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With his lissom figure and unusually long fingers, West Indies offspinner Lance Gibbs extracted pronounced turn and bounce, which he paired with a fierce accuracy, all from an unusual, chest-on action.
Gibbs had almost unlimited stamina and determination (he had a permanently sore, and often split, spinning finger) and it was not much of a surprise that he became the first spinner to pass 300 Test wickets. He ended with 309 wickets in 79 Tests - including 18 five-fors - conceding his runs at a staggering 1.99 per over.
His peak as a bowler was between 1960 and 1962. He was left out of the first two Tests in Australia but took three wickets in four balls in Sydney; a hat-trick in the next Test, in Adelaide; and another six in Melbourne, finishing with 19 wickets in the series.
The following winter he returned the remarkable figures of 8 for 38 from 53 overs against India in Barbados, all eight wickets coming in a 15-over spell at a cost of just six runs. It was a performance he never bettered, though he came close at Old Trafford the following year, when he took 11 wickets in a big win for West Indies. Gibbs was the third most prolific wicket-taker in that series, with 26, behind Fred Trueman and Charlie Griffith. At the same venue three years on, he took twin five-fors to set up another West Indies win in the first Test - and eventually the series - as in 1963.
Starting in 1967, Gibbs played seven seasons of county cricket for Warwickshire, of which 1971 was his most successful: he took 131 first-class wickets at an average of under 19, with nine five-fors then.
After his retirement Gibbs settled in the USA. He managed the 1991 West Indies tour of England.
Batting Career Summary
| Format | Mat | Inns | NO | Runs | HS | Ave | BF | SR | 100s | 50s | 4s | 6s | Ct | St |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Test | 79 | 109 | 39 | 488 | 25 | 6.97 | - | 0 | 0 | 0 | 52 | 0 | ||
| ODI | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0* | - | 0 | - | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| FC | 330 | 352 | 150 | 1729 | 43 | 8.55 | - | 0 | 0 | 203 | 0 | |||
| List A | 54 | 25 | 12 | 53 | 8* | 4.07 | - | 0 | 0 | 20 | 0 |
Bowling Career Summary
| Format | Mat | Inns | Balls | Runs | Wkts | BBI | BBM | Ave | Econ | SR | 4w | 5w | 10w |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Test | 79 | 148 | 27115 | 8989 | 309 | 8/38 | 11/157 | 29.09 | 1.98 | 87.7 | 18 | 2 | 2 |
| ODI | 3 | 3 | 156 | 59 | 2 | 1/12 | 1/12 | 29.5 | 2.26 | 78 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| FC | 330 | 78430 | 27878 | 1024 | 8/37 | 27.22 | 2.13 | 76.5 | 50 | 10 | 10 | ||
| List A | 54 | 2891 | 1617 | 64 | 5/38 | 5/38 | 25.26 | 3.35 | 45.1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
West Indies Teammates & Squad
Top Records by LR Gibbs
8
Oldest player to take five-wickets-in-an-innings
Test41y 60d
8
Most wickets taken caught and bowled
Test15
1
Oldest living players
ODI92y 18d
Related News & Stories
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