The son of a wealthy plantation owner of Scottish descent, Marshall was born in Farmers Plantation in Saint Thomas, Barbados.[2] He was educated in Barbados at The Foundation School, where he initially developed his skills as a cricketer.[2] Seeing potential in his sons skills as a cricketer, his father moved him to The Lodge School to further develop his cricketing prospects.[2] By attending The Lodge School, considered one of the nurseries of Barbadian cricket, he was able to partake in the First Division of the National Men's League, playing alongside many of the leading Barbadian cricketers of the time.[2] His success as a batsman for Lodge earned him a place in a trial match for selection to Barbadian team for their tour to Trinidad and Tobago; his scores of 72 and 80 runs earned him selection for the tour.[2] Thus whilst still a schoolboy, Marshall made his debut in first-class cricket in January 1946, aged 15, for Barbados against Trinidad at Port-of-Spain.[3] However, on debut he struggled with nerves, making only 2 runs in the match.[1]
He did not appear for Barbados again until 1949, playing in the interim for the elite Wanderers Club.[4] Strong performances in club cricket led to his recall to the Barbadian team in 1949, where he met with immediate success in two matches against Trinidad at Bridgetown.[1] In the first match he made a century (149 runs) opening the batting alongside Charlie Taylor, with whom he shared in an opening partnership of 278.[5] In the second match, he made a second century (110 runs) and made a half century.[6] His success continued the following season against British Guiana, with Marshall making 191 runs opening the batting.[7] This earned him selection to the West Indian team for their tour of England in 1950, where he was chosen as a third opening batsman behind the Jamaican Allan Rae and the Trinidadian Jeff Stollmeyer;[2] at 20 years of age, he was the youngest member of the sixteen-man squad.[8]
On the journey across the Atlantic he contracted measles, and during the tour news reached him of the death of his father back in Barbados from a heart attack.[8] Despite these hardships, Marshall played in twenty first-class matches, mostly against English county side,[3] scoring 1,117 runs at an average of 39.89.[9] He made three centuries during the tour, notably scoring 135 runs against Hampshire at Southampton, which bought him to the attention of Desmond Eagar.[8] Despite playing well in the tour matches, he was unable to dislodge either Rae or Stollmeyer from the Test team.[2] The following year he played in England in the Lancashire League for Lowerhouse,[1] before returning to the West Indies to play first-class cricket.[3] He was then chosen to 1951–52 tour to Australia and New Zealand, where he made his Test debut against Australia at Brisbane on 9 November,[10] with Marshall scoring 28 and 30 from the lower middle order.[11] He did not feature in the 2nd Test, but returned to play in the 3rd Test at Adelaide;[12] there, a pulled leg muscle saw him bat with a runner for over 100 minutes.[13] His leg injury subsequently kept him out of the 4th and 5th Tests.[13]
The touring party then moved onto New Zealand, where Marshall played in both Test matches against New Zealand at Christchurch and Auckland.[12] His four Test matches during the tour yielded him 143 runs at an average of 20.42, with a highest score of 30.[14] Returning to the West Indies, he played just once more for Barbados against the touring Indians in January 1953,[3] but did not fare well in the match, making 25 runs in Barbados' only innings of 606 for 7 declared.[15] Thus, with the emergence of John Holt, Conrad Hunte, and Bruce Pairaudeau which saw Marshall fall down the Test pecking-order, coupled with disagreements with senior Trinidadian members of the Test team, convinced Marshall to end his Test career and seek to further his career in England.[13]Keith Sandiford opined that had he not decided to quit Test cricket at his peak, he may well have contributed more to West Indian cricket and provided a suitable opening partner for Hunte, who consistently lacked a reliable opening partner.[16]
Move to England
Early years at Hampshire
