Winston Benjamin

Winston Benjamin was a fast bowler who represented West Indies at a time when their grip over International cricket was loosening up. A native of Antigua, Benjamin made his Test debut against India at Delhi in 1987 at the age of 23. Although he was short and had a snapping action, he was a very effective first change bowler. He ended up with 61 wickets from 21 Tests, but observers would agree that he had potential for more. He never got to bowl with the new ball and never took a five wicket haul in Tests, despite taking 23 in First Class games and a single one in ODIs. Despite selected in the side primarily for his bowling, he was known to hit the ball really well with the willow coming lower down the order at number 8. Against New Zealand in 1994- 95 he scored a quickfire 85 coming in at number 8 and shared a 67 run stand with Ambrose after his side was 232/7 in reply to the host's 341. He also led his side to victory with an unbeaten 40 along with Dujon against Pakistan in 1988. That win was important as a loss would have meant that West Indies would have slipped down from the top of the rankings. After his playing career was over in 1995 he was appointed as coach for the Leeward Islands and then sacked from that post in June 2005. Benjamin currently functions as a coach for Antigua at the Clare Hall Secondary School.

By Siddharth Prabhakar