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Malcolm Marshall
Malcolm Marshall was mentor by some of the best fast bowlers to have played the game, and from each of them he took elements which propel him to greatness. Initially, his run up was long, rhythmic and fluid, somewhat similar to that of Holding. From Roberts he took the guile and variety which out foxed batsmen to get them out, from Garner he took the great determination and "never-say-die" attitude, and from croft, he took aggression, On the 1984 tour to England Marshall was indisputably the finest bowler in world cricket, his pace and accuracy demoralised England, especially at Headingley, wheredespite breaking his thumb whilst fielding in the first innings, he came out to bowl with his hand in pink plaster. H e then proceed the English batting order in the second innings to finish with 7-53. Marshall also showed great courage and determination when he batted at number 11 in West Indies' first innings despite his injured thumb. His innings allowed his team mate Larry Gomes to completed an unbeaten century. Four years later, on the 1988 tour of England Marshall had his best Test performance. At Old Trafford on a wicket prepared specifically for spinners, Marshall showed every one that he was a master at his craft, he pitched the ball up, and swung and cut it to such devastating effect that he took 7 for 22. He finishe this series with the extraordinary bowling figures of 35 wickets at an average of 12.65. Easily the great fast
bowlers of all time, Malcolm Marshall did not only dominate against
Enland, he tormented batsmen the world over. 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 tour to 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. Malcolm Marshall retired from Test cricket at the age of 33, after the Oval Test match of the tour to England in, 1991, having taken 376 Test wickets at an average of 20.94. He made his final international appearance for the West Indies during the 1992 World Cup. After retiring from International cricket Marshall continued playing for Hampshire in the English county championships and provential cricket for Natal in South Africa. In 1996 Malcolm
Marshall became coach both of Hampshire and West Indies,but before he
could turn around the decline in West Indies cricket, during the 1999
World Cup the sad news broke that he had colon cancer. He immediately
left his coaching job to begin treatment, but this was
unsuccessful and he returned to his native Barbados, where he died on 4
November aged just 41.
Malcolm Marshall Test Cricket Statistics
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