Wired868 Wired868 for smart sport news and opinion
(Part 19.) Off-spinning stylist.
In the year of the World Cup, Lance Gibbs stood on the verge of history.
Although approaching his 41st birthday, the lanky off-spinner with the classic high arm action was just 15 victims away from eclipsing former England fast bowler Fred Trueman’s tally of 307 to become the highest wicket-taker in the history of Test cricket.
Gibbs was the first spinner to reach 300 test wickets and his world record haul of 309 stood for five years until Australian fast bowler Dennis Lillee surpassed it at the end of 1981.
Photo: Patrick Eager/ Getty Images.
So with 32 days to go to the 50th anniversary of West Indies’ victory over Australia in the 1975 Cricket World Cup final at Lord’s, we examine the span of Gibbs’ career, which involved giving up wrist-spin in his fledgling years and then making an immediate impact on his Test debut against the visiting Pakistanis in 1958.
It was in the 1960/61 tour to Australia though, arguably the greatest Test series of all time, that Gibbs moved firmly into the spotlight with three wickets in four balls—when finally given his chance in the third Test in Sydney.
Gibbs went one better in the next Test in Adelaide in completing one of the game’s rarest feats at the highest level: a hat-trick.
Photo: CWI Media.
Those achievements heralded nearly a full decade of outstanding performances as the premier spinner in an all-conquering West Indies team led first by the inspirational Frank Worrell and then the all-rounder supreme, Garry Sobers.
Gibbs proved the perfect foil to the pace and hostility of Wes Hall and Charlie Griffith, not to mention Sobers’ many variations.
Surprisingly for a spinner, his best Test innings figures of eight for 38 would come at Kensington Oval—usually a haven for fast bowling excellence—as India crumbled to an innings defeat on the way to being swept 5-0 in the 1962 series.
Photo: PA Photos.
A measure of his durability was that his next best effort in Tests, seven for 98 off 59 overs, came almost 13 years later in Mumbai. Then, he played his part in a series-clinching victory to ensure that his younger cousin Clive Lloyd’s first assignment as captain ended on a triumphant note.
Hard to believe then that in the early 1970s he had lost form, confidence and the favour of the selectors.
Trinidadian Jack Noreiga, who famously took nine for 95 in the first innings of the second Test at the Queen’s Park Oval, displaced him for four of the five Tests against India in 1971. And an array of spinning options limited Gibbs to two Tests against New Zealand a year later.
Photo: PA Photos.
In between though, he was at his best for Warwickshire in the 1971 English County Championship, where he spun his way to 131 wickets.
That consistent success in English conditions, with the exception of the sorry 1969 tour, obviously weighed heavily in his favour when it came to selecting the 14 for the World Cup—even if he ultimately spent most of that tournament in the dressing room.
Next: A prolific Jamaican batsman who never got the chance to show his wares on the World Cup stage.
(Part 18.) Silent assassin. Andy Roberts was a ground-breaker—the first from Antigua and Barbuda to play senior international cricket for Read more
(Part 17.) Steady stalwart. “We don’t need Andy Roberts, Croft and Garner when we have superstar Vanburn Holder!” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KKGY0uOxGlY In Read more
(Part 16.) Man for a crisis. Clive Lloyd lifted the trophy and provided the stellar individual performance of the 1975 Read more
The Cricket West Indies (CWI) Board has appointed 33-year-old allrounder Roston Chase as the new West Indies Test captain after Read more
(Part 15.) Talent to burn. Bernard Julien had everything… almost. Shots all around the wicket, left-arm swing, athletic in the Read more
(Part 14.) No half measures. On or off the cricket field, Keith Boyce never observed the speed limit. Which is Read more
Fazeer Mohammed is a journalist/broadcaster with almost 40 years’ experience across a range of media.
His interest in cricket, and particularly its history, started at home via his father’s small collection of autobiographies and magazines, offering perspectives and context which have informed his commentary and analysis on contemporary issues in the game.
