Omari Ahmed Clement Banks (born 17 July 1982) is an

Anguilla Anguilla is a British Overseas Territories, 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 Sa ...

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 * Indoor cricket, Test match (indoor cricket) * Test match (rugby union) * Test match (rugby league) * Test match (associa ...

for the

West Indies The West Indies is an island subregion of the Americas, surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, which comprises 13 independent island country, island countries and 19 dependent territory, dependencies in thr ...

, as well as domestic matches for the

Leeward Islands The Leeward Islands () are a group of islands situated where the northeastern Caribbean Sea meets the western Atlantic Ocean. Starting with the Virgin Islands east of Puerto Rico, they extend southeast to Guadeloupe and its dependencies. In Engl ...

. 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 Bankie Banx (born Clement Ashley Banks; 1953 in Anguilla) is a reggae singer, known as the "Anguillan Bob Dylan". Career Banks's musical career dates back to 1963, when he built his first guitar. He formed his first band in 1967, taking inspir ...

, 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 nic ...

. 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 country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

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 ...

in 2003.

Domestic career

Banks played for the

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 area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...

. He later played for Carnforth Cricket Club, in the summer of 2006 in

Northern Premier League The Northern Premier League is an English Association football, football league that was founded in 1968. Together with the Isthmian League and the Southern Football League, Southern League it forms levels seven and eight of the English footba ...

. 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 Somerset ( , ), Archaism, archaically Somersetshire ( , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east ...

; due to Anguilla's status as a

British overseas territory The British Overseas Territories (BOTs) or alternatively referred to as the United Kingdom Overseas Territories (UKOTs) are the fourteen dependent territory, territories with a constitutional and historical link with the United Kingdom that, ...

, 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, aka 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 ...

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 The ''Jamaica Observer'' is a daily newspaper published in Kingston, Jamaica Kingston is the Capital (political), capital and largest city of Jamaica, located on the southeastern coast of the island. It faces a natural harbour protected by ...

'', "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, Soun ...

and

Sly Dunbar Lowell Fillmore "Sly" Dunbar (born 10 May 1952, Kingston, Jamaica) is a Jamaican 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 ba ...

. 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 ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

, 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 r ...

. 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 Expatriate cricketers in England