By Neto Baptiste
Former West Indies batsman, Faoud Baccus, has rated his 250 against India in February of 1979 as one of his better performances during his five-year stint with the regional squad.
Speaking on the Good Morning Jojo Sports Show, Baccus who was in his second year as a West Indies player when he achieved the feat, remembered the match was continuously disrupted by rain, making it even more difficult to achieve the milestone.
“Actually, the 250 wasn’t as good as when I touched 100 because when I got to a century it was a nice feeling, but then I continued doing reasonably well and it didn’t really matter. It just happened and you know what’s funny, India batted for the first two and a-half days and they made 600 and something for seven declared. We went in to bat and we were one wicket down that afternoon for about 101,” he said.
“The next day rain stopped play again and so we went on the fourth day and we played and I took my score to 204 and then the rains came again and remember there are no covers. On the fifth day it rained all day but it was a six-day Test match and early on the sixth day they forced play and I got to 250 when that happened.”
Baccus struck 33 fours in his knock and spent 510 minutes at the crease.
The Guyana national said he was on his game during that match.
“I couldn’t do anything wrong, and what was funny and nobody recognised it — I was using a Stuart Surridge bat which was relatively light and in India at that time. When you played in the morning and you went on the field to knock up, there was plenty dew on the ground and the middle of the bat actually got wet so the ones I took were done so I was using David Murray’s bat,” he said.
“David then came to bat with me and so he took his bat and I ended up using Vanburn Holder’s bat. Vanburn Holder, I think, is about six feet, six inches and so his bat had a big, long handle and the blade was longer so it wasn’t even my size,” the former player added.
Baccus, who also played for the USA, made his Test match debut for the West Indies aged 24 in the 1977/78 series against Australia.
Bacchus’ international career came to an end after he joined the rebel tour to South Africa in 1983–84, defying the international sporting boycott of the apartheid state.