Former great Windies paceman Wesley Hall 75 not out

By A.C. de Silva

WINDIES STAR BOWLER ....Wesley Winfield Hall was a fearsome pace bowler during his playing days and no player during his playing days would say that he was not a fearsome fast bowler that the West Indies had with them. Hall will be 75 not out on September 12 and he was a lovable character on the cricket field.

Now a Christian Pastor and elected as a Senator in Barbados too. He was a wonderful West Indian pace bowler. He was one of the bowlers who used to drive terror into the minds of the batsmen facing him when he came thundering at the batsmen with a run-up of around 40 yards and having with him Charlie Griffith as his c-parther.

Six feet two inches in height, he also had the muscle to send the ball racing to the batsman taking strike and would drive terror into him. It is interesting fact to note that this tall player began his career as a wicket-keeper, but soon switched to fast bowling, a role he could handle more effectively. He quickly emerged as the first highly successful pace bowlers.

Graceful run-up

He had a gracefull run-up and could bowl in long spells. To his credit there was that famous last over in the first tied Test against Australia in Brisbane in 1961 where he showed the skill and nerve even in the tense situation. With his gold chain with a crucifix bouncing around his neck, he was an impressive sight. He would make the ball fly at the batsman's body, and he also had a devastating yorker. He bowled genuinely fast and for very long spells thoughtout a day. Besides the tied Test against Australia in 1963, there was that famous Lord's Test of 1963, when he bowled unchanged for over three hours on the final day. Test cricket schedules in the good old days were not as elaborate as the present day schedules and in the 1960s even though he didn't play in many matches, he bowled tight that he helped himself to 192 wickets. At a certain time the great Sir Garfield Sobers rated him ahead of Michael Holding. He took 192 wickets in 48 Tests with a best return of 7 fr 69 against England in 1960, when he was at his menacingly quick in all first-class cricket, he took 546 wickets in 170 matches.

There were several memorable series for Hall with the ball. One such series was against India where the Indians lost all five matches to the West Indies led by Sir Frank Worrell. The destroyers were a terrible trico who where to spearhead numerous West Indian triumphs in the sixties - Wesley Hall 27 wickets at 15.74, Lance Gibbs 24 wickets at 29.41 and Sir Garfield Sobers 23 wickets at 20.58.

Thrilled at entry to team

Hall was thrilled and very surprised when he first got into the West Indian team that visited England in 1957. He hardly slept a wink the night the side was announced. Raw material then, big, ebonic, Wesley Hall threw everything - even the direction and length than spring from discipline.

When Hall was added to the party that was for India and Pakistan in the 1958-59 series, he was greatly thrilled. He established himself in no uncertain manner against Pakistan at one particular venue - at Lahore where he had a hat-trick. The Pakistan batsmen who were in his hat-trick ring were: Mushtaq Mohammad, Fazal Mohammad and Nasim-ul-Ghani. Hall went to India and Pakistan with Roy (stormy petrel)Gilchrist and Jaswick Taylor as his fast bowling colleagues. He was the greatest menace to the Indians. Gilchrist's venom not withstanding ... and Hall's figures of 30 wckets at 17.66 each in Tests say little if anything at all.

Sri Lanka's cricket fans also had the opportunity of seeing Hall in action here - at the Saravanamuttu Stadium. He thrilled the fans with his bowling and happy approach to batting.

Sri Lanka's batting also fared well with Michael Tissera leading the way with a well played century, batting well against Hall who didn't appear to go flat out. Tissera scored a century and reached that mark when playing to the crowd's delight Hall sent down a juicy ball and Tissera promptly sent it to the boundary. Hall also delighted the crowd with his batting and made 44 runs in 40 minutes.