Kenny Benjamin

For the Caribbean jurist, see Kenneth Benjamin (judge).
Kenneth Benjamin
Personal information
Full name Kenneth Charlie Griffith Benjamin
Born 8 April 1967
St. John's, Antigua and Barbuda
Batting style Right-handed
Bowling style Right-arm fast
International information
National side
Test debut 18 April 1992 v South Africa
Last Test 13 February 1998 v England
ODI debut 4 December 1992 v Pakistan
Last ODI 17 December 1996 v Pakistan
Domestic team information
YearsTeam
1988–1999 Leeward Islands
1993 Worcestershire
1999–2000 Gauteng
2000–2001 Easterns
Career statistics
Competition Tests ODIs FC LA
Matches 26 26 108 93
Runs scored 222 65 1,199 281
Batting average 7.92 10.83 11.64 9.68
100s/50s 0/0 0/0 0/1 0/0
Top score 43* 17 52* 22
Balls bowled 5,132 1,319 19,445 4,563
Wickets 92 33 403 124
Bowling average 30.27 27.96 23.71 23.96
5 wickets in innings 4 0 18 0
10 wickets in match 1 0 2 0
Best bowling 6/66 3/34 7/51 4/33
Catches/stumpings 2/– 4/– 24/– 9/–
Source: Cricket Archive, 21 October 2010

Kenneth Charlie Griffith ("Kenny") Benjamin (born 8 April 1967) in St John's, Antigua, played 26 Tests and 26 One Day Internationals for the West Indies.[1]

A right arm fast bowler, Benjamin spent much of his international career bowling alongside Courtney Walsh and Curtly Ambrose. He made his Test debut in their side's first ever Test against South Africa, in 1991–92. He never really made a name for himself until a spell of 6–66 against England in 1993–94 which he followed up with seven wickets in his next Test, finishing the series with 22 wickets.

After a playing career that included spells in English and South African domestic cricket, Benjamin coached the United States cricket team.[2] While playing for Kendal in England's Lancashire League system, Benjamin was also contracted to coach schoolchildren, one of whom, Will Greenwood, went on to play international rugby for England. Greenwood remembers Benjamin's unique approach to keeping his young pupils attentive:

"If you were foolish enough to horse about, he'd bowl at you, coming in off just one yard and fire down the fastest ball you ever faced. He would then walk down the wicket, and, in a lazy West Indian drawl, say, "Don't mess about in my net sessions"."[3]

Michael Vaughan, in his autobiography, gives credit to "scary" time spent facing Benjamin in the nets, as formative in his development in facing fast bowlers. Aged 14, Vaughan made the first team at Sheffield Collegiate, for whom Benjamin also played.[4]

References