Norbert Phillip

Norbert Phillip was a useful allrounder, especially effective at domestic level and one who improved with age - his most memorable performances came in his late 20s and early 30s. A fast-medium bowler and aggressive middle-order hitter, he was an irregular member of the Combined Islands side until 1976-77, by which time he was 27, and in the following season he took 21 wickets at 17.71 and scored 230 runs at 76.66. Those performances won him a Test call-up into a West Indies side weakened by defections to World Series Cricket, and he took six wickets in his first Test at Guyana but he struggled thereafter. In 1978 he joined Essex and was an immediate success, taking 71 wickets at 22.40 and scoring 645 runs at 26.87. In 1978-79 Phillip toured India with West Indies, playing in all six Tests and taking 19 wickets at 34.21. The return of World Series Cricket players ended Phillip's international career, but he blossomed at domestic level. In 1979 his 70 wickets (21.51) were an instrumental part of Essex's County Championship and Benson & Hedges Cup double, and in 1981 he was a key member of their John Player League-winning side. In the Caribbean he captained the Winward Islands (who by then had first-class status) in 1983, and his county career fizzled out in 1985 as age and injury caught up with him.
Martin Williamson