Joel Garner

Lore & Background

Joel Garner was born in Enterprise, Christ Church, Barbados. He was the older of two boys. When he and his brother were very young, his parents migrated to Canada and the United States and they were left in the care of their grandparents. He first attended St Christopher's boys primary school and later attended secondary school at Foundation Boys. He played cricket as an all rounder. Seymour Nurse told him, 'What's a big fellow like you doing batting or trying to bat? You're much too big to be a batsman...with your height, son, you should be bowling, fast.' Nurse coached him on using his height when bowling. Garner also attended coaching sessions organized by Charlie Griffith and Gary Sobers; Griffith taught him to bowl a yorker that swung in the air and how to use a bouncer effectively. Garner first came to the attention of Somerset while playing for Littleborough in the Central Lancashire League. He replaced Sir Garry Sobers as the club's paid man for the 1976 season, continuing for 1977 and 1978. At Littleborough he amassed over 1500 runs and took 334 wickets at 9.34. He signed for Somerset for the 1977 season. He took 338 First Class wickets at an average of 18.10 during his time at Somerset. He was at Somerset in the most successful time in the county's history, winning five trophies. In the 1979 Gillette Cup final he took six wickets for 29 runs; in the 1981 Benson & Hedges Cup final he took five wickets for 14 runs. Garner appeared in 58 test matches for the West Indies between 1977 and 1987, taking 259 wickets at an average of barely above 20. He made his test debut against Pakistan in 1977 and took 25 wickets in that series. He took seven five-wicket bags in test cricket but never ten wickets in a match. At 6 feet 8 inches, he was, at the time, the tallest fast bowler to play test cricket. He was dropped for the final test of the Indian tour of the West Indies in 1983 and again for the West Indies tour of India later that year. He returned for the 1983-84 one day series in Australia. In the following Australian tour of the West Indies, Garner took 31 wickets in the test matches. In 98 ODI matches he took 146 wickets. His 5 for 39 in the 1979 Cricket World Cup final against England remains the best ever performance by a bowler in a final; it included a spell of 5 wickets for 4 runs, and he was on a hat-trick twice. In the 1983 World Cup, in the first

Reader's Guide

Joel Garner exploited his exceptional height—at 6 feet 8 inches, then the tallest fast bowler in Test history—to generate steep, disconcerting bounce that made forward play difficult and drives nearly impossible. His bowling arsenal included a devastating yorker that swung in the air, taught to him by Charlie Griffith, and a well-disguised bouncer. In 58 Test matches for the West Indies between 1977 and 1987, he took 259 wickets at an average barely above 20, making him statistically one of the most effective bowlers ever. He claimed seven five-wicket hauls but never ten in a match, partly because he shared the attack with fellow greats Michael Holding, Andy Roberts, Colin Croft, and later Malcolm Marshall. Garner was dropped from the Test side in 1983 due to form and recurring knee and shoulder injuries, but he rebuilt his fitness and returned to take 31 wickets in the subsequent home series against Australia. In One Day Internationals, his height proved devastating: in 98 matches he took 146 wickets at an average under 20, with an economy rate of 3.09—the best ever for any bowler with at least 1000 balls. He remains the all-time highest-ranked ODI bowler according to ICC ratings. His 5 for 39 in the 1979 World Cup final, including a spell of five wickets for four runs and two hat-trick opportunities, is the finest bowling performance in a final. He also featured in the record 10th-wicket World Cup partnership of 71 with Andy Roberts in 1983. Garner was a key member of the West Indies teams that won the 1979 World Cup and finished runners-up in 1983, part of an era that did not lose a Test series for 15 years. He played for Somerset, Barbados, and South Australia, and was inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame in 2010.

Did You Know?

• Joel Garner is the highest ranked One Day International bowler according to the ICC best-ever bowling ratings.
• He is one of only two players with more than 100 ODI wickets at an average of under 20 runs per wicket, and his economy rate of 3.09 runs per over is the best ever for any bowler who bowled at least 1000 balls.
• Geoff Boycott said of Garner: 'They should cut Joel Garner off at the knees to make him bowl at a normal height.'