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Full name Gladstone Cleophas Small
Born October 18, 1961, Brighton, St George, Barbados
Current age 46 years 212 days
Major teams England,South Australia,Warwickshire
Batting style Right-hand bat
Bowling style Right-arm fast-medium
Batting and fielding averages
Mat
Inns
NO
Runs
HS
Ave
BF
SR
100
50
4s
6s
Ct
St
Tests
17
24
7
263
59
15.47
601
43.76
0
1
31
0
9
0
ODIs
53
24
9
98
18*
6.53
188
52.12
0
0
7
7
0
First-class
315
404
97
4409
70
14.36
0
7
95
0
List A
390
191
65
1072
40*
8.50
0
0
74
0
Bowling averages
Mat
Inns
Balls
Runs
Wkts
BBI
BBM
Ave
Econ
SR
4w
5w
10
Tests
17
31
3927
1871
55
5/48
8/183
34.01
2.85
71.4
4
2
0
ODIs
53
53
2793
1942
58
4/31
4/31
33.48
4.17
48.1
1
0
0
First-class
315
49567
24392
852
7/15
28.62
2.95
58.1
29
2
List A
390
18434
12230
462
5/18
5/18
26.47
3.98
39.9
9
5
0
Career statistics
Test debut
England v New Zealand at Nottingham, Aug 7-12, 1986 scorecard
Last Test
Australia v England at Perth, Feb 1-5, 1991 scorecard
Test statistics
ODI debut
Australia v England at Perth, Jan 1, 1987 scorecard
Last ODI
England v Pakistan at Nottingham, Aug 20, 1992 scorecard
ODI statistics
First-class span
1979 - 1997
List A span
1980 - 1999
Profile
One of the most improbable-looking of all Test cricketers, Gladstone Small had his moment of glory to help England retain the Ashes in 1986-87. Small, a last-minute replacement, stunned a Boxing Day crowd of 58,000 at the MCG by splitting Australia's first innings wickets with Ian Botham. Small took 5 for 48 and Australia were rolled over for 141. When England won, Small was named Man of the Match, as much for his enthusiasm as anything: he was always a whole-hearted tryer, a committed team man and a delightful guy. Australia's discomfiture was increased by Small's strange build: seemingly without a neck, he walked around as though he still had a coathanger inside his jacket. He came to England from Barbados just after his 14th birthday, the cut-off date for automatic qualification. However, the combination of his looks and his then-pair of nerdish specs made the Lord's registration committee think he had no chance of ever playing Test cricket anyway, so they let him through. In good times, Small might not have played for England; he was neither especially fast nor reliable, and early in his career was an infuriatingly regular no-baller. But he cut his run right down and settled for being predominately an outswing bowler, still hostile enough to worry even the best batsmen, as Australia found again a week after the MCG, when he whipped through the middle order in Sydney. Like most players of that era, he then drifted in and out of the England side but took eight wickets in the defeat at Bridgetown in 1989-90 and was still a key figure for Warwickshire in their all-conquering year of 1994.
Matthew Engel
