Happy Birthday Deryck Murray!
Today we salute West Indies cricket legend Deryck Murray. The two-time World Cup winner celebrates his 77th birthday. As the very reliable wicket-keeper, he was a crucial member of the teams which won the coveted Cricket World Cup in 1975 and 1979 under the leadership of Clive Lloyd.
I had many great times representing the West Indies and I gave my all for the West Indies every time I went onto the field. The highlights were winning the World Cup on those two occasions. It was really great to see how the people celebrated. As players and ambassadors we were able to achieve great things.
Murray said recently.
During the inaugural World Cup, Murray was the bating hero against Pakistan. It was on June 11, 1975 when he made a career-best 61 not out as West Indies won by the narrow margin of one wicket with just two balls to spare at Edgbaston. He shared a back-to-the-wall, last-wicket stand of 63 with Andy Roberts, who contributed an invaluable 24 not out.
It was a clear case if we lost the match, we were put of the World Cup, so we had to bat and bat and win the match. When Andy came in, I said to him ‘let’s do it ball by ball, let’s do it over by over’. There was no need to panic we believed in each other. It was a good win and we went on to the final where we beat the Australians. Those are some of the great moments as a player.
Murray said.
Murray started his international career in 1963 on the tour of England and played until 1980. He scored 1,993 runs while he scored 294 runs in his 26 ODI matches. In his first-class career he scored 13,325 runs with a top score of 166 not out. He took 181 Test catches and eight stumpings, in ODIs, 37 catches and one stumping, and in first-class matches 740 catches and 108 stumpings.