Getting the opportunity to visit my favourite cricketer’s final resting place before leaving Barbados was most heartening. Malcolm Marshall, one of West Indies’ greatest pacers, who terrorised batsmen with his pace, is buried at St. Bartholomew’s Church.
Standing in front of his grave brought back memories of his deadly deliveries that flustered batsmen and got them out. As if by instinct, I looked towards the right of his grave as he always ran in with a diagonal run-up towards the umpire and delivered the ball at an unplayable speed.
Whenever he ran through batting line-ups, it used to be described as “Marshall Law declared!”
He died young at age 41 due to colon cancer. The news of his death on November 4, 1999, plunged the cricketing world into sorrow. He played until 1995, appearing for Scotland after his last international match in 1992.
Marshall did unbelievable things with the ball, and maybe that’s why a ball is placed on top of his grave. He was awesome in all aspects and showed the world that one must not be tall to be a fast bowler. He was 5’11” (180 cm) at a time when all pacers were above 6ft (183 cm). His autobiography is rightly named: “Marshall Arts”.
What surprised me is that the ball on his grave is not fixed there. Despite being an unguarded grave tucked in a quiet side of St. Bartholomew’s Church, no one has walked away with it. It is said that many budding pacers come here to take his blessings before an important match.
As soon as I entered the church and before I even asked a person standing there anything, he said, “Maybe you have come to see Marshall’s grave?” He introduced himself as Peter, a historian. “I bring people here every week,” he declared.
When asked about his memories of Marshall, he said, “I was a youngster when he played. He was like a king in Barbados because of his attitude towards the game. He wasn’t a tall guy, but the pace he produced was fantastic.
[FEARSOME, AWESOME: IN ACTION]
“His movement of the ball was unbelievable, and he never bowled the same delivery twice in the same over. No one could anticipate him based on his pace and action, whether the ball was going to swing in or out. That ability to fool the batsmen is what gave him his wickets.”
Marshall was the son of a policeman who died in a road accident when he was only one year old. It was his grandfather who taught him cricket and brought him up. He worked hard to earn a living, and it is said that he heard of his selection to play for the West Indies, which was to tour India while working in the storeroom at Banks Brewery.
He made his debut in Bengaluru (then Bangalore) in 1978. He once remarked that when he heard of his selection, he did not even know where India was located.
In a chat with former West Indies skipper Clive Lloyd during the India-England ICC T20 2024 semi-final, he talked about Marshall’s fighting cricket qualities and devotion. During the 1984 Headingley Test, Marshall sustained a double fracture to his left thumb but was still ready to play.
“Normally, with such an injury, guys would be expected to miss a match. He was there with the bat. He stayed at the crease and helped Larry Gomes to a hundred. He also bagged seven wickets, covering his plastered hand with a cloth,” recalled Lloyd.
Who can forget the second day of the Kanpur Test in 1983 when he removed Sunil Gavaskar (0), Anshuman Gaekwad (4), Mohinder Amarnath (0), and Dilip Vengsarkar (14) to end the day with figures of 8-5-9-4, as India crashed to 34 for 5. He returned with a first innings figures of 15-7-19-4. In the second inning, too, he destroyed India, removing Gavaskar (7), Gaekwad (5), Roger Binny (7), and finally Dilip Vengsarkar, who played a great knock of 65. He then had the figures of 17-7-47-4. West Indies won that match by an innings and 83 runs.
Incidentally, one of the many reasons I have the greatest admiration for Sunny Gavaskar and Dilip Vengsarkar is their ability and guts to have challenged Marshall in the next Test after Kanpur in New Delhi when they scored 121 and 159 runs respectively. In the Kolkata Test that followed, “Marshall Law” was again declared through his spell of 6 for 37.
Before leaving Marshal’s cemetery, I decided to take a video. As I zoomed in, I saw his nickname ‘Maco’ written below his name on the grave. Also inscribed were his wife and child’s words: “Although our hearts are broken, we remember you with a smile.”
I walked out telling myself that for others, Marshall will always be remembered for his dedication to the game that gave him the pace to challenge the skills of even the best batsmen in the world.
(Courtesy krbuzz.blogspot)
