| The champion West Indies teams of the late 70s to | | | | one may never see in modern cricket. |
| early 90s premised their success on a quartet of | | | | Marshall was the only West Indian paceman of his |
| pace bowlers. Every fast bowler used in that quartet | | | | era to take over 300 wickets. He had the most |
| was genuinely fast and difficult to negotiate. One | | | | wickets, best strike rate and lowest bowling average |
| quick bowler managed to stand above the rest- as a | | | | of them all. However, one interesting fact is that he |
| fast bowler and cricketer. The late Malcolm Denzil | | | | had the highest batting average of them all as well. |
| Marshall is the fast bowler whom cricket pundits | | | | From 107 innings, Marshall accumulated 1,810 runs at |
| generally regard as the best West Indian fast bowler- | | | | an average of 18.85. He scored 10 Test fifties and |
| if not the best quick bowler to play the game. | | | | seven First-class centuries. He was the closest player |
| Born in Bridgetown, Barbados on April 18th, 1958, | | | | that the West Indies had to a genuine all-rounder |
| Malcolm Marshall took only 20 years to make his | | | | since Garry Sobers and before Dwayne Bravo. |
| First-class debut in the 1977/1978 season. His Test | | | | Malcolm Marshall played a lot of First class cricket for |
| debut came in the following season- owing to | | | | Hampshire of England and Natal of South Africa. In all, |
| defections of the leading West Indies players to | | | | he played 408 First class matches and scalped an |
| Kerry Packer's World Series Cricket. Marshall had a | | | | astounding 1,651 wickets at an average of 19.10. |
| slow start in Test cricket- a surprising fact when one | | | | South African fast bowler Makhaya Ntini credits |
| considers his statistics. | | | | Marshall for helping him to develop into an excellent |
| The chance to cement a place in the West Indies | | | | fast bowler. |
| side came again in 1980. From there, Marshall never | | | | When he stopped playing, Marshall took on coaching |
| looked back. He announced his arrival as a | | | | jobs- starting in South Africa. He coached the West |
| world-beater against England- the team that feared | | | | Indies senior team before his death at age 41 from |
| him the most. Marshall played 81 Test matches and | | | | cancer. Though he was a devastating bowler in his |
| amassed 376 wickets, which was then a record for | | | | day, Marshall was a charming fellow. It was no |
| the most wickets by a West Indian bowler. His Test | | | | surprise that his death, in 1999, was mourned across |
| bowling average of 20.94 is the kind of figure that | | | | the cricket world. |