Colin Croft made his
debut for the West Indies in the 1977 home series against Pakistan.
Standing 6 foot 6, Croft was an integral part of the
fear-some fast bowling quartet which terified batsmen in the 1970's and
eighties. Despite having a short career Colin Croft establish a
reputation of being aggressive with no compunction whatsoever about
bowling dangerous bouncers. Croft's action was unorthodox as his
straight run brought him from behind the umpire to deliver the
ball from wide of the crease angle into the batsman.
On the 1980 tour of New Zealand Croft's aggression got him
into trouble, when in the second Test angered at being no-balled, he
flicked off the bails as he walk back to take his mark. Shortly after
he ran in for a delivery so close that in his delivery stride he bumped
the umpire, F.R. Goodall. Croft was required to write a
letter of apology to the West Indies Cricket Board of Control
in the aftermath of the tour.
Despite being a bit volatilile,
Colin Croft
was a fine bowler and in 27 matches he managed 125 wickets, a
remarkable haul in a side laden with high-class pace bowlers where the
spoils tended to be spread. His best performance came in his second
Test match at Port-of-Spain he laid waste the Pakistan batting with
figures of 8 for 29, still the best figures by a West Indian fast
bowler.
Colin Croft's promising Test
career came to
an end when he toured aparthied South Africa with Lawrence Rowe's rebel
side in 1983. Croft and the members of the rebel team
received lifetime bans by the West Indies Cricket Board from all levels
of
cricket in the region. After retiring from cricket croft qualified as
an airline pilot, he is currently traveling the globe as a radio and
television cricket commentator.
Colin Croft Test
Cricket Statistics
Full Name
Colin Everton Hunte Croft
Number
of Test
27
Number of ODIs
19
Test Run Aggregate
158
ODI Run Aggregate
19
Test
Batting Average
10.33
ODI
Batting Average
9.00
Total Test Wickets
125
Total ODI Wickets
30
Test Bowling Average
23.30
ODI Bowling Average
20.66
Test
Centuries
0
ODI
Centuries
0
Date of Birth
March 15, 1953, Lancaster Village,
East Coast, Demerara, British Guiana
Test Debut
West
Indies v Pakistan at Bridgetown - Feb 18-23, 1977
Last Test Match
Australia
v West Indies at Adelaide - Jan 30-Feb 3, 1982
ODI Debut
West Indies
v Pakistan at Albion - Mar 16, 1977
Last ODI Match
Australia v
West Indies at Sydney - Nov 24, 1981
Batting
Style
Right hand bat
Bowling
Style
Right-arm fast
Screenshot
Description
Cricket
Legends These players are the 50 greatest cricketers of
the century, as voted by a blue-ribbon panel of judges assembled by
ESPN. The panelists were asked to list in order, their top 50 players.
Cricketing legends from Australia, England, India, New Zealand,
Pakistan, South Africa and the West Indies all made it to the final 50.
Among them are some famous West Indies fast bowlers, great Aussie
legends, and modern heros of the game. Disc 4 features Keith
Miller WG Grace Graeme Pollock Malcolm Marshall
