All For 'Maco'
London: There has never been another cricket match like it
Tony Cozier
30-Jul-2000
London: There has never been another cricket match like it. It was,
indeed, not so much a match as a commemoration and celebration of the
career of one of the finest fast bowlers of all time and a dearly
loved cricketer.
Some of the most eminent players, present and recent past, assembled
on Thursday at the ancient ground of the Honourable Artillery Company,
an astronomically expensive piece of real estate nestled in between
the high-rise offices in the heart of London's financial district, for
an event in memory of Malcolm Marshall.
It was organised by David English, author of the Banbury series of
books and a cricketing philanthropist.
Through gate receipts, corporate support, an auction and a unique,
sponsored streak, it also raised an estimated £50 000 for a trust fund
for his widow, Connie, and their young son, Mali, who had both flown
in from Barbados specially for the occasion.
'It was a sunny, Malcolm Marshall kind of day and a wonderful day for
a wonderful man,' Connie said: 'It's a great tribute that so many
people turned out and I'd like to thank them all, and especially the
organisers.'
The publicity in some papers of an English woman's claim that her son,
who she asserts is Marshall's, should receive his share of the
receipts was rendered inappropriate by the occasion.
Marshall, the West Indies' leading wicket-taker in Test cricket, died
last November of colon cancer at the age of 41. His skill, knowledge,
generosity and love of the game and those who played it gained him
global admiration.
Those who appeared in white on Thursday there were 48 in all had
already paid their verbal tributes. Whether team-mates, for Barbados,
for the West Indies or for the English county Hampshire, or one of the
other side at whatever level, they joined as one on the field of play
to show their appreciation.
There were seven West Indies captains on what was called the Malcolm
Marshall XI in chronological order, Alvin Kallicharran, Deryck
Murray, Sir Viv Richards, Gordon Greenidge, Desmond Haynes, Courtney
Walsh and Brian Lara.
Pakistan's Wasim Akram and India's Mohammad Azharuddin were other Test
captains in the team led, inevitably, by Richards. Shane Warne and
Glenn McGrath, the outstanding contemporary Australian bowlers, and
Chris Cairns, New Zealand's eminent all-rounder, were also among those
under Richards.
McGrath picked himself. Now in his first season with English county
Worcestershire, he was not among the invitees.
So he telephoned English and told him he would be there anyway in
recognition of the help he had got from Marshall early in his career.
It was probably the first and, perhaps, only time that two of those
voted among the Five Cricketers of the 20th Century by this year's
Wisden, Richards and Warne, would play in the same match (Sir Don
Bradman, now 90 and back in Australia, Sir Garry Sobers, 64 and home
in Barbados, and the late Jack Hobbs are the other three).
The opposition (under the title of the Professional Cricketers'
Association International Bunbury's XI) was provided by England Test
players, Graeme Hick, Graham Thorpe, Allan Mullally and Mark Butcher
of the present, Mike Gatting, Robin Smith, Allan Lamb Wayne Larkins
and Graeme Fowler of the recent past and several others from the
county circuit.
The Bunbury's XI knocked up 238 off their 50 overs, Lamb casually
belting the ball around for 70. The Malcolm Marshall conglomerate
raced to the target with overs to spare.
Not that anyone among the 3 000 or so, several from the Caribbean
community, really noticed or cared who won. It was an afternoon, in
welcome, warm sunshine, for nostalgia and festivities.
Greenidge and Haynes renewed their long and celebrated opening
partnership, turning the clock back with a few vintage strokes in
adding 88 off 10 overs. The Master Blaster then rocked and rolled to
the crease with that unforgettable gait, hoisted a couple of sixes,
and gave way to Lara.
Michael Holding, in a rare outing, Joel Garner and Ian Bishop, with
all of whom Marshall shared Test attacks, bowled. They were
understandably several miles per hour slower than in their heyday but
their styles were still unmistakable.
Deryck Murray, at 57, didn't look physically different from when he
first kept for the West Indies on the 1963 England tour and, if his
was not as nimble on his feet, his glove work was as tidy.
The form of one individual female and not officially listed on
either side attracted as much attention late in the day as any of
the cricketers. Enticed by an offer of £1 500 from an anonymous donor
for the first streaker, she claimed the money with a sprint to the
pitch and back but she kept her panties on.
Famous faces from past and present were to be spotted beyond the
boundary. Winston Davis, a contemporary of Marshall's, is now resident
in England and confined to a wheelchair by the tragic accident that
crippled him three years ago. He was in high spirits, chatting about
happier times with those with whom he played 15 Tests in the 1980s.
Vanburn Holder, now a first-class umpire following his long stint with
Worcestershire, told Donna Symmonds about Marshall's first tour his
last to India in 1978-1979.
'Even then, his reading of the game was remarkable,' Holder said.
'When I captained him for Barbados, I didn't have to set the field for
him. He set it himself and he was always spot on.'
Ron Atkinson, the former Aston Villa football manager who brought the
brilliant Tobagonian Dwight Yorke to England, talked enthusiastically
about his cricket on the beach on his annual holidays in Barbados,
where he had his wedding.
Barbados High Commissioner Peter Simmons caught up with old friends
who, like everyone else, took advantage of cold beer in a familiar
brown bottle.
It was labelled 'Bajan', reportedly for trademark reasons, but there
was no doubting it was Banks, brewed under licence in England but as
popular around this London venue as it is at Kensington during a Test
match.
The marquee, that had previously accommodated tables for the corporate
sponsors at lunch, was transformed into a disco and Mark Butcher, the
England batsman, into his other guise as lead singer of his own,
eight-piece rock band.
He was joined for a few numbers of Tobago Crusoe and had the late
stayers going until well into the evening.
It was a day, and night, to remember.