowler, but in all aspects of his craft he stood taller than almost anyone else. He could swing and seam the ball both ways from an open-chested and quick-arm action that gave batsmen little indication of what was coming their way, and the skiddy bounce he obtained further added to the batsmen's woes. Whatever the conditions or the quality of the opposition team, Marshall had a way - and sometimes several - to breach their defences. Little wonder, then, that in the eyes of many pundits, Marshall ranks on top of the list of modern-day fast bowlers.

One of the most remarkable aspects of Marshall's bowling stats is the sheer consistency of his numbers across various parameters. For example, he played against five opponents, and the difference between his best and worst averages against them was slightly more than three runs: his lowest average was against England (19.58) and his highest against Australia (22.51). Of the six countries he played in (including the West Indies), the only place where he averaged more than 25 was in New Zealand (and he only played three Tests there). The difference between his home and away averages was 1.51, and it didn't matter much to him whether his captain won or lost the toss, and whether he had to bowl in the first innings or the last.

His introduction to Test cricket wasn't an auspicious one, though: in his first series, in India in 1978-79, Marshall managed only three wickets in as many Tests, and leaked more than 88 runs per wicket. He didn't play Test cricket again till the summer of 1980, and till the end of 1982 he played only nine further Tests.

Thereafter, though, the transformation was stunning. When India toured West Indies in 1983, Marshall took 21 wickets at an average of less than 24, but the series that announced his class and talent came later that year in India, with West Indies seeking revenge for that utterly shocking World Cup final defeat. Marshall was simply unstoppable, claiming 33 wickets in six Tests, including that of Sunil Gavaskar and Dilip Vengsarkar five times each. That period started an amazing run that continued almost uninterrupted for the next eight years, during which period Marshall took 342 wickets from 69 Tests at an average of less than 20.

During the nine years from 1983 to 1991, he was one of only two bowlers who took 125 or more wickets at a sub-20 average - Richard Hadlee was the other. Marshall was the only one, though, with a strike rate of less than 45 balls per wicket.

As a match-winner, Marshall was among the very best again, with 254 wickets at less than 17. Again, only one bowler, Muttiah Muralitharan, has a better average, and one, Waqar Younis, has a better strike rate. Marshall's performances didn't drop much in defeats either: in the nine Tests in which he played in a losing cause, he still managed an average of less than 28.

Andy Lloyd tries to unsuccessfully
avoid a Malcolm Marshall bouncer
© Getty Images

Perhaps the biggest compliment to Marshall is the fact that he stood out even when he played with other great fast bowlers. The 1980s were an exceptional period for West Indian fast bowling, and yet in the Tests that Marshall played, he took almost a third of the wickets taken by their fast bowlers (31.37%). Marshall was clearly the leader of the pack - the next-highest wicket-taker in matches Marshall figured in was Courtney Walsh, with only 137 wickets from 42 Tests, while Curtly Ambrose had 128 from 29. (Click here for the full list.) Marshall's average and strike rate were significantly better than his other fast-bowling mates, and he took as many five-fors as all the other West Indian fast bowlers put together.

Not only did Marshall get many wickets, he also generally dismissed the top batsmen from the opposition line-ups. Among the batsmen he dismissed most often were Graham Gooch (16 times), Allan Lamb (13 times), Allan Border (11), Vengsarkar (10) and Gavaskar (8).

On the other hand, he didn't get rid of the tail that often; he usually left that job to the others. Of the 376 Test wickets he took, 238 were of batsmen in the top six, which is a fairly impressive percentage of 63.30. Only 17.55% of his wickets were of batsmen in the bottom three, which is the lowest among the bowlers listed below. Allan Donald and Glenn McGrath had a higher top-order percentage, but Marshall's numbers are quite a contrast to those of Wasim Akram, for whom almost 28% of wickets were of batsmen in the bottom three.

Another factor that puts Marshall above many other high-class fast bowlers is his stats in the subcontinent. The relatively slow pitches in the region have thwarted many a fast bowler, but not Marshall, whose varied skills helped him take 71 wickets in 19 Tests at an average of 23.05. Those numbers look even better if his first series in India is excluded: in the 16 remaining Tests he averaged 20.17. His overall average here, though, remains one of the best among overseas fast bowlers who've taken at least 50 wickets in the subcontinent.

The team he tormented more than any other, though, was England, against whom he took 127 wickets at 19.18 - both numbers were his best against any side.

Some of Marshall's most memorable performances came against England: on the tour of 1984, he took three five-fors in five Tests, the most memorable of which was at Headingley. Having sustained a double fracture to his left thumb, Marshall came out to bat with his hand in plaster to help Larry Gomes to his hundred; then he destroyed England in the second innings with a fantastic haul of 7 for 53. Four years later, Marshall's 7 for 22 at Old Trafford destroyed England on a pitch that was supposed to aid spin. Among bowlers with at least 75 wickets against England, Marshall's average is one of the best. (And is it a surprise that the list is dominated by West Indians?)
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Greatest fast bowler of the modern era
For Marshall, it was natural to share his passion and expertise
Vic Marks

Malcolm Marshall, who died in Barbados on Thursday (Nov 4) at the age of just 41, was arguably the greatest fast bowler of the modern era. The records tell us that. But of all the superb Caribbean cricketers of the last three decades, he was the most consumed by the game and the most committed to maintaining his contact with it at the sharp end - in the nets with the next generation rather than the cosy commentary box.

Statistics can only hint at the complete cricketer. Marshall was an awesome bowler, generating phenomenal pace from his five foot 10 inch frame - usually reckoned to be too short by modern standards. He could blitz you with sheer pace; he could swing you out if in guileful mood.

He sprinted up to the wicket, barely stopping at the crease to deliver the ball, slightly open-chested but with supple fingers delicately controlling the seam. If necessary, he just kept coming.

