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] The 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 as he was on the verge of returning to Barbados.[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] Marshall made a number of eye-catching performances during the 1957 season, including an aggressive century (107) made in 66 minutes against Nottinghamshire;[25] this was the fastest century by a Hampshire batsman since 1927.[8] He also played two innings' of note against Surrey, contributing an attacking 56 runs in Hampshire's first innings and 110 runs, made in 111 minutes, in their second. These scores were all the more remarkable, considering Hampshire were dismissed for 120 in their first innings and 153 in their second.[25] Marshall scored 1,888 runs at an average of 32.55,[9] with it being noted by Sandiford that he was hampered throughout the season by having a tendancy to give his wicket away when set.[25] He was selected to play in the North v South fixture at the end of the season.[3]
Wisden Cricketer of the Year
Marshall had a prolific 1958 season, where he helped guide Hampshire to second place in the County Championship. He headed Hampshire's batting averages,[26] scoring 2,188 runs from 33 matches, at an average of 39.22. During the season, he made five centuries and made eleven half centuries.[9]Wisden opined that "Match after match, Marshall provided the runs which made victory possible". This was perhaps best encapsulated against Kent in late May, when Hampshire had been set 305 runs for victory, with just four and a half hours left in the match.[26] Marshall made 131 runs in 210 minutes, to help guide Hampshire to a five wickets victory.[27] There followed a series of strong batting performances by Marshall. A week after scoring 193 runs against Oxford University, he led Hampshire to a 5 wicket victory against Gloucestershire, making 122 runs in just over two hours. He made further quick-fire scores later in July, with 115 runs made in 123 minutes against Lancashire, and days later he made 138 runs in 130 minutes against Nottinghamshire.[26] On the back of his performances in the 1958 season, he was named one of the five Wisden Cricketers of the Year for 1959, alongside his teammate Derek Shackleton.[28][29]
He passed 2,000 runs for a season again in 1959, with 2,426 at an average of 40.43.[9] As the season progressed, Marshall formed with Gray what Sandiford considered to be the most reliable opening partnership in county cricket.[30] The pair established a Hampshire record partnership for the first wicket, when they put on 214 runs against Gloucestershire;[30] the pair would break their record in 1960, with a stand of 249 against Middlesex.[31] Marshall's quick run-scoring was credited with Hampshire gaining 26 batting bonus points across the season.[30] He again made quick centuries, notably a match-winning 143 against Yorkshire, scored in just under three hours, and 133 runs against Oxford University, made at nearly a run-a-minute.[30] In June, Marshall and Henry Horton scored quickly against Nottinghamshire to guide Hampshire to a final ball victory, having been set 179 runs in two hours.[32] At the end of the season, he represented the Players in the Gentlemen v Players during the Scarborough Festival.[3] Following the 1959 season, he toured South Africa with a Commonwealth XI captained by Denis Compton,[33] but made only 100 runs in the three first-class matches that comprised the tour.[9] Marshall enjoyed another prolific season in 1960, passing 2,000 runs for the third successive season,[31] with 2,380 runs at an average of 41.75.[9] He continued to score quickly, notably making a century in 85 minutes against Glamorgan.[31] It was in June against the touring South Africans that he became the first West Indian to pass 15,000 first-class runs.[31]
Marshall played a pivitol role in helping Hampshire to win their first County Championship in 1961.[8] He scored 2,607 runs from 32 first-class matches,[9] including 2,455 runs in the County Championship,[34] with his rapid rate of scoring again proving the difference between Hampshire drawing and winning matches, with a numer of crucial innings during runs chases at various stages in the season.[35] He scored the first double-century of his career during the season against Surrey, making 212 at Bournemouth in July.[36] He ended the season as Hampshire's leading run-scorer and led the batting averages.[34] Following the 1961 season, Marshall took part in the International XI World Tour led by Richie Benaud and Everton Weekes, playing first-class matches in Southern Rhodesia, East Pakistan, New Zealand, and Pakistan.[37] Hampshire could not repeat their success of 1961 during the 1962 season, with Marshall being struck down by German measels part-way through the season.[38] This limited his appearances during the season to 28, with Marshall still managing to score 2,124 runs at an average of 43.34.[9] Amongst the six centuries he made in 1962, was his career-high first-class score of 228 not out, which he made against the touring Pakistanis.[39] Against Leicestershire in June, Marshall became the first West Indian to surpass 20,000 first-class runs, and with 32 centuries by the end of the season, this constituted another West Indian record.[39]
