Sylvester Theophilus Clarke (11 December 1954 – 4 December 1999) was a Barbadian cricketer who played 11 Test matches and 10 One Day Internationals for the West Indian cricket team. Early life Born in Christ Church, Barbados, to Ashton and Marjorie, Clarke attended St Bartholomew's Boys' School. A tall, strong, barrel-chested and powerfully built man (he weighed 15 stones – 210 lbs – during his international career), Clarke was born to be an intimidating fast bowler and commenced his cricketing career with Bridgetown club side, Kent. He made his first-class debut for Barbados on 19 January 1978 against Combined Islands and finished the season with 22 wickets at 25.18, highlighted by a return of 6/39, including a hat trick, against Trinidad and Tobago. Test career The right-armer, bowling late in-swinging deliveries at very high pace and having developed an extremely fearsome bouncer, soon became one of the most feared and respected bowlers in the West Indies and, following the defection of many of the West Indian team to World Series Cricket, Clarke made his full Test debut at Bourda Cricket Ground in Georgetown, Guyana, against the touring Australian team on 31 March 1978. Clarke took 6/141 in a convincing debut, before injuring an ankle which kept him out of the rest of the series. Nicknamed "Sly" or "Silvers", Clarke was subsequently selected for the West Indies' tour of India in 1978–79, taking 21 wickets at 33.85, including his Test best figures of 5/126 in the 2nd Test at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore. He then toured Pakistan in 1980–81 where he took 14 Test wickets at 17.28 before gaining his first taste of controversy. During the 4th Test at Multan, Clarke was pelted with oranges and stones by spectators whilst fielding on the boundary. Enraged, he responded by picking up a nearby brick and hurling it into the crowd, badly injuring a spectator who later required emergency surgery to his head. A near crowd riot was averted only when Clarke's teammate Alvin Kallicharan got down on bended knee to apologise directly to the crowd. Reflecting wryly on the incident many years later, Phil Edmonds commented that the brick "probably swung late and viciously before hitting him on the head." Clarke was subsequently suspended for three matches from the team for his actions. Having already been selected ahead of Michael Holding to face Ian Botham's England side, Clarke was now forced to