Courtney Andrew Walsh (born October 30, 1962) is a former international cricketer (fast bowler) who represented the West Indies from 1984 to 2001, captaining the West Indies in 22 Test matches. He is best known for a remarkable opening bowling partnership along with fellow West Indian Curtly Ambrose for several years and holding the record of most Test wickets from 2000, after he broke the record of Kapil Dev. This record was later broken in 2004 by Muttiah Muralitharan.
Walsh's first claim to fame came in 1979 when he took 10 wickets in an innings in school cricket and three years later made his first-class cricket debut.
Walsh made his Test debut against Australia in Perth in 1984, taking 2 wickets for 43 runs. Later that season, he also made his One Day International debut against Sri Lanka at Hobart. He first played for Gloucestershire in 1984 and was a mainstay of the side until 1998.
In 1987, Walsh was named as one of the Wisden Cricketers of the Year. In 1988–89 at Brisbane he took a 'complicated' hat trick, dismissing Australia's Tony Dodemaide with the last ball of the first innings and Mike Veletta and Graeme Wood with his first two deliveries in the second. During that winter he also took 10 wickets in a Test match for the first time against India in Kingston.
Michael Andrew Atherton OBE (born 23 March 1968) is a broadcaster, journalist and retired England international cricketer. A right-handed opening batsman for Lancashire and England, and occasional leg-break bowler, he achieved the captaincy of England at the age of 25 and led the side in a record 54 Test matches. He often played the anchor role at a time when England batting performances lacked consistency and the side's overseas results were mediocre. His playing career included some controversy and was cut short by increasing back disorder. He was born in Failsworth, Lancashire, England.
The young Mike Atherton captained the Manchester Grammar School cricket team for whom he scored almost 3,500 runs and took 170 wickets. His performances led to selection for the England under-19 team, which he captained aged 16. He also represented Lancashire Schools from 1982–86. In 1983 he won the Jack Hobbs Memorial Award as the Outstanding Schoolboy Cricketer at under-15 level. In a (non-first-class) match against the Marylebone Cricket Club in 1984 he took 6–27.
Mark Edward Waugh AM (born 2 June 1965) is a former Australian cricketer, who represented Australia in Test matches from early 1991 to late 2002, and made his One-Day International debut in 1988. Waugh is regarded as one of the most elegant and gifted stroke makers to ever play the game. His nickname is "Junior" as he is younger than his twin brother Steve by a few minutes. Dean Waugh, another of Mark's brothers, is also a cricketer, having played first-class and list A cricket in Australia.
Waugh was primarily a right-handed batsman, batting in the No.4 position in Test matches, and was also a handy medium pace bowler, who changed to an off-spin bowler after back injuries restricted him. He is regarded as one of the best slip fielders ever to play cricket, and held the world record for most Test catches by a non-wicketkeeper until Rahul Dravid broke it in 2009.
He began as an all-rounder in the Australian ODI team, but he later focussed on batting and progressed to opening the batting, where he excelled and became Australia's leading one day runscorer. His three centuries at the 1996 Cricket World Cup made him the only batsman to ever achieve this feat, and a fourth century in the 1999 tournament made him the only Australian to score more than 1000 runs in World Cup competition and to score four centuries. He became the leading Australian run-scorer and century maker in ODIs during the 1999 tournament.
Alec James Stewart OBE (born 8 April 1963) is a retired English cricketer, a right-handed batsman-wicketkeeper and former captain of the England cricket team. He is the most capped English cricketer of all time in Test matches and 2nd most capped in One Day Internationals, having played in 133 Tests and 170 ODIs.
The younger son of former English Test cricketer Micky Stewart, Stewart was educated at Tiffin School in Kingston upon Thames. He made his début for Surrey in 1981, earning a reputation as an aggressive opening batsman and occasional wicketkeeper. He made his England début in the first Test of the 1989/90 tour of the West Indies, along with Nasser Hussain, who would eventually replace him as England captain.
At the start of his career, Stewart was a specialist opening batsman for England, with wicketkeeping duties being retained by Jack Russell, who was generally recognised as the superior gloveman and who batted down the order. However, Russell, the inferior batsman, would often be dropped to improve the balance of the side (i.e. to accommodate an extra bowler or batsman), in which case Stewart would don the gloves. After enduring years of selection and deselection, Russell retired from international cricket in 1998, leaving Stewart unrivalled as England's keeper-batsman until his own retirement in 2003.
Balfour Patrick Patterson (born 15 September 1961) is a former fast bowler for the West Indian cricket team in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
Born in Portland, Jamaica to Maurice and Emelda, Patterson attended Happy Grove High School and Wolmer's School, receiving his Jamaica School Certificate.
Patterson's father and grandfather played parish level cricket in Jamaica and Patterson showed ability from an early age and made his debut for Jamaica in 1983. He also played for Lancashire in the English County Championship, between 1984 and 1990, and Tasmania in the Sheffield Shield 1984-85.
Patterson arrived on the international scene in the absence of Michael Holding for the 1986 Sabina Park Test against England, and was instantly heralded as the fastest bowler in the international game. Broadly built, aggressive and quick, Patterson took seven wickets on debut. He kept his place and became a regular new ball bowler for the West Indies.Graham Gooch, seasoned England opener, remarked that Patterson frightened him with his fast bowling.