MORE TO HIM....
Over the years in these pages I have recorded memories of cricketing heroes who have left us - Derek Shackleton, Bob Woolmer, Harold Gimblett, David Sheppard, Trevor Bailey, Arthur Morris, Bernard Hedges, Brian Langford, Alec Bedser....the list is quite a long one and if you are so minded you can find them by clicking on the list of labels (down a bit and to the right) for `cricket` or `obituaries.`
And so, whilst all the clamour and razzmatazz of the recent World Cup and the current Ashes series ring loudly in our hearts, minds and ears I was saddened to learn of the passing of Malcolm Nash.
Now Malcolm will always be remembered, of course, for the time when Sir Garfield Sobers took six sixes off him in one over for Nottinghamshire against Nash`s Glamorgan at Swansea in 1968 - the first time that feat was achieved in first class cricket. But there was much more to Malcolm Nash who played for Glamorgan with great distinction between 1966 and 1983, taking 993 first class wickets and was Glamorgan`s leading wicket taker when they won the county championship in 1969. As well as excelling as a left arm bowler, he was also a useful batsman, scoring over 7,000 runs.
It seems almost tragically ironic that Malcolm dies suddenly whilst attending a cricket function at Lord`s Cricket Ground on Tuesday but he will be mourned as a true legend of Glamorgan and a true gentleman of the game. Tributes have quite rightly been pouring in, but perhaps the most touching has come from Sir Garfield himself. He said, "He was a good friend of mine and we always kept that friendship."
Sobers recalled how Nash kept his sense of humour, despite him being hit for those six sixes. "We were asked to go up and be interviewed afterwards and I saw Malcolm smiling. I asked him what he was smiling about and he told me, "Gary, I want you to know that you could not have achieved that without me."
It kind of sums up Malcolm Nash the man and the cricket world is much the poorer for his leaving.
Now Malcolm will always be remembered, of course, for the time when Sir Garfield Sobers took six sixes off him in one over for Nottinghamshire against Nash`s Glamorgan at Swansea in 1968 - the first time that feat was achieved in first class cricket. But there was much more to Malcolm Nash who played for Glamorgan with great distinction between 1966 and 1983, taking 993 first class wickets and was Glamorgan`s leading wicket taker when they won the county championship in 1969. As well as excelling as a left arm bowler, he was also a useful batsman, scoring over 7,000 runs.
It seems almost tragically ironic that Malcolm dies suddenly whilst attending a cricket function at Lord`s Cricket Ground on Tuesday but he will be mourned as a true legend of Glamorgan and a true gentleman of the game. Tributes have quite rightly been pouring in, but perhaps the most touching has come from Sir Garfield himself. He said, "He was a good friend of mine and we always kept that friendship."
Sobers recalled how Nash kept his sense of humour, despite him being hit for those six sixes. "We were asked to go up and be interviewed afterwards and I saw Malcolm smiling. I asked him what he was smiling about and he told me, "Gary, I want you to know that you could not have achieved that without me."
It kind of sums up Malcolm Nash the man and the cricket world is much the poorer for his leaving.
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