Even in his recent role as coach to the West Indian team he couldn't stop himself from bowling countless overs in the nets. No-one was more devoted to the game. His former Hampshire captain, Mark Nicholas, reckons that he has never encountered anyone with such enthusiasm for cricket. Joel Garner has said: "Malcolm's real strength was that he never gave less than 100% for any side he played in. Palling his weight for his team just meant everything to him."

These were the qualities that endeared him to colleagues and opponents alike. They were most obviously displayed against England at Headingley in 1984. There he broke his thumb, fielding close to the wicket, and he was promptly plastered up. This was the cue for most professional cricketers to watch the rest of the game from the comfort of the balcony. He was told not to play any cricket for at least 10 days.

Marshall decided otherwise. Not only did he bat one-handed to allow his team-mate, Larry Gomes, to reach his century, but in the second innings, left hand still in plaster, he proceeded to bowl England out taking seven for 53. He seemed indestructible then.

Most cricketers try pretty hard in the Test arena - though Marshall always went the extra mile - and generally the great ones coast a little when returning to the counties. Marshall would never do that even on a drab day at Bournemouth.

There was a peculiar tension when batting against Hampshire in the 80s. Even when he was grazing at mid-off you were conscious of him; you could not avoid glancing in his direction, checking his movements: "When is he coming back? How much more of Nigel Cowley will I be permitted? He's had a word with the captain. He's loosening up."

Invariably he did come back and the sternest of challenges ensued. Like all the great West Indians he never said a word to you. There might be the odd glance, an icy stare or a knowing smile, but sledging was demeaning to him - and with such pace in his armoury it was a redundant weapon any way.

"Cappy," he would chime in his slow, high-pitched Bajan accent (when he and Garner were together he speeded up and they were indecipherable to those of us born on this side of the Atlantic), "mid-off's a waste of time: put him in slips. Square leg to short leg." Then he would glide in at pace or maybe dally with his victim with an assortment of swingers (on balance, I preferred the latter). The contest was fierce and usually one-sided, but after stumps he would be chucking away with anyone.

There was a peculiar tension when batting against Hampshire in the 80s. Even when he was grazing at mid-off you were conscious of him; you could not avoid glancing in his direction, checking his movements: "When is he coming back? How much more of Nigel Cowley will I be permitted? He's had a word with the captain. He's loosening up."

I played with him four or five years ago, albeit in a charity match at Torquay against a Somerset side. Of course he bowled properly off a dozen paces with the new ball; he produced a mini-masterclass and soon induced an outside edge. An unknown 16-year-old wicketkeeper, Chris Read, took off to his right to take a stunning catch. How Marshall glowed at the magic he'd created. At the other end Read was cock-a-hoop that the world's greatest bowler was so overjoyed by the moment.

Thereafter Marshall stationed himself at mid-off alongside budding bowlers. Their chests puffed out and they revelled alongside such a generous tutor. An easy word of encouragement here and there gave them an unforgettable day. For Marshall, it was natural for him to share his passion and expertise.

In all probability, he would have developed into a great coach. Already there was a limitless demand for his services. He had been successful in Natal, where he captained the side in 1993-94. Shaun Pollock readily acknowledges his debt to Marshall.

He returned to his beloved Hampshire, where he oversaw a mini-resurgence over the past three years. And he undertook the hardest challenge of the lot: trying to arrest the decline of West Indian cricket. He was hugely frustrated by the players' threatened strike action at Heathrow prior to the South Africa tour 12 months ago - Marshall would have been mystified by their attitude - yet sympathetic to their burden of following the great team of the 80s.

He would have been welcomed with open arms at every venue during next summer's West Indies tour of England. Now, tragically, their side can only be inspired by the memory of his brilliant example of how to play the game.

Test debut India v West Indies at Bangalore, Dec 15-20, 1978
Last Test England v West Indies at The Oval, Aug 8-12, 1991
ODI debut England v West Indies at Leeds, May 28-29, 1980
Last ODI New Zealand v West Indies at Auckland, Mar 8, 1992
First-class span 1977-1996

Alvadon Basil Williams (1949-2015) Test Cap #:170

2026-02-17T15:53:00.003+05:00

Full name:Alvadon Basil Williams
Born:November 21, 1949, Caymanas Estate, St Catherine, Jamaica
Died:October 2015
Major teams:West Indies,Jamaica
Batting style:Right hand bat

Profile

Alvadon Basil Williams was a West Indian cricketer who played in seven Tests from 1978 to 1979.He was married to Patricia Williams and together they had two sons, Basil Williams and Germaine Williams, who became the famous rapper known as Canibus.He later had a daughter, Gabrielle Williams.

Basil Williams - known to all as Shotgun on account of his uncompromising attacking style - won his Test call-up partly on account of a good Shell Shield season in 1977-78 and largely because of the defection of many leading players to World Series Cricket. Williams hammered a hundred against an equally depleted Australian side on debut at Georgetown, ending the series with 257 runs at 42.83. That won him selection for the India tour where he again performed well, scoring 212 runs at 35.33 - including a hundred at Calcutta - but after that series the Packer rebels returned and Williams was discarded.

Debut:West Indies vs Australia at Georgetown - March 30 - April 04, 1978
Last:India vs West Indies at Delhi - January 23 - 28, 1979
FC Span:1969/70 - 1984/85

David Murray (1950–2022) Test Cap # 167

2026-02-17T15:52:00.003+05:00

Sylvester Clarke (1954-1999) Test Cap #:165

2026-02-17T15:49:00.005+05:00

Full name Sylvester Theophilus Clarke
Born December 11, 1954, Lead Vale, Christ Church, Barbados
Died December 4, 1999, Christ Church, Barbados (aged 44 years 358 days)
Major teams West Indies, Barbados, Northern Transvaal, Orange Free State, Surrey, Transvaal
Batting style Right-hand bat
Bowling style Right-arm fast

Biography

Sylvester Theophilus Clarke was a West Indian cricketer who played 11 Tests and 10 One Day Internationals.Born in Christ Church, Barbados, Clarke attended St Bartholomew's Boys' School. A tall, strong, barrel-chested and powerfully built man (he weighed 15 stone -210lbs.during his international career), Clarke was born to be an intimidating fast bowler and commenced his cricketing career with Bridgetown club side, Kent. He made his first-class debut for Barbados on 19 January 1978 against Combined Islands and finished the season with 22 wickets at 25.18, highlighted by a return of 6/39, including a hat trick, against Trinidad and Tobago.

