Denis Atkinson dead

BRIDGETOWN , NOV. 12. Former West Indies cricket team captain Denis Atkinson, known for his part in a 1955 record wicket stand against Australia, has died from cancer, his wife said. He was 75.

Atkinson, who played 22 Tests with the West Indies between 1948 and 1958, died of skin cancer late Friday at his home in southern Barbados, Betty Atkinson said in a telephone interview.

``Denis died peacefully with family and friends around his bedside,'' she said.

In Atkinson's seven Tests as captain, the West Indies won three matches and lost three, drawing one.

But the cricket world will always remember Atkinson best for his world-record seventh wicket stand of 347 with teammate Clairmonte Depeiza against Australia in 1955. That record still stands.

Australia had posted a first innings total of 668 and reduced the West Indies to 156 for six in the Test match at the Kensington Oval in Bridgetown.

Atkinson went on to make 219 and Depeiza 122.

- AP.

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