5 one-hit wonders in cricket

#3 Jack Noreiga

Noreiga never played a Test after the India series

The history of West Indies cricket is adorned with names of many great bowlers but the man who occupies the top position as far as the list of best bowling figures for the Caribbean side is concerned is quite unknown.

Off-spinner Jack Noreiga played just four Tests– all of them in the 1971 series against India. With 9/95 in the first innings of the second Test at Port-of-Spain, he remains the only West Indian to pick nine wickets in an innings.

The numbers look impressive but they could be deceptive. Indian players on that tour claim that there was a deliberate strategy on their part to play badly against Noreiga in the practice game preceding the series and thereby persuade the West Indians to pick him over Lance Gibbs.

That strategy worked but did it also backfire? The Indian batsmen also claim that it wasn’t great bowling on Noreiga’s part that earned him the 9 wickets but instead recklessness from Indians arising out of their desire to dominate him that led to his rich haul. This also explains why the selectors did away with him and returned to Gibbs. Noreiga didn’t play any Test after the India series.