After playing a second season in the Lancashire League for Lowerhouse,[4] Marshall began the two-year qualification period to play for Hampshire in 1953,[1] having suitably impressed Eagar enough when he played against Hampshire in 1950 for him to be offered a contract.[4] Due to the qualification rules of the time, Marshall was unable to play in the County Championship, but could play in 'friendly' matches, and thus made his debut for Hampshire against the Marylebone Cricket Club at Lord's in 1953.[3] In the same season he played against the touring Australians, making 71 runs in 85 minutes on a pitch described as "fierce",[1] with Marshall striking five sixes during his innings.[17] During the winter of 1953, he toured India with the Commonwealth XI led by the Australian Ben Barnett.[18] playing in 17 first-class matches on the tour.[3] He scored 761 runs on the tour, but did not score a century.[9] In the absence of fast bowlers in the team, Marshall was utilised as a medium pace bowler tasked with swinging the ball, bowling 254 overs and taking 25 wickets across the tour.[18] Whilst still qualifying to play for Hampshire in 1954, Marshall made four first-class appearances during the season, playing twice for the Commonwealth XI, in addition to playing for once for Hampshire and for the South in the North v South fixture, played at Torquay.[3]
Marshall completed his qualification period ahead of the 1955 season, making him eligible to play in the 1955 County Championship.[8] As an opening batsman alongside Jimmy Gray, his batting played a large part in taking Hampshire to a third-placed finish in the County Championship, having finished fourteenth in 1954.[19] In 28 County Championship matches in 1955, he scored 1,705 runs at an average of 34.79, making two centuries;[19] whilst in all first-class matches, he scored over 2,100 runs.[8] He also had success as an off break bowler in 1955, taking 28 wickets at an average of 15.67.[20] Against Yorkshire at Bradford, he took 6 for 44 to lead Hampshire to an innings victory.[21][22] By the end of the season, he topped Hampshire's bowling averages.[8] The summer of 1956 was wet, with Marshall taking time to adapt to the wet pitches and as a result he was less successful,[8] averaging under 30 across the season with the bat.[9] He continued to excel with the ball in 1956, taking 36 wickets at an average of 20.55,[20] which included career-best figures of 6 for 36 against Surrey, on what was described as a "responsive strip" at Portsmouth.[23]
Following the 1956 season, Marshall toured Jamaica with a team led by the Duke of Norfolk.[24] He was easily the most successful batsman on the tour, scoring over 1,000 runs across all fixtures,[23] including 273 runs in the three first-class fixtures against Jamaica.[9]
He played for Hampshire from 1953 to 1972, qualifying for Championship matches in 1955, and captained them from 1966 to 1970. Marshall was an important component of Hampshire's 1961 Championship-winning side. He was an attacking opening batsman at a time when these were rare in county cricket. He scored over 1,000 runs in 17 of his 18 full county seasons and made 60 centuries for Hampshire. His best season was 1961 when he scored 2,607 runs. Marshall played 504 first-class matches for Hampshire as an opening batsman alongside [[i, scoring 30,303 runs in his time with the county.[25]
Wisden Cricketer of the Year
Later life and death
Marshall was the landlord of The Westgate Inn in Taunton (pictured).
Following his retirement, Marshall briefly coached Hampshire. He then bought a pub, The Westgate Inn, in Taunton.[1][26] He was appointed, much to his bemusement,[4] chairman of the Somerset committee in 1987.[1] His appointment followed the 'Somerset Revolution' of 1986–87, which had seen both Ian Botham resign and Viv Richards sacked.[4] He was chairman until he was forced to give it up in 1991, having been diagnosed with skin cancer.[4][1] The disease cost Marshall his right eye in 1991,[1] and as his health declined he was admitted to a hospice in Taunton, where he succumbed on 27 October 1992.[27] He was survived by his wife, Shirley, who he had met whilst playing in the Lancashire League,[4] and their three daughters.[1] Four months prior to his death, he had been honoured by the Barbados Cricket Association during their commemorations to mark 100 years of cricket on the island.[28]
