Names to conjure with - Redux

Apologies to our American members as the following entry, from James Murphy, will probably go right over your heads like the Blue Angels on opening day.

Edmonton 'Hatch' Burkefront burst onto the scene as yet another fast bowler from the Caribbean and for a decade Burkefront terrified batsmen the world over. Muscular and tall (6ft 2ins) with a classical action, he presented a fearsome sight. A long, lithe approach ended with a fast and well-aimed delivery. Not a flicker of emotion would be evident save a gunslinger's narrowing of the eyes; while some thought his frequent use of bouncers was intimidating, no-one stood up to the athletic Bajan. He varied its pace, often setting batsmen up with a slower one and then pole-axing them when they were late on the quickie. It took “Hatch” less than two and a half years to reach 100 Test wickets. A compete “ferret” with the bat, he averaged just 1.7 runs in Test cricket, with a top score of 11 against India, in Madras (now Chennai) in 1978/9.


Edmonton 'Hatch' Burkefront,
steaming in from the
Kirkstall Lane end, yesterday in 1977