All-time leading wicket-taker, Courtney Walsh, being congratulated by fellow members of the West Indies cricket team, yesterday. - Contributed
PORT-OF-SPAIN (Reuters):
WEST INDIES fast bowler Courtney Walsh made history yesterday when he became the first man to take 500 Test wickets.
Walsh, 38, playing his 129th Test and in his 17th year of five-day cricket, reached the landmark by taking two wickets in the same over during the second Test against South Africa.
First, he had opener Gary Kirsten caught behind by Ridley Jacobs for 22.
Two balls later, with the crowd already in a state of great excitement, the Jamaican veteran had Jacques Kallis leg before without scoring.
The crowd at the Queen's Park Oval, where Walsh also took his 400th Test wicket almost exactly two years ago, went wild as the umpire's finger went up after a short but agonising delay.
Jamaican Prime Minister P.J. Patterson said on CANA radio: "I think it is a fitting reward for his excellence and his commitment and I want to express my congratulations and those of the government and the people of Jamaica. He's an outstanding ambassador for the region.
"He might not be as fast as he was but he is certainly a very, very cunning bowler, very experienced. He's a great boost to the West Indies and an example of what we can achieve by people who have not only the skill but the dedicaton."
The Jamaica Cricket Board of Control (JCBC) also sent congratulations.
"Never in our wildest dreams could we have anticipated a career crowned with such a magnificent achievement. Congratu-lations Courtney. You have certainly raised the bar to the highest level," a release from the JCBC said.
Walsh, almost certainly playing his last series, was mobbed by his teammates, given a standing ovation and embraced by the South African players when he went off at the tea interval shortly afterwards.
Security guards had to stop ecstatic fans from climbing the perimeter fence to mob their hero.
When Walsh finished his over and went to field at the third man boundary, a crowd of fans gathered behind him on the cycling track which surrounds the pitch.
Walsh became the West Indies leading Test wicket-taker by passing Malcolm Marshall's mark of 376 in November 1998. He joined India's Kapil Dev and New Zealander Richard Hadlee in March 1999 as the then only bowlers to take 400 Test wickets.
He has been the leading wicket-taker in Tests since March last year, when he overhauled Dev's record of 434.
His total includes 21 five-wicket hauls in an innings and three of 10 in a match. Best bowling figures -- seven for 37.
Walsh also has one of the worst batting records in Test cricket. Less than an hour before making history, he suffered his 42nd Test duck when he was run out.
