The cricket world is in mourning following the news of the death of one of the greatest fast bowlers of modern times, Malcolm Marshall. The veteran of 81 Tests died on Thursday in Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Bridgetown, Barbados, following a battle with colon cancer. While he was first diagnosed with the condition about six months ago and had been undergoing chemotherapy, the news of his death was unexpected and came as a shock to many.

Malcolm Denzil Marshall, who was born in Bridgetown on 18 April 1958, was a stockily-built player who was much shorter than the other great West Indian pacemen of his time, notably Holding, Garner, Croft, Walsh and Ambrose. First appearing for West Indies in 1978/79 when the Test side was depleted due to World Series Cricket, Marshall did not become a permanent fixture in the eleven until the almost five years later. He was to remain a key player in the powerful West Indian teams led by Clive Lloyd and Viv Richards until 1991, enjoying particular success against England in the mid-eighties.

In all Tests he took 376 wickets at 20.94, his strike rate of 46.7 balls per wicket being one of the very best of all time. He held the record for the most Test wickets by a West Indian until passed by Courtney Walsh last year. His batting put him on the lower end of the all-rounder scale, hitting ten Test fifties for a top score of 92 and an average of 18.85. He retired from international cricket following the 1992 World Cup.

Marshall had a distinguished county career with Hampshire, stretching across fifteen seasons. In the 1982 season he took an extraordinary 134 first-class wickets. Finishing his first-class career in South Africa with Natal, he took 1651 wickets at 19.10 in 408 first-class matches, scoring 11004 runs at 24.83.

Latterly he had been coach of the West Indian team at a most difficult time with the team in a state of decline. While he was in England coaching the team during this year's World Cup he was diagnosed with cancer of the colon, immediately relinquishing his duties mid-tournament. Following an operation and beginning chemotherapy treatment, he married his long-time girlfriend Connie two months ago.

He then returned to his native Barbados to commence what was hoped would be his recuperation from the affliction. Unfortunately he took a turn for the worse this week and was admitted to hospital on Wednesday, dying the following day.

Marshall is survived by his wife and son