The right-armer, having developed an extremely fearsome bouncer, soon became one of the most respected bowlers in the West Indies and, following the defection of many of the West Indian team to World Series Cricket, Clarke made his full Test debut at Bourda Cricket Ground in Georgetown, Guyana against the touring Australian team on 31 March 1978. Clarke took 6/141 in a convincing debut, before injuring an ankle which kept him out of the rest of the series.

Clarke was subsequently selected for the West Indies' tour of India in 1978–79, taking 21 wickets at 33.85, including his Test best figures of 5/126 in the 2nd Test at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore. He then toured Pakistan in 1980–81 where he took 14 Test wickets at 17.28 before gaining his first taste of controversy. During the 4th Test at Multan, Clarke was pelted with oranges and stones by spectators whilst fielding on the boundary.Enraged, he responded by picking up a nearby brick and hurling it into the crowd, badly injuring a spectator who later required emergency surgery.A near riot was averted only when Clarke's teammate Alvin Kallicharan got down on bended knee to apologise to the crowd. Reflecting wryly on the incident many years later, Phil Edmonds wrote that the brick "probably swung in late and viciously before hitting him on the head,".

Clarke was subsequently suspended for three matches from the team for his actions. Having already been selected ahead of Michael Holding to face Ian Botham's England side, Clarke was now forced to drop out of the squad.Returning from suspension, Clarke found himself out of favour with the selectors and unable to break back into an already extremely strong West Indian bowling line-up boasting such talents as Joel Garner, Michael Holding, Malcolm Marshall and Colin Croft.

He played only one more Test, against Australia at the Sydney Cricket Ground in January 1982.With very limited international opportunities for him in the West Indies, Clarke decided to accept a lucrative offer to tour the apartheid era South Africa in 1983 and 1984 with an unofficial rebel West Indian side led by Lawrence Rowe. As a result Clarke, together with the other members of the touring party, was banned by the West Indies Cricket Board from playing in all cricket under its jurisdiction.

Clarke was a stand out contributor for the West Indian side in South Africa, taking 37 wickets in the unofficial Test series at 16.16 and 20 wickets at 18.45 in the accompanying limited overs series. Sufficiently impressed, South African provincial side Transvaal recruited Clarke and in 1984/85, he took a Currie Cup record 58 wickets at 12.72. He continued to play in South Africa until 1989, representing, at different times, Transvaal, Northern Transvaal and Orange Free State. In all, Clarke took 193 first-class wickets in South Africa at 17.55 and was named a South African Cricket Annual Cricketer of the Year in 1984 and 1985.

Clarke played with great distinction for English county side Surrey for a decade starting in 1979, becoming one of the leading wicket takers in the county championship. In 1988 he took 63 wickets for Surrey at 14.50 while he also displayed his powerful and adventurous batting prowess, scoring a century from only 61 balls in 1981 (and winning the Walter Lawrence Trophy in the process).

Clarke's reputation as the fastest, most feared and intimidating bowler in England was such that some opponents, who knew of his fondness for a drink, would sometimes attempt to get him too inebriated to bowl, occasionally with success. Indeed, Clarke's drinking was rumoured to be behind his eventual dismissal by Surrey in 1989 after 591 first-class wickets at an average of 19.00.

Some doubts were raised about the legality of Clarke's bowling action while he was at Surrey. Several opposition sides made official complaints about Clarke's faster ball and umpire Dickie Bird closely studied tapes of Clarke's action for any irregularities but found none, nor was Clarke ever called for throwing. It is commonly accepted that rather than chucking, it was Clarke's sheer strength and unusually open-chested action, combined with his speed, that left opposition batsmen fearing for their safety when facing him.

Clarke retired from first-class cricket in 1990 with 942 wickets at 19.52, including three hat-tricks. Returning to Barbados, he continued to play club cricket in Bridgetown and served as a net bowler for touring national sides, proving as dangerous as anything the touring team had faced all tour. In November 1999 Clarke complained of feeling unwell and losing weight rapidly and saw a doctor, who could find nothing amiss. On 4 December, Clarke collapsed at his home and died suddenly of a heart attack. He was one week short of his 45th birthday and left his wife Peggy, son and daughter.

Whilst his Test bowling figures are not exceptional, and he was one of several particularly fast West Indies' bowlers at the time, Clarke nevertheless gained a reputation amongst his fellow players as the most intimidating and feared fast bowler of his generation. In his obituary in The Guardian, it was written "like the Jamaican Roy Gilchrist in the 1950s and his fellow Bajan, Charlie Griffith in the 1960s, Clarke's weaponry was based more on sheer menace than technical accomplishment."

Viv Richards claimed Clarke was the only bowler he did not feel comfortable batting against, David Gower stated that Clarke was by far the fastest man he ever faced, and in the mid-1980s Garry Sobers wrote that Clarke was "the quickest and most hostile fast bowler now playing in world cricket".

Clarke was not shy of delivering balls patently designed to scare opposing batsmen and make them look foolish, and was regularly capable of a perfect bouncer, which having pitched then cut away sharply to follow the path of a batsman's head as he swayed away from it. Having duly terrified the batsman, Clarke would often follow this up with a wicket-taking high speed yorker, which the shaken up batsman was in no condition to defend.

