West Indies Legends - Lance Gibbs

It is not often that one would mention a great Westfour-pronged West Indian pace attack that helped to
Indian spinner. However, West Indian spin existedpropel the West Indies from a good team to a
long before West Indies had become synonymouschampion side.
with good spin bowling. A Guyanese fellow withGibbs' bowling made him an excellent attacking and
unusually long fingers who could really tweak the balldefensive option. Batsmen had difficulty picking his
was the most successful spin bowler from the Westdeliveries and the sharp turn and bounce he achieved
Indies. Lancelot Richard Gibbs was an off-spinner whomade him difficult to score off as well. From only 79
allied turn with bounce from a strange, open-chestTests, Lance spun out batsmen 309 times at an
action. He had the distinction of being the firstaverage of 29.09. His bowling strike rate in Tests
spin-bowler in cricket history to reach 300 Testwas just 87.7- demonstrating that he had patience
wickets and briefly held the world record for mostand determination to dismiss even the stodgiest
Test wickets at the end of his career.batsman. An economy rate of 1.98 showed just how
Born in Georgetown, Guyana on September 29th,hard it was to score off Gibbs' bowling.
1934, Lance Gibbs made his First class debut in theGibbs is one of a few bowlers who scalped over
West Indies' 1953/54 domestic season. He went on1,000 First class wickets. His 330 matches yielded
to play two decades of First class cricket- retiring in1,024 wickets at an average of 27.22. Unsurprisingly,
the 1975/76 First class season. Gibbs' Test debutGibbs enjoyed a long and successful career on the
came against Pakistan at Port of Spain in FebruaryEnglish county circuit with Warwickshire. His spinning
1958. He was a regular in the West Indies Test teamtalent also earned him a stint Down Under with South
until his last match against Australia in 1976. RatherAustralia.
ironically, his departure coincided with the rise of a