Courtney Walsh runs in and bowls — a short, lifting delivery on the body of the batsman — who is in some discomfort and fends it awkwardly to the fielder close in on the onside. It’s off the glove and Wavell Hinds gleefully takes the catch. Henry Olonga, the Zimbabwe last man is “out caught” and that ends the innings.
This gripping sequence of play happened late on the day on March 27, 2000. It was no ordinary wicket. It was Walsh’s 435th and that meant he set a new world record for the most wickets in Test cricket eclipsing the previous mark of 434 set by Kapil Dev, the Indian legend.
The magical moment sent a packed Sabina Park into a pandemonium. The Jamaicans who witnessed the “miracle” jumped and screamed with delight as one of their native sons — born and grown in the city of Kingston — was able to conquer the world in front of their very eyes.
Today marks the 25th anniversary when the lion-hearted Walsh climbed to the summit of cricket’s Mount Everest. As he reminisced on the memorable occasion the 62-year-old vividly recalled ever detail about what transpired. He described it as a truly special achievement in his outstanding career which spanned from 1984 to 2001. He said the icing on the cake was doing it at Sabina Park – with family, friends and well wishes urging him on. Walsh passed the milestone in his 114th Test, 17 fewer than Kapil.
“It was on my mind, and I wanted to get it here in Jamaica. When the opportunity came, I wanted to do it on on Jamaican soil,” Walsh said.
He remembered how he celebrated by kissing the ground and having his friend and fellow bowling ace Curtly Ambrose leading the celebrations on the field. At one point on the day he feared the chance may have gone, with Zimbabwe crumbling on the worn surface and batsmen falling victim to other bowlers.
“At one point it looked like it wasn’t going to happen with the way the wickets were falling. Then the crowd got into it, and they urged me on. It came down close in the end and I got the last wicket. The plan worked very well. Henry was not the best batsman in the world, but we still had to get him out. There was a gentleman with a giant board in the pavilion keeping track as the wickets were falling and when I got Henry and it ticked over to ‘435’ the whole of Sabina Park erupted,” Walsh said.
“When Wavell held the catch I said, ‘finally I got it… it’s over’. I remember kissing the turf to give thanks for the opportunity to represent the West Indies on another occasion and create history. I was pleased and I was relieved. All the teammates were very excited for me. For it to happen in Jamaica and for it to lead to the team winning the Test match and the series that was extra special and I was a happy man. Even speaking about it today, brings back goose pimples.”
“There was a lot of energy, back in those days people really came out to watch Test cricket and to really give the West Indies rousing support. On the field, as I reached the top of my mark all my teammates were shouting ‘c’mon and get it, it’s yours’. But the real excitement was from the people off the field. Even the men on the ground staff joined in and celebrated. It really felt like I had achieved something remarkable for myself, the people of Jamaica and the people of the West Indies. I was proud! For Kapil to make a call to me and send champagne to congratulate, was a very wonderful touch.”
After that ‘moment in time’ Walsh would play on for another year. He became the first man in history to get 500 Test wickets. He ended his career with 519 wickets in 132 matches – the West Indies all-time record. He bowled a remarkable 30,019 balls and took 32 five-wicket hauls. Even more mind-blowing are his first-class career statistics. He played 429 matches and bowled 85,443 balls. He took 1807 wickets to rank in the top echelons of all time – the most by a West Indian.
“When I started as a young man there was no way I was thinking that far ahead. Nothing to do with 400 wickets, 500 wickets and world records were on my mind. I felt with the quartet we had and the way the wickets were evenly shared around, if I was able to get to 200 Test wickets that would have been a major achievement,” Walsh added.
“To actually get to 300 was special. I remember Malcolm (Marshall) said to me after I broke his (West Indies) record that I should look to go after Kapil’s record. After I passed him (Marshall) in South Africa he said I might as well chase the world record and that put the idea firmly in my head. He sowed the seed and Sir Curtly, my bowling partner said ‘you have to’ and then Jack Russell, my teammate in county cricket at Gloucestershire, gave me the extra zest to put my best foot forward.”
Walsh ended with this take on the grand finale. “It came down to the final wicket and that served as a glorious moment. Today we can look back and remember that occasion when part of cricket history was created in Jamaica. Sabina was special. It is a place I always wanted to play as a youth. It had a ‘wow’ factor for me. The fans interacted really well with you and the home support was always tremendous. As someone who fielded on the boundary most of the time you would always hear the reaction. The atmosphere was always great, and the fans gave you full support. For me it was home.”