Windies' unsung hero

Gary Sobers, who played cricket against and along with some of the greatest fast bowlers, rated Roy Gilchrist as the fastest bowler he had come across.

According to Sobers, Gilchrist was marginally faster than 'Typhoon' Frank Tyson, who demolished Australia in the Ashes series Down Under, in 1954-1955. And like Tyson, Gilchrist enjoyed only a brief career (though for different reasons), playing only 13 Tests between 1957 and 1959.

Gilchrist, who bowled in the company of giant Barbadian fast bowler Wes Hall, was small built, somewhat like Malcolm Marshall. He ran very fast to the bowling crease, had a whipping action and made the ball skid through at great pace. His bouncers unnerved the Indian batsmen to such an extent during the West Indies' 1958-59 tour of India that some of them preferred to be 'absent ill' rather than bat in the middle. In four Tests during that series, Gilchrist took 26 wickets (average 16), with a career-best haul of 6 for 56 in the third Test at Calcutta.

Gilchrist made his debut against England in 1957, when an aging West Indian side under John Goddard could not recapture the Calypso glory of 1952 and lost the series 3-0.

Wes Hall was a raw fast bowler, but Gilchrist bowled splendidly in the series where the Caribbeans fielded atrociously, dropping more than 50 catches. The worst sufferer was Gilchrist.

In a nation where fast bowlers were idolised, Gilchrist's career ended dramatically. Coming from a very poor Jamaican black family, he could not adjust well with some of his team mates and imagined he was the butt of their jokes.

Touring India under Cambridge University graduate Gerry Alexander, in 1958-59, Gilchrist suspected his captain's Cambridge mate, the turbaned Swaranjit Singh, of making fun of him during the course of a three-day friendly match. Gilchrist let go some fiery bouncers. These were followed by even more fearsome beamers as Singh balanced under his coloured turban. However, Gerry Alexander was not amused and ordered Gilchrist to stop bowling his beamers. But 'Gillie' retaliated with more of the stuff.

Later, the captain consulted the tour committee and Gilchrist was ordered to pack his bags and leave for home. His cricketting career was over. 57 wickets in just 13 Tests.

Gilchrist thus joined the company of India's Lala Amarnath, who was ordered to return from the 1936 tour party to England by the captain, the Maharajkumar of Vizianagaram. The entire truth behind these two episodes had not been made public.

Gilchrist was a high strung, volatile character, perhaps, with a chip on the shoulder. Sobers, who was on the tour party to India, felt that 'Gillie' did not take easily to instructions from the captain or the manager. Gerry Alexander was a 'propah' Cambridge man, who would not brook the fair name of cricket to be sullied with beamers, that too aimed at a former college mate.

West Indian cricket then was still in the hands of the white minority. Frank Worrell was yet to take over the leadership. That came in 1960, during the tour of Australia, when Alexander played under Worrell. The tour caught the imagination of the cricketing public in Australia and made the Windies firm favourites with the crowds. It was acknowledged that had Worrell captained the team in India, he would have handled 'Gillie' more tactfully, even while maintaining team discipline.

Australia won the series 2-1, but the result would have been reversed had Gilchrist not been ousted. Wes Hall had to wage a lone battle as the only leading pace bowler in the team. He was supported by the gentle medium pace of Frank Worrell, because the other two pacemen, Chester Watson and Tom Dewdney, could not rise to the occasion. A Gilchrist-Hall combination would have blown the Aussies away, but that was not to be.

Gilchrist played league cricket in England, frightening away most of the opposing batsmen. His life continued to be turbulent. The frustration of being out of big cricket for such a long time showed and led to a violent streak. He was bound over in a British court for branding his wife with a hot iron.

I saw Gilchrist bowl in the company of Wes Hall in 1959. Oh, the pace was scorching and the accuracy deadly. If Gillie had continued to play, he would have been a worthy predecessor to such distinguished West Indian pacemen like Andy Roberts, Michael Holding, Joel Garner, Colin Croft and Malcolm Marshall. Unfortunately, that was not to be, and he died unsung.

Mail Cricket Editor