Frank King (West Indian cricketer)
Frank McDonald King (14 December 1926 – 23 December 1990) was a West Indian cricketer from Barbados who played as a right-arm fast bowler. He appeared in 14 Test matches for the West Indies between 1953 and 1956, opening the bowling in three home series during the early 1950s.
He made his Test debut against India on 21 January 1953 (cap 75) and played his last Test on 3 March 1956 against New Zealand. Domestically, King played for Barbados (with a brief stint for Trinidad in 1950/51) from 1947/48 to 1956/57. In first-class cricket he took 90 wickets at an average of 28.75, with best figures of 5/35, and scored 237 runs with a top score of 30*.
On the 1952–53 India tour he was among the leading West Indian bowlers with 17 wickets. In the third Test against India he took 5/74 in India’s first innings and even broke the Indian wicketkeeper Ebrahim Maka’s hand. Wisden noted he relied on bumper deliveries too often. The following season he claimed eight wickets in three Tests against England. In 1954–55 against Australia, he took only three wickets in four Tests, though his highest Test score was 21 in the second innings of the First Test, helping to avert an innings defeat.
The 1955–56 New Zealand tour was hampered by injuries. After this, he never played for the West Indies again. He was not selected for the 1957 tour to England and retired from first-class cricket, moving to England where he played league cricket for West Bromwich Dartmouth in the Birmingham League. His best domestic bowling remained 5/35 against Jamaica in 1951–52. King died in England at Bescot, Walsall, in 1990, aged 64.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 10:04 (CET).