On May 01, 1951, one of the greatest cricketers was born, and all through his career he played in line with the reputation of a typical Caribbean batsman of that time, with a lot of swag and a lot of style.
Yes, ladies and gentlemen, we are talking about none other than the great Gordon Greenidge. The former West Indian batsman is today celebrating his 75th birthday.
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The right-handed batsman played in an era where the Windies were the sole dominating force in international cricket across Tests and ODIs. In batting as well as bowling, they were far ahead of the competition. To make it to that bunch of players, one had to be very special, and Greenidge was that. His one-legged pulls and hooks to date have no match. He was style personified.
Greenidge was born at Black Bess in the parish of St. Peter, Barbados. But before he turned a teen, his family moved to Reading in England. Later, he represented Hampshire in county cricket. He could have played for the English team, but instead, he chose his motherland, the archipelago nation.
In a 17-year career, Greenidge played 108 Tests and 128 ODIs. He scored more than 12,000 international runs with the aid of 30 tons and 65 fifties. In first-class cricket, he scored a whopping 37, 354 runs with the help of 92 centuries and 183 fifties.
It didn’t take long for Greenidge to let people know how special he was. In his debut Test match against India at Bengaluru in late 1974, he scored 93 and 107. It was a match where Sir Viv Richards also made his debut. However, in comparison, his outing was a flop show. He scored 4 and 3 in the match and in both innings fell to Indian spin genius Bhagwath Chandrasekhar. It’s another thing though, that Richards went on to become the greatest batsman of his generation.
Greenidge was just too good, a true champion!
Greenidge was part of the teams that won the World Cup in 1975 and 1979. He was also part of the team that lost to India in the 1983 World Cup final. In 1991, he represented the West Indies for the last time. He formed a formidable opening partnership with Desmond Hayes. “He told me he was coming to the end of his career, so I said, ‘Why don’t you give me the chance to face the first ball?’
“And he said, ‘Look at the scoreboard, they are going to have to change it, it will be too much work!’” Haynes recalled in one of his interviews.
Post-retirement, he also coached Bangladesh. In the middle of the 1999 World Cup, he was, however, unceremoniously sacked by the Bangladesh Cricket Board. It’s understood that his opposition to Bangladesh getting Test status was the reason behind his sacking. He was of the opinion that the sub-continental nation needed to do more before the Test honour could be bestowed on them.