Though an affable and laconic personality off the pitch, Clarke had a quick temper on the field and regarded the battle between batsman and bowler as a personal trial of strength and character. He was quite aware that he could be a physically intimidating man, and was unafraid of using his size and power to his advantage in overawing batsmen psychologically. Once warned by an umpire for over-use of the bouncer, he replied: "Dis no ladies' game, man."

Test debut West Indies v Australia at Georgetown, Mar 31-Apr 5, 1978
Last Test Australia v West Indies at Sydney, Jan 2-6, 1982
ODI debut West Indies v Australia at Castries, Apr 12, 1978
Last ODI Australia v West Indies at Sydney, Jan 27, 1982
First-class span 1977-1990

Richard Arkwright Austin (1954-2015) Test Cap #:162

2026-02-17T15:48:00.001+05:00

Full name Richard Arkwright Austin
Born September 5, 1954, Jones Town, Kingston, Jamaica
Died February 7, 2015 (aged 60 years 155 days)
Major teams West Indies, Jamaica, West Indies Young Cricketers
Nickname Danny Germs
Batting style Right-hand bat

Biography

Richard Arkwright Austin (5 September 1954 – 7 February 2015) was an international cricketer from Jamaica, who played two Tests and one One Day International for the West Indies.Born in Kingston, Jamaica, Austin represented the Jamaica Under 19s before making his first-class cricket debut for Jamaica on 21 March 1975 against Trinidad and Tobago at Jarrett Park, Montego Bay,making 0 and 74 and taking three wickets for 34 runs (3/34).Austin made his List A cricket debut for Jamaica on 22 February 1976 against Barbados at Kensington Oval, Bridgetown, Barbados, opening the batting and scoring three, and taking 0/7 from two overs.

Continuing good form by Austin saw him come into contention for a place in the strong West Indies side and he was accepted an offer in 1977 to join World Series Cricket, a private cricket competition run by Kerry Packer. When an Australian side minus its WSC players toured the West Indies in March 1978, Austin was included in the first two Tests of the series, scoring two, 20 and taking 0/5. He was then originally chosen for the Third Test at Bourda Cricket Ground, but his omission from the side, along with fellow World Series Cricketers Desmond Haynes and Deryck Murray, led to the other WSC players in the West Indian side to refuse to play in the Test in protest.

Following his WSC stint from 1977 to 1979, Austin, resigned to the fact he would not make the West Indian side again, joined the Rebel West Indies team that twice toured South Africa during apartheid between 1982 and 1984 under the leadership of Lawrence Rowe.Rowe apologised on 20 June 2011, to the cricketing fraternity of Jamaica, the Caribbean and the rest of the world on behalf of that ill-fated team.Austin also played in the Lancashire League for Church Cricket Club in 1978 and Enfield Cricket Club in 1982.Following his retirement from cricket, Austin took to alcohol and drugs and was homeless.His death was announced on 7 February 2015.

Richard Austin was a talented allrounder - a batsman who could bowl either medium pace or offspin as the situation demanded. He broke through into the West Indies side in 1977-78 - scoring 22 runs at 11.00 in the first two Tests - at the same time he signed for World Series Cricket. He was dropped for the third Test, along with some other rebels, prompting the walkout of the remaining Packer contractees. His form was not affected by the furore and he ended the domestic season at the top of the national batting averages. He was only ever on the periphery of World Series, and after the settlement he never was in serious consideration for an international recall. Disenchanted, in 1982-83 he signed to take part in the rebel tour of South Africa and was subsequently banned for life. Thereafter his life fell apart and he became a homeless drugs addict. He briefly kicked the habit in the late 1990s, returning to coaching his local club, but soon returned to the streets. He was also a good enough footballer to play for Jamaica.

Test debut West Indies v Australia at Port of Spain, Mar 3-5, 1978
Last Test West Indies v Australia at Bridgetown, Mar 17-19, 1978
Only ODI West Indies v Australia at St John's, Feb 22, 1978
First-class span 1974-1983
List A span 1975-1983

Irvine Shillingford (1944–2023) Test Cap # 161

2026-02-17T15:46:00.002+05:00

Bernard Julien (1950–2025) Test Cap # 148

2026-02-17T15:40:00.004+05:00

Raphick Jumadeen (1948–2023) Test Cap # 145

2026-02-17T15:38:00.003+05:00

Inshan Ali (1949-1995) Test Cap #:139

2026-02-17T15:33:00.005+05:00

Full name Inshan Ali
Born September 25, 1949, Preysal, Trinidad
Died June 24, 1995, Port of Spain, Trinidad (aged 45 years 272 days)
Major teams West Indies, Trinidad & Tobago
Batting style Left-hand bat
Bowling style Slow left-arm chinaman

Profile

1973,England batman Frank Hayes drives Inshan Ali during,
the first Test at The Oval © bbc.co.uk

Inshan Ali (25 September 1949 – 24 June 1995) was a West Indian cricketer who played in 12 Tests from 1971 to 1977.Born in Preysal, Trinidad and Tobago, of Indian descent, Ali was a left-arm unorthodox spin bowler who made his first-class cricket debut for South Trinidad against North Trinidad on 15 April 1966, aged just 16 years and 202 days. He took three wickets for 89 runs.In his second match, for Trinidad and Tobago against Windward Islands, Ali took 5/32,and, following further good performances, was selected in the West Indies Board President's team to play the touring Marylebone Cricket Club side.Ali continued to perform well, if unpredictably, at domestic level and was often a trump card for Trinidad at the spin friendly Port-of-Spain,leading to his Test debut on 1 April 1971 against India at Kensington Oval, Bridgetown, Barbados, where he took 0/60 and 1/65.During the 1971/72 home series against New Zealand, Inshan was referred to as "astonishingly skilled and mature" for a player in his early twenties",who "is a small, slim man with short fingers; after a brisk little run his left arm flipped through quickly."

