Big Bird lands up again

Joel Garnerhellip now thatrsquos a forgotten face The exWest Indies fast bowlerrsquos name appeared in the media a few days ago when his former World Series Cricket foe Ian Chappell brought him up for discussion while responding to Sanjay Manjrekarrsquos view that Ravichandran Ashwin didnrsquot have many fifers on foreign soil specifically in South Africa England New Zealand and Australia to be termed as an alltime greatIn reply to Manjrekarrsquos point about Ashwinrsquos negligible Test fifers in the above countries Chappell said during a panel discussion on ESPN Cricinfo ldquoHow many fivewicket hauls did Joel Garner get Not very many when you consider how good he was and his record Why Because he was performing with three other very fine bowlers and I think particularly of late where Ashwin is concerned yoursquoll find the Indian attack has been so strong that the wickets are probably being shared around morerdquoThe record shows that Garner 68 claimed five wickets or more in an innings seven times in 58 Tests thrice in one seriesmdashat home against Australia in 198384 And who can forget his most famous ODI fifer in his career the 538 against England in the 1979 World Cup final at Lordrsquos The Indian public missed out on watching Garner playing Test cricket on their shores because he was advised rest to heal his shoulder injury when Clive Lloyd brought his team here in 1983 And his solitary tour to Pakistan in 1980 yielded 10 wickets in three Tests which he thought was ldquomuch below my best for a seriesrdquoDoubtless Garner was a feared bowlermdashnot as swift as fellow pacers Michael Holding Andy Roberts or Colin Croft who made his Test debut alongside Garner against Pakistan in 197677mdashbut for his lethal yorkersTackling balls higher than his 6 feet eight inches frame was the perfect recipe for discomfiture among batsmen and there are players who shudder to think what he would have done had he opened the bowling for the West Indies more often than he did after his 197677 debut The media didnrsquot expect great things from the debutant but 25 wickets in his first Test series made him one of the West Indies Cricket Annualrsquos Five Cricketers of the Year ldquoHad it been seriously stated before the start of the 1977 cricket season in the West Indies that the tall fast bowler Joel Garner would be an important member of the Test team against Pakistan it would have been dismissed as a story taller than the man himselfrdquo wrote the author of his profile in the Tony Cozieredited annual of 1977Clive Lloyd started giving him the new ball against Australia in 198384 Garner was fresh from his rest which was recommended by his doctor for a shoulder injury and the Barbadian claimed 31 wickets in five Tests against the Australians In a total of 18 Tests against the men from Down Under Garner captured 89 wickets at 2090 They were also one of the first international teams he watched from the Kensington Oval boundary in Barbados In his book Greg Chappell with Adrian McGregor the great Australian wrote about how a young West Indian approached him with a request to autograph a dollar note in 1973 Chappell asked the young bloke if he played cricket An affirmative reply was followed by ldquoIrsquoll play with you somedayrdquo Chappell wished him good luck and that lad turned out to be Garner By 197778 he was bowling to Chappell in World Series CricketI met Garner during a party at the Cricket Club of India CCI in 1998 when he was manager of the West Indies A team I asked him about that boundary line chat with Chappell in 1973 and the dollar note He was delighted to be reminded of it Then he stunned me ldquoI have that note with me I carry it wherever I go I will show it to you tomorrowrdquo he said He kept his promise the next day pulled out the laminated note from his brief case and posed with it Apart from Chappell there were signatures of other Australian greats like Dennis Lillee and Keith Stackpole He said hersquod preserve and present that note when his daughter Jewel then 16 would grow upI encountered a gentle giant that day at the CCI and I wasnrsquot surprised I had read about his kind selfless ways in the late David Hookesrsquos book when Garner was his South Australian teammate in 198283 In the first game against Queensland captain Hookes asked the star import which end of the Gabba ground would he prefer And Garner said opening partner Rodney Hogg should get the end he wanted ldquoNo yoursquore the worldrsquos best fast bowlerrdquo Hookes insisted to which Garner stated ldquoHoggyrsquos trying to play for Australia Hersquos the Australian You give him whichever end he wants for the whole seasonrdquoThe late cricketerturnedwriter Peter Roebuck too had good things to say about Garner in his 1982 book Slices of Cricket This was before Roebuck played a critical role in the exit of Ian Botham Viv Richards and Garner from Somerset in 1986 Roebuck wrote about how his county teammate drove him around Barbados on a tour ldquoJoel offered lifts to ladies carrying baskets and once in a while a large West Indian mama would pile into the car delighted to find relief from the usual fourmile hike to the grocerrsquosrdquoGarner ended his international career in 198687 with 259 wickets in 58 Tests Big Bird nicknamed after the Sesame Street character played the game in the true spirit and while we still remember his stumpcrushing yorkers we also must wonder what would have happened had former Test batsman Seymour Nurse according to Garner in his book lsquoBig Birdrsquo Flying High not noticed a tall schoolboy batting at Barbadosrsquo Foundation School nets in the late 1960s and yelled ldquoGarner whatrsquos a big fellow like you doing batting or trying to bat Yoursquore too big to be a batsman With your height you should be bowling fastrdquomiddayrsquos group sports editor Clayton Murzello is a purist with an open stance He tweets ClaytonMurzelloSend your feedback to mailbagmiddaycomThe views expressed in this column are the individualrsquos and donrsquot represent those of the paper