WEST Indies cricket legend Sir Wes Hall will this evening at the Guyana Pegasus deliver the keynote address at the Rotary Club of Georgetown’s commemoration of ‘World Understanding Month’, under the theme: ‘Lessons learnt from the noble game of cricket’.

World Understanding includes the anniversary of the first meeting of Rotary held on February 23, 1905, and as a chance for every Rotary club to pause, plan and promote the Fourth Avenue of Service – Rotary’s continued quest for goodwill, peace and understanding among peoples of the world.

Rotary Club of Georgetown’s Foundation Director and former West Indies player and coach, Roger Harper, told Chronicle Sport that the theme of the dinner fits perfectly into the gentleman, the former Barbados Senator.

“I thought that someone like Wes Hall is perfect for this occasion because of who he is; being an example to so many people, especially our young generation,” Harper said.
Harper, who played 25 Test matches for the West Indies in his 10-year career in the ‘gentleman’s game’, said, “Wes is an accomplished man of the game, both on and off the field, a director in a number of companies around the Caribbean, he’s a Minister, so he’ll be sharing, like the title said, his lessons learnt from the noble game.”

For over a decade Wes Hall terrified batsmen the world over. Muscular and tall with a classical action, Hall presented a fearsome sight. A long, lithe approach ended with a fast and well-aimed delivery.

He started his cricket career as a wicketkeeper-batsman but converted to a bowler when the regular opener for his club side failed to turn up. He took the new ball, six wickets, and never looked back.

He toured England in 1957 with only one first-class game to his name, but he struggled for form and with his run-up and looked unimpressive.

Called into the side to tour India and Pakistan in 1958-59, he took 46 wickets in eight Tests, and he was a regular thereafter. In the classic Tied Test on 1961 at Brisbane he took 9 for 203, and bowled the last over with six runs needed for victory with three wickets left.
Hall took one wicket, dropped a crucial catch, and there were two run-outs. Against India in 1961-62 he grabbed 27 wickets at 15.74 and in 1963, partnered by Charlie Griffith, he blasted England to defeat.

At Lord’s, in another epic finish, he bowled unchanged for three-and-a-half hours and took 4 for 93 (as well as breaking Colin Cowdrey’s arm).
In 1964-65 his 16 wickets were instrumental in guiding West Indies to their first series win over Australia, but by the time he toured England in 1966 the signs were there that he was on the wane.

Hall retired, along with his partner Griffith, at the end of the tour of Australia and New Zealand in 1968-69. An immensely popular man, he played two seasons for Queensland and the bulk of his career with Barbados (although that amounted to 13 matches in 15 seasons) with a few appearances for Trinidad in his twilight years.

In retirement he became an ordained minister as well as a Minister of Tourism and Sport in the Barbados government. He also managed West Indies touring sides and in 2001 took over as president of the West Indies Cricket Board.