Are you brave enough to face 'Big Bird'?
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This is a digitised version of an article from The Cayman Compass's print archive. Occasionally, the digitisation process introduces transcription errors, or other problems.
See the article in its original context from July 2003.
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Garner will join Courtney Walsh and current West Indies players Brian Lara, Chris Gayle, Wavell Hinds and Ramnaresh Sarwan for the event which features a gala fundraising dinner on Friday, 25 July, youth clinics on Saturday, 26 July and an exhibition match on Sunday, 27 July.
In addition, members of the public will be able to bowl to one of the great Windies batsmen and/or face a fast bowler on Saturday for only $5, the proceeds of which will go to the Cayman Islands Cricket Association. Garner's 259 wickets came from only 58 matches spanning ten years from 1977 to 1987. For a man who took only seven five-wicket hauls and no ten-wicket hauls during his Test career, to finish with a total of 259 wickets in 58 matches, Joel Garner is nothing short of astonishing.
His record spells consistent wicket taking of the highest order. For the larger part of his career, Garner was used as a first change bowler behind the devastating duo of Michael Holding and Andy Roberts. After these two had damaged the front line it is even more incredible that Garner managed to end up with more wickets than his pace partners (Holding - 249, Roberts - 202). Some will argue though, that perhaps he benefited from Holding and Roberts softening the opposition up front.
Nevertheless, the strapping 6 feet 8 inch Barbadian remains a firm fixture in cricket's history books. He was one element of a fearsome foursome that devastated batsmen the world over and propelled West Indies cricket to uncharted. heights, and he was one of Clive Lloyd's primary weapons in the region's domination of Test cricket during the 1980s.
Garner may never have had a 14-wicket match haul like Holding, or 22 five-wicket hauls like Marshall and Curtly Ambrose but only Courtney Walsh has exceeded his consistent wicket taking.
His 259 wickets came from only 58 matches spanning ten years from 1977 to 1987, started on his home ground, Kensington Oval, and curtained in Christchurch, New Zealand.
During that decade his accuracy, particularly in One Day matches, was the realizing of legendary cricketing quality. At four inches short of seven feet, Garner delivered from an action as high as coconut trees in his native Barbados, extracting steep bounce and producing a searing toecracking yorker. One writer wrote that so vicious was Garner's yorker that the only consolation of being bowled by one is that it missed the batsman's foot.
Joel Garner may suffer somewhat when acclaim is being shared out to great West Indies fast bowlers, but his precision with the cricket ball can be rivaled by very few to have played the game. As solid as the monument erected in his honour at the 'Joel Garner End' of the Kensington Oval, is his place as an icon of West Indies cricket. Sponsored by Cable & Wireless, Esso, Cayman Airways, Vibe FM, Guinness and Red Stripe, Vision Marketing, Marriott Resort Grand Cayman, Cayman Screen Print, the Cayman Islands Cricket Association and the Quincentennial Celebrations Office, the Cayman Cricket Celebration weekend kicks off with a gala fundraising dinner at the Marriott Resort Grand Cayman on Friday, 25 July.
Tickets for the Gala Dinner are CI$150 per person and include a four-course meal with wine, entertainment by Trinidadian comedian Paul Keens-Douglas and a chance to spend personal time with Garner and the other cricketers. There will also be a silent auction featuring signed cricket memorabilia and other unique items. Corporate tables of 10 or 12 are also available at discounted prices. For more information about the cricket weekend, log on to www.caymancricket.com or call organizers Kelly Holding Ltd. on 946 8822.
