Name:

Hall, Wesley Winfield

Date of Birth:

12 Sep 1937

Gender:

Men

Place of Birth:

Glebe Land, Station Hill, St Michael, Colony of Barbados

Career:

Test: 1958 - 1969
First Class: 1955 - 1971

Teams:

West Indies (Country)
Barbados (Regional)

The Tied test: Nailbiting last over

Wes Hall: Gentle giant had extreme pace off a long run up

Wes Hall was born on September 12, 1937 in Glebe Land, Station Hill, St Michael, Barbados.

During the 1960's, Wes Hall terrified batsmen the world over. Muscular and tall (6ft 2ins) with a classical action, Hall presented a fearsome sight. A long, lithe approach ended with a fast and well-aimed delivery.

He started his cricket career as a wicketkeeper-batsman but converted to a bowler when the regular opener for his club side failed to turn up. He took the new ball, six wickets, and never looked back.

Hall was first selected on the 1957 tour of England with only one first-class game to his name but struggled for form and didn’t play any Tests. He was then chosen for the 1958-59 tours to India and Pakistan and finished with 46 wickets in eight Tests. In the third Test against Pakistan at Bagh-e-Jinnah, Lahore, Hall took the wickets of Mushtaq Mohammad, Nasim-ul-Ghani and Fazal Mahmood to become the first West Indies bowler to claim a hat-trick.

In the classic Tied Test in Brisbane in 1961, he took 9 for 203, and bowled the last over with six runs were needed for victory with three wickets left. He took one wicket, dropped a crucial catch, and there were two run-outs.

Against India in 1961-62 he grabbed 27 wickets at 15.74 and in 1963, partnered by Charlie Griffith, he blasted England into defeat. At Lord's, in another epic finish, he bowled unchanged for three-and-a-half hours and took 4 for 93 (as well as breaking Colin Cowdrey's arm).

In 1964-65 his 16 wickets were instrumental in guiding West Indies to their first series win over Australia, but by the time he toured England in 1966 the signs were there that he was on the wane. He retired, along with his partner Griffith, at the end of the tour of Australia and New Zealand in 1968-69.

An immensely popular man, he played two seasons for Queensland and the bulk of his career with Barbados (although that amounted to 13 matches in 15 seasons) with a few appearances for Trinidad in his twilight years.

Hall played in 48 Tests from 1958 to 1969 in which he took 192 wickets, including five wickets in an innings nine times and 10 wickets in a match on one occasion. In 170 first-class matches, Hall claimed 546 wickets at an average of 26.14.

In retirement, he become an ordained minister as well as a Minister of Tourism and Sport in the Barbados government. He also managed West Indies touring sides and in 2001 took over as president of the West Indies board.

Hall was inducted into the ICC Hall of Fame in 2015.

Source: CricketCrowd Staff Reporter