KINGSTON, Jamaica – The West Indies Cricket Board would like to express its profound sorrow and heartfelt condolences to family and friends, following the passing of former Jamaica and West Indies batsman Basil Williams. He was 65.

Williams played seven Tests for West Indies between 1978 and 1979, distinguishing himself with two hundreds in his brief career.

“We mourn the loss of another servant of the game in the Caribbean,” said WICB president Whycliffe “Dave” Cameron. “Indeed, the Jamaica Cricket Association and the Kensington Cricket Club family of which he was a part for all of his life will miss him.

“I knew ‘Shotgun’, as he was affectionately known, having been a member of Kensington for so many years. He was captain of the first team and I had the honour of playing with him. He was a tough, but fair captain and a no-nonsense guy.”

Williams earned his place in the West Indies side, partly due to a solid regional first-class season in 1978 and the defection of many leading players to World Series Cricket.

He hammered a hundred against an equally depleted Australian side on debut in Guyana, ending the series with 257 runs at 42.83.

This earned him selection for the subsequent Tour of India, where he again performed well, scoring 212 runs at 35.33 – including a hundred at Calcutta – but after that series the leading players returned from World Series Cricket and he was discarded.

Williams continued to represent Jamaica with distinction until his retirement in 1986 and served the game in his homeland in a number of areas including selector, board member and team manager.

In reply to CaribbeanCricket.com

rest in peace

two hundreds in seven tests...and some get excited by shai hope scoring a mere 35.

different times...different standards.

In reply to CaribbeanCricket.com

RIP Shotgun...

I was a big fan of his batting style and got to know him when he managed Yard's youth team in the mid 80s...very humble dude...


When you consider that Yard didn't win a regional 1st class tournament between 1969 and 1988 despite boasting a batting line up of Richard Austin, Everton Mattis, Herbert Chang, Basil Williams, Jeff Dujon, Yagga Rowe, Maurice Foster etc..,then you understand the depths to which West Indies cricket has sunk...

May the Shotgun Rest In Peace...

Great memories.. sitting at Sabina Park in 1978 and watching Basil put Thommo to the sword!

The man came from the school of "if you are going to flash... flash hard"
Bat truly came off the bat like a shot!

In reply to FanAttick

think we won once during that period with that policeman bowling pace,cant remember his name right before or after Castel Folks.

In reply to CaribbeanCricket.com

"Shot Gun" - a good man and the type of Jamaican & West Indian cricketer who tried his best with the limited opportunities he had. What an example to our cricket young men, if they would only clean out their ears and eyes.