Bernard Julien was brilliant on the field. With bat he played the most extraordinary of shots. He swung the new ball off a brisk pace, and sometimes resorted to both finger-spin and Chinamen when the ball got old — all of an angular run-up — and hummed a song as he went back to his bowling mark. As if that was not enough, he had a tremendous female fan-following, thanks to his handsome looks and Jim Kelly-ish hairstyle.
They had marked him as a successor to Garry Sobers. They had every reason to, for after 9 Tests Julien had 437 runs at 44 and 26 wickets at 28. Unfortunately, it all went downhill thereafter, and the other 15 Tests got him 429 runs at 24 and 24 wickets at 48. The promise was never fulfilled.
His most famous performance came at Lord’s in 1973, where he matched Sobers stroke for stroke en route a 143-ball 121 against Geoff Arnold, Bob Willis, Tony Greig, Derek Underwood, and Ray Illingworth. The shots, despite being hit with tremendous power, were orthodox. Then he took 3 for 69. The next summer he took 5 for 57 at Bridgetown to rip through an England top-order — after smashing 86* and 66 in the two previous Tests.
He also smashed a hundred at Karachi in 1974-75, and did a decent job on West Indies’ disastrous tour of Australia the next season, taking 11 wickets from 3 Tests at 28.
He played a crucial role in the 1975 World Cup as well, with 4 for 20 against Sri Lanka, and 4 for 27 in the semi-final against New Zealand. In the final he got a crucial 26 down the order. He finished with 10 wickets at 17.70, joint-second among all bowlers in the tournament, after Gary Gilmour.
He was a formidable force in First-Class cricket, mostly for Trinidad and Kent. His 5,790 runs came at 25 and his 483 wickets at 29. However, when competition got tougher and tougher in the 1980s, he risked it all and went for the rebel tours to South Africa, thereby ending his career. Unfortunately, so strong was the pace attack of the squad that he failed to find a permanent spot even there.
On his return, Julien was shunned by his countrymen — to an extent that he did not find a spot even in club cricket. He worked in the Ministry of Sports, and was appointed coach of both Trinidad and West Indies.
Julien was diagnosed with throat cancer in 2005 but showed signs of improvement once he quit smoking and drinking. He found financial support from Trinidad & Tobago Health Ministry. He lives on.
Abhishek Mukherjee
Career | M | In | R | NO | HS | Avg | BF | SR | 100s | 50s | 4s | 6s | Ct | St |
Test | 24 | 34 | 866 | 6 | 121 | 30.92 | 821 | 105.4 | 2 | 3 | 81 | -- | 14 | 0 |
ODIs | 12 | 8 | 86 | 2 | 26* | 14.33 | 148 | 58.10 | 0 | 0 | 5 | -- | 4 | 0 |
T20s | 0 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | |
World Cup | 5 | 3 | 48 | 2 | 26* | 48.00 | 82 | 58.53 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | -- | -- |
Career | M | B | R | W | Avg | EC | SR | 5WI | 10WM | BBI | BBM |
Test | 24 | 4318 | 1868 | 50 | 37.36 | 2.595 | 86. | 1 | 0 | 5/57 | 5/66 |
ODIs | 12 | 762 | 463 | 18 | 25.72 | 3.645 | 42.33 | 0 | 0 | 4/20 | 4/20 |
T20s | 0 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
World Cup | 5 | 360 | 177 | 10 | 17.70 | 2.950 | 36.00 | 0 | -- | 4/27 | 4/20 |
Test Debut
England v West Indies at Kennington Oval, Kennington, July 26, 1973
Last Test
West Indies v Pakistan at Georgetown Cricket Club, Georgetown, March 18, 1977
ODI Debut
England v West Indies at Headingley, Leeds, September 5, 1973
Last ODI
West Indies v Pakistan at Albion Sports Complex, Albion, March 16, 1977
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