Tall, with a beard and a permanent sunny smile, Franklyn Stephenson somehow missed out on Test selection, mainly because he toured South Africa with the rebel sides of the early 1980s and incurred a ban. But he was a fearsome proposition as a bowler, mixing up pace and swing with a moon-ball slower delivery that frequently crashed into the base of the stumps while bewildered batsmen ducked for cover. Stephenson was no slouch with the bat, either: his maiden century, made for Barbados after coming in as nightwatchman, turned into a rollicking 165. His finest hour came at the end of the 1988 season, by which time he was playing for Nottinghamshire after a brief flirtation with Gloucestershire. Going into the last match Stephenson had already steamed past 100 wickets, but needed around 200 runs to complete 1000 and the first double since Richard Hadlee, also of Notts, four years before. Stephenson sailed to the target in epic style, slamming 111 and 117. He added 11 wickets as well to round off his one-man show. After a long and winding career (he actually made his first-class debut for Tasmania, and later played for Orange Free State in South Africa and fitted three handy seasons with Sussex) Stephenson took to golf, which he played to professional standards back home in Barbados.
Cricinfo staff