5: Joel Garner
The
West Indies record books will rightly laud the wicket-taking achievements of
Marshall, Walsh and Ambrose but it could be argued that Joel Garner was the
superior all-round bowler. Somerset scouted him from League cricket in 1977
when he was already 24 and pretty soon not only was he making a huge impression
in county cricket but also as part of the West Indian pace battery.
At 6 feet 8, his name was rarely mentioned without being accompanied by ‘giant’. It might not seem so exceptional these days but forty years ago he seemed freakishly tall. I recall standing next to him in 1981 on the Bath outfield during a pre-match warm-up and, when he released the ball, feeling I was in the company of an alien being, such was his height. Of course ‘Big Bird’ used those formidable wings to great effect, generating unlikely bounce off a length and considerable pace from a short, loping run-up. Add in his unplayable yorkers and he had the perfect game for one-day cricket in particular. He was sensational for Somerset in their glory years but his career highlight was probably that explosive 5-39 in the ’79 World Cup Final. Imagine what he would have been like as a ‘death’ bowler in Twenty20!
4: Dennis Lillee
In
a decade famed for its aggressive fast bowlers steaming in from a forty-metre
run, Dennis Lillee was the original and best of the lot. With straggly locks
and that moustache, his was the defining image from the 1972 Ashes series when
I was just 11. A stress fracture of the back almost ended his career a year
later but then, reining in the pace a touch, he was paired with a young
tearaway Jeff Thomson on home territory against England with predictable
results.
I remember anticipating the pair in the inaugural World Cup but neither really prospered in one-dayers where containment was just as important as taking wickets and scaring batsmen shitless. I never saw him in the flesh but he grew in my affections during the ‘Botham’s Ashes’ summer of ’81. Notably slower and that hair somewhat thinner and controlled by coloured headbands, he was the epitome of control, seam and swing. With Terry Alderman at the other end, Lillee took 39 wickets yet still finished on the losing side. His total of 355 Test victims was a world record at the time, captured in only 70 matches. Yes, he could be a temperamental so-and-so but Dennis the menace was one of the most delightful bowlers to watch.
3: Clive Lloyd
Watching
him on the News in January 1984 sloping off the SCG pitch, bat raised in
gratitude, having made 72 in his farewell Test innings I had tears in my eyes.
The Windies lost that game but, as so often during his 12-year captaincy, they
won the series. As with Dennis Lillee I had to enjoy Clivey’s performances on a
24-inch TV screen but he was often on show, not only during the West Indies’
four-year tour cycle but also in between batting for an excellent Lancashire
side.
It’s hard to reconcile the big-shouldered brooding presence in the slips towards the end of his career with the slender panther-like covers fielder of the early-Seventies. His athletic pick-up and throw was a thing of beauty, just as his hooking and pulling of anything short was thrilling to witness. The 1975 World Cup Final was a defining moment in my cricket education, and the indisputable Man of the Match was Windies captain Clive Lloyd. I was furious at having to attend Dad’s school fete that afternoon because it meant missing most of Lloyd’s outstanding 85-ball century. Then, with the Aussies needing to accelerate during their run chase his part-time bowling produced the most economical figures, 1-38, in the whole match. He was incredible. The twenty-first century era has given us some marvellous entertainers but, when on song, none could ever match Clive Lloyd.
2: Marcus Trescothick
Back
in the mid-Nineties, Dad and I began to notice a young Somerset batsman proving
extremely good value in Fantasy Cricket. As the decade progressed so did his
valuation. Prolific for England Unfer-19s he was 24 by the time the senior call
came his way. From that moment on, Somerset didn’t get to see much of Tres as
he scooped a central contract and made his mark as first-choice opener in both
Tests and ODIs. Sadly, several years of intensive cricket a home and abroad
were taking their toll.
I was unimpressed when Marcus suddenly pulled out of the 2006 India tour with no explanation. Back then, mental illness was simply swept under the carpet so it was only reading his heartfelt autobiography Coming Back to Me that I appreciated what he was really going through. International retirement wasn’t far away and he couldn’t even face flying overseas with Somerset. Fortunately, England's loss was Taunton's gain and he remained a stalwart batsman for the county for another ten years, breaking all sorts of records as run-maker and slip fielder, delaying retirement until we won that elusive first Championship crown. By 2019, aged 44, he finally gave up! He may have sported number 2 on his back but he will always be Somerset’s number one.
1: Viv Richards
King Viv never matched Trescothick for longevity and consistency but for sheer excitement, panache and arrogance Somerset has never experienced anything like the Antiguan. He won the very first cricket match I ever attended with a six into the river at Chelmsford in May ’75 and I was at the same ground sixteen years later to witness his final day as West Indies county tourist. That month I watched him on TV walk out to a warm ovation in his farewell Test at The Oval, tears in my eyes and maybe a few in his, too, although he rarely showed any emotion on the pitch.
In the 1975 World Cup Final it was his electric fielding which stood out but a year later he was astonishing for the West Indies with the bat. He was everything you’d want to see as a cricket fan: charismatic and a thrillingly inventive and brutal stroke maker. He won so many matches almost single-handed, including both domestic and World cup finals, I wonder what else he would have achieved in the T20 era. To be honest, he didn’t always appear to give 100% in run-of-the-mill county fixtures and I supported Somerset for dropping him in ’85. Nevertheless Viv is not only my all-time favourite cricketer but also my personal icon of any sport.
