Famous Cricketers No 90 - Roy Edwin Marshall

1951/52. He earned four Test caps during that campaign but made too little of his opportunities. Twice at Brisbane he gave away his wicket when obviously well set and thus contributed significantly to the defeat of the tourists in a low-scoring game. His best effort was a courageous 29 in difficult circumstances at Adelaide when he and Stollmeyer led the West Indies to victory with a fine opening stand of 72 in the second innings. Hobbled by a pulled muscle and using Alan Rae as a runner, Marshall curbed his natural aggression and batted solidly for over 100 minutes. It was the kind of application that had been sorely missing hitherto. But, unfortunately, his leg injury then kept him out of the rest of the Australian series. It is difficult to believe that so good a batsman eventually finished his career with so modest a Test record in so few chances. In 4 Tests for the West Indies, Roy Marshall scored only 143 runs (ave 20.42). His highest score was only 30 (against Australia at Brisbane). He did not fare very well against India in 1952/53 while playing for Barbados and so his chances of reappearing in Test cricket ended with the advent of such promising batsmen as J.K. Holt Jr, Conrad Hunte and Bruce Pairaudeau. Even so, Roy Marshall is still fondly remembered in his native island as one of the greatest opening batsmen ever produced by Barbados. He represented the latter on eight occasions, scored 695 runs, including three scintillating centuries, and averaged 57.91 per innings. His 191 at the Kensington Oval in February 1950 is still considered by those who saw it one of the finest innings ever played at that venue. After a few disagreements with some of the senior Trinidadian members of the West Indian teams with which he toured in the early 1950s, Marshall despaired of ever playing Test cricket again for the West Indies. He thus threw in his lot with Hampshire and represented that county with great distinction from 1953 to 1972. In 504 matches he accumulated over 30,000 runs, held 230 catches and claimed 99 wickets. He struck 60 glorious centuries for Hampshire and lifted that county cricket club to a measure of respectability it had never previously enjoyed. In 1961, when they won the county championship for the very first time, his personal contribution was monumental: 2,455 runs (ave 43.83) in 30 of their 34 matches. Marshall was, in fact, the outstanding batsman for Hampshire until the advent of the great South African, Barry Richards, in 1968. After spending two years qualifying for the county, Marshall exceeded 1,000 runs every season from 1955 until his retirement in 1972, with the solitary exception of 1969 when he was severely hampered by illness and injury. In six of these seasons he scored more than 2,000 runs. With Jimmy Gray, he formed one of the most reliable opening partnerships in county cricket for several years. He also served as an inspirational captain during 1966-70. In a first-class career stretching from 1946 to 1972, Marshall played in 602 matches altogether, registering 35,725 runs (including 68 centuries), 295 catches and 176 wickets. These are very good statistics. He was able to maintain a batting average of 35.94 over a period of more than 25 years, which is a remarkable accomplishment for an opening batsman. Throughout the 1960s he was one of the greatest cricketers in England. His dashing brand of batsmanship attracted many spectators to Bournemouth, Portsmouth and Southampton and earned him an enviable reputation. But he was ultimately caught in no-man’s land. England was not yet keen on selecting foreign-born players to represent the country and Roy did not wish to damage his qualification to play for Hampshire when there was no guarantee that the West Indies would offer him any preferential treatment. It is well-known, however, that Frank Worrell was very anxious to secure his services for the West Indies both in 1963 and 1966. Roy Marshall and Conrad Hunte could well have become the regular opening firm for the West Indies after the retirement of Alan Rae and Jeffrey Stollmeyer. Roy Marshall was not only a great batsman and a brilliant fieldsman in any position, he was also a clever right-arm spinner, capable of prodigious off-breaks on a helpful pitch. He was a competent change bowler with a very good command of length and line. He was good enough to take five wickets in an innings on 5 occasions and he once claimed 6 wickets for 36 runs in an important county match against a very powerful Surrey side. He was, in a word, a fine all-rounder, who would have 5