Latest update November 26th, 2024 1:00 AM
Faoud Bacchus bats for West Indies Over 50s team 2nd Over 50s World Cup bowls off in SA March 10th -24th
Sheik Faoud Ahamul Fasiel Bacchus is a former cricketer who played for both the West Indies during their halcyon days as the undisputedly best team in the world and then, his adopted country, United States.
Faoud Bacchus (left) chats with the West Indies over 50s team during an event recently.
Faoud was a stylish right-handed batsman who also excelled in the field of play in almost any position that he was placed in. His prowess in the field, whether in the point/cover region or at the dangerous forward short leg positions made him a legend in the game just for his brilliant anticipation.
He made his Test match debut for the West Indies aged 24 in the 1977/78 series against Australia. His best series was in 1978/79 against India, where he scored 96 in the second Test and 250 in the sixth Test, although overall he averaged 26.06 in his 19 Test matches. Many cricket enthusiasts are unaware that this double century was his first and only test century and there are many stories that swirl around this particular innings when he was just 6 runs adrift from the highest test score made by another Guyanese and West Indies batting legend, Rohan Kanhai.
Faoud also played 29 One Day Internationals for the West Indies between 1977 and 1983, with a high score of 80 and an average of 26.60, winning two man-of-the-match awards.
Bacchus’ international career came to an end after he joined the rebel tour to South Africa in 1983–84 and played a few seasons there, defying the international sporting boycott of the apartheid state at that time.
Bacchus later migrated to the USA and, quite naturally, continued with the game that he so loved, culminating in him captaining the United States in the 1997 and 2001 ICC Trophy tournaments.
Faoud has decided to throw his support behind the West Indies Over-50s World Cup squad which will be competing for top honours in the second Over-50s World Cup in South Africa during the period March 10th to 24th against 11 other nations. It is noteworthy that similar to our first Ambassador, Lawrence Rowe, Faoud also spent quite a few seasons in South Africa with top provinces, Western Province and Border. Lots of cricket fans were upset when some of our top cricketers chose to defy the politicians in that era but there were circumstances that dictated those decisions, chief of which was the challenge to maintain your position in the West Indies team at that time. Sometimes it was an economic decision to continue playing the game that you so loved at a very high level. If you were dropped from the West Indies team, usually, there was very little chance you could ever recover to get back into that team. It was brutal, a release from the team informed.
The Over-50s squad was ecstatic when they had the opportunity to mingle with Faoud and learn from his experiences in South Africa. Some members of the squad such as Dhaniram, Zamin Amin and Julian Charles would have had the opportunity to have played with or against him at various levels. True to form, Faoud was generous in sharing his deep knowledge of the game and his vast experiences in SA. Faoud was a fitness fanatic and played squash regularly and everyone that knew him well can attest to the fitness fanatic that he was known for. His advice centered mainly around our guys attaining and maintaining superior fitness levels as the weather can get a little mean and humid to our guys who are more accustomed to the tropical climate. These little nuggets and titbits were latched onto by the squad members and they were lucky to have interfaced with 2 WI icons who, coincidentally, both had decent experiences in South Africa.
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