Famous Cricketers No 61 - Wes Hall

shared an exciting ninth-wicket partnership of 134 runs which would have established a new Caribbean record had the match been accorded first-class status. Unfortunately, however, it was not - since the WICBC had allowed each team to field 12 batsmen per innings. Thus, incredibly, Wes Hall accompanied a full-fledged West Indian team on an important tour of England before he had taken a single wicket, or had mustered half a dozen runs, in first-class cricket. Hall was fortunate to have emerged as a fast bowler at a time when the West Indies were suffering through a strange dearth of speedsters. For more than a decade after the Second World War, there were only three fast bowlers of any quality throughout the West Indies and two of them (Hubert Anthonyson and Frank Mason) had the misfortune to exist in the cricketing shadows of the Leeward Islands. The other was Frank King, who spent his whole first-class career operating without the benefit of lightning at the other end. Too often, the West Indies had to entrust the new ball to such medium-pacers as Denis Atkinson, Gerry Gomez and Frank Worrell. There was great and universal relief, therefore, when Hall and the fiery Jamaican, Roy Gilchrist, appeared almost simultaneously out of the blue. Their first-class experience prior to the tour of 1957 amounted to a combined total of 5 matches and 14 wickets (all taken by Gilchrist). This was possible only in the West Indies of those days - when regular, annual territorial cricket competition had not yet been introduced. The season of 1957 was Hall’s baptism of fire. Still too new to his craft, he could do little more than use the tour as a learning experience. He captured only 27 wickets and failed to gain selection for any of the Tests, even though Gilchrist was never accompanied by another fast bowler. Hall could not adapt to the colder weather and the softer pitches of England that summer. Worrell consequently had to do the honours, while the youngster watched and learnt. But he learnt rapidly enough to emerge as one of the major West Indian attackers when they toured the sub-continent in the winter of 1958/59. He and Gilchrist simply terrorized the Indian batsmen. In eight Tests, including three against Pakistan, Hall captured 46 wickets at less than 18 runs apiece and left the cricket world wondering what he would have accomplished had Gilchrist’s Test career not been cut so tragically short. In his next five Tests, Hall then claimed 22 English wickets in 1959/60 despite the featherbed pitches on which he was required to bowl and the absence of a truly hostile partner at the other end. By the time the West Indies toured Australia under Worrell in 1960/61, he had emerged as the fastest and most feared bowler in the world. This reputation he proceeded to enhance Down Under, even though he showed unmistakable signs of fatigue towards the end of an arduous tour. He bowled with considerable venom in the tied Test at Brisbane, subjecting McDonald and others to a barrage of thunderbolts, some of which were almost unplayable. Had he ever, like Joel Garner, acquired the knack of consistent accuracy, his sheer pace would obviously have won the day. But ‘Big Wes’ was much faster than he was straight, since he often sacrificed length and line for speed. Even so, his courage could never have been questioned. At Brisbane, in stifling conditions, he toiled away valiantly on the last day, in spite of painful blisters on both feet. His haul of 9 wickets for 203 runs from 47 eight-ball overs hardly did justice to his sustained malevolence. In a losing cause at Melbourne, he claimed 6/83, forcing the Aussies to fight every inch of the way even when they needed only 67 runs to win in their second innings. He ended that series with 21 wickets at a cost of 29.33 runs each. From his first 18 Tests, he had actually gleaned 89 wickets, one of the most impressive starts to an international career. Hall was again the most effective bowler for the West Indies when they faced India at home in 1962. He captured 27 wickets (ave: 15.74) in this series and played a key role in the 5-0 drubbing which the hosts inflicted upon the tourists. In only 23 Tests, he had now claimed 116 wickets at 21.87 runs apiece, having reached his 100th wicket in only 20 games. Among West Indians, only Alfred Valentine had previously done so in fewer Tests (19). The big fast bowler, who was the third West Indian (after Sonny Ramadhin and Valentine) to claim 100 Test wickets, proceeded to set a new mark of 192 wickets in 48 matches before his retirement from Test cricket in 1969. His career average of 26.39 runs per wicket was very creditable indeed. His West Indian record was not destined to survive 6