Wesley Hall And Roy Gilchrist… Most Fearsome Of Them All!

Wesley Hall and Roy Gilchrist! India’s old-time cricketing aficionados recall the hostile fast bowling of these two deadly men who operated with the new ball and old, and made batters quiver in their boots. If the first West Indies tour of India of the 1948-49 series was memorable for the batting displays of Everton Weekes (779 runs) and Clyde Walcott (452 runs), their next visit for the 1958-59 series was made unforgettable by the lethal bowling of Hall and Gilchrist. Hall took 30 wickets in five Tests at 17.67 and Gilchrist bagged 27 wickets at 16.12 and the great allrounder Garry Sobers sending down left-arm fast medium took 10 wickets for a grand tally of 67 by the three. As a result, the West Indies led by Gerry Alexander won the five Test series 3-0. These two were perhaps the first pair of fast bowlers who hunted down the Indian batters on home soil. Nine years later in the 1966-67 series that was won by the West Indies 2-0, off-spinner Lance Gibbs (18 wickets) and Sobers (14) remained prominent and then on the 1974-75 series Andy Roberts – the admirable fast bowler whom Sunil Gavaskar reckons as the quickest – took 32 wickets. Roberts finished with 37 wickets in India, one lower than Hall’s 38. Others like the great Malcom Marshall (36 wickets), Michael Holding (30), and Winston Davis (27) impressed to outplay India at home. Gilchrist took 27, Vanburn Holder 25, Sobers 24 and Sylvester Clarke 21 as a total of 44 West Indies fast bowlers contributed to the 528-wicket haul on Indian soil. But according to the old timers, the pair in Hall and Gilchrist have to be the best!