The 1963 season was characterised by its wet weather, which had an adverse affect on pitches, resulting in most of the Hampshire batsmen struggling.[40] Marshall was an exception to this, scoring 1,800 runs at an average of 34.61,[9] contributing a number of importatant batting performances. He struck 161 against Surrey in August, out of a total of 253 for 6 declared, whilst against Warwickshire he defied the potent bowling of Tom Cartwright and Albert Wright to score 124 runs.[41] Marshall was a member of Hampshire's team for their inaugural appearance in List A one-day cricket against Derbyshire in the 1963 Gillette Cup.[42] He toured Jamaica with the International Cavaliers the winter, playing in two first-class matches.[3] Injury limited Marshall's appearances during the 1964 season, meaning that he scored less than 1,500 runs in a season for the first time since 1956.[43] In the 26 matches that he featured in, Marshall continued to score quick centuries, such as his 163 runs in 217 minutes against Glamorgan. In June, he struck his fiftieth career century against Oxford University.[43] At the end of the season, he played for Frank Worrell's West Indian XI against an England XI, though without success.[43] Marshall struggled for consistency in 1965, converting only two half centuries into centuries.[44] He did however pass 1,500 runs for the season, though averaged just 30.48.[9] He scored the fastest first-class century of the season against Oxford University, scoring 125 runs in 102 minutes and sharing in an unbeaten first wicket partnership of 190 with Mike Barnard, helping Hampshire to victory with 13 minutes left in the match.[45][44]
Captaincy and retirement
In October 1965, it was announced that Marshall would succeed the retiring Colin Ingleby-Mackenzie as Hampshire captain,[46] thus becoming Hampshire's first professional captain.[47] He inherited a Hampshire side that was entering a period of decline, with the retirements of Ingleby-Mackenzie and Gray, coupled with the decline in form of Danny Livingstone.[48] In his inaugural season as captain, he led Hampshire to eleventh in the County Championship and to the semi-final of the Gillette Cup.[48] Seemingly unburdened by the responsibility of captaincy, Marshall maintained good form with the bat, scoring 1,882 runs at an average of 36.19,[9] whilst recording his maiden one-day half century with 85 in the Gillette Cup quarter-final against Surrey.[49] Batting alongside his new opening partner Barry Reed,[50] Marshall scored 1,493 runs from 29 matches, though his batting average notably dropped to 31.76.[9] He scored his maiden one-day century, 102 runs in 95 minutes, against minor countyLincolnshire in the first round of the 1967 Gillette Cup.[51] The South African opening batsman Barry Richards joined Hampshire in 1968, with Marshall moving himself to the middle order following a poor start to the season, in order to allow Reed and Richards to open the batting.[52] Although he passed 30,000 career first-class runs in his career during the season, it was nonetheless poor by Marshall's previous standards.[52] He failed to reach 1,300 runs for the season and his batting average dropped to 26.84.[9] He did however record a second one-day century, making 140 runs against minor county Bedfordshire in the second round of the Gillette Cup.[53]
A series of injuries, including a broken thumb which kept him out for two weeks,[54] limited his first-class appearances in 1969 to just nineteen. Thus, for the first time in his Hampshire career, he failed to pass a thousand runs for the season.[55][9] He led Hampshire to a second-placed finish in the 1969 Player's County League, which was the inaugural running of the competition, and saw them finish one point behind Lancashire.[8] Marshall's batting form recovered in 1970, with him scoring 1,590 runs at an average of 40.76.[9] He made two centuries that season, the most notable of which was an unbeaten 189 against Middlesex, where he established a new Hampshire record for the fourth wicket with Livingstone, as the pair put on 263 runs. In Hampshire's second innings, Marshall followed up his century with a quick-fire 73 scored in under an hour.[56] That season, he captained Hampshire to the quarter-final of the Gillette Cup, in addition to playing in fourteen matches in the 1970 John Player League.