Omari Ahmed Clement Banks (born 17 July 1982) is an
Anguilla
Anguilla ( ) is a British Overseas Territory in the Caribbean. It is one of the most northerly of the Leeward Islands in the Lesser Antilles, lying east of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands and directly north of Saint Martin. The territo ...
n musician and former cricketer, who appeared in 10
Test matches Test match in some sports refers to a sporting contest between national representative teams and may refer to:
* Test cricket
* Test match (indoor cricket)
* Test match (rugby union)
* Test match (rugby league)
* Test match (association football)
...
for the
West Indies
The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greater A ...
, as well as domestic matches for the
Leeward Islands
french: Îles-Sous-le-Vent
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, coor ...
. In 2011, Banks began to pursue his musical career professionally and has been less involved in playing regional cricket,
and officially retired from cricket on 31 January 2012.
Cricket career
Test career
The son of noted
Anguillian musician Bankie Banx, he became the first Anguillian to play Test cricket in May 2003. During his first innings, despite picking up three wickets, he conceded 204 runs in 40 overs, which was at the time the most runs conceded by a Test debutant, although it has since been surpassed by
Jason Krejza
Jason John Krejza (born 14 January 1983) is a former Australian cricketer. He played for the Tasmanian Tigers and Leicestershire. Krejza's father was an association football player from Czechoslovakia and his mother was born in Poland. His ni ...
. His lower order batting was confident and assured, and he played a significant part in the highest successful fourth-innings chase in Test history, remaining 47 not out in West Indies 418 for 7 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 ...
at the
Antigua Recreation Ground
Antigua Recreation Ground is the national stadium of Antigua and Barbuda. It is located in St. John's, on the island of Antigua. The ground has been used by the West Indies cricket team and Antigua and Barbuda national football team. It had Tes ...
in 2003.
Domestic career
Banks played for the
Leeward Islands
french: Îles-Sous-le-Vent
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, image_caption = ''Political'' Leeward Islands. Clockwise: Antigua and Barbuda, Guadeloupe, Saint kitts and Nevis.
, image_alt =
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, location = Caribbean SeaNorth Atlantic Ocean
, coor ...
from 2000 to 2011. During the 2001 season, Banks played at
Leicester
Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands.
The city l ...
. He later played for
Carnforth Cricket Club
Carnforth Cricket Club is based in the North-West of England and play their home games at Lodge Quarry, Carnforth
Carnforth is a market town and civil parish in the City of Lancaster in Lancashire, England, situated at the north-east end of ...
, in the summer of 2006 in
Northern Premier League
The Northern Premier League is an English football league that was founded in 1968. It has four divisions: the Premier Division (which stands at level 7 of the English football league system), Division One East, Division One West and Divisio ...
. He averaged 54.6 with the bat, whilst taking 27 wickets at a brief spell at the Lancashire club, before being called up to the West Indies 'A' team on the tour of England. In October 2007 he was signed by
Somerset
( en, All The People of Somerset)
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, region = South West England
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, lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset
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; due to Anguilla's status as a
British overseas territory
The British Overseas Territories (BOTs), also known as the United Kingdom Overseas Territories (UKOTs), are fourteen dependent territory, territories with a constitutional and historical link with the United Kingdom. They are the last remna ...
, he does not count as an overseas player.
On 9 July 2009 he was suspended for 12 days by the
England and Wales Cricket Board
The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) is the Sports governing body, national governing body of cricket in England and Wales. It was formed on 1 January 1997 as a single governing body to combine the roles formerly fulfilled by the Test and ...
disciplinary panel for ball tampering, he was found guilty of running his thumb and fingernails over the ball during Somerset's 2nd XI match against Essex at Vale on 1 July 2009. Somerset released the all-rounder after the close of the 2009 season, with
Brian Rose stating "He hasn't had the performances to justify another contract."
Banks officially retired from professional cricket on 25 January 2012 to focus on his musical career.
Music career
Banks' first single "Move On" was released on iTunes on 17 January 2012 as part of Bankie Banx's album Just Cool. His upcoming album is currently untitled and expected to be released in Spring 2012.
One of the first singles on his album is "Move On" a semi-biographical song about his transition from cricket to music. Banks explained to Basil Walters of the ''
Jamaica Observer
''Jamaica Observer'' is a daily newspaper published in Kingston, Jamaica. The publication is owned by Butch Stewart, who chartered the paper in January 1993 as a competitor to Jamaica's oldest daily paper, ''The Gleaner''. Its founding editor i ...
'', "In life we tend to go through different ups and downs, but the most important thing is that we move on and grow from it. That's what the song is about really. I wrote the song and the music, but on the track itself it has a number of big name musicians like Junior Jazz, Glen Browne,
Robbie Lyn
Robert "Robbie" Bernard Lyn is a Jamaican session musician who plays piano, keyboard and synthesiser.
Biography
Robbie Lyn is a popular Jamaican session musician, who has played with various session/backing bands including Now Generation, Sound ...
and
Sly Dunbar
Lowell Fillmore "Sly" Dunbar (born 10 May 1952, Kingston, Jamaica) is a drummer, best known as one half of the prolific Jamaican rhythm section and reggae production duo Sly and Robbie.
Biography
Dunbar began playing at 15 in a band called ...
. Steven Stanley produced the track."
Omari Banks and his band Eleven performed at the Miss Anguilla pageant in August 2011 as part of Anguilla's Summer Festival.
Even as a cricketer Banks made various radio and television appearances and discussed his passion for music and the hope of one day pursuing music full-time. He appeared on the syndicated Caribbean entertainment program Caribbean Soundtrack in summer 2010 His 2014 music video "No Point to Prove" featured Peetah Morgan of the group Morgan Heritage.
Omari released his latest album ''Move On'' (Deluxe Edition) on 17 February 2015. He recently embarked on a tour of
Toronto
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...
,
Ontario
Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...
, Canada, to promote new music which will be released in late 2015.
In 2015, he toured Europe with
Morgan Heritage
Morgan Heritage is a Grammy-winning Jamaican reggae band formed in 1994 by five children of reggae artist Denroy Morgan, namely Peter "Peetah" Morgan, Una Morgan, Roy "Gramps" Morgan, Nakhamyah "Lukes" Morgan, and Memmalatel "Mr. Mojo" Morgan. ...
. In 2016, he released the single "System Set", featuring
Duane Stephenson
Duane Stephenson (born c.1976)Bonitto, Brian (2014)Cool Runnings for Duane, '' Jamaica Observer'', 26 September 2014. Retrieved 21 December 2014 is a Jamaican reggae singer who has released three albums on VP Records, and works primarily in the ...
.
Omari Banks won Best new artist 2017 by Irie Jam Radio online awards and was nominated for 2017 artist of the year at Linkage Radio awards. In May 2018, Omari Banks premiered Reggae Summertime video in India.
Notes
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Banks, Omari
1982 births
Living people
Anguillan cricketers
Leeward Islands cricketers
Leicestershire cricketers
Somerset cricketers
West Indies One Day International cricketers
West Indies Test cricketers
Anguillan expatriate sportspeople in England
Anguillan musicians