Wilf Slack

Infobox Cricketer


nationality = English
country = England
country abbrev = ENG
name = Wilf Slack
picture = Cricket_no_pic.pngbatting style = Left-hand bat
bowling style = Right-arm medium
balls = true
tests = 3
test runs = 81
test bat avg = 13.50
test 100s/50s = -/1
test top score = 52
test overs = -
test wickets = -
test bowl avg = -
test 5s = -
test 10s = -
test best bowling = -
test catches/stumpings = 3/-
ODIs = 2
ODI runs = 43
ODI bat avg = 21.50
ODI 100s/50s = -/-
ODI top score = 34
ODI overs = -
ODI wickets = -
ODI bowl avg = -
ODI 5s = -
ODI 10s = -
ODI best bowling = -
ODI catches/stumpings = -/-
date = 1 January
year = 2006
source = http://content-aus.cricinfo.com/ci/content/player/20206.html

Wilfred Norris Slack (born December 12, 1954, Troumaca, St Vincent, died January 15, 1989, Banjul, The Gambia) was an English cricketer who played in three Tests and two ODIs in 1986.

A victim of mysterious blackouts while playing, Slack died while batting in The Gambia, aged just 34.

Career

His family migrated from the Windward Islands to High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire when he was only 11 years old.

He was a left-handed opener and played county cricket for Middlesex between 1977 and 1988. He also played for his native Windward Islands in the West Indies domestic competition between 1981-82 and 1982-83.

In 1981 against Kent at Lord's he scored his maiden first class century, 181 not out. The opening stand of 367 by Slack and his partner (Graham Barlow) was a Middlesex record. In the following game he made 248 not out, against Worcestershire. He finished the season with 1,303 Championship runs at 48.25.

In 1985 he bettered his effort of four years earlier by making 1,900 runs at 54.28 and was rewarded with a tour of Sri Lanka with the England B side.

During the tour he was rushed over to the West Indies to replace an injured Mike Gatting in the England side, after he had his nose broken. Slack made just two runs in the two innings of his Test debut at Port-of Spain. As a result he was dropped for the next two Tests, but returned in the Fifth Test to make a tidy 52, partnering Graham Gooch in an opening stand of 127.

His third and final Test came at Headingley against India in 1986. He again failed to impress but had a successful county season by topping 1,000 runs once more. This won him a place in the England squad for the Ashes tour of Australia in 1986-87. He didn't play a Test in the series and would never again be picked for England.

During the 1988 English cricket season, Slack suffered a number of blackouts on the field or in the nets, but exhaustive tests had failed to identify the cause. He died at the age of 34 when he collapsed during a game in The Gambia.

He finished his 237 first-class career with 13,950 runs at 38.96, including 25 centuries.