Paul Terry went out to bat against West Indies in 1984 with his arm in a
sling after having it broken by Winston Davis. England then needed 23
to avoid the follow on, but the courageous Terry was bowled two runs
later when Allan Lamb took two to complete his century and left him to
take strike against Joel Garner. Lamb, who had started to leave the
field on completing his 100 but was sent back by skipper David Gower,
later said he had understood Terry, with his arm in plaster, had only
been risked for a few balls to see if he could reach the landmark and
could not be expected to survive for the half-hour or more needed to
reach the follow-on target.
He was the second England newcomer to be
injured by the West Indies pace attack that summer, following Andy Lloyd
to hospital. He had been chosen as a replacement for Lloyd after a run
of five first class hundreds. In the Third Test he made 8 and 1 and was 7
not out at Old Trafford when he was injured. The arm took so long to
heal he could not be considered for the England tours during the close
season, but toured Zimbabwe early in 1985 with an England Counties XI
lead by his county captain at Hampshire, Mark Nicholas. There were two
unofficial Tests in Harare. Terry made 80 not out in the second innings
of the first and 129 and 53 in the second. In the unofficial ODIs he
made 77 in Bulawayo and 48 in Harare. A sound but unspectacular opening
batsman, more accumulator than shot-player, Paul Terry was a product of
Millfield, the sports-orientated public school in Somerset and made his
Hampshire debut in 1978. (Bob Harragan)
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