Roy Marshall

Roy Edwin Marshall (25 April 1930 – 27 October 1992) was a Barbadian cricketer who played in four Test matches for the West Indies and had an extensive domestic career with Hampshire in English county cricket. Marshall was born in Saint Thomas, Barbados. He made his debut in first-class cricket at the age of 15 for Barbados in January 1946, and three years later he established himself in the Barbadian side as an attacking opening batsman. After several strong performances for Barbados in West Indian domestic cricket, he was selected in the West Indian representative team. He played Test cricket between November 1951 and February 1952, making two appearances apiece against Australia and New Zealand. With several players surpassing him in the pecking order for Test selection, coupled with a disagreement with his teammates, he decided to end his brief international career and pursue a career in English county cricket.

Marshall joined Hampshire in 1953, and after completing his two-year residential qualification period he established himself as one of their opening batsmen. He would form a successful opening partnership with Jimmy Gray that spanned over a decade and was considered at the time the strongest in county cricket. He became a consistent and attacking opening batsman for Hampshire, and in 1959 he was chosen as one of five Wisden Cricketers of the Year. He was a member of the Hampshire side which won their first County Championship in 1961, and was appointed Hampshire's first professional captain in 1966. He held the captaincy until 1970, and retired in 1972. For Hampshire, he made 504 first-class appearances and scored 30,303 runs, a total for the county that is only surpassed by Phil Mead, who played for Hampshire between 1905 and 1936. In retirement, he moved to Taunton where he coached cricket at King's College and was a publican. He was appointed chairman of the Somerset County Cricket Club committee in 1987, a position he held until 1991, when ill-health forced him to step down. He died from skin cancer in October 1992.

Cricket Early cricket and Test career The son of a wealthy plantation owner of Scottish descent, Roy Marshall was born in Farmers Plantation in Saint Thomas, Barbados. He was educated in Barbados at The Foundation School, where he initially developed his skills as a cricketer. Seeing potential in his son's skills, his father moved him to The Lodge School to further develop his cricketing prospects. By attending The Lodge School, considered one of the nurseries of Barbadian cricket, he was able to partake in the First Division of the National Men's League, the highest level of club cricket on the island. This enabled him to play alongside many of the leading Barbadian cricketers of the time. His success as a batsman for The Lodge gained him a place in a trial match for selection to the Barbadian team for their tour to Trinidad and Tobago; his scores of 72 and 80 runs earned him selection for that tour. Thus whilst still a schoolboy, Marshall made his debut in first-class cricket in January 1946, aged 15, against Trinidad at Port-of-Spain. On debut he struggled with nerves, making only 2 runs in the lone innings in which he batted. Strong performances in club cricket led to his recall to the Barbadian team, where he met with immediate success in two matches against Trinidad at Bridgetown. In the second match, he made a second century (110 runs), which was also complemented by a half century (57 runs). His success continued the following season against British Guiana, with Marshall making 191 runs opening the batting. This earned him selection to the West Indian team for their tour of England in 1950, where he was chosen as a third opening batsman behind the Jamaican Allan Rae and the Trinidadian Jeff Stollmeyer. At 20 years of age, he was the youngest member of the sixteen-man squad.

On the journey across the Atlantic he contracted measles, and in England news reached him of the death of his father back in Barbados from a heart attack. He made three centuries on the tour, notably scoring 135 runs against Hampshire at Southampton, which bought him to the attention of their captain and secretary Desmond Eagar. but did not feature in the 2nd Test. He returned to play in the 3rd Test at Adelaide, where a pulled muscle in his leg saw him bat with a runner for over 100 minutes. The injury subsequently kept him out of the 4th and 5th Tests. The tour then travelled to New Zealand, where Marshall played in both Test matches against New Zealand at Christchurch and Auckland.

Returning to the West Indies, he played just once more for Barbados against the touring Indian national team in January 1953, With the emergence of John Holt, Conrad Hunte, and Bruce Pairaudeau, Marshall fell down the Test pecking-order. This, coupled with disagreements with senior Trinidadian members of the Test team, convinced Marshall to end his Test career and seek to further his career in England. Writing in 1998, Keith Sandiford opined that had he not decided to quit Test cricket at his peak, he may well have contributed more to West Indian cricket and provided a suitable opening partner for Hunte, who consistently lacked a reliable opening partner.

Move to England Early years at Hampshire After playing a second season in the Lancashire League for Lowerhouse in 1953, he was unable to play in the County Championship. He could play in friendly matches, and thus made his debut for Hampshire against the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) at Lord's in 1953. During the winter of 1953, he toured India with the Commonwealth XI led by the Australian Ben Barnett. He played in 17 first-class matches on the tour, Against Yorkshire at Bradford, he took 6 for 44 to lead Hampshire to an innings victory. By the end of the season, he had topped Hampshire's bowling averages. He was easily the most successful batsman on the tour, scoring over 1,000 runs across all fixtures, including 273 runs in the three first-class fixtures against Jamaica. Thereafter followed a series of strong batting performances by Marshall. A week after scoring 193 runs against Oxford University in June, his 122 runs made in just over two hours contributed to a five wickets victory against Gloucestershire. He made further quick-fire scores later in July, with 115 runs made in 123 minutes against Lancashire, and days later 138 runs made in 130 minutes against Nottinghamshire. In recognition of his performances in the 1958 season, Marshall was named one of the five Wisden Cricketers of the Year for 1959, alongside his teammate Derek Shackleton.

