Biography of Courtney Walsh:- Courtney Walsh was born on October 30, 1962, in a Jamaican town, Kingston of Caribbean. Courtney was a tall, and fast with nerves of steel.
He won many matches for West Indies, from club cricket to International arena; Walsh wasn’t out of form during his entire career. He was out due to injuries, but his performance wasn’t the thing to become its reason.
In club cricket, Courtney Walsh was a clubmate of another veteran cricketer Micheal Holding. Walsh made his first-class debut in 1981 after some extraordinary school and college performances with the ball. In the entire first-class career, Courtney Walsh bagged around 1807 wickets, most by any other of his era.
Courtney Walsh was a bowler who knew how to contain opposition and get them under pressure, his primary tool was his enormous height (6 ft 5.5 inches), secondly, to make the opposition nervous with extra bounce and pace was a delight to watch.
See Also: Biography of Michael Holding
Biography of Courtney Walsh
- Born:- 30 October 1962 (age 54), Kingston, Jamaica
- Height:- 1.98 m
- Test Debut:- 9 November 1984 v Australia
- Last ODI:- 11 January 2000 v New Zealand
- ODI Debut:- 10 January 1985 v Sri Lanka
- ODI Shirt no:- 12, 33
Courtney Walsh was a regular player for Gloucestershire in County cricket seasons and for his local team Jamaican Cricket Club in domestic cricket.
After three years, Courtney Walsh was finally called for the national side. He continued with West Indies for 17 years retiring in 2001. He made his International debut against Australia in 1984 in an away series.
International Career of Courtney Walsh:
Courtney was performing so good that it was improper to deprive him of test cap. Finally, he was selected for a tour to Australia in 1984. Walsh was ready to cope with tougher situations though he was already convinced to take full advantage of his abilities in the fast tracks of Australia.
After a series with Australia, the next series against New Zealand wasn’t good enough. In 1984 season, 16 wickets were promising for a newcomer.
In ODI format, Walsh was doing well with the ball, his initial career marked him the most economical bowler. He couldn’t take more wickets. Instead, his fine and tight bowling made him a secret weapon of West Indies in middle and death over’s.
From 1986 to 1987, Courtney Walsh played overseas in Asia and Australia; he was good in both the tours taking 29 wickets in seven matches. His first five-wicket haul came off against New Zealand on the same tour.
Courtney Walsh was cruising through the rankings in becoming the best available bowler in the 1987-88 seasons. His fearsome bouncers and accurate Yorkers were unplayable.
His tour to India was more than successful; his average of 16.80 in four matches with 26 wickets made him a hero back home and, of course, alarmed few of the greatest batsmen to get prepared of Walsh.
In 1987, in a home series against Pakistan, Walsh was going well but not with the wickets, he was economical and difficult to play, his back-to-back brilliant bowling spells earned Walsh a place in the upcoming World Cup 1987.
The famous incident against Pakistan in a must-win game when Saleem Jaffar was out of the crease, still Walsh warned him instead of mankading was an example of his sportsmanship.
In the next season, West Indies toured England and Wales for a test series with England. In four matches, Courtney Walsh took 12 wickets. His tour to Australia next year earned him 17 more stumps fallen with an impressive bowling average of 29.41, Walsh made his first International hat-trick in the first match of the tour.
The good form continued, so was his fame that ultimately led to consideration by West Indies Cricket Board to make him lead the team. After becoming captain of West Indian side in 1994, Courtney Walsh took 62 wickets in Test cricket, the most dominant form of the game that time; it was his career-best year until the year 2000.
Courtney Walsh was having his prime time in 2000 when he took 34 wickets with an average below 13 per wicket, best by any bowler in a test series. The overall 62 wickets he grabbed in the season were averaged at 18.70 per wicket.
Courtney Walsh was one of the best bowlers with old ball for West Indies at the start; his ability to contain the bowling side made him one of the spearheads of Caribbean bowling attack after the retirement of Curtly Ambrose and Joel Garner.
He led his team following the unprecedented and unmatched legacy of the fellow bowlers. In the Autobiography of Courtney Walsh, “Heart of the Lion,” he admitted learning most of the techniques from veteran teammate fast bowlers after his inclusion in National side.
Especially, the duo of Courtney Walsh and Curtly Ambrose was one of the most destructive ones until Ambrose retired from International cricket. Courtney was the first to reach 500 wickets in Test cricket. Walsh was not a man of limited over’s, his performance in Test cricket could not be matched with the longer format stats and records.
Courtney Walsh played his last ODI inning against New Zealand in 2000; he later retired from Test cricket in 2001 in front of homecrowd in Jamaica. In test cricket,
Domestic Career of Courtney Walsh
Courtney had a long career in domestic and first-class county cricket. He took 100 five-wicket hauls and 20 ten-wicket hauls in his first-class career. Courtney was also a part of Jamaican Club, Melbourne Cricket Club that was the cradle of few legends in cricket including the great Michael Holding.
He started playing for county club Gloucestershire in 1984 and continued with the same club until 1998. In 1987, Courtney Walsh was part of the World XI team, he was also a part of Jamaican domestic team and West Indies A.
Courtney Walsh Stats and Records
His world record ODI performance was 5-1; he conceded a single run in 1986 in a match against Sri Lanka at Sharjah. It was his first and last five-wicket haul in 205 ODI matches. Ambrose and Walsh jointly took 421 wickets in Test format, most by any bowling pair in Test format.
He was also the first and fastest to take 500 wickets in Test cricket. Courtney Walsh ended the feat with 519 wickets in the pocket after playing 132 matches when he retired in 2001.Walsh is also the first bowler who bowled 5000+ International over’s.
At the end of the journey, Courtney Walsh was praised as one of the most admired and successful West Indian bowlers in 90s. In 1987, Courtney Walsh was named Wisden Cricketer of the Year.
The Journal indicated him a bowler of varieties with the same action. Walsh is also a part of Lashings World XI along with Sachin Tendulkar. He is also included in the Jamaica’s five greatest cricketers of all times.
Courtney Walsh Family & Personal Life
Courtney Walsh family includes his parents, Eric Walsh and Joan Wollaston; he never married, though he is the father of three from his girlfriends.
