In any other era for any other country Winston Davis would have been a regular Test player, but he had the ill fortune to be at his best at the very same time West Indies possessed a battery of outstanding quick bowlers. Lean, and able to produce genuine pace off a relatively short run, he made his Test debut against India in 1982-83 on the back of a good domestic season in which he had taken 33 wickets. He was part of West Indies' 1983 World Cup squad, hitting the headlines when he took a record 7 for 51 against Australia at Headingley, but he suffered on the docile Indian pitches the following winter. He was called into the touring West Indies squad as injury cover from Glamorgan (where he had been since 1982) and did enough to gain selection for the tour to Australia where, again, he struggled with eight wickets at 52. In two home Tests against New Zealand he took ten wickets, including his Test-best 4 for 19 at Kingston. He returned for his second tour to India where he took 13 wickets at 30 each, but thereafter slipped out of the reckoning as many fast-bowling rivals emerged. Aside from his time with Glamorgan, Davis played for Tasmania, Wellington and Northamptionshire. In 1998 he was left paralysed from the neck down after suffering spinal injuries when he fell from a tree.
Martin Williamson