Norman Cowans was born in Jamaica but his family moved to England when he was 11, and he was only 21 - and had taken only 43 first-class wickets - when England took a punt on his raw pace for the Ashes tour of 1982-83. He responded with 6 for 77 in the second innings of England's thrilling, three-run victory at Melbourne, but he never reached those heights again, and his Test career was, perhaps surprisingly, over before he turned 25. He continued to serve Middlesex, and latterly Hampshire, even though he lost his pace and became a seamer. He won three Championships with Middlesex, and was not a bad one-day player either - in the 1983 B&H final he took 4 for 39, including three wickets at the death, as Middlesex scraped past Essex, one of four limited-overs titles he helped win. He was a genuine No. 11, although his sole first-class fifty - for Middlesex against Surrey at Lord's in 1984 - was slogged off only 19 balls, including heaving Sylvester Clarke into and over the Grandstand several times.
Martin Williamson