West Indies players to wear black armbands as tribute to Basil Butcher
West Indies players to wear black armbands as tribute to Basil Butcher

West Indies great Basil Butcher died on Monday, and as a tribute to him, the Windies players will be wearing black mehndi during the second ODI against India.

Guyana’s right-hander was 86. Basil Fitzherbert Butcher (3 September 1933 – 16 December 2019) was a Guyana cricketer who played for the West Indies cricket team.

He was the first person of Amerindian descent to represent the West Indies and was regarded as a stylish yet reliable right-handed middle-order batsman in the 1960s star-studded West Indian batting line-up.

Australian cricketer and media personality Richie Benaud considered him the toughest to dismiss West Indies batsman.

Basil Butcher, one of the great batsmen of the West Indies, who was the companion of Sir Gary Sobers, Rohan Kanhai, Clive Lloyd, has passed away this morning (Indian time). As a mark of respect, the West Indies team will be wearing black arches in the second ODI,” team manager Philip Spooner told media persons.

West Indies players to wear black armbands as tribute to Basil Butcher

Butcher made his debut against India and played 44 Tests till 1969. He scored seven centuries and 16 half-centuries at an average of 43.11, and his highest score was 209.

In his first series against India, he scored 486 runs at an average of 69 plus in which he hit two tons and three fifties.

Butcher’s memorable century was against England, where he scored 133 runs at Lord’s in 1963. However, during that particular knock, he received news of his wife having an abortion. It is said that he reread the telegram and bat.

On his next tour of England in 1965, Butcher scored his highest test score – 209 at Trent Bridge, Nottingham.

India and the West Indies face each other in the second ODI of the three-match series in Visakhapatnam on Wednesday (18 December).