Franklyn DaCosta Stephenson, born at Saint James Parish, Barbados on April 8, 1959, is a former cricketer who had a first-class career for teams in four continents. He was a hard-hitting middle-order batsman and a right-arm bowler who, at his peak, was genuinely fast; in addition, he developed a pioneering slower ball and was the first bowler to use it regularly in one-day cricket. Bold text Saint James is a parish of Barbados on the western side of the island, and is becoming increasingly known as the playground of the rich and famous, and a haven for sun-starved tourists. ... April 8 is the 98th day of the year (99th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1959 (MCMLIX) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... A cricketer is a term used to refer to a person who plays cricket. ... First-class cricket matches are those between international teams or the highest standard of domestic teams in which teams have two innings each. ... In the sport of cricket, a slower ball is a slower-than-usual delivery from a fast bowler. ...

A true all-rounder, Stephenson came to prominence first playing for the West Indies Young Cricketers team that toured England in 1978. Then, in less than eight months from the end of October 1981, he made his first-class debut, first in Australia, playing for Tasmania, then for his native Barbados, and finally for Gloucestershire in England. Learie Constantine, was one of the first great West Indian players. ... The Tasmanian Tigers are the official first-class cricket team of Tasmania, Australia. ... Gloucestershire County Cricket Club is an English domestic first-class cricket club based at County Cricket Ground, Bristol. ...

But the debut that was to a large extent to define Stephenson's career was his one the following winter, 1982-83, on a fourth continent. He joined the rebel West Indies XI, led by Lawrence Rowe and Alvin Kallicharran, that toured South Africa, and played in so-called "Test" matches and "One Day Internationals" against the South African national cricket team that had been barred from world cricket because of apartheid. The rebel West Indian cricketers were themselves then barred from all levels of West Indies cricket for life, until the ban was lifted in 1992, and Stephenson never played true Test cricket. He is widely regarded as the greatest cricketer never to have played for the West Indies ^[1]. Lawrence George Rowe (born January 8, 1949) in Kingston, Jamaica was a West Indian cricketer. ... Alvin Issac Kallicharran was (born 21 March 1945) a West Indian batsman during the 1970s. ... The South African cricket team, also known as The Proteas, is a national cricket team representing South Africa. ... A segregated beach in South Africa, 1982. ... A Test match between South Africa and England in January 2005. ...

In fact, unlike most of the West Indian rebels, Stephenson did return to cricket in the West Indies, playing for Barbados in the 1989-90 Red Stripe Cup series. But most of his career was spent playing for English county teams and for Free State in South Africa. The Carib Beer Cup is the current name of the first class cricket competition in the West Indies which is contested between the six teams with permanent first class status. ... The Orange Free State cricket team was a cricket team that played in the South African cricket competition until the province of Orange Free State was renamed to become the Free State in 1995. ...

Stephenson's first season for Nottinghamshire in 1988 was sensational. Since the reduction in English first-class games in 1969, only one player, the New Zealander Richard Hadlee, had achieved the all-rounder's "double" of 1,000 runs and 100 wickets. Stephenson in 1988 became the second and, so far, the last to achieve this feat, making 1018 runs and taking 125 wickets. He was named a Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1989 for this achievement, and was also the Cricket Society's leading all-rounder. Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Nottinghamshire. ... Sir Richard John Hadlee MBE (born July 3, 1951) is a former New Zealand cricketer. ... A cricket player is said to achieve the double if he scores a thousand or more runs and also takes a hundred or more wickets in first-class matches during the course of a single season. ... The Wisden Cricketers of the Year award is made annually in the pages of the Wisden Cricketers Almanack yearbook. ...

Without quite achieving those heights again, Stephenson was an effective all-rounder for three further seasons for Nottinghamshire, before he transferred in 1992 to Sussex, where he had four further productive seasons. In 1994, he again took the leading all-rounder award with more than 750 runs and 67 wickets. Sussex field against Derbyshire at Hove on 24 April 2005 The Arthur Gilligan stand at Hove The Pavilion at Hove Leaving the County Ground at Hove Sussex County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county...

Stephenson retired from English county cricket after 1995, and from South African domestic cricket after the 1996-97 season.

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