First published in 2016

Coming out of his shell

135* | Jamaica v Barbados, Shell Shield, Jamaica |1981

This innings is basically what got me in the squad to tour Australia that winter. I’d gotten to a point in my career where I was 26 and I just couldn’t get into the team. West Indies had a strong team at the time, and I guess I started to get a bit frustrated. I remember saying to myself, ‘I have nothing to lose at this point, I’m just going to go out there and express myself and whatever happens happens’. It was on a very fast, bouncy wicket and I don’t think I’ve ever played as many shots in one innings. I started really well, and it just got better after that. I said to myself, ‘If I don’t make it now, this just makes no sense’.

A baptism of fury

41 & 43 |Australia v West Indies, 1st Test, Melbourne |1981

My Test debut. In some ways it was a really harrowing experience. I’d never played in front of such a big crowd. It was a Boxing Day Test match, at the MCG, and there were 80-90,000 people there. It’s hard to describe. The first ball I faced, from Bruce Yardley, I swept for four; the next ball I faced was from Dennis Lillee, and that was a different experience. By that time Dennis wasn’t as fast as he used to be, but he was still a great bowler. He had such a presence. He and Rodney Marsh gave some good aggro, but you understood what that was about, more to distract you than anything. I remember at the end of the day Dennis and Rod walked into the dressing room, shook my hand and we shared a beer. Australia played tough cricket, and I’m really glad I started my career playing tough cricket. It gave me a good understanding of what it took to compete at that level. I got two forties and a fifty on that tour. I was really satisfied to end the tour having finally gotten a half-century. It was the beginning of a career I can’t really complain about. I never played in a losing Test series, and I don’t think there are any West Indians who can say that, unless they played in just one!

A champagne moment

110 | West Indies v India, 5th Test, Antigua | 1983

By this time I pretty much felt I was a fixture. My keeping was good, I was getting runs, but I didn’t get too many opportunities to bat because that was a serious batting line-up. Clive Lloyd said, ‘If I let you bat in front of me, will you make a hundred?’ I said: ‘Yes, of course!’ He bet me a bottle of champagne, and I went out, and made a hundred! He batted after me and made a hundred as well. That night he knocked on my door and gave me a bottle of champagne.

Winning when it’s spinning

98 & 20 | India v West Indies, 3rd Test, Ahmedabad | 1983

It was the first Test match ever played at Ahmedabad, and the pitch was just baked clay. After the first day it broke up and it was just terrible. The ball was turning square, popping and doing all sorts of stuff. I can’t remember ever playing spin as well as that: I used my feet very well, hit against the spin and I really played nicely. I got to 98 and played a ball off my hip down to fine-leg for four and the umpire signalled leg-byes. The very next ball hit a dirt spot in front of me, a hole in the pitch, and popped up, and I was out for 98. But in terms of playing on a difficult pitch, it gave me more satisfaction than my Test centuries.

A love affair with ‘The G’

82* | Australia v West Indies, B&H World Series Cup Final, Melbourne | 1984

I got some good scores in ODIs at the MCG. It was a wonderful atmosphere to play in. It wasn’t always the best pitch on earth but there was a real buzz when the MCG was full. I had a really good partnership with Gus Logie and we won the game. It’s just exciting when you’re out there: you’re performing, you feel like you’re in control of things, you’re putting the opposition under pressure. To be able to do that in that atmosphere was a great feeling.

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Down but not out

139 | Australia v West Indies, 1st Test, Perth | 1984

I got hit on the head second ball. I was batting without a helmet and Terry Alderman of all people hit me. I was feeling a bit dizzy and I kept saying to myself, ‘What should I do? Should I go in or stay?’ I did have to come off at one point because I was really feeling dizzy. I was 50-odd overnight and I came back the next day and hit a hundred. It was great batting conditions. A good pitch to bat on, fast and true.

First and last wicket

17, 1-43 | Victoria v West Indians, Tour Match, Melbourne | 1984

Anthony Dodemaide, caught Paine. It was just luck! We were playing against Victoria and I was playing as a batsman. It was a very flat wicket and there wasn’t really anything happening in the game, so they gave me a couple of overs, and I actually got a wicket. I got hammered after that, but I did get a wicket! I bowled just a little seam, gentle medium. It’s on my résumé – one more wicket than so many other people!

Leading from the front

West Indies v England, Tour Match, Georgetown | 1990

It was an unofficial game. A Test match in Guyana had been called off after three or four days of rain and they just decided to play a one-off limited-overs game. A number of the frontline players didn’t play so they asked me to captain and we won, so I’m 1 and 0!

Time catching up

23 catches, 49 runs at 12 | West Indies v Australia Test Series | 1991

There was really never a time when I felt I was keeping badly – I was always pretty happy with the job I was doing – but by the time we got around to this series I was struggling with the bat because I was feeling the accumulation of the beating my hands had taken. I may have lost some confidence as a batsman, but I never really felt like I was losing any confidence as a wicketkeeper.