Roy Gilchrist

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Roy Gilchrist
West Indies (WI)
Roy Gilchrist
Batting style Right-hand bat
Bowling type Right-arm fast
Tests First-class
Matches 13 42
Runs scored 60 258
Batting average 5.45 7.81
100s/50s -/- -/-
Top score 12 43*
Balls bowled 3227 8422
Wickets 57 167
Bowling average 26.68 26.00
5 wickets in innings 1 7
10 wickets in match - 1
Best bowling 6/55 6/16
Catches/stumpings 4/- 10/-

Test debut: 30 May 1957
Last Test: 6 February 1959
Source: [1]

Roy Gilchrist (28 June 1934 - 18 July 2001) was a West Indian cricketer who played 13 Tests for the West Indies in the 1950's. He was born in Saint Thomas, Jamaica and died of Parkinson's disease in St Catherine, Jamaica at the age of 67.

Gilchrist's Test career might have been longer had he not been sent home halfway through West Indies' 1958-59 tour of the subcontinent after disagreements with captain Gerry Alexander. One cause of this was Gilchrist's "penchant for bowling beamers from 18 yards" as Cricinfo has put it, as well as off-field arguments. [1] This involved deliberately overstepping the bowling mark by four yards in order to come closer to the batsman and intimidate him. In the Fourth Test at Nagpur, after Indian batsman AG Kripal Singh had struck three consecutive boundaries and taunted him in an attempt to have him lose his temper and be sent home, Gilchrist deliberately overstepped the bowling mark by six metres and delivered a bouncer which hit the Sikh batsman in the head and dislodged his turban.

He later attracted attention while playing in the Lancashire League by removing a stump from the playing arena and striking an opposition batsman in the head.

After the end of his Test career he spent many years playing in the English Lancashire League. He was successful there, reaching 100 wickets each season until 1979, but there were continued stories of his violent temper. In 1967, Gilchrist was sentenced to three months' probation after attacking his wife Novlyn during an argument. The judge in the case said: "I hate to think English sport has sunk so far that brutes will be tolerated because they are good at games." [1]

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ a b Miller, Andrew; Williamson, Martin (2006-11-09). I fought the law. Cricinfo. Retrieved on 2006-11-09.

[edit] References