Ali had his best bowling performance in this series, taking 5/59 against New Zealand at Port-of-Spain, with the batsmen finding it very difficult to pick his chinaman and wrong 'un, leading one onlooker to write "properly handled, (Ali) could be a match-winner against the Australians when they tour the Caribbean next summer."

As it turned out, Ali had a solid rather than spectacular series against Australia, taking ten wickets at 47.30 and made spasmodic national appearances afterwards, including one Test each in England and Australia, before his final Test, against Pakistan at Port-of-Spain in April 1977, where he had match figures of 5/159.

Ali's continuing success in domestic cricket (he took a record 27 wickets in the 1974 Shell Shield and a reputation as a mystery spinner however ensured that the West Indies hierarchy retained confidence in him when his results were poor. Prior to the 1975/76 tour of Australia, West Indies captain Clive Lloyd claimed that Ali would be a key to a West Indies series victory, stating "I think Inshan now believes in himself... He's on top of the world and he feels there is no batsman he shouldn't get out."

Former Test cricketer Frank Tyson also thought highly of Ali, stating that he "disguised his chinamen and his wrong 'uns with consummate artistry, spinning the ball quite prodigiously", although Tyson believed Ali's inability to counter batsmen who advanced down the pitch to him was his downfall.

Ali had a number of shortcomings as a Test cricketer, including his poor batting and his "annoying habit of running across the line of the stumps (while bowling), especially when he senses a caught-and-bowled chance." Opposition batsman complained and one umpire said he could not rule on an lbw decision because Ali had run across the umpire's line of sight.Ali was also a poor fielder, described as "nervous" by one onlooker.Clive Lloyd was visibly displeased during the Second Test of the 1975/76 West Indies tour of Australia when Ali took the field as a substitute fielder, and even more so when he dropped a simple catch.

He was described as looking "increasingly out of place in the team as the emphasis switched to non-stop fast bowling, and his inability to translate his first-class form to Test level was one of the factors that encouraged West Indies to transform their game."It has been argued that Ali, like other West Indian spinners from the 1970s onwards, was treated poorly by West Indian selectors and captains too impatient to let spinners mature, and captains unable to set fields for spinners.Ali retired from first-class cricket at the completion of the 1979/80 West Indies season but returned to playing club cricket in Trinidad shortly before developing throat cancer, of which he died, aged 45, in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, on 24 June 1995.

Test debut West Indies v India at Bridgetown, Apr 1-6, 1971
Last Test West Indies v Pakistan at Port of Spain, Apr 1-6, 1977
First-class span 1965-1980

Desmond Michael Lewis (1946-2018) Test Cap # 138

2026-02-17T15:32:16.647+05:00

Full name Desmond Michael Lewis
Born February 21, 1946, Kingston, Jamaica
Died March 24, 2018, Atlanta, USA (aged 72 years 31 days)
Major teams West Indies, Jamaica
Batting style Right-hand bat
Fielding position Wicketkeeper

Profile

Desmond Michael Lewis was a West Indian cricketer who played in three Tests in 1971Lewis began his first-class career on the brief Jamaican tour of England in 1970. A few months later he scored 96 and 67 not out for Jamaica in the first match of India's tour of the West Indies in 1970-71. He replaced Mike Findlay as the West Indies' wicket-keeper after the Second Test. On his Test debut, batting at number seven, Lewis scored 81 not out, putting on 84 for the ninth wicket with Lance Gibbs. He opened the batting in the last two Tests, scoring 88 (putting on 166 for the second wicket with Rohan Kanhai), 14, 72, and then 4 not out, going in at number nine. Wisden referred to him as "an obdurate customer". In 1970-71 he scored 652 runs at 65.20 with seven fifties.Findlay returned to the Test team when New Zealand toured in 1971-72, and Lewis played no more Tests. He continued to play for Jamaica until 1975-76.He and his wife moved to the United States in 1979. They had three sons. Lewis died in Atlanta on 25 March 2018, due to lung cancer.

A tidy if unspectacular wicketkeeper and sound opening batsman, Desmond Lewis made his Test debut within eight months of his first-class bow for Jamaica, largely thanks to 96 and 67* against the touring Indians. He scored 81 not out in his first game - the third Test at Georgetown - and opening with Roy Fredericks at Bridgetown in the fourth Test made 88. In the final Test at Port-of-Spain he chipped in with 72. But despite averaging 86.33 in the three matches he was discarded in favour of Michael Findlay for the 1971-72 tour of New Zealand - Findlay himself was soon replaced by the returning Deryck Murray. He continued to score consistently for Jamaica until 1975-75.

Test debut West Indies v India at Georgetown, Mar 19-24, 1971
Last Test West Indies v India at Port of Spain, Apr 13-19, 1971
First-class span 1970 - 1975/76

Keith David Boyce (1943-1996) Test Cap #:137

2026-02-17T15:31:00.007+05:00

Full name Keith David Boyce
Born October 11, 1943, Castle, St Peter, Barbados
Died October 11, 1996, Bridgetown, Barbados (aged 53 years 0 days)
Major teams West Indies, Barbados, Essex
Batting style Right-hand bat
Bowling style Right-arm fast-medium

Biography

`Stingray' was what they called him, Fletch says. Unpredictable or what. You never knew quite what excitement there would be in the next half-hour. Like carbon-dating, the reference to a kids' TV puppet show slots the first-class career of Keith Boyce into a time frame. It began in 1964 in his native Barbados and finally came to a close one June day in 1977 when he was forced out of the game he worshipped by a knee condition that left this marvellous, natural athlete hobbling arthritically for the rest of his life.

