Kenneth Charlie Griffith Benjamin (born 8 April 1967) is a former cricketer from

Antigua and Barbuda Antigua and Barbuda is a Sovereign state, sovereign archipelagic country composed of Antigua, Barbuda, and List of islands of Antigua and Barbuda, numerous other small islands. Antigua and Barbuda has a total area of 440 km2 (170 sq mi), ...

who played 26

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 26

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 The West Indies is an island subregion of the Americas, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, which comprises 13 independent island countries and 19 dependencies in three archipelagos: the Greater Antilles, the Lesser An ...

Playing career

A right arm fast bowler, Benjamin spent much of his international career bowling alongside

Courtney Walsh Courtney Andrew Walsh OJ (born 30 October 1962) is a Jamaican former cricketer who represented the West Indies from 1984 to 2001, captaining the team in 22 Test matches. He played as a fast bowler and is considered one of the all-time greats, ...

and

Curtly Ambrose Sir Curtly Elconn Lynwall Ambrose KCN (born 21 September 1963) is an Antiguan former cricketer who played 98 Test matches for the West Indies. Widely acknowledged as one of the greatest fast bowlers of all time, he took 405 Test wickets at ...

. He made his Test debut in their side's first ever Test against South Africa, in 1991–92. He never really made a name for himself until a spell of 6–66 against England in 1993–94 which he followed up with seven wickets in his next Test, finishing the series with 22 wickets. Benjamin then took 17 wickets in the Windies' three test match away series in 1994 against

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. He was also West Indies' top bowler during the six-Test series in England in 1995. His 23 wickets at 22.00 saw him finish ahead of Ambrose, Walsh and Ian Bishop, while his

10-wicket haul In cricket, a ten-wicket haul occurs when a bowler takes ten wickets in either a single innings or across both innings of a two-innings match. The phrase ten wickets in a match is also used. Taking ten wickets in a match at Lord's earns the bowl ...

in the fifth Test (5/107 & 5/69) at

Trent Bridge Trent Bridge Cricket Ground is a cricket ground mostly used for Test cricket, Test, One-day cricket, One-Day International and county cricket located in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England, just across the River Trent from the city of Nott ...

bumped him to 10th in the ICC Rankings. Benjamin picked up 37 first class wickets at 24.62 in his lone 1993 season at

Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It is bordered by Shropshire, Staffordshire, and the West Midlands (county), West ...

. He later claimed a ten wicket haul of 10 for 150 in Gauteng's win against

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in the final of the 1999/2000

Supersport Series The CSA 4-Day Domestic Series is the domestic first class cricket competition of South Africa. The tournament is contested by teams from all nine provinces of South Africa. First contested as the Currie Cup from 1889–90, the tournament has u ...

. Benjamin took a sum of 38 wickets at an average of 15.63 in his six first class matches for Guateng. He eventually signed with fellow South African side, Easterns for the subsequent season.

Coaching career

After his playing career came to a close Benjamin took up coaching. He went on to coach the

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at the

2004 ICC Champions Trophy The 2004 ICC Champions Trophy was held in England in September 2004. Twelve teams competed in 15 matches spread over 16 days at three venues: Edgbaston Cricket Ground, Edgbaston, Rose Bowl (cricket ground), The Rose Bowl and The Oval. The nation ...

. While playing for Netherfield cricket team(Kendal) in England's Northern Premier League system, Benjamin was also contracted to coach schoolchildren, one of whom,

Will Greenwood William John Heaton Greenwood, Order of the British Empire, MBE (born 20 October 1972) is an English former rugby union player who played for Leicester Tigers and Harlequin F.C., Harlequins and was a member of England's 2003 Rugby World Cup, 20 ...

, went on to play international rugby for England. Greenwood remembers Benjamin's unique approach to keeping his young pupils attentive:

"If you were foolish enough to horse about, he'd bowl at you, coming in off just one yard and fire down the fastest ball you ever faced. He would then walk down the wicket, and, in a lazy West Indian drawl, say, "Don't mess about in my net sessions"."

Michael Vaughan Michael Paul Vaughan (born 29 October 1974) is an English cricket commentator and former cricketer who played all forms of the game. He served as England cricket captain, England captain for the England test team, test team from 2003 to 2008 ...

, in his autobiography, gives credit to a "scary" time spent facing Benjamin in the nets, as formative in his development in facing fast bowlers. Aged 14, Vaughan made the first team at Sheffield Collegiate, for whom Benjamin also played.

References

1967 births Living people Easterns cricketers Gauteng cricketers Leeward Islands cricketers West Indies One Day International cricketers West Indies Test cricketers Antigua and Barbuda cricketers Worcestershire cricketers Expatriate cricketers in England Commonwealth Games competitors for Antigua and Barbuda Cricketers at the 1998 Commonwealth Games Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers People from St. John's, Antigua and Barbuda Scarborough Festival President's XI cricketers {{WestIndies-cricket-bio-stub