He would do anything for the team’

Former T&T, West Indies batter Charlie Davis remembered

Stingy with his wicket but generous with his knowledge, is the way Charlie Davis is being remembered as Trinidad and Tobago and West Indies cricket gets ready to say goodbye to one of its solid contributors of the 1970s. The funeral service for Davis will be held tomorrow at the St Finbar’s Roman Catholic Church, Diego martin from 10.15 a.m. But on Tuesday, his former teammate Deryck Murray recalled his virtues both as a batter and a person.

On the Mason and Guest radio cricket show on the Voice of Barbados, Tuesday, Murray described him as, “another prodigious batsman... not in the same ilk as exotic strokeplayers but one who really valued his wicket.” Davis played for the West Indies during a period of transition in the early 1970s. In his 15 Test matches, he scored 1,301 runs at an impressive average of 54.20. Four centuries also came in those 15 Tests

His maiden ton came at Lord’s during the 1969 tour of England, where he scored the West Indies’ only hundred of the series. Against India in 1971, he prospered against the celebrated spin quartet of Bishan Bedi, Erapalli Prasanna, Salim Durani and Srinivas Venkataraghavan to compile 529 runs in four Tests at an average of 132.25. He registered scores of 71 not out and 74 not out in the opening Test at the Queen’s Park Oval before adding an unbeaten 125 at Bourda, another unbeaten 71 at Kensington Oval and 105 in the final Test back in Port of Spain. He also enjoyed an outstanding series against New Zealand, averaging 58.25 with a career-best 183 at Kensington Oval in Barbados.