In 13 years, he had taken 852 wickets - 60 of them in 21 Test matches for West Indies but the vast bulk of them for his county home-from-home, Essex- with lithe, explosive pace bowling, and scored 8800 biff-bang-wallop runs at around 22 per innings. By some distance he bowled better than he batted: he was capable, though, of batting better than he did. His throwing arm was a cannon. `We all backed up when Boycey had the ball,' Fletcher remembers. `Specially if Tonker was keeping,' he adds wistfully. As a limited-overs cricketer Boyce was supreme at that time: the first to the 100-wicket/1000-run double in the John Player League, and figures of 8 for 26 against Lancashire, still a Sunday record.

The knee injury, legacy of the strain placed on the joints by years of revving the Boyce of sharing in the spoils to which his career was a precursor. Initially under the sergeant-major leadership of Brian `Tonker' Taylor, and then as part of Keith Fletcher's small group of mad-cap renegades, he was a keystone in the foundations of the modern Essex. Given decent fitness, he might reasonably have played on into the early 1980s and shared in the triumphs. Instead, by 1979, when the county won its very first trophies, he was back home in Barbados, pining for the game.

In the five years from the start of 1971, he saw his country through difficult transitional times too. He played in home series against India. Australia and England as well as touring India, Pakistan, Australia and England twice - in 1973, when he had a brilliant series with the ball, and 1975, when he helped West Indies lift the inaugural World Cup. But it was only a few months after that, in the gloomy aftermath of the 5-1 drubbing inflicted by Ian Chappell's side, that Clive Lloyd vowed that never again would West Indies suffer such indignity, and called up the war machine. Roberts and Holding were already in place, Daniel, Garner, Croft, Marshall followed, and after the last of those defeats, at Melbourne, Boyce represented his region no more. His private life was frequently in turmoil - benefit money came and went, and so eventually did his marriage. His Caribbean home blew away in a hurricane and his drinking, never understated, became heavy. But sometimes the Caribbean looks after his own, and his life regained some purpose with a job running the Barbados Cricket Association lottery and coaching youngsters. His affair with the bottle ended, but on his 53rd birthday, he collapsed and died of a suspected heart attack.

It was happenstance that brought Boyce from Bridgetown's Empire club to Essex. In early 1965, aged 21, he was chosen, as a leg-spinner, for Barbados against the Cavaliers, an English touring side that included Trevor Bailey, then Essex secretary, and the young Fletcher. With Wes Hall and Charlie Griffith on Test duty, he was instructed to bowl fast instead. Bailey liked what he saw, brought him to England, and set him up in digs on Leytonstone High Road, opposite Fletcher. Boyce spent much of his two-year qualification encased in an army greatcoat which, with the collar turned up, reached from his boots to beyond the top of his head.

Boyce loved Essex and Essex reciprocated the affection. He bowled fast with undimmed enthusiasm from the day he started to the day he finished. That half-an-hour of batting could change a game: an hour could win it. In a nice juxtaposition, he joined Fletcher as one of Wisden's Cricketers of the Year in 1974, after taking 19 wickets in three matches against England the previous summer. By that time, he had long since established himself as an enforcer for Essex, ahead of his time maybe.

The game then, says Fletcher, was tough but somehow gentler. If a tailender got stuck in then generally he was applauded. Against Essex, though, that changed. Twenty minutes' defiance at the crease was enough for Taylor's ruddy features to redden further before his patience ran out with the steam from his ears. `I've `ad enough,' he would growl. `Come and'ave a bowl, KD. `It these gloves, son.' And Keith David Boyce, complying, would bounce the crap out of you.

Test debut West Indies v India at Georgetown, Mar 19-24, 1971
Last Test Australia v West Indies at Melbourne, Jan 31-Feb 5, 1976
ODI debut England v West Indies at Leeds, Sep 5, 1973
Last ODI Australia v West Indies at Adelaide, Dec 20, 1975
First-class span 1964-1977

Jack Mollinson Noreiga (1936-2003) Test Cap #:136

2026-02-17T15:30:02.608+05:00

Full name Jack Mollinson Noreiga
Born April 15, 1936, St Joseph, Trinidad
Died August 8, 2003, Port of Spain, Trinidad (aged 67 years 115 days)
Major teams West Indies, Trinidad & Tobago
Batting style Right-hand bat
Bowling style Right-arm offbreak

Profile

Jack Noreiga, who died in his native Trinidad on August 8 aged 67, carried a remarkable record with him to his grave. In spite of a career that began and ended in the same 1971 series against India and lasted four Tests, he remains the only West Indian to take nine wickets in a Test innings.

His 9 for 95 in the first innings of the second Test at the Queen's Park Oval, his home ground, secured Noreiga instant and lasting fame. Going on 35, Noreiga was little more than a reliable club offspinner when he was recalled into the Trinidad and Tobago team for the regional Shell Shield tournament that season, claiming 17 wickets in two matches and persuading the selectors to pick him for the first Test in Jamaica.... Of his 17 Test wickets, at an average of 29 runs each, 15 were at Queen's Park.

A jovial character who rarely missed a major match at Queen's Park, he turned to coaching and looking after a family of nine children which he did with increasing difficulty but without complaint.

Test debut West Indies v India at Kingston, Feb 18-23, 1971
Last Test West Indies v India at Port of Spain, Apr 13-19, 1971
First-class span 1961-1975

Arthur George Barrett (1944-2018) Test Cap # 135

2026-02-17T15:29:18.763+05:00

Full name Arthur George Barrett
Born April 4, 1944, Kingston, Jamaica
Died March 6, 2018 (aged 73 years 336 days)
Major teams West Indies, Jamaica
Batting style Right-hand bat
Bowling style Legbreak googly

Profile

Arthur George Barrett was a West Indian cricketer who played in six Tests from 1971 to 1975.A leg-spinner, Barrett played for Jamaica from 1966-67 to 1975-76, and then returned for another season in 1980-81. He toured England with Jamaica in 1970, and India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka with the West Indies in 1974-75.Although he was a useful lower-order batsman, he reached 50 only once in first-class cricket, when he went on to 102 not out (and then took 5 for 39 and 5 for 43) against Combined Leeward and Windward Islands in 1969-70 A few weeks earlier he had taken his best first-class innings figures, 7 for 90 against the International Cavaliers. His best match figures came in 1973-74, again at the expense of Combined Leeward and Windward Islands, when he took 5 for 23 and 6 for 87, dismissing Viv Richards twice.Arthur Barrett was a good legspinner who took 13 wickets in his three Tests, but they came at a cost. But in an era when pace was beginning to dominate, his chances were limited. He was accurate but didn't turn the ball greatly.

