Ezra Moseley - Consummate Pro
Dean Tuckwell | July 24, 2024
Remember in junior cricket there was always the fast bowler in the competition whose reputation preceded them? Their name mentioned with trepidation by batsmen, who took wickets before they even walked on the field?
It turns out that it isn’t just in juniors where this phenomenon occurs and in the Central Lancashire League Ezra Moseley was that fast bowler. It was with great sadness when in February 2021 I heard Ezra had been knocked off his bike and killed, struck by an unlicenced 17 year old driver (in Barbados you must be at least 18 to obtain a licence).
An all-too-frequent occurrence in Australia, sadly the Caribbean is not immune to these needless wastes of life. Tragically, yet another Bajun fast bowler is taken far too soon – Ezra joining the other greats Malcolm & Sylvester whose Christian names are all that is required for cricket fans around the world to be saddened by their premature loss. Add Keith Boyce to the list and there is a formidable attack tormenting batsmen on a celestial field somewhere.
There were some serious professionals in the CLL, Carl Hooper & Gus Logie among them but Ezra was the man. The pros’ goal was the double of 100 wickets & 1000 runs in a season and he rarely missed the achievement. For some reason league matches were 48 overs and he would bowl 24 straight – every game. He had a short, rhythmical run up of 8-10 paces, the smoothest of actions and a perfect wrist meaning he consistently hit the seam on wickets that were often grassy and damp. You could say he was a bit of a handful, particularly for the lower order batsmen making up the numbers in your average English League team.
He wasn’t the quickest I faced in the league, that honour went to Jamaican left-armer Ken Mcleod who also terrorised batsmen in Sydney and Canberra but Ezra had menace. He was certainly quick enough and you always sensed he could move up a couple of gears at will. Everyone knew that he could be frighteningly quick, including South African opening batsman Jimmy Cook:
He used a huge bat weighing about 3.5 lbs and was a fierce straight hitter. I recall him coming to the wicket playing for Oldham in the local derby against my club Royton with his team in trouble. Chris Holder had just taken 2 wickets in 2 balls and as we were looking to press home our advantage Ezra deposited the hat trick ball over the sightscreen for 6. He repeated the dose immediately after and our momentum was lost, our hopes of an upset win snuffed out by his audacious batting.
It is difficult to believe that he only played 2 Tests, such was his class and aura. Obviously his career coincided with some of the greatest fast bowlers in the history of the game but a few others who weren’t quite in his league received opportunities that could have been his. His Tests were against England in 1990 and whilst he only took 6 wickets, he made an impact by breaking Graham Gooch’s hand and putting paid to an English upset victory. I doubt that the Cricinfo staff consulted the former England captain when they described Ezra as Right-arm Fast Medium:
He was revered by his fellow West Indian players in England who called him “The Monk” due to his disciplined lifestyle. Upon hearing the sad news I called former English Test umpire John Holder, also a successful league professional originally from Barbados who told me that he saw Ezra 5 years ago. He was playing for a touring Barbados team against the John Paul Getty XI and was still very fit and bowling very fast at 58.
I visited Barbados in 1999 in the days before Facebook and asked a cab driver if he knew how I could get in contact with Ezra Moseley, the type of request which would be a ludicrous anywhere but the Caribbean. He replied “Sure Mon” and took me to a service station in Christchurch where there was a group of guys hanging around who put me in touch with him – simple!
My mate and I then spent a terrific 2 days being given a private tour of the island by one of Barbados’ favourite cricketing sons. It is perhaps an indication of the esteem in which he was held that he never seemed to suffer any stigma from being a member of the West Indian Rebel tour of South Africa in 1982 unlike some of his teammates. He was the only member of that side to play for The West Indies after that tour.
South African all-rounder Dave Callaghan, himself one of the best professionals to play in the leagues remembers him fondly:
One of the great memories I have of Ezra Moseley happened in my first Currie Cup for Eastern Province against a very good Western Province side at Newlands in 1984. Western Province batted first declaring on 313/9 before bowling us out for 133. Following on we were bowled out for 221 leaving them a mere 45 to win the game. The incident all kicked off in our second innings when Garth Le Roux hit our captain, Gavin Cowley, and fractured his arm. He then accidently bowled a beamer which hit Ezra low down on his back. Ezra was fuming and as we took the field he shouted into the Western Province change room “ Le Roux pad up maan!” I recall thinking with Garth coming in at 7 it was very unlikely, but Ezra had other ideas. He bowled very quickly and after every wicket be would shout again from the middle of the wicket “ Le Roux pad up maan, I am waiting for you” He eventually got Garth to the wicket and he didn’t let him off hook.
Ezra’s records speak for themselves, but to most of us he was a very special team member and a good friend to many of the cricket fraternity in the Port Elizabeth. Like yourself, we had the opportunity to play against him in the Central Lancashire League and it was always a challenge playing against Littleborough for the time he played for the club.
He also left a mark on many others who were fortunate to play against him in the Central Lancashire League:
Thankfully, I only played against Ezra just once in my life. That was scary enough. He took great offence at me not wearing a helmet (I didn't own one!) and didn't bother using the full end of the pitch. At that stage in my unremarkable career (1990), he was the scariest bowler I had faced. Such was his reputation that it was local folklore in the Central Lancashire League that people used to book their summer holidays after they looked at the season draw and realised when they were drawn to play Oldham, Ezra's team. In any other era or any other country, he would probably have played 30+ Tests and been a household name.
