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Home › Teams › West Indies › Players › Colin Croft

Colin Croft

Full Name
Colin Everton Hunte Croft
Born
15-03-1953 Lancaster Village, East Coast, Demerara, Guyana
Current Age
69 years old
Major Teams
West Indies
Batting Style
Right-hand bat
Bowling Style
Right-arm fast
Colin Croft

Videos: Colin Croft

  • VIDEO: Sunil Gavaskar equals Don Bradman's record of 29 centuries

    VIDEO: Sunil Gavaskar equals Don Bradman's record of 29 centuries

  • Fire in Babylon – Documentary film about the record-breaking West Indian team of 1970s and 1980s

    Fire in Babylon – Documentary film about the record-breaking West Indian team of 1970s and 1980s

Colin Croft Biography

Raw, aggressive, vicious, and mean, Colin Croft was the most unpredictable and unorthodox of the much-feared West Indian fast bowlers of the 1970s. Indeed, he was so ruthless that they said he would not hesitate to bounce his own grandmother.

Croft ran in from an unusual angle. For a while he remained invisible to the poor batsman, for he ran in from behind the umpire. He revealed himself moments before the release with a last-moment movement towards his left. He used the crease to great impact, and his action meant that he could angle the ball into the batsman. His huge frame, muscular shoulders, and chest-on action all contributed to his ferocious pace; the numbers told the story.

Croft’s 125 Test wickets came at 23.30, next to only Malcolm Marshall, Joel Garner, and Curtly Ambrose among West Indians with a 100-wicket cut-off. His strike rate of 49.3 was next to only Marshall’s 46.7. In ODIs his 30 wickets came at 20.67 and an economy of 3.47. At First-Class level, mostly for Guyana and Lancashire, his 428 wickets came at 25.

Croft made his Test debut alongside Joel Garner, and claimed 8 for 29 (still the best figures by a West Indian fast bowlers) in his second Test, against Pakistan at Port-of-Spain. He finished the series with 33 wickets at 20. A year later he took 4 for 15 and 4 for 47 in consecutive innings against Australia. He played a major part in the 1979 World Cup, with 8 wickets at 17.50 and conceding 3.08 an over. And later that year his 16 wickets at 24 helped West Indies win a series in Australia.

However, there were problems in New Zealand in the second leg of that tour. Unhappy with a decision, Croft peppered Richard Hadlee with bouncers, knocked the bails off at the non-striker’s end, and infamously shoulder-barged umpire Fred Goodall. Croft later denied allegations of the blow being deliberate.

There was a spectacular show in an ODI at Kingstown: West Indies had been bowled out for 127, but Croft, with 9-4-15-6 (10 of which came in one over), pulled off a 2-run win.

Unfortunately, he ended his career shortly afterwards when he left for South Africa on rebel tours. He never regretted, and famously said “I guess money is everybody’s God.”

Despite being kicked out of a Whites-only train compartment at Cape Town, Croft firmly believed that sport could help solve the Apartheid situation. When Croft returned to South Africa 15 years later, Raymond Roos (the man) and Willie van Zyl (the train conductor) apologised to him profusely.

An aspiring academic in his younger days, Croft qualified as a pilot and taught mathematics in a Berkshire school. He was one of the regular online cricket columnists in the 20th century, and was a part of the Test Match Special, team, where his commentary used to be as no-nonsense and matter-of-fact as his bowling.

Abhishek Mukherjee

Colin Croft Batting & Fielding Averages

Career M In R NO HS Avg BF SR 100s 50s 4s 6s Ct St
Test 27 37 158 22 33 10.53 553 28.57 0 0 0 -- 8 0
ODIs 19 6 18 4 8 9.000 38 47.36 0 0 1 0 1 0
T20s 0 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
World Cup 4 1 0 1 0* -- 2 0.000 0 0 0 0 -- --

Colin Croft Bowling Averages

Career M B R W Avg EC SR 5WI 10WM BBI BBM
Test 27 6165 2913 125 23.30 2.835 49. 3 0 8/29 9/95
ODIs 19 1070 620 30 20.66 3.476 35.66 1 0 6/15 6/15
T20s 0 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
World Cup 4 258 140 8 17.50 3.255 32.25 0 -- 3/42 6/15

Colin Croft Career statistics

Test Debut

West Indies v Pakistan at Kensington Oval, Bridgetown, February 18, 1977

Last Test

Australia v West Indies at Adelaide Oval, Adelaide, January 30, 1982

ODI Debut

West Indies v Pakistan at Albion Sports Complex, Albion, March 16, 1977

Last ODI

Australia v West Indies at Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney, November 24, 1981

News ON Colin Croft

West Indies can win ICC World Twenty20 2016 in India: Colin Croft

West Indies pacer Colin Croft believes the West Indies can win the International Cricket Council (ICC) World Twenty20 in India.

Fire in Babylon – Documentary film about the record-breaking West Indian team of 1970s and 1980s

Set in the times of the turbulent apartheid era in South Africa, race riots in England and civil unrest in the Caribbean, the West ...

Colin Croft demands probe into West Indies’ dismal show

Colin Croft has called for an inquiry into West Indies' disappointing performances .

Sachin Tendulkar lucky not to have faced West Indian pace greats: Imran Khan

Former Pakistan captain Imran Khan on Saturday said recently-retired Indian batting icon Sachin Tendulkar was lucky to have never faced ...

Barbados school names park after Malcolm Marshall

A school in Barbados has named its park after a former student, the late West Indies fast bowler Malcolm Marshall.

Ravichandran Ashwin becomes fastest Indian to take 50 wickets in Test cricket

Ravichandran Ashwin has become the fastest India to record 50 wickets in Test matches as he overhauled the milestone in his ninth ...

More News on Colin Croft

Features ON Colin Croft

    The C’s: Splendid batsmen, fiery pacers, one great spinner

    When we come to the C’s we find a crowd of commendable batsmen, a clutch of quality bowlers and at least a couple of charismatic ...

    West Indies concede a record 68 extras in an innings against Pakistan

    Kensington Oval used to be a Caribbean fortress in the past. Unfortunately, it did not quote work out well for their pacemen and Deryck ...

    Andy Roberts, Michael Holding, Joel Garner, Colin Croft, Malcolm Marshall play together for the only time

    Oh, how the batsmen dreaded that day!

    World 1979 Cup final: Viv Richards, Collis King and Joel Garner play pivotal roles in annihilating England

    West Indies bagged their second World Cup title owing to a century from the magical willow of Viv Richards, a blitzkrieg by Collis King ...

    Colin Croft: Most unorthodox of the West Indian fast bowling terrors

    Colin Croft, they said, could bounce his grandmother...

    Colin Croft takes 8 for 29, best-ever figures for a West Indian fast bowler

    Colin Croft was playing only his second Test, but that did not stop him from going past the 8 for 92 by Michael Holding — the man he ...

    More Features on Colin Croft


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