An unsung hero in the mighty WI team of the 80's:
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An unsung hero is born. Of the big shots in West Indies' heavyweight 1980s side, Hilary Angelo Gomes (you can see why he was called "Larry") was the one most likely to escape the autograph hunters. But he added a crucial element of sobriety to the batting line-up, and was a watertight presence at No. 3 or 4. Packer gave him the chance to break into the Test team, and he took it with two centuries against Australia in 1977-78. Indeed six of Gomes' nine Test hundreds came against the Aussies - in Australia he averaged 70 - none better than a diligent 127 on a Perth flyer in 1984-85. That was the third of four centuries in eight Tests in 1984, two of them in England. His average hovered tantalisingly above 40 until his last Test appearance, against New Zealand in Christchurch in 1986-87, when scores of 8 and 33 dropped it just below. This all looked very unlikely during an early three-year spell at Middlesex, when Gomes failed to make a century.
An unsung hero is born. Of the big shots in West Indies' heavyweight 1980s side, Hilary Angelo Gomes (you can see why he was called "Larry") was the one most likely to escape the autograph hunters. But he added a crucial element of sobriety to the batting line-up, and was a watertight presence at No. 3 or 4. Packer gave him the chance to break into the Test team, and he took it with two centuries against Australia in 1977-78. Indeed six of Gomes' nine Test hundreds came against the Aussies - in Australia he averaged 70 - none better than a diligent 127 on a Perth flyer in 1984-85. That was the third of four centuries in eight Tests in 1984, two of them in England. His average hovered tantalisingly above 40 until his last Test appearance, against New Zealand in Christchurch in 1986-87, when scores of 8 and 33 dropped it just below. This all looked very unlikely during an early three-year spell at Middlesex, when Gomes failed to make a century.
Note: His batting average of almost 40, is like a 50 in today's world- batter friendly inventions and rules have pushed up averages.
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