Jamaica's contribution to world cricket.
Some of my favorite Cricket memories were watching the great West Indies teams do battle with Australia in the 80's and 90's. I Thought I'd take a look at four of the great West Indies players that came from Jamaica.
Michael Holding.
Up there with the best fast bowlers of all time, his stint in the West Indies team ran from 1975 - 1987. During this time he played 60 tests and took 249 wickets at an average of 23.68. Known as "Whispering Death" early on in his career he was clocked at up to 97 mph - faster at the time than renowned Aussie quicks Jeff Thompson and Dennis Lillee.
This video shows just one of many fiery spells from the great from Kingston, Jamaica.
Jeff Dujon.
Also from Kingston, Jeff Dujon was the West Indies mainstay keeper throughout the 80's. Ever reliable, and a useful batsman also. He played 81 test matches and took 267 catches and scored 3,322 runs at an average of 31.94. I always remember his style as being tough, and resilient. This video shows him being hit on the head by a bouncer (before helmets were commonplace, and responding with a flurry of fours.
Courtney Walsh.
With a career running from 1984 - 2001, Courtney Walsh is second only to Chanderpaul in the most tests played for the West Indies. He was also the first bowler ever to reach 500 test wickets. During a career spanning 132 test matches, he captained the team on 22 occasions. The following video was is from the 2000 series against England, during which he took 35 wickets for the series.
His partnership with Curtley Ambrose was highly effective, and contributed to one of the most successful era's for West Indies cricket.
Chris Gayle
Undoubtedly the biggest star of West Indies cricket, and one of the worlds most well known players since 2000. He could also be considered one of the most controversial players in the modern era. Despite having played 103 tests, he is most renowned as a 1 day and T20 player, with numerous legendary innings to his credit. Here is a video of Gayle scoring a 50 in the Big Bash League in just 12 balls.
These have just been a few of the great West Indies players from Jamaica. Who's your favorite from these four stars? Did I miss anyone that should have been in the top 4? Let me know in the comments.
Thanks for reading.
All stats have been sourced from wikipedia - List of international cricketers from Jamaica
Crap 2 out of three of the videos aren't available in my area.
Here is song with Chris Gayle in it . This song did pretty well too. I remember the days playing cricket with homemade bats and drink boxes as a ball as a kid, fun times. Best part of cricket to me is actually going and watching and hearing all the drunk talk LOL
Which ones are not available, so I know where to source clips from?
Yeah the drinking is often more fun than the cricket. Chris Gayle is certainly a charismatic star, one of those people that would be good at anything they tried I am guessing. Big Ego, but big talent to back it up.
The first and the last one, sometimes I think the publishers don't realize why the blocked it in certain regions....or they wanna sell cricket DVDs to Japan LOL.
YUp, totally agree, the drinking is usually more fun than the cricket. There is another cricketer from Jamaica, can't remember his name in this moment, but he is a recording artiste and with a very big song in Jamaica. These cricketers are making some serious money.
Been missing your posts.
It’s about time! I know you’re around, with ALL those upvotes. Nice write here. Please continue. I have learned from your post. Thanks
Respect jk
Thanks man, I'd love to be able to produce lots of content for here, but I have to research my posts a bit. Learning lots, and I'll hopefully have 1 or 2 good posts per week.
Still busy looking for good posts to vote, and comments importantly. More engagement will be good for the growth of the tribe also.
Respect S-I.
Wow ! you have traveled down my street since cricket is the only sport I have played competitively. I still play in Japan when time allows but not in the competitions as it is too taxing.
I can’t complain about your four - older Jamaicans will throw in Lawrence Rowe and Collie Smith. Jeff Dujon started off as a batsman and probably would have had better numbers if it weren’t for the keeping. I watched him playing a game in his 50s at the annual Melbourne festival where he took off like an eagle at mid off to take a catch off Philo Wallace well above his head. I would have loved to have seen him in his younger days. The others I’ve seen at Sabina park at one time or another.
@Dmilliz nothing beats a live game at Sabina, from the lines outside , the smell of jerk chicken , and all the other food people carried with them. The blast of the conch shell 🐚, the soca and calypso , shouts of Noooooo from the crowd when the batsman plays a defensive strove after smashing a four. Cricket lovely cricket !
Btw- I think Jimmy Adams deserves an honorable mention. His role was under appreciated in the W. I. Pity how his career ended but now he’s director of Cricket in the West Indies and is trying to make cricket great again. I guess I’m still passionate about the game. Memories! Thanks -great work !
One of the best games I can remember watching (on TV) was 1993 in Adelaide. The famous 1 run win with Courtney Walsh getting Craig McDermott "out" from a bouncer. Man, that game was a battle between two great teams.
Jimmy Adams would have been next on my list. Was definitely underrated in among a star lineup.
I'd love to see the Windies team come back to being a force in world cricket.
Thanks for the awesome comment.
I still watch highlights of that game now and then . Great 👍🏾 game that!
I would definitely go for a one day when mi forward a yaad. Cricket really need a revival in Jamaica, most young people a yaad don't know much about cricket but they know about NBA
@jk6276.jahm, In my opinion Chris Gayle is one player to whom ballers don't want to ball when he goes on with the flow and throw every ball almost out of the Stadium 🏟. Stay blessed.
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Interesting sporting information from everyone called my attention Jeff Dujon, greetings thank you for sharing ..
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