Joel Garner - one over went to 12 balls
by A. C. de Silva
CRICKET: In the not too distant past the West Indies had many fine
pace bowlers who have sent the shivers to the opposing batsmen in Test
cricket. One West Indian fast bowler who generally brought the shivers
to the opposing batsmen was the big-made Joel Garner - the West Indian
paceman.
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Joel Garner - the `demon’ West Indian pace bowler |
Garner as usual was nasty and generally had the batsmen fending the
ball off their ribs. He had an uncanny ability to disguise his pace and
length and was able to accelerate his arm and elbow without telegraphing
his change of pace. Generally he was not a nice customer to face.
But Garner had problems a plenty to overcome - the bowling of
no-balls. When the West Indies played against Australia from November 9
to 12 in 1984. Garner bowling to Dyson in the second innings of the
Perth Test confronted unwarranted problems. One over of Garner went to
12 balls in a 11-minute agony. He bowled six no-balls and four of them
came in succession.
Joel Garner (born 16 December 1952 in Christ Church, Barbados) also
known as “Big Joel” or “Big Bird”, is a former West Indian cricketer,
and a member of the highly regarded late 1970s and early ‘80s West
Indies cricket teams.
He was a 6 ft 8 inch (2.03 m) fast bowler capable of ripping through
the heart of opposing batting line-ups. In conjunction with fellow fast
bowlers Michael Holding, Andy Roberts, Colin Croft and later Malcolm
Marshall, the West Indies reached unprecedented heights in the Test and
one-day cricket arenas, not losing a Test series in 15 years. He is one
of the tallest bowlers ever to play Test cricket.
In Test cricket he played 58 Tests between 1977 and 1987 and took 259
wickets at an average of barely above 20, making him statistically one
of the most effective bowlers of all time.
However, it was in the limited overs cricket that Garner put his
height to use with devastating effect. In 98 matches he took 146
wickets. He had the ability to unleash a devastating yorker, as well as
the ability to generate more bounce.
He is one of only two players with more than 100 ODI wickets to
average under 20, while his economy rate of just over 3 runs per over,
and average of less than 20 runs per wicket are also the best ever for
any bowler who took more than 100 wickets.
His 5 for 39 in the 1979 Cricket World Cup final against England
remains the best ever performance by a bowler in a final; it included a
spell of 5 wickets for 4 runs, and he was on a hat-trick twice.
Joel played for Barbados in the West Indies, for South Australia in
the Sheffield Shield and more famously alongside Viv Richards and Ian
Botham for Somerset in the English County Championship.
He was at Somerset in the most successful time in the county’s
history. His height is almost the same as that of his successor Curtly
Ambrose, hence the same “Big” prefix. |
