| Richard Austin is a former Jamaican all rounder who | | | | found himself caught up in. |
| played two Tests for the West Indies in 1978. Austin | | | | Austin's First Class record was decent, although not |
| was one of those players who got an opportunity at | | | | spectacular. The allrounder played only 38 First Class |
| the highest level without making an impact. Given the | | | | matches between 1974 and 1983. That his First Class |
| strength of the regional team in the late 70s and his | | | | career ended at 29 had a lot to do with matters off |
| involvement in controversy, he was unable to get a | | | | the field, including his involvement with the rebel tour to |
| long run in the international arena. | | | | apartheid South Africa. That indiscretion earned him a |
| Born in Kingston, Jamaica on September 5, 1954, the | | | | life ban from domestic and international cricket. The |
| allrounder was first part of the West Indies Young | | | | absence of the safety net probably caused the |
| Cricketers (now called the West Indies Under-19s) | | | | Jamaican allrounder to drift hopelessly later in life. |
| before making his debut as a 20-year old for Jamaica | | | | From his 38 First Class matches, Austin scored 2,097 |
| in the 1974/1975 domestic season. According to | | | | runs at an average of 33.82. He had four centuries |
| Cricinfo's Martin Williamson, Austin could bowl either | | | | and 14 half-centuries, with a career-best 141. With the |
| medium pace or off-spin. | | | | ball, the allrounder managed 73 wickets at an average |
| Austin earned a West Indies call-up for the 1978 home | | | | of 31.21, with a best innings bowling analysis of 8/71. |
| series against Australia. On debut, he scored only two | | | | Austin also played one ODI for the Caribbean side in |
| runs, although the West Indies inflicted an innings defeat | | | | 1978, in which he scored 8 runs and bowled one over |
| on Australia. In the second match, Austin scored 20 | | | | for 13 runs. |
| runs in what was his second and last innings in Test | | | | After his ban for participation in the rebel tours to |
| cricket. As a young cricketer in the late 70s, Kerry | | | | South Africa, Austin's career and life went downhill. |
| Packer's World Series Cricket was an option. Austin | | | | According to Williamson, Austin "became a homeless |
| was good enough to be a peripheral player in that | | | | drug addict." He was an unfulfilled talent-the kind that |
| setup. According to Martin Williamson, the WSC | | | | leaves one wondering what might have been. |
| created controversy, which the Jamaican allrounder | | | | |