[42] He had his most successful season in one-day cricket in terms of runs, scoring 442 at an average of 31.57.[57] Following the end of the season, he was replaced as captain by Richard Gilliat.[58] After relinquishing the captaincy, Marshall played two further seasons for Hampshire. In 1971, he scored 1,543 runs at an average of 38.57, batting with fluency and scoring three centuries.[59][9] He also made seventeen one-day appearances.[42] He once again passed a thousand first-class runs in 1972, despite only playing in eighteen matches.[60] He made a double-century during the season, scoring 203 runs against Derbyshire.[60] He also featured in fifteen one-day matches.[42] He announced his retirement in September 1972, at the age of 42.[61] His place in the team was largely filled by fellow West Indian Gordon Greenidge.[60]
Playing style and records
Marshall wore glasses throughout the entirety of his career.[4][1] Though he was not powerfully built,[1] he was an aggressive batsman, a trait he put down to being raised on hard concrete and matting pitches at his father's plantation.[62] His aggressive style, at a time when county batting was considered very defensive,[4] made him one of the most popular county cricketers of the 1950s and 1960s,[62] with John Arlott noting that "Few cricketers have had the quality to draw people to cricket grounds. Fewer still could do so".[63] With his stroke play, he was particularly adept at playing a late upper cut against fast bowlers, which would clear the fielder on the third-man boundary;[1] however, he was known to avoid playing the hook shot against fast bowlers.[8] According to Gideon Haigh, Marshall confessed to having a fear of fast bowlers and of feeling nervous when he faced them.[64]Wisden opined that he "drove handsomely", and would take advantage when a ball was pitched on, or just outside, off-stump, by cutting or slashing with "devastating power". When playing spin bowlers, it was noted that he would insist on playing from within his crease.[8] His stroke play was characterised by good shot timing, which made up for what he lacked in physique.[1] He was an accurate off-break bowler,[2] but was seldom used later in his career, particularly when he began to become afflicted with arthritis.[65] He was considered by Sandiford to have been a "brilliant fieldsman",[2] and was renowned for his strong throw when fielding from the deep.[8]
In 605 first-class appearances, Marshall scored 35,725 runs at an average of 35.94.[66] He made 68 first-class centuries,[67] and 185 half centuries.[66] In terms of runs-scored, he has the third-highest first-class aggregate amongst West Indians, behind Greenidge and Viv Richards.[68] For Hampshire, he made 30,303 first-class runs, a total only surpassed by Phil Mead's 48,892.[69][70] With his off-break bowling, he took 176 first-class wickets at a bowling average of 28.93;[66] 99 of these came for Hampshire, at a respectable average of 24.27.[71] He took five wickets in an innings on five occasions.[66] In the field, he took 293 catches.[65] Playing one-day cricket during its nascent years, Marshall made 75 one-day appearances, scoring 2,190 runs at an average of 32.20.[72]
Later life, death and legacy
Marshall was the landlord of The Westgate Inn in Taunton (pictured).
Following his retirement, Marshall was afforded life membership of Hampshire and given a place on its cricket committee.[73] He then moved to Taunton, where he coached cricket at King's College.[66] In 1978, he bought a pub in Taunton, The Westgate Inn.[1][74][68] In later life, he would still participate in cricket tours of a more social nature,[8] and found time to adjudicate Man of the Match awards on one-day matches.[68] Away from cricket, Marshall took up golf in retirement, and played with a good handicap.[68] 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 Ian Botham resign and Viv Richards sacked.[4] He was chairman until he was forced to give up the position 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.[75]
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.[76] At Hampshire's new home ground, the Rose Bowl, which opened in 2001, the main entry road at the ground was named in honour of both Marshall and another West Indian of the same surname, Malcolm Marshall.[77] In 2015, an honours board was unveiled at the Rose Bowl by Trevor Jesty, honouring Hampshire's Wisden Cricketers of the Year, with Marshall's name honoured amongst them.[78] His brother Norman Marshall played a single Test for the West Indies in 1955, in addition to playing first-class cricket for both Barbados and Trinidad. His cousin, also called Roy Marshall, was an academic lawyer and the third vice-chancellor of the University of the West Indies.[79]
