Neil Fitzgerald Williams (nicknamed ‘Nelly’) was born at Hopewell, St Vincent in the West Indies on 2nd July 1962 and emigrated to England with his family, when he was thirteen.
He represented Hornsey C.C. and the MCC Young Professionals as a young colt, before making his name as a right-arm fast-medium bowler and a useful right-handed batsman for Middlesex (1982-1994). He was awarded his county cap in 1984 and represented the county in 193 first-class matches, taking 479 wickets with a personal best of 8/75 (with match figures of 12/139) versus Gloucestershire at Lord’s in 1992. His highest score was 77 versus Warwickshire at Edgbaston in 1991. He played for England in one Test versus India at the Oval in 1990.
He wintered abroad with the Windward Islands (1982/1983-1991/1992), Tasmania (1983/1984) in the Sheffield Shield and with the English Counties XI in 1984/1985. He was awarded a richly deserved benefit in 1994, before finishing his career with Essex (1995-1998).
He died suddenly on 27th March 2006 from pneumonia, following a stroke in St Vincent. His premature death aged 43 was greatly mourned.