Test debut West Indies v India at Kingston, Feb 18-23, 1971
Last Test India v West Indies at Mumbai, Jan 23-29, 1975
First-class span 1966/67 - 1980/81

G Cleophas Shillingford (1944-2009) Test Cap #:134

2026-02-17T15:29:00.001+05:00

Full name Grayson Cleophas Shillingford
Born September 25, 1944, Macoucherie, Dublanc, Dominica
Died December 23, 2009, Salisbury, Dominica (aged 65 years 89 days)
Major teams West Indies, Combined Islands, Windward Islands
Batting style Left-hand bat
Bowling style Right-arm fast-medium

Biography

A brisk right-arm bowler with a peculiar outward-curving run up, Grayson Shillingford failed to establish himself in a West Indies side in transition in the late 1960s and early 1970s despite briefly being hailed as the successor to the legacy of Hall and Griffith. He was picked for the 1969 tour of England despite only making his first-class debut the previous winter and taking three wickets in three matches. He started the tour well but tore a muscle which sidelined him for a month; when he returned he was immediately drafted into the side for the second Test at Lord's where he took four wickets. He kept his place for the final Test at The Oval where he was wicketless, ending the tour with 36 wickets at 18.58. He played against India in 1970-71 and New Zealand in 1971-72 but thereafter drifted out of the reckoning as Keith Boyce and Bernard Julien established themselves. He continued playing domestic cricket for the Winward Island and latterly for the Combined Islands until 1978-79.

Grayson Cleophas Shillingford arguably one of Dominica’s greatest criketers have died at the age of 65. The former West Indies, Combined Islamds and Dominica fast bowler died early Wednesday at his home in Salisbury.Authorities in Dominica say Shillingford died from cancer and had been ailing for some time. Born in Machocherie, Shillingford was the cousin to Irving Shillingford who also played cricket for the West Indies.Grayson Shillingford was a quick right arm pace bowler.

Given the Sisserou Award of Honour early last month at the 2009 Independence celebrations for his exploits on the cricket field, Shillingford had just returned to Dominica a month ago from his adopted homeland of Canada where he had been receiving treatment.A brisk right-arm bowler with a peculiar outward-curving run up, Shillingford failed to establish himself in a West Indies side in transition in the late 1960s and early 1970s despite briefly being hailed as the successor to the legacy of Hall and Griffith.

He was picked for the 1969 tour of England despite only making his first-class debut the previous winter and taking three wickets in three matches. He played against India in 1970-71 and New Zealand in 1971-72 but thereafter drifted out of the reckoning as Keith Boyce and Bernard Julien established themselves.The fast bowler eventually played seven Test matches for the West Indies between 1969 and 1972. He took 15 wickets at an average of 35.80, with his best returns being three for 63 off 26.5 overs against New Zealand at Sabina Park in Kingston in February 1972.

Shillingford played domestic cricket for Dominica, the Combined Islands and Windward Islands until the 1978-79 season.During his 77 first-class matches played, he took 217 wickets at an average of 26.54, with best returns of six for 49 against Trinidad & Tobago in St Kitts.Shillingford played 33 Shell Shield (first-class) matches between 1969 and 1979, taking 98 wickets at an average of 26.20 each.

He ended his Test career with 15 wickets at 35.80. He continued playing domestic cricket for the Windward Islands and latterly for the Combined Islands until 1978-79.Julian Hunte, the WICB president, said Shillingford was a pioneer and a true ambassador for his country and the region. Hunte added that he was a hero to many people in his native Dominica and throughout the Windwards.

"He was one of those cricketers who had a passion for the game and served his country, the sub-region and the entire Caribbean proudly," Hunte said. "He gave his all on the field and was respected and admired.

He was totally dedicated and committed and gave a whole-hearted effort every time he took the field. "Off the field, he made an excellent contribution to the development of the game and helped to chart the framework for the advancement of the game in his homeland as well as the Windward Islands.

He was a hero for many young men who grew up in Dominica and were fortunate enough, like he was, to play at a higher level. We hope that Shillingford's shining example would be used by others to take the game forward."The president and CEO of the West Indies Players Association Dinanath Ramnarine hailed Shillingford as "a model cricketer who displayed all those fine qualities both on and off the field that added luster to the game."

Test debut England v West Indies at Lord's, Jun 26-Jul 1, 1969
Last Test West Indies v New Zealand at Bridgetown, Mar 23-28, 1972
First-class span 1967-1979

Roy Clifton Fredericks (1942-2000) Test Cap #.129

2026-02-17T15:27:00.000+05:00

Full name Roy Clifton Fredericks
Born November 11, 1942, Blairmont, East Bank, Berbice, British Guiana
Died September 5, 2000, New York, United States of America (aged 57 years 299 days)
Major teams West Indies, British Guiana, Glamorgan, Guyana
Batting style Left-hand bat
Bowling style Slow left-arm chinaman

Biography

Roy Fredericks, who died of cancer on September 5, 2000, aged 57, was one of the handful of batsmen who distinguished themselves by counter-attacking the great pace bowlers of the 1970s. He is remembered best for his blazing performance at Perth in 1975-76, when he raced to one of the most astonishing of all Test centuries. This series was eventually won 5-1 by Australia, with Lillee and Thomson at full pelt. But in the second Test, on an incredibly fast WACA pitch, Fredericks took them on in amazing fashion. The harder they banged the ball in, the harder he cut and hooked. Into the second morning, he opened what might have been a diffident reply to Australia's 329: at lunch West Indies were 130 for on off 14 eight-ball overs; the 200 came up in the 22nd. Fredericks went on to reach a hundred from 71 balls and, though he grew tired, turned it into a match-winning 169.

