Gladstone Small

England|Bowler
Gladstone Small
INTL CAREER: 1986 - 1992
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Full Name

Gladstone Cleophas Small

Born

October 18, 1961, Brighton, St George, Barbados

Age

62y 153d

Batting Style

Right hand Bat

Bowling Style

Right arm Fast medium

Playing Role

Bowler

One of the most improbable-looking of all Test cricketers, Gladstone Small had his moment of glory to help England retain the Ashes in 1986-87. Small, a last-minute replacement, stunned a Boxing Day crowd of 58,000 at the MCG by splitting Australia's first innings wickets with Ian Botham. Small took 5 for 48 and Australia were rolled over for 141. When England won, Small was named Man of the Match, as much for his enthusiasm as anything: he was always a whole-hearted tryer, a committed team man and a delightful guy. Australia's discomfiture was increased by Small's strange build: seemingly without a neck, he walked around as though he still had a coathanger inside his jacket. He came to England from Barbados just after his 14th birthday, the cut-off date for automatic qualification. However, the combination of his looks and his then-pair of nerdish specs made the Lord's registration committee think he had no chance of ever playing Test cricket anyway, so they let him through. In good times, Small might not have played for England; he was neither especially fast nor reliable, and early in his career was an infuriatingly regular no-baller. But he cut his run right down and settled for being predominately an outswing bowler, still hostile enough to worry even the best batsmen, as Australia found again a week after the MCG, when he whipped through the middle order in Sydney. Like most players of that era, he then drifted in and out of the England side but took eight wickets in the defeat at Bridgetown in 1989-90 and was still a key figure for Warwickshire in their all-conquering year of 1994.
Matthew Engel

Gladstone Small Career Stats

Bowling

FormatMatInnsBallsRunsWktsBBIBBMAveEconSR4w5w10w
Tests173139271871555/488/18334.012.8571.4420
ODIs535327931942584/314/3133.484.1748.1100
FC315-49567243928527/15-28.622.9558.1-292
List A390-18434122304625/185/1826.473.9839.9950

Batting & Fielding

FormatMatInnsNORunsHSAveBFSR100s50s4s6sCtSt
Tests172472635915.4760143.760131090
ODIs532499818*6.5318852.12007-70
FC3154049744097014.36--07--950
List A39019165107240*8.50--00--740
Gladstone Cleophas Small

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Test
ODI

Debut/Last Matches of Gladstone Small

Photos of Gladstone Small

Gladstone Small pours out sand from his shoes during a beach cricket game in Perth
Gladstone Small
Gladstone Small and Mike Gatting celebrate England's win over Australia
The England cricket team line up before leaving for Australia and the Ashes tour 1986/87