(Cricket news) It was on this day 43 years ago, Malcolm Marshall made his debut for the West Indies against India at Bengaluru. In the West Indies tour of India, he played in three of the six Test matches and picked up a wicket in each match. Marshall was known for his pace and the deadly bouncers which made it hard for the batters to survive as most of the time they were trying to protect themselves. His average of 20.94 is the best among bowlers who have taken more than 200 Test wickets and is the third highest wicket taker for the side with 376 scalps in 81 Test matches.

Malcolm’s best years came during the 80s as he picked up 127 wickets in 1983 and 84. He also picked up 60 wickets in 1988 which is second highest as he had 73 wickets four years back. Malcolm’s best performance came in the West Indies tour of England in 1988, he picked up 77 wickets for 22 runs in the third innings of the second Test at Manchester. He took 9 wickets in the match and even scored 43* in the second innings for the man of the match award. The five Test match series saw West Indies win 4-0 and Malcolm was the leading wicket taker with 35 wickets.

Malcolm along with Courtney Walsh, Joel Garner, Michael Holding and Curtly Ambrose formed one of the fiercest bowling attacks during the time. Although he was a bit short compared to his fellow mates, Malcolm’s bouncers have caused injuries to many batters. In 1984 during the tour of England, Malcolm’s delivery hit Andy Lloyd in the temple resulting in blurred vision as he never played a match for the country again. Malcolm also broke the nose of Mike Gatting in 1986 in an ODI match as there had not been much developments in the helmet. There were also not many rules about using bouncers in the game as it came much later along with protective equipment.

Malcolm was also a batter as he had scored 1810 runs with 10 half centuries in Tests. In the West Indies tour of India, Malcolm proved his batting skills as he scored 92 runs in the first innings until he was caught and bowled by Kapil Dev. Malcolm also took 8 wickets in the match and went on to be the leading wicket taker of the series with 33 wickets, he scored 244 runs which was the fifth best in the side. He has also played 136 ODI’s while taking 157 wickets including two half centuries, Malcolm is best remembered for his matches against England as he performed well whenever the match was against them.

Malcolm passed away on November 4 1999 as he had been suffering from colon cancer. Since 2000, the leading wicket taker for the West Indies vs England has been awarded the Malcolm Marshall Memorial Trophy as a tribute for the former player. He is regarded as one of the most influential players in the West Indies and one of the top pacers in the history of the game.

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