Lance Gibbs

With his lissom figure and unusually long fingers, Lance Gibbs allied pronounced spin and bounce to a fierce accuracy, and all from an unusual chest-on action. In his later years he added the arm-ball to his repertoire, and add into the equation almost unlimited stamina and determination (he had a permanently sore and often split spinning-finger), and his feat of being only the second bowler - and first spinner - to pass 300 wickets is understandable. He ended with 309 wickets in 79 Tests - including 18 five-fors - all the while conceding his runs at a staggering 1.99 per over. Brave and indefatigable, his best spell came between 1960 and 1962. He was left out of the first two Tests in Australia, but Gibbs took three wickets in four balls at Sydney and a hat-trick in the next Test at Adelaide. The following winter he returned the remarkable figures of 53.3-37-38-8 against India in Barbados, all eight wickets coming in a 15- over spell at a cost of just six runs. It was a performance he never bettered. After his retirement he settled in the USA, although he did manage the 1991 West Indies tour of England.
Rob Smyth