ESPNcricinfo staff
Basil Butcher, the stylish Guyana and West Indies batsman of the 1950s and 1960s, died on Monday in Florida following a long illness aged 86. He played 44 Tests between 1958 and 1969, scoring 3104 runs at an average of 43.11, and was named one of Wisden’s Cricketers of the Year in 1970.
Of his seven Test hundreds, Butcher is best remembered for his second-innings 133 – in the 1963 Lord’s Test against England – which is often rated as one of the greatest matches to have been played at the ground. He made those runs against an England attack led by Fred Trueman after having learnt of his wife’s miscarriage just moments before walking out to bat.
Three years later, Butcher posted his highest Test score of 209 not out, against England in Nottingham. It helped West Indies overhaul a first-innings deficit of 90 to win by 139 runs.