Sylvester Clarke would have been remembered as yet another legendary West Indies pacer, if not for the fact that he had to compete with the likes of Andy Roberts, Michael Holding, Joel Garner, Malcolm Marshall and Colin Croft for a place in the squad. The fact that he toured South Africa for an unofficial rebel series during the apartheid period didn't help either, and all these factors ensured that Clarke played only 11 Tests for West Indies.

A tall, well built fast bowler, Clarke was a typical bowler from the Caribbean Islands. His quick pace and ability to extract bounce thanks to his height made him one of the fiercest pacers in domestic cricket wherever he played. He did get his chance in the international arena; Clarke was picked for the third Test against the visiting Australians after most of the team withdrew to play for Kerry Packer. He got a total of 6 wickets in a losing cause on debut, and retained his place for the subsequent tour of India. In the absence of Holding, Marshall etc, Clarke led the attack and ended the tour with 21 wickets - the highest in the series - and also dismissed legendary batsman Sunil Gavaskar 5 times. His best figures of 5/126 came at Bangalore during the tour. Clarke was caught in the midst of an unsavory incident in Pakistan, during the 1980-81 tour. In the 4th Test at Multan, Clarke was pelted by oranges and stones by the crowd while he was fielding near the boundary. Angered, he reacted by hurling a brick, which badly hurt a spectator. A riot was averted when Alvin Kallicharran got down on a bent knee and apologised to the crowd.

Clarke continued to be on and off the squad, and got his chance to play when the first choice bowlers were either rested or injured. His chances of playing regularly for the West Indies ended in the mid 80s, when he toured South Africa in an unofficial series, a decision that saw him (and others) being banned by the West Indies board.

To judge Clarke's ability based on his 11 Tests would be grave injustice to the pacer. His real talent came forth in the first class games in England and South Africa. In England, playing for Surrey, Clarke bagged close to 600 wickets in 9 seasons, at a miserly average of 19. In 1985, he set a new record when he picked up 58 wickets at 12 in the Currie Cup Championships.

Clarke retired from first class cricket in 1990, with an enviable overall tally of 942 wickets which included 3 hat-tricks. He passed away in 1999 due to a heart attack.

By Karthik Lakshmanan