You have got to be exceptionally gifted to be admired by Sir Everton Weekes and Robert Christiani was certainly that. However, for a man of his caliber, his Test career numbers flattered to deceive, as he often underachieved with all the skill that he had. Christiani’s efforts in First-class cricket were far superior and was probably closer to reflecting the kind of talent that he was with the bat in hand. A swift judger of lengths, his footwork was immaculate whether going forward or back and this decisive nature helped him to get an iota of extra time than most batsmen. He was an adventurous bloke as well and loved to keep the scoreboard moving, either through boundaries or good running between the wickets. Christiani was the kind of batsman who would race along to 30 or 40 before you would realize it. However, this ability to get starts was largely neutralized by his inability to convert them, at least in Test cricket.

He nearly had the perfect Test debut but was agonizingly dismissed on 99 in the second innings, an event that emotionally drained him to bits. Christiani occupied the lower middle-order slots at 6 or 7, given that West Indies had more prominent batsmen in the side who were naturally preferred higher up in the order. Also, Christiani’s designation of being a batting all-rounder meant that it was an ideal
position for him. He bowled part-time off-spin and was quite tidy in his spells, also providing the odd breakthrough for his side. Christiani was also a livewire on the field and was blessed with terrific hands which helped him to make tough catches look elementary. He was also gifted in other sports like football and hockey, both of which he excelled in. After retirement, he moved to Canada where he worked at the Toronto City Hall but a lengthy bout of Alzheimer’s disease brought about his downfall, eventually taking his life.

Written by Hariprasad Sadanandan