Ezra Alphonsa Moseley (5 January 1958 – 6 February 2021) was a Barbadian

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

er who played in two

Test matches Test match in some sports refers to a sporting contest between national representative teams and may refer to: * Test cricket * Indoor cricket, Test match (indoor cricket) * Test match (rugby union) * Test match (rugby league) * Test match (associa ...

and nine

One Day International One Day International (ODI) is a format of cricket, played between two teams with international status, in which each team faces a fixed number of fifty overs, with the game lasting up to 7 hours. The World Cup, generally held every four yea ...

s for the West Indies cricket team in 1990 and 1991. He was the only member of the 1982 rebel tour to South Africa to subsequently play for the West Indies after their bans were rescinded. He notably broke

Graham Gooch Graham Alan Gooch, (born 23 July 1953) is a former English first-class cricketer who captained Essex and England. He was one of the most successful international batsmen of his generation, and through a career spanning 1973 until 1997, he was ...

's hand during England's 1989–90 tour of the West Indies.

Early life

Moseley was born in Waldrons Village,

Christ Church, Barbados The parish of Christ Church is one of eleven historic political divisions of Barbados. It has a land area of and is found at the southern end of the island. Christ Church has survived by name as one of the original six parishes created in 1629 ...

, on 5 January 1958. He played club cricket in his home country until 1980, when

Glamorgan Glamorgan (), or sometimes Glamorganshire ( or ), was Historic counties of Wales, one of the thirteen counties of Wales that existed from 1536 until their abolishment in 1974. It is located in the South Wales, south of Wales. Originally an ea ...

signed him based on his impressive performances.

Career

Moseley was recommended to Welsh county club Glamorgan by

Trevor Bailey Trevor Edward Bailey (3 December 1923 – 10 February 2011) was an England Test cricketer, cricket writer and broadcaster. An all-rounder, Bailey was known for his skilful but unspectacular batting. As the BBC reflected in his obituary: "His ...

and

Reg Simpson Reginald Thomas Simpson (27 February 1920 – 22 November 2013) was an English cricketer, who played in 27 Test cricket, Test matches from 1948 to 1955. Life and career Born in Sherwood, Nottingham, England, Simpson attended Nottingham High S ...

Moore, D. "County Cricket", ''Wisden Cricket Monthly'', September 1980, p. 23. and made his First Class debut in 1980, taking over a hundred wickets for Glamorgan in his first two seasons as well as receiving his county cap, before debuting for

Barbados Barbados, officially the Republic of Barbados, is an island country in the Atlantic Ocean. It is part of the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies and the easternmost island of the Caribbean region. It lies on the boundary of the South American ...

in 1981. Although viewed as a hot prospect early in his career, a stress fracture of his back required surgery and a lengthy period of rehabilitation. Moseley signed on for the controversial West Indies "rebel tour" of South Africa in 1982, earning him a life ban from West Indies cricket. Following the tour, Moseley continued playing in South Africa for Eastern Province as well as remaining at Glamorgan until 1986, when he became a professional in the Lancashire Leagues. The life bans on the rebel tourists were lifted in 1989, and Moseley returned to Barbados to become the first and only member of the touring parties to play for the West Indies afterwards. He played two Tests against England during their 1989–90 tour of the West Indies, in which he took six wickets, but his most significant delivery was the one that broke Graham Gooch's hand and put him out of the rest of the tour. England had been chasing a small target in search of a 2–0 series lead, which they then failed to reach before bad light intervened. Playing without Gooch, England lost the remaining two matches to lose the series 2–1. He spent a final season in South Africa playing for

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, before retiring in 1992. He was considered a fast medium bowler, but those who knew him closely disputed this, calling for him to be accepted as a fast bowler.

Later life

After retiring from cricket, Moseley coached at

The St. Michael School The St. Michael School is a secondary school in Barbados. It stands on Martindales Road in the parish of Saint Michael, Barbados. The school has over 800 pupils. Some of the school's notable alumni include the late Dame Nita Barrow, who was the ...

. There, he was instrumental in the development of

Jason Holder Jason Omar Holder (born 5 November 1991) is a Barbadian cricketer and the former captain of the West Indies cricket team. He is a right arm medium-fast bowling all-rounder who features in all three cricketing formats. In January 2019, he was ...

, who went on to become captain of the West Indies cricket team. He also served as a selector for the men's and women's squad of the

Barbados national cricket team The Barbados national cricket team is the national cricket team of Barbados, organised by the Barbados Cricket Association (BCA). Barbados is a member of the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB), which is a member of the International Cricket Counc ...

. He was the assistant coach of the women's team when they won the

2016 ICC Women's World Twenty20 The 2016 Women's World Twenty20 was the fifth edition of the Women's T20 World Cup, Women's World Twenty20, the world championship of women's Twenty20 International cricket. India hosted the event for the first time, with matches played from 1 ...

. Moseley died on 6 February 2021 in Christ Church at the age of 63. He was hit by a vehicle while cycling for exercise and died at the scene. On Monday, February 8, 2021, a day of remembrance was held at The St. Michael School to celebrate his life.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Moseley, Ezra 1958 births 2021 deaths West Indies Test cricketers West Indies One Day International cricketers Barbadian cricketers Barbados cricketers Eastern Province cricketers Glamorgan cricketers Northerns cricketers Cricketers from Christ Church, Barbados M Parkinson's World XI cricketers Road incident deaths in Barbados