Patrick Patterson played international cricket for just 6-7 years but did enough in the short period to earn his name as one of the fiercest fast bowlers in the world. Making his debut for West Indies in the absence of Michael Holding in 1986 at Sabina Park against England, Patterson burst onto the scene straightaway with 7 wickets in the match which the hosts won comfortably. He retained his place in the team and became a regular in the squad.

He played only 28 Tests in the period but had some memorable outings, like the career best 5 for 24 against India in 1987-88, bowling them out in just over 30 overs. However, his best spell came against Australia in the 1988-89 Boxing Day Test at Melbourne. An angry Patterson, who had stormed into the Australian dressing room and threatened them for bowling short-pitch stuff to him, took 5 wickets in the innings (and 9 in the match) to bowl out Australia for 114 in their chase of 400.

Patterson played for 4 more years but was dropped for disciplinary reasons after the 1992-93 Australian tour. Never to return, the viscous pace machine disappeared from the face of cricket.

He took 93 wickets from 28 Tests at a superb strike rate of around 50, although his average was slightly on the higher side thanks to his attacking nature.

There has been no news about Patterson's whereabouts post his cricketing career. Some say he has landed in a mental asylum as a consequence of acute drug abuse while others believe that he has shifted base to USA.

By Karthik Lakshmanan