Full name Wilfred Norris Slack
Born December 12, 1954, Troumaca, St Vincent
Died January 15, 1989, Banjul, The Gambia (aged 34 years 34 days)
Major teams England, Middlesex, Windward Islands
Nickname Wilf, Slacky
Batting style Left-hand bat
Bowling style Right-arm medium
Height 5 ft 10 in
Education Wellesbourne Secondary, High Wycombe
Mat | Inns | NO | Runs | HS | Ave | BF | SR | 100 | 50 | 4s | 6s | Ct | St | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Tests ![]() |
3 | 6 | 0 | 81 | 52 | 13.50 | 237 | 34.17 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
ODIs ![]() |
2 | 2 | 0 | 43 | 34 | 21.50 | 85 | 50.58 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
First-class | 237 | 398 | 40 | 13950 | 248* | 38.96 | 25 | 75 | 174 | 0 | ||||
List A | 183 | 173 | 20 | 4639 | 122* | 30.32 | 3 | 31 | 36 | 0 |
Mat | Inns | Balls | Runs | Wkts | BBI | BBM | Ave | Econ | SR | 4w | 5w | 10 | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Tests ![]() |
3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
ODIs ![]() |
2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
First-class | 237 | 1519 | 688 | 21 | 3/17 | 32.76 | 2.71 | 72.3 | 0 | 0 | |||
List A | 183 | 1766 | 1352 | 45 | 5/32 | 5/32 | 30.04 | 4.59 | 39.2 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
Test debut | West Indies v England at Port of Spain, Mar 7-12, 1986 scorecard |
Last Test | England v India at Leeds, Jun 19-23, 1986 scorecard |
Test statistics | |
ODI debut | West Indies v England at Port of Spain, Mar 4, 1986 scorecard |
Last ODI | West Indies v England at Bridgetown, Mar 19, 1986 scorecard |
ODI statistics | |
First-class span | 1977 - 1988 |
List A span | 1978 - 1988 |
Wilf Slack, the Middlesex and England left-handed opener, collapsed and died while batting in Banjul, capital of The Gambia, on January 15, 1989, at the age of 34. He had suffered four blackouts on the field or in the nets in the two previous years, but exhaustive tests had failed to identify the cause. Born in St. Vincent, Slack came to England at the age of eleven and learned his cricket at High Wycombe. He played for various local teams and in 1976, when 21, he was Buckinghamshire's leading run-scorer with 748 in his début season. The Middlesex coach, Don Bennett, marked him as first-class county material, and he was signed by them the next year. However, he did not establish himself until 1981, partly because he was asked to bat down the order. Promoted to open against Kent at Lord's when Brearley was recalled to lead England at Headingley, Slack hammered a maiden century in an unbroken second-innings, first-wicket stand of 367. His unbeaten 181 contained three sixes and twenty fours, and with Graham Barlow (174 not out) he bettered the county record of 312 by W. E. Russell and M. J. Harris. He followed with a carrier-best 248, again not out, in the second-innings of the next match, against Worcestershire, and went on to finish the season with settled place, his county cap and 1,303 Championship runs at 48.25.