Irvine Theodore Shillingford (18 April 1944 – 26 January 2023) was a

West Indian A West Indian is a native or inhabitant of the West Indies (the Antilles and the Lucayan Archipelago). For more than 100 years the words ''West Indian'' specifically described natives of the West Indies, but by 1661 Europeans had begun to use it ...

cricketer who played four

Tests Test(s), testing, or TEST may refer to: * Test (assessment), an educational assessment intended to measure the respondents' knowledge or other abilities Arts and entertainment * ''Test'' (2013 film), an American film * ''Test'' (2014 film), ...

and two ODIs in 1977 and 1978. He also played a further 88 first class games, 49 of them for the Combined Islands, whom he represented from its inception in 1961 until the dissolution of the team in 1981. He also played first class cricket for the

Windward Islands french: Îles du Vent , image_name = , image_caption = ''Political'' Windward Islands. Clockwise: Dominica, Martinique, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and Grenada. , image_alt = , locator_map = , location = Caribbean SeaNorth ...

. His Test career began when he was selected for three Tests of the five-match 1976–77 home Test series against

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

, replacing Maurice Foster who had made 19 runs from number six in the first Test. Shillingford had made the most runs in the

Shell Shield The Regional Four Day Competition, formerly known as Shell Shield and Carib Beer Cup, is the first-class cricket competition in the West Indies. It is administered by the Cricket West Indies. In the 2013-2014 season the winner of the tourname ...

the previous season, with 257, and though he was aged nearly 33 he was given the chance. He made 39 from number five in the first West Indies' innings – in an 81-run partnership with opener

Roy Fredericks Roy Clifton Fredericks (11 November 1942 – 5 September 2000) was a West Indian cricketer who played Test cricket from 1968 to 1977. He was an opening batsman for the West Indies in both Test cricket and one day cricket, and made 4334 Test run ...

, helping the West Indies to a lead of 136 runs on first innings. Shillingford only made two runs in the second innings, but the West Indies still won with six wickets to spare. Shillingford was retained for the third Test, and held a catch to dismiss Khan in the first innings, as Pakistan made 194. After the West Indies lost Fredericks early on,

Gordon Greenidge Sir Cuthbert Gordon Greenidge (born 1 May 1951) is a Barbadian, former first-class cricketer, who represented the West Indies in Test and One-day Cricket for 17 years. Greenidge is regarded worldwide as one of the greatest and most destructive o ...

Viv Richards Sir Isaac Vivian Alexander Richards (born 7 March 1952) is an Antiguan retired cricketer who represented the West Indies cricket team between 1974 and 1991. Batting generally at number three in a dominant West Indies side, Richards is widely ...

and

Alvin Kallicharran Alvin Isaac Kallicharran (born 21 March 1949) is a former Indo-Guyanese cricketer of Tamil origin who played Test cricket for the West Indies between 1972 and 1981 as a left-handed batsman and right-arm off spinner. Kallicharran was born i ...

took West Indies to 193 for 3 when Shillingford came in to bat, and batted for 315 minutes, hitting fifteen fours and one six in a career best 120. Despite Shillingford's century and a lead of 254, the West Indian bowlers could not back up the batsmen, and Pakistan made 540 in the second innings to secure the draw. However, in the fourth Test, Shillingford made two sub-25 scores as he was dismissed twice by the opposing captain,

leg spin Leg spin is a type of spin bowling in cricket. A leg spinner bowls right-arm with a wrist spin action. The leg spinner's normal delivery causes the ball to spin from right to left (from the bowler's perspective) when the ball bounces on the ...

ning

all-rounder An all-rounder is a cricketer who regularly performs well at both batting and bowling. Although all bowlers must bat and quite a handful of batsmen do bowl occasionally, most players are skilled in only one of the two disciplines and are consi ...

Mushtaq Mohammad Mushtaq Mohammad PP (Urdu: مشتاق محمد‎; born 22 November 1943) is a Pakistani cricket coach and former cricketer who played in 57 Tests and 10 ODIs from 1959 to 1979. A right-handed batsman and a leg-spinner, he is one of the mo ...

, as Pakistan won the match by 266 runs. Shillingford was thus dropped for the final Test at

Sabina Park Sabina Park is a cricket ground and the home of the Kingston Cricket Club, and is the only Test cricket ground in Kingston, Jamaica. History Sabina Park was originally a Pen (urban residence and adjoining land of a wealthy merchant, shopkeep ...

, with

Barbados Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of the Americas, and the most easterly of the Caribbean Islands. It occupies an area of and has a population of about 287,000 (2019 estimate). ...

Collis King Collis Llewellyn King (born 11 June 1951) is a former West Indies first-class cricketer who played nine Test matches and 18 One Day Internationals for the West Indies cricket team between 1976 and 1980. Born in Christ Church, Barbados, King pl ...

replacing him. Shillingford was also selected for one Test match against

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

in 1977–78, when the West Indies made nine changes from the previous Test due to players' involvement with

World Series Cricket World Series Cricket (WSC) was a commercial professional cricket competition staged between 1977 and 1979 which was organised by Kerry Packer and his Australian television network, Nine Network. WSC ran in commercial competition to establishe ...

. He made three and 16 in a three-wicket loss, and though the team remained much the same for the fourth Test, Shillingford was replaced by

Guyana Guyana ( or ), officially the Cooperative Republic of Guyana, is a country on the northern mainland of South America. Guyana is an indigenous word which means "Land of Many Waters". The capital city is Georgetown. Guyana is bordered by the ...

batsman

Faoud Bacchus Sheik Faoud Ahamul Fasiel Bacchus (born 31 January 1954) is a former cricketer who played for the West Indies and the United States. Early career A right handed batsman, he made his Test match debut for the West Indies at 24 years old in the 1 ...

. He also played two ODIs during that series, making 24 in the first match which the West Indies won and 6 off 17 balls in the second match which Australia won. Shillingford continued to play domestic cricket until 1981–82, enjoying a Shell Shield victory with his Combined Islands team in 1980–81, and also playing four matches for the

the following season. However, his final season was not his greatest – with 112 first class runs at a

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

of 18.66, he failed to pass fifty a single time, though his team finished second in the Shell Shield table. Shillingford died on 26 January 2023, at the age of 78.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Shillingford, Irvine 1944 births 2023 deaths Combined Islands cricketers West Indies One Day International cricketers West Indies Test cricketers People from Saint Peter Parish, Dominica Windward Islands cricketers Dominica cricketers