Born on 24th October 1967 in Port-of-Spain, Ian Bishop is a former West Indies fast bowler who played for his national side between 1988 and 1998
A promising fast bowler hitting good areas, with a brutal bouncer and a lethal outswinger in his arsenal, Bishop was a top fast bowler of his time
Though his playing career was cut short by injuries, Bishop, with his cricket commentary has made a place in all our hearts
So, today we will discuss the Top 10 unknown Facts about Ian Bishop which you all will be interested to hear
Top 10 unknown Facts about Ian Bishop
1) Cricketing inspiration
Just like Sachin used to copy Viv Richards and Gavaskar’s way of batting, Bishop along with his brother, used to imitate the bowling style of Joel Garner and Malcolm Marshall.
They used to visit public parks in Port of Spain and tried to copy Garner, Marshall along with Colin Croft who used to bowl very quick but couldn’t get into the team
2) Introduction to cricket
Born in Port-of-Spain, the capital of Trinidad and Tobago, Ian Bishop got enrolled in the Harvard Coaching School
This was the place where he met Brian Lara, and these two became close friends since
Here, he excelled in both bat and ball and became a permanent member of the West Indies U-23 team in 1987 and was also picked for West Indies Board President’s XI.
3) Bishop had no intention of becoming a fast bowler
Even though it sounds ridiculous, but it is true that one of the fastest bowlers of all time, Bishop wanted to become a spinner
Ian also claims that, while playing school cricket, he also had the intention of becoming a proper batsman
But, as fate turned out, he opted for fast bowling, and the rest, as we all know, is history
4) Introduction to international cricket
With a perfect run-up and an orthodox side-on action, Bishop regularly picked wickets at the first-class level starting from 1986
He eventually made his international debut for West Indies at Headingley in 1988, returning with 2/32 in 11 overs.
Bishop made his Test debut vs India in Georgetown, Guyana. He conceded only 15 runs without any wickets but the match got abandoned due to rain.
5) In top gear
In test matches, Ian Bishop proved his worth soon by producing a spell of 6/87 against India in the Barbados test which helped West Indies win by 8 wickets.
He ended up with 16 wickets in the series as his team won by 3-0
Ian Bishop, on the 1990 tour of Pakistan, became the ‘Man of the Series’ in the test series.
On the flat, spin-friendly Pakistan pitches he produced some exceptional spells of fast bowling which proved he can pick wickets on any surface.
6) Serious competition and injury woes
Bishop had serious competition from two legendary West Indies pacers in Courtney Walsh and Curtly Ambrose.
Even though Bishop, in terms of average (18.96), topped the list of the most successful new-ball pairs (above 100 wickets), the back injury came back to ruin his career
Bishop faced serious back injuries in 1991 at the age of 23, which meant he missed eight consecutive series, and also the 1992 world cup
7) Return to international cricket
Ian had to make major adjustments to his bowling action and came back strongly in late 1992.
Bishop, against the Aussies, picked a career-best figure of 6/40 against in the Perth Test in 1993 and enjoyed success in England and Australia
He picked his career-best figure in ODIs of 5/25 against Pakistan in 1993 in Brisbane, but a back injury again crept in, which reduced his pace by a considerable amount
8) Career Highlights:
• Bishop was the one of fastest to reach 100 test wickets and achieved this feat in just 21 appearances
• Bishop’s biggest career moment came, when he smashed England batsman Robin Smith’s jaw against England in the 5th Test of the 1990 Wisden Trophy.
9) Back problems and eventual retirement
Bishop managed to take 279 international wickets ( 118 ODI wickets and 161 Test wickets ) in his career with an average in the mid-20s
After a long struggle with back injuries, he finally retired from the game in 1998
Now, he is a successful cricket commentator and quite vocal about the reducing quality of West Indian cricket.
10) Cricket Commentator with an MBA
Bishop has completed his MBA from the University of Leicester between his busy schedule as a cricket commentator