Visit to pacer's grave was worthwhile for him
Visit to pacer's grave was worthwhile for him
While discussing the late Malcolm Marshall with Sanjay Manjrekar, I requested the player turned commentator to accompany me to the great fast bowler's grave near Barbados airport.
|
| Sanjay Manjrekar pays a visit to West Indian bowling great Malcom Marshall's grave in Barbados recently. |
He readily agreed and our recent visit was worthwhile. He couldn't help remembering how he met Marshall in a Jamaica hotel on India's 1988-89 tour of the West Indies.
"Oh my God, are you going to bowl to me in the hotel corridor," I asked. And Malcolm said, "no more bowling now. I would like to talk to you after the series is over because you are a good player."
Marshall was true to his word. He spoke a lot about batting against genuine pace bowling. Remember, Marshall was no mug with the bat and the Indians of 1983-84 will not forget his innings of 92 in the Kanpur Test which came to be known as Marshall's Test.
Manjrekar said his advice came in handy while tackling the quick men. The chat also gave him a fair idea of Marshall's helpful nature.
"Once, after bowling outside the off stump, Marshall brought one in to deceive me and I was given out leg before wicket," Manjrekar recalled.
The young Indian batsman spent extra hours in the nets to iron out the problem and in the next match he played him better. "He gave me a smile to suggest, 'I am glad you learnt that, son!' I cannot forget those moments," said Manjrekar.
Marshall junior's golden wordsWhen Malcolm Marshall succumbed to cancer in 1999, his nine-year-old son Mali wrote: "God, please look after my dad. He is still fighting in the grave. Me and mom Connie love him very much. Our heart is broken but see, we are still smiling."
The Marshall family decided to reproduce those words on his gravestone in Barbados.
