During the golden age of West Indian Cricket, there were many great players coming from various islands in the Caribbean who brightened up the world cricket of the era. Three of those brightest stars were Sir Viv Richards, Malcolm Marshall and Jeff Dujon. The first one was a dashing batsman, the second one was one of the greatest fast bowlers of all time and the third one was a solid wicketkeeper behind the stumps.
On 12th August 1991, all three of them said ‘Good Bye’ to test cricket once the 5th test between England and West Indies as Oval was finished. It did not end in a happy note as England won the test match and ended the series 2-2.
On day one, England won the toss and batted first. There were contributions from various corners with the highlights being Robin Smith’s brilliant century. Marshall took only one wicket of the centurion Smith and Dujon took a solitary catch.
West Indies started off well and on 158/3 looked to be in a strong position. But Phil Tufnell’s devastating spell turned the match on its head. From 158/3 West Indies were all out for 176 as Tufnell finished with 6/25. Interestingly Dujon came to bat at number six, followed by Marshall and Richards and both Dujon and Marshall scored ducks where Richards scored just two.
They were forced to follow on and gave a better performance in the second innings. Richie Richardson scored a hundred and Richards was at his best when he stroked his way to a brilliant 60 which ensured that he could maintain a test average of 50 plus. Dujon scored six and Marshall 17 and West Indies put up a total of 385.
England had a target of 143 in front of them to square the series and despite few middle order tension with 80/4 at a time, they finally recorded a five wicket win. Richards, Marshall, and Dujon could not have the dream farewell they might have wished for. However, their contribution for West Indies cricket was unparallel.
Richards debuted in 1974 and scored 8540 test runs and 6721 ODI runs and widely considered the best ODI batsman ever. Marshall finished with 376 test wickets and 157 ODI wickets. Dujon recorded 474 dismissals in international cricket with 272 of those in test and 204 in ODIs.
