Lance Gibbs, from the little that was told to me, was a fierce competitor on the field. As an off-spinner, he operated within a sphere of his own and was considered one of the best to ever spin the ball up until his retirement.
Gibbs was the first spinner to crack the 300 wickets mark in Test, only second to Englishman Fred Trueman and surpassed Trueman’s 307 test wickets to hold the world record until his record tally too was broken.
Gibbs, who is a product of the Demerara Cricket Club (DCC), ended his career after 79 Tests in 1976 with 309 scalps all bundled together with his 18 five-wicket hauls.
Today, he still stands as Guyana’s most successful bowler in the Test arena. Blessed with long fingers which aided in spinning the ball, Gibbs won the Wisden Cricketer of the Year award in 1972 and even spun his way into the International Cricket Council (ICC) Hall of Fame for his elite performances.
Some of his most memorable performances were sculpted in the 1960s. During an away series in Australia in 1961, he picked up 19 wickets including a hat trick in Adelaide and three wickets in four balls at SCG.
During the 1961–62 home series against India, he picked up 24 wickets and claimed his career-best figures – 8-38 – in Barbados in what cricket historians still describe as “one of the best spells of bowling in the history of the game.”
Truth be told, Guyana has not produced another bowler of Gibbs’ quality for the West Indies. Our batsmen have fared far better but our bowlers have not been able to sustain international success.
Numbers show that only a handful of Guyanese have taken more than a 100 test wickets, which to my mind, points to the capacity of the bowlers we produce and as some may argue, the limited opportunities afforded to others.
A few of our batting all-rounders made more of an impression with the ball; quite of them solidify their places with the ball.
Gibbs is fourth on the all-time list of West Indian wicket-takers behind Courtney Walsh, Sir Curtly Ambrose, and Malcolm Marshall.
Colin Croft (125), Devendra Bishoo (117) and Carl Hooper (114) are 18th, 19th and 20th, respectively on the list and are only among four Guyanese along with Gibbs to have taken more than 100 test wickets.
Reon King like many exciting emerging talents in the region was likened to past legends and for King, he was compared to Michael Holding. He took over 200 wickets at the first-class level but his 19 tests only yielded 53 wickets, far less than his ability promised.
Roger Harper with 46 wickets kept himself around the West Indies set up purely on his all-round capacity; he was brilliant in the field, particularly off his own bowling.
But from there, it got a bit sketchy for the Guyanese bowlers who played at the international level, most of whom failed to replicate first-class success at the highest level. Clyde Butts, albeit limited opportunities, primarily because of Harper’s presence only had seven appearances for the West Indies during the 80s where he collected 10 wickets. He was far more successful at the first-class level where he snared 348 wickets.
Narsingh Deonarine and Ramnaresh Sarwan took 24 and 23 wickets respectively, while Neil McGarrell after four tests collected 17 wickets; Mahendra Nagamootoo, who was a special leg spinner on the first-class scene grabbed 12 test wickets. Veerasammy Permaul is still active and could perhaps go past the 50-wicket mark if he is given his due opportunities down the road; he currently has 18 wickets from six matches.
Keemo Paul, Gudakesh Moti, Romario Shepherd and Ashmead Nedd are some of the prospects who could go on to crack the 100-wicket mark and beyond. However, there is still the issue of producing a world-class bowler who can mirror or go beyond Gibbs’ efforts.
