Famous Cricketers No 61 - Wes Hall

1966 - West Indians in England Hall made his third tour of England as a member of the West Indies team. He made a useful contribution to his team’s retention of the Wisden Trophy by capturing 18 wickets in the 5 Tests, of which the visitors won 3 and lost only 1. But the touring squad seemed less powerful than in 1963 and could manage only 8 victories altogether from 27 first-class fixtures. Too much depended upon the all-round excellence of Sobers who led the national batting averages, scored over 700 runs in the Tests and claimed 20 Test wickets as well. Hall and Griffith were markedly less successful than before, largely because they appeared unsettled by the controversy which arose over the legality of Griffith’s action. Whereas the latter had carried all before him in 1963, he was limited this summer to 49 wickets in all, including only 14 in the Tests. Hall wound up with 39 scalps at almost 33 runs each during the tour. In the five Tests he captured 18 to move beyond Ramadhin’s West Indian record of 158. His total at the end of the summer stood at 166. At Lord’s, in his 35th match, Hall became only the second West Indian bowler to exceed 150 wickets in Test cricket. It had taken Ramadhin 40 Tests to reach this landmark. He actually surpassed Ramadhin in his 36th Test when he had Colin Milburn caught by Griffith in England’s second innings at Trent Bridge in July. In the very next Test, at Headingly in August, Hall accepted his 50th catch in first-class cricket. It was his 128th match and the victim was Basil D’Oliveira off Griffith’s bowling. Hall did not distinguish himself with the bat but showed marked improvement towards the end of the campaign when he reached 30 in three of his last six innings. Own Team O M R W Opp Ct Total Total 114. West Indians v Worcestershire, Worcester, May 4, 5, (6) (Match drawn) did not bat - - 14 3 45 0 206-7 115. West Indians v Nottinghamshire, Trent Bridge, May 11, 12, 13 (Match drawn) did not bat - 335-7d 16 5 29 1 C.Forbes lbw 259-6d did not bat - 81-3 116. West Indians v MCC, Lord’s, May 14, 16, 17 (Match drawn) b D.J.Brown 1 349-9d 15 2 60 3 W.E.Russell b 383-8d M.J.K.Smith b D.N.F.Slade b not out 4 246-9d 5 0 19 0 67-2 117. West Indians v Cambridge University, Fenner’s, May 21, 22, 24 (West Indians won by 174 runs) lbw N.D.Sinker 1 345 13 5 23 0 220 1 c D.L.Murray b N.D.Sinker 20 169-6d 3 1 7 0 120 118. West Indians v Yorkshire, Bradford, May (25), 26, 27 (Match drawn) c J.G.Binks b D.B.Close 9 168 13 6 29 0 177-6d 9 0 35 2 G.Boycott c G.St A.Sobers 64-3 J.H.Hampshire lbw 119. WEST INDIES v ENGLAND, Old Trafford, June 2, 3, 4 (West Indies won by an innings and 40 runs) b D.A.Allen 1 484 14 6 43 0 167 5 0 28 0 277 120. West Indians v Gloucestershire, Bristol, June 8, 9, 10 (Match drawn) b A.S.Brown 3 151 16 4 45 0 332-9d not out 13 284-6 19 5 39 2 C.A.Milton c C.C.Hunte 103-9d H.J.Jarman c C.C.Hunte 121. WEST INDIES v ENGLAND, Lord’s, June 16, 17, 18, 20, 21 (Match drawn) not out 8 269 36 2 106 4 C.Milburn lbw 355 T.W.Graveney c D.W.Allan M.C.Cowdrey c L.R.Gibbs F.J.Titmus c D.W.Allan did not bat - 369-5d 14 1 65 2 M.C.Cowdrey c D.W.Allan 197-4 J.M.Parks b 122. West Indians v Essex, Southend-on-Sea, June 25, 27, 28 (Match drawn) did not bat - 354-6d 25 8 63 4 G.Barker c J.L.Hendricks 230 B.Taylor c R.A.Cohen B.R. Knight lbw K.D.Boyce c J.L.Hendricks 6 0 27 1 M.J.Bear c C.C.Hunte 75-4 29