All For 'Maco'

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.