Sir Clive, CWI pay tribute to WI World Cup hero Julien

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad (CMC):

Bernard Julien, the outstanding all-rounder and member of the West Indies team which won the 1975 Men’s Cricket World Cup, passed away on Saturday night in Trinidad.

A family member confirmed that he died at Valsayn in north-west Trinidad at the age of 75.

Sir Clive Lloyd, the legendary West Indies captain, hailed Julien as a vital member of the 1975 team which won the inaugural World Cup.

“He always gave you ‘over 100 per cent’. He never shirked his duties, and I could always rely on him with bat and ball. He gave his all every time ... what a fine cricketer,” Lloyd said yesterday.

“We all had total respect for him. He enjoyed himself and was loved by everyone around. I remember we won the Test match at Lords and stood there and signed autographs for a long time, He was good for us and was held in high regard everywhere we went.”

A left-arm seam bowler and classy right-handed batsman, Julien made his first-class debut at age 18 and his Test debut for West Indies at age 23 on the 1973 tour of England.

During that series he made an immediate impression with a century at Lords, a superb 121 off 127 balls. He added a record partnership with Garfield Sobers who made 150 not out.

During the famous 1975 World Cup in England, Julien claimed 4-20 in a Man of the Match performance against Sri Lanka at Old Trafford and then 4-27 against New Zealand in the semi-finals at the Oval as West Indies reached the final against Australia.

In a statement yesterday Cricket West Indies (CWI) President Dr Kishore Shallow said “the passing of Bernard Julien invites reflection on both the brilliance of his cricketing life and the complex times through which he lived. His career reminds us that the story of West Indies cricket is not only about triumphs on the field but about the choices and circumstances that shaped generations of players and the region itself.

“Bernard Julien was one of the quiet legends of the 1975 World Cup, a tournament that 50 years ago brought this region joy like no other as the West Indies lifted the first men’s world title in the history of the game. His skill and composure were central to that victory.”

In all Julien played 24 Test matches for the West Indies, scoring 866 runs at an average of 30.92 and taking 50 wickets at 37.36. In One Day Internationals, he claimed 18 wickets at 25.72.

In his statement Shallow also outlined that “Julien’s international career came to an end following his participation in the 1982–83 and 1983–84 tours to South Africa, during a period when the world of sport was sharply divided by the moral and political challenges of apartheid. Those decisions reflected the difficult realities of that era and the pressures faced by players navigating competing demands of opportunity, conscience, and circumstance.

“To the family, friends, and loved ones of Bernard Julien, we extend our deepest condolences.”