23 Facts About Joel Garner

Joel Garner was born on 16 December 1952 and is a former West Indian cricketer, and a member of the highly regarded late 1970s and early 1980s West Indies cricket teams.

Joel Garner was a member of the West Indies team that won their second world title in the 1979 Cricket World Cup.

In 2010, Joel Garner was inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame.

Cricket was popular and Joel Garner played it as a child.

Joel Garner first attended St Christopher's boys primary school which was held in the local Anglican Church.

Joel Garner attended secondary school at Foundation Boys and played cricket for the school where he played as an all rounder.

Joel Garner then attended coaching sessions organized by Charlie Griffith and Gary Sobers.

Joel Garner first came to the attention of Somerset whilst playing for Littleborough in the Central Lancashire League.

Joel Garner replaced Sir Garry Sobers as the club's paid man for the 1976 season, continuing in the role for the 1977 and 1978 seasons.

Joel Garner signed for Somerset for the start of the 1977 season.

Joel Garner took 338 First Class wickets at an average of 18.10 during his time at Somerset and was considered the best fast bowler to play for the county.

Joel Garner was at Somerset in the most successful time in the county's history in winning five trophies.

Joel Garner appeared in 58 test matches for the West Indies between 1977 and 1987 and took 259 wickets at an average of barely above 20, making him statistically one of the most effective bowlers of all time.

Joel Garner made his test debut against Pakistan in 1977 and took 25 wickets in his debut series.

Joel Garner took seven five wicket bags in test cricket but never took ten wickets in a test match.

Joel Garner was dropped for the final test of the Indian tour of the West Indies in 1983 and again for the West Indies tour of India later that year.

Joel Garner missed six one day games due to a knee injury but was able to return for the final few games where his form and fitness had returned.

However, it was in limited overs cricket that Joel Garner put his height to use with devastating effect: in 98 matches he took 146 wickets.

Joel Garner had the ability to unleash a devastating yorker, as well as generate more bounce.

Joel Garner was the part of the West Indian team which was runner-up in 1983 ICC Cricket World Cup.

Joel Garner played for Barbados in the West Indies, for South Australia in the Sheffield Shield and alongside Viv Richards and Ian Botham for Somerset in the English County Championship.

In October 2010 Joel Garner was named interim manager of the West Indies for the tour of Sri Lanka.

Joel Garner was one of the new faces in the team including captain Darren Sammy.