A brisk right-arm bowler with a peculiar outward-curving run up, Grayson Shillingford failed to establish himself in a West Indies side in transition in the late 1960s and early 1970s despite briefly being hailed as the successor to the legacy of Hall and Griffith. He was picked for the 1969 tour of England despite only making his first-class debut the previous winter and taking three wickets in three matches. He started the tour well but tore a muscle which sidelined him for a month; when he returned he was immediately drafted into the side for the second Test at Lord's where he took four wickets. He kept his place for the final Test at The Oval where he was wicketless, ending the tour with 36 wickets at 18.58. He played against India in 1970-71 and New Zealand in 1971-72 but thereafter drifted out of the reckoning as Keith Boyce and Bernard Julien established themselves. He continued playing domestic cricket for the Winward Island and latterly for the Combined Islands until 1978-79.
Martin Williamson