Published: Sep 18, 2015, 07:00 PM (IST)
Edited: Sep 18, 2016, 11:02 AM (IST)
Winston Walter Davis, born September 18, 1958, is a former West Indian bowler who was ‘lightening fast’ in his playing days. Despite being fast and fearsome, he was often side-lined due to the presence of the already existing pace battery at the time. As a result, he could play just 15 Tests and 35 One-Day Internationals (ODIs) for the West Indies. On his birthday, we look at some interesting facts about his life.
1. Early life
Davis played his first representative match for West Indies Young Cricketers (WIYC) against England Young Cricketers (EYC) at the young age of 18, where he bagged figures of 4 for 35, dismissing the likes of David Gower and Mike Gatting.
2. First-Class debut
His stature as a fast bowler soon began to rise locally and, in 1979, he made his First-Class debut for the Windward Islands.
3. English county
A sequence of noteworthy performances, including a five-wicket haul against Trinidad and Tobago, earned him a berth at English county Glamorgan in 1982. His experience playing for the Glamorgan came in handy a year later, during the World Cup.
4. International debut
He made his Test debut against India during the 5th Test of the 1983 series, picking up four wickets in the match. His ODI debut came a couple of months before the Test debut. It was an ordinary one, where he picked up just a solitary wicket.
5. Sensational World Cup debut
Davis had a sensational World Cup debut. In a match in the 1983 World Cup, he ended up picking 7-51 against the Australians — the best at the time in ODIs.
6. Davis, the batsman
Davis was originally not picked for the tour to England in 1984. However, an injury to Milton Small soon put Davis on a plane to England and, despite not impressing as a bowler, scored a stoic 77 to help push West Indies’ first innings total at Old Trafford to 500.
7. Unfortunate end to the career
He last played for the West Indies in January 1988 at Thiruvananthapuram. His international career came to a halt after just 15 Tests (45 wickets) and 35 ODIs (39 wickets). He ended his First-Class career in 1992, scalping 608 wickets from 181 games. He deserved to play more, and there is no doubt he’d have finished on a high, but such was West Indies’ repertoire at the time.
8. Overseas stints
West Indies’ loss was other teams’ gain, as Davis went on to play for a number of sides across the globe such as Glamorgan, Northamptonshire, Tasmania and Wellington.
9. Adopted Christianity
Five years after he quit First-Class cricket, Davis adopted Christianity and got involved in religious work.
10. Mishap
In the year 1998, a freak accident left Davis paralysed from the neck down after suffering spinal injuries when he fell from a tree. But he still remained positive about life. Today, he is involved in helping the disabled through ‘Winston Davis Trust’, an organisation that assists people with a disability in the UK. For the past 17 years he is in the wheelchair.
(Related story: Winston Davis: Life and times)
Inputs by Karthik Parimal
