23 facts you need to know about Lance Gibbs: An artist

23 facts you need to know about Lance Gibbs: An artist: September 29, 1934 witnessed the birth of the first spinner to take 300 wickets in the history of Test cricket. Lancelot Richard Gibbs was the most prolific off-spinner in the game till Muttiah Muralitharan arrived. Surprisingly he played the support role for most of his career and still ended as a world record holder. He was a master in his craft and his efforts deserve special mention considering the huge battery of fast bowlers West Indies had those days. For a spinner to make his name and with some distinction is no mean feat in such a scenario. On his 81^st birthday, we list out

23 facts you need to know about Lance Gibbs: An artist:

1. Tragedy leads to inspiration

The death of his father Ebenezer while Lance was still young provided an impetus for him to become a professional cricketer to provide financial support to his family.

2. Valuable advice

Starting out as a leg-spinner, he changed to off-spin on the advice of former England wicket keeper Arthur McIntyre, who was coaching in Guyana at that time. As a leg-spinner, he could spin the ball but could not bowl the googly. Changing to off-spin gave him greater control and variation.

3. A great fielder

In addition to being Test cricket’s highest wicket-taker for five years before Dennis Lillee broke the record, Lance was also an outstanding fielder to his own bowling and a gully specialist where he grasped the majority of his 52 catches.

4. Before the feared pace battery

He spearheaded the West Indies spin-bowling attack for a very long period just before the arrival of the four-pronged pace attack for which the West Indian team became hugely famous.

5. First-class debut

Gibbs made his first-class debut in 1953–54, playing for British Guiana against MCC at his home ground of Bourda. In MCC’s first (and indeed only) innings, he bowled Denis Compton for 18 to leave the tourists precariously poised at 51/3.

6. The road to Test call-up

Gibbs played a few more first-class games for British Guiana over the next few years, and some good performances (including 4/68 in the final of the Quadrangular Tournament against Barbados in 1956–57) gained him selection for the West Indies side to host Pakistan the following season.

7. Test debut

He made his debut in the second Test at Port-of-Spain in 1957, taking four wickets in the match, and retained his place for the rest of the five-match series.

8. In total flow

The early 1960s were Gibbs’ most productive period in Test cricket, and his greatest achievements came in the 1961–62 home series against India. Over the course of five tests he picked up 24 wickets at just 20.41 apiece, including one of the game’s greatest spells of bowling at Bridgetown, where he single-handedly reduced the Indians from 149/2 to 187 all out with eight wickets in 15.3 overs at a total cost of just six runs; Gibbs’ final innings return of 8/38 was his best in a Test match.

9. Fantastic       

In 1963, West Indies toured England, and Gibbs had another highly successful series, taking 26 wickets at 21.30 including 5/59 and 6/98 in a ten-wicket triumph at Manchester.

10. The County stint

For a man in his thirty-seventh year, Gibbs accomplished no mean feat in sending down 1,024 overs and counting 131 victims at an average of 18.89 playing for Warwickshire, in the English county championship. He was 24 wickets ahead of his nearest rival, Peter Sainsbury.

11. Truly remarkable

In 1964 as the first 1000-pound professional in the Durham senior league, he helped Whitburn win the championship with 126 wickets (av. 8.53) which remains a league record.

12. The last series

Gibbs’s last Test matches were played on the tour of Australia in 1975–76. Although he played in all six Tests, and took 5/102 in the first innings of the first test at Brisbane, his 16 wickets came at an average of over 40, the worst of his five series against these opponents.

13. A deserved recognition

His most successful season in England was 1971 in which Gibbs claimed 131 first-class wickets at only 18.89, with nine five-wicket hauls. This exceptional performance earned him the Wisden Cricketer of the Year award in the following year’s Almanack.

14. A short ODI career

In 1973, at the age of almost 39, Gibbs made his One Day International debut against England at Leeds as part of the Prudential Trophy tournament, taking the wicket of England captain Mike Denness. He played only two further ODIs.

15. The words of Alan Smith

Cricket knows no keener team man. Again one can do no better than quote Alan Smith, who says, simply but sincerely, “As far as Gibbs is concerned, ‘We’ means Warwickshire.”

16. Did you know that

Gibbs is the cousin of another great West Indies cricketer, Clive Lloyd, with whom he appeared for West Indies on a number of occasions.

17. Coincidence   

He passed the milestone of 300 test victims at Perth by dismissing Gary Gilmour. His last Test match, and indeed his last appearance in senior cricket of any description, was at Melbourne, his 309th and final Test wicket being that again – of Gilmour.

18. The attributes

He was a master of his craft who used his unusually long fingers to turn the ball fiercely and exploited every conceivable change of pace, flight and length.

19. Test Career in numbers

He took 309 wickets in 79 Tests – including 18 five-fors – all the while conceding his runs at a staggering 1.99 per over.

20. Family life

After his retirement from the game, Lance emigrated to Florida, in the United States, where he lives with his wife, Joy, and their two children – Richard and Kelly-Ann Cartwright.

21. The honours     

Almond Street in Georgetown, Guyana, was named after him and he is the proud owner of a prized International Cricket Council (ICC) Hall of Fame cap.

22. Professional commitments

He is also the cricket ambassador for Digicel – the leading mobile service provider in the Caribbean – which is the West Indies team’s sponsor.

23. Indeed 

Considering that the only West Indian spinner since Gibbs to take a hundred wickets has been Carl Hooper and the name after that is Chris Gayle, it seems unlikely that he will ever be surpassed by a tweaker from the islands anytime soon.