Marshall again exceeded 2,000 runs for a season in 1959, with 2,426 at an average of 40.43. |group=note He made several quick-scoring centuries, notably a match-winning 143 made in just under three hours against Yorkshire, and 133 runs against Oxford University, compiled at nearly a run-a-minute. In June, Marshall scored a quick-fire half century against Somerset, with Hampshire winning off the final ball, having been set 179 runs to win in two hours. He took part in the season ending Scarborough Festival, playing in the Gentlemen v Players match; as a paid professional he represented the Players, in contrast to unpaid amateurs who played for the Gentlemen. He played a match during the festival for T. N. Pearce's XI against the touring Indian national team. but made only 100 runs in the three first-class matches that constituted the tour. His rapid run-scoring proved the difference between Hampshire drawing and winning matches, with a number of crucial innings during run chases at various stages in the season. He made the first double-century of his career, making 212 against Surrey at Bournemouth in July. He would end the season as Hampshire's leading run-scorer, in addition to leading their batting averages. In June, Marshall was afflicted with German measles, which caused him to miss a number of fixtures. Despite this, he still managed to appear in 28 first-class matches and scored 2,124 runs at an average of 43.34. Marshall was a member of Hampshire's team for their inaugural appearance in List A one-day cricket against Derbyshire in the 1963 Gillette Cup.

In early January 1964, he played two first-class matches against Jamaica with the International Cavaliers.

Captaincy and retirement It was announced in October 1965 that Marshall would be succeeding the retiring Colin Ingleby-Mackenzie as Hampshire captain, thus becoming the first professional to hold the post. Prior to his appointment, the captaincy had traditionally been held by a player with amateur status. With the abolition of amateur status by the MCC in 1962, In 1967, Marshall acquired a new opening partner in Barry Reed; together in mid-July, they would compile an opening stand of 233 runs against Northamptonshire, with Marshall contributing 160 runs, his highest score of the season. Marshall made 29 appearances during the season, scoring 1,493, though his batting average notably dropped to 31.76.

Marshall moved himself to the middle order following a poor start to the 1968 season, allowing the newly signed South African Barry Richards to open with Reed. Despite passing the landmark of 30,000 first-class runs, the 1968 season was poor by Marshall's previous standards. From 31 first-class matches, he scored 1,208 runs at an average of 26.84, making only one century. A series of injuries in 1969, including a broken thumb which kept him out for two weeks, restricted his first-class appearances to just nineteen. Marshall led Hampshire to a second-placed finish in its inaugural running, just one point behind winners Lancashire.

In November 1970, Marshall was afforded a testimonial for the forthcoming 1971 season. He was removed from the captaincy by the Hampshire committee in December, being replaced by vice-captain and assistant-secretary Richard Gilliat. He remained at Hampshire following the loss of the captaincy, playing fluently in 1971. He scored 1,543 runs at an average of 38.57, making three centuries. His seventeen one-day appearances yielded him 391 runs in 1971, with three half-centuries. His place in the team was largely filled by fellow West Indian Gordon Greenidge.

Playing style and records Marshall wore thick glasses throughout his career. Wisden opined that he "drove handsomely", and noted that he would take advantage when a ball was pitched on, or just outside, off-stump, by cutting or slashing with "devastating power". which contrasted with manner in which he batted. His defensive attitude drew criticism from Garfield Sobers, in a wider critique of the defensive attitude of some county captains. The negative aspects of his captaincy were also noted by Hampshire's Barbadian fast-bowler John Holder, who remarked that "It was one of the strangest anomalies of county cricket at the time that arguably the most forceful, entertaining, attacking batsman of his generation should have been one of the most negative captains". Wisden remarked how his "very keen cricket brain and strong opinions" added to the depth of his captaincy, He made 68 first-class centuries, and 185 half-centuries. With his off-break bowling, Marshall took 176 wickets in first-class cricket at a bowling average of 28.93; He took five wickets in an innings on five occasions.

Later life, death and legacy Marshall was the landlord of The Westgate Inn in Taunton (pictured). Following his retirement, Marshall was afforded life membership of Hampshire and given a place on its cricket committee. After retiring from the professional game, he continued to play club cricket in Southampton for Deanery and would participate in cricket tours of a more social nature, In 1978, he bought a pub in Taunton, The Westgate Inn. He was survived by his wife, Shirley, whom he had met playing in the Lancashire League, In 2015, an honours board was unveiled at the Rose Bowl by Trevor Jesty, honouring Hampshire's Wisden Cricketers of the Year.

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