This was merely a distillation of his entire career. "There has," as Mike Selvey wrote, "probably never been a better or more willing exponent of the hook." His most famous single shot was a failure, however: right at the start of the first World Cup final, he hooked a ball from Lillee over long-leg - only to tread on his wicket in the process.

A small (about 5ft 6in) left-hander from Berbice, Fredericks made his debut for what was then British Guyana in 1963-64, and for nine years and 59 Tests = from 1968-69 until the World Series schism of 1977 - he provided half the answer to the conundrum of who should open for West Indies. This had been intractable even when Conrad Hunte was playing, and remained a source of constant change and argument until Gordon Greenidge emerged to join Fredericks in the mid-9170s. He preferred to tilt his cap back, rock on to his left foot and smash the ball hard, but he was capable of playing as a traditional opener. When West Indies first brought him in, for the 1968 Boxing Day Test at Melbourne after Clive Lloyd was injured, he batted throughout a slightly shortened, bitterly cold opening day while the rest of the batting collapsed around him. With 76 and 47 he emerged with distinction from a drab performance.

This was a period of steep but brief West Indies decline and, though it took him a while to perform as well against Fredericks became an in important brick in the rebuilding process. He scored three fifties in six innings when West Indies lost a series to England (for the last time until 2000) in 1969 but did not score a century until February 1972 against New Zealand at Sabina Park, when his 163 was overshadowed by the double-century from debutant Lawrence Rose. They put on 269. At Edgbaston in 1973, he scored 150 in patient mode - taking eight hours and surviving a crisis when he was completely bogged down against Ray Illingworth - and a cautious 138 to ensure the draw when West Indies were unexpectedly up against it in the Lord's Test of 1976. A month later at Headingley, he returned to the attack, scoring 79 before lunch and reaching 109 in 156 minutes. However, even then he was just doing an opener's job: on that day everyone else really cut loose and West Indies had 437 by the close. Though he scored eight Test hundreds in his 109 innings, this was a low ratio for a player who averaged above 40 - he preferred the blistering fifty.

Fredericks averaged 63.83 for Guyana. In his three years with Glamorgan (1971-73), he was less consistent but spasmodically magnificent and extremely popular - not least with his opening partner Alan Jones, even though Jones described his calling as "terrible" and suffered from his musical tastes when they roomed together. On an amazing day at Swansea, they put on 330 against Northamptonshire, at the time a record for any Glamorgan wicket; they still lost. Fredericks announced his retirement for Guyana, batted twice, and scored 103 against Trinidad & Tobago and 217 against Jamaica. It was an astonishing way to finish. By then, he was already a junior minister in Forbes Burnham's left-wing Guyanese government, responsible for youth and sport, and known as Comrade; earlier in his playing days he had generally endeared himself by calling everyone "old chap". He remained attached to the government, but later concentrated on coaching. By then, openers around the world were batting in anonymous helmets. Fredericks was one of the last players who not only relished facing the best bowlers but looked as though he did.

Test debut Australia v West Indies at Melbourne, Dec 26-30, 1968
Last Test West Indies v Pakistan at Kingston, Apr 15-20, 1977
ODI debut England v West Indies at Leeds, Sep 5, 1973
Last ODI West Indies v Pakistan at Albion, Mar 16, 1977
First-class span 1963-1983
List A span 1969-1983

George Stephen Camacho (1945-2015) Test Cap # 126

2026-02-17T15:25:00.004+05:00

Full name George Stephen Camacho
Born October 15, 1945, Georgetown, Demerara, British Guiana
Died October 2, 2015, Antigua (aged 69 years 352 days)
Major teams West Indies, British Guiana, Guyana
Batting style Right-hand bat
Bowling style Legbreak googly
Other Administrator
Relation Grandfather - GC Learmond, Father - GA Camacho, Uncle - AAM Learmond

Profile

Steve Camacho came from a solid cricketing background (his grandfather, GC Learmond, played first-class cricket for Barbados and Trinidad) and was a decent Test opener and a pioneer in West Indies cricket administration. He was the WICB's first full-time employee and was at various stages secretary, chief executive and a Test selector. He played 11 Tests himself, his sober style perfectly complementing the expansive batsmanship of his opening partners Roy Fredericks and Seymour Nurse.

He topped the averages in England in 1969 but never made a Test hundred. The closest he came was in Trinidad in 1967-68 when he made 87, a match notorious for a generous declaration from Garry Sobers that allowed England to romp to a seven-wicket victory.

George Stephen (Steve) Camacho was a West Indian cricketer who played in eleven Tests from 1968 to 1971 as an opening batsman and occasional leg-spin bowler.Camacho was part of the West Indian Test side for four series: 1967-68, 1968-69, 1969, 1970-71. His final tour was to England in 1973: in only the second game, his cheekbone was fractured by a bouncer from Hampshire's Andy Roberts and he left the side, never to play another Test.After retirement in 1979, Camacho served West Indies cricket as selector then secretary and later as chief executive of the West Indies Cricket Board. He was the author of a book Cricket at Bourda: Celebrating the Georgetown Cricket Club. He died on October 2, 2015.

Test debut West Indies v England at Port of Spain, Jan 19-24, 1968
Last Test West Indies v India at Port of Spain, Mar 6-10, 1971
First-class span 1964/65 - 1978/79
List A span 1969 - 1977/78

David Holford (1940–2022) Test Cap # 124

2026-02-17T15:24:00.002+05:00