Runako Shakur Morton (22 July 1978 – 4 March 2012) was a Nevisian

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by str ...

er who played for West Indies in all formats of the game. He was a right-handed batsman and a right-handed offbreak bowler.

Domestic career

A lively, often unpredictable character, Morton was expelled from the West Indian cricketing academy in July 2001 for bad behaviour but continued to play for the Leeward Islands in the

Busta Cup 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 ...

International career

Upon his return in February 2002, he was called into 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 Greate ...

squad as a replacement for

Marlon Samuels Marlon Nathaniel Samuels (born 5 February 1981) is a former Jamaican cricketer who played internationally for the West Indies in all three formats, and a former ODI captain. He is a right-handed middle order batsman and an off-spinner. He was a ...

, but he was dropped once again when he lied about his non-appearance in the ICC Champions Trophy in September 2002. Following a stabbing incident in January 2004, he was arrested but was given a third chance in May 2005 when he was recalled for the South African Test. He was involved in a bizarre run-out with

Shivnarine Chanderpaul Shivnarine "Shiv" Chanderpaul (born 16 August 1974) is a Guyanese people, Guyanese cricket coach and former captain of the West Indies cricket team. Considered one of the greatest batsmen of his era, Chanderpaul is the first Indo-Caribbean to pla ...

in the third Test against New Zealand in 2006. Morton drove the ball to mid-on where Daniel Vettori was fielding and ran to the non-striker end. Chanderpaul, at the other end, initially took a few steps down the wicket but then turned and went back to the non-striker's end. Morton believed he was out, and, furious at his captain, began to walk off. However, following a call to the third umpire, it was decided that Morton had grounded his bat at the non-striker's end just before Chanderpaul, and hence was safe and that Chanderpaul was out. Video evidence suggests that the umpire's decision was wrong: although Morton made his ground first, he then left it before the run-out was made, so he should have been the one dismissed. As a batsman, Morton had a reputation for hitting the ball very hard, but had problems picking up singles in between boundaries. He has the dubious record of the slowest ODI duck which lasted 31 balls in the final of the DLF Cup against Australia. Morton died on 4 March 2012, when he lost control of the car he was driving along the

Sir Solomon Hochoy Highway The Sir Solomon Hochoy Highway, sometimes referred to as SHH, is the major north–south highway on the island of Trinidad, in Trinidad and Tobago. It runs for 35.6 km (22.1 mi). It connects Chaguanas with Gandhi Village, Debe. It meets the U ...

, hitting a utility pole at Chase Village in Chaguanas, Trinidad and Tobago.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Morton, Runako 1978 births 2012 deaths Leeward Islands cricketers West Indies One Day International cricketers West Indies Test cricketers West Indies Twenty20 International cricketers West Indian cricketers of the 21st century Road incident deaths in Trinidad and Tobago Nevisian cricketers Nevis representative cricketers People from Saint George Gingerland Parish