Michael Jeh (Walsden)
Great man, fast bowler and a true gentleman!!
I remember some guys in the CLL checking the fixtures to see when they were due to play Ezra!! A few holidays booked on those weekends!
Stuart Law (Littleborough)
Kept to him in Blackpool, pretty happy to be on the same side! R.I.P Ezra.
Peter Anderson (Milnrow)
Heard many stories over the years about Ezra Moseley. Still spoken about so fondly to this day by all at Littleborough CC which says everything about the impact he made #RIP ??
Clinton Perren (Littleborough)
It was the late 80’s and I was a young cricketer playing grade cricket for Wests in Brisbane. Like most young Australian cricketers, I had an ambition to play in England to further my game. Dean Tuckwell, my club mate at Wests, returned from a season in the Central Lancashire League and regaled us with stories about on field and off field exploits. A name that kept popping up in these stories was Ezra Moseley. His bowling was described as “extremely slippery, never gives you anything to hit” always followed by “a great guy off the field”.
Through Tucky, I signed on for my English experience in the Central Lancashire League and my opportunity to play against Ezra Moseley. When the week arrived to play Oldham (Ezra’s team), all at our club spoke about him in reverential tones and always signed off with ‘good luck!’
Game day, Oldham win the toss and send Royton into bat. Tucky and I were the opening batsmen and I was about to see what all the chat was about. As I walked back into our dressing room via the club rooms after a few ‘throw downs’, I noticed one of our lower order batsman was sitting in the corner of the bar downing a pint (Wily Craig). When I asked him what he was doing, he replied “I know Ezra will hit me – if I have a few pints before I bat hopefully I won’t feel it!”
What I do recall about Ezra was a nice, balanced run up, unerring accuracy and very good pace. I had the pleasure of playing against him on a couple of other occasions over the course of the summer and was made to feel very uncomfortable each time.
I was extremely saddened to hear of Ezra’s recent passing. Whilst I didn’t know him well, I do know he was extremely popular, played the game in great spirit and will be sorely missed by all in the wider cricket community across many countries. To his family and close friends, my thoughts are with you. Please understand that he made a great impact across many communities and will be sorely missed.
Phil Mooney (Royton)
I heard of the sad passing of Ezra Mozeley and it brought back some memories of my only season for Oldham in the Central Lancashire League back in 1998.
I arrived in Oldham in early April, it was freezing and it snowed the night before our first trial game. I’m thinking what am I doing here? All the early talk was about the club professionals and there were some pretty good players amongst them. Some of the notables turning out were
Middleton – Kelvin Williams (WI)
Norden - Manoj Prabhakar (India)
Rochdale – Mike Veletta (aust)
Oldham - Collis King (WI)
Milnrow – Chetan Sharma (India)
Walsden – Aaron Daly (WI)
But all the talk was about the Littleborough Pro Ezra Moseley and how quick he was, not something a Brisbane kid wants to hear before he starts a season on English greentops.
“he takes 100+ wickets each year”
“don’t get hem angry or he gets faster”
I don’t recall the first game I played against Littleborough but I do know I got a duck, I’m not even sure I faced Ezra that day.
We did come across them again a few weeks later in the Wood Cup Final where we were extreme underdogs. That day on a hard fast wicket (for English conditions). I was out in the middle for all of Ezra’s 17.3 overs that day and found out that yes he does get quicker when he gets angry. I was lucky enough to get some that day and although the battle on the field was at times verbally intense I’ll always remember the words of encouragement from Ezra after the game over a beer.
He truly was one of the all-time great professionals of the CLL, his stat’s in the year I played were as follows
Bowling – 95 wickets @ 12.14 off 473.4 overs
Batting – 957 runs @ 56.29
All from just 24 games
What a legend RIP Ezra Moseley
Gavin Brown (Oldham)
I remember hearing the fuss leading into the first time I played against Ezra. The mystery around the man was created by many that played him, & quite often, the skill & pace of the man made many English League players have many family functions on that precise day mainly in London !!!! I came up against him at Milnrow for the first time, & having played against the West Indies in a One Day series….I remember thinking, I have played their best, this can’t be that bad. After the third ball from him crashed into my ribs, I wondered how I actually got hit as I did not really see the ball as it was tracking towards me. At that point I realised, this could be a life or death situation. He was poetry in motion, ambled in of 10 steps & the pace was as quick as you will see. Great competitor, great person, but was every bit as good as the famous West Indies bowlers during his time. In another era, he would have parked a lot of test matches for his country. He was that good.
Ken Healy (Milnrow)
My first became aware of Ezra in my first season playing as an amateur in League cricket in England playing in Central Lancashire for Milnrow.
I arrived in April and settled into life at the club. One of the first things which I was asked to do was to inform the club whether I was planning on taking some weekends of playing to do some travelling. I was made aware of a calendar at the club that everyone would fill into to block of the weekends they would be away in order to help the club selectors in planning for the season.
To my amazement I noticed on the first weekend in July just about all the first team had indicated they were to be on holidays, virtually the whole second team would be that weekend against Littleborough (who were the team to beat). Upon some investigation as to the reasons for this I was informed it probably was most likely due to the fact by doing so they would not have to face Ezra which I couldn’t understand.
It was not until I encountered him in that game in July that I realized they had made the correct decision. He was frightening especially on substandard league wickets. I don’t think anyone has generated as much pace off 4 steps.
Geoff Foley (Milnrow)
Perhaps he was born at the wrong time but he definitely died too early – RIP Moses.
