A wrist spinner who could also bat a bit, Tommy Scott had a reasonably First-class career but his stint for West Indies was both brief and inconsistent. He’s best known for a feat that no bowler would want to be associated with – a record for the most runs conceded in a Test match and this still belongs to him. As a leg spinner, he relied heavily on leg breaks and generally preferred to bowl them slower through the air, in an attempt to beat the batsman in flight and guile. He was a boom-or-bust kind of bowler and that showed in his career too. Having 22 wickets from 11 innings isn’t highly impressive and when you consider that he had three four-wicket hauls and a fifer, the consistency parts takes a severe beating. It’s not surprise therefore that he barely played many games for West Indies, even as he remained a constant force in First-class cricket where he was a resourceful bowling all-rounder.

Written by Hariprasad Sadanandan