Dwayne Leverock

Russell Dwayne Mark Leverock (born 14 July 1971) is a Bermudian former cricketer.

He also served as a policeman and prison van driver.

He was popularly nicknamed by his teammates as "Sluggo" during his playing days.

Living above an Indian restaurant in Bermuda, Leverock worked as a jailer during his time on the team.

Mahela Jayawardene made the most out of two costly dropped catches due to sloppy fielding from Dwayne Leverock by top scoring with a fluent knock of 85 which also marked his 35th career ODI half-century.

Sri Lanka made 321 runs on the board for a loss of 6 wickets and Leverock's 10 overs cost 67 runs in the end.

Bermuda went onto lose the game to Sri Lanka by a huge margin of 243 runs after being bowled out for just 78 runs.

In March 1989, he joined the Bermuda Police Service as a Cadet.

He also went onto serve in different units within the Bermuda Police Service including Police Task Force, Prosecutions Department, Central Station Jailor, Eastern and Central Patrol Divisions.

As of 2021, he was working as a Police Dispatcher in the Operations Centre, Prospect.

Bermuda Police Service confirmed that constable Leverock was a recipient of Police Long Service Awards.

He has also represented Bermuda Police Service in several international soccer competitions including North American Police Soccer Championships.

He has also represented Bermuda in all eight of their ICC Intercontinental Cup matches to date, with a best of 7/57 against the USA in 2004.

He played an instrumental role in Bermuda's dream run at the 2005 ICC Trophy which guaranteed Bermuda a spot for the 2007 Cricket World Cup.

He took nine wickets at the 2005 ICC Trophy which also included a crucial four-wicket haul against United States of America which propelled Bermuda to a emphatic win by a margin of 113 runs and also helped Bermuda to secure it's place for the 2007 World Cup in the West Indies.

He also played in the 2005 ICC Trophy, the ICC Americas Championship in 2004 and 2006, and in the 2006 Stanford 20/20.

Leverock made his debut representing the Bermudian cricket team in Bermuda's first ever One Day International when they played Canada on 17 May 2006 and the match was part of a triangular series which also involved Zimbabwe.

Leverock claimed one of Canada's wickets as Bermuda won the game by three wickets under the Duckworth-Lewis method.

Leverock made an impressive ODI debut by ending his figures conceding only 14 runs in a 10 over spell.

He has since gone onto play for Bermuda in 11 ODIs, and picked up the first five wicket haul by a Bermudian bowler in ODIs, when he took 5/53 against Kenya which he achieved by opening the bowling, no mean feat for a spin bowler.

He registered the five-wicket haul during the third and final ODI between Kenya and Bermuda which was played in Kenyan soil in November 2006 albeit in a heavy loss to Kenya.

It was also the first official five-wicket haul by a bowler for Bermuda in international cricket and his fifer also included the prized wicket of Kenyan captain Steve Tikolo who took the game away from Bermuda with a magnificent century.

Despite Bermuda having lost the series 3-0, Leverock provided some respite on the tour by being the joint wicket-taker of the series alongside Kenya's Thomas Odoyo with seven scalps.

As a batsman, Leverock made his first half-century against the Netherlands in the 2006 ICC Intercontinental Cup, including 8 fours, and shared in a 132-run partnership with Glamorgan captain David Hemp.

He scored 51 runs after facing 119 deliveries before being given out after an appeal for leg before wicket off the bowling of Peter Borren.

It was reported that he "enjoyed his time at the crease so much that he expressed dissent when he was given out lbw, and was consequently fined for the action.".

At the 2007 Cricket World Cup he was the largest player to grace the pitch, weighing in at 20 stone (280 pounds or 127 kg).

However he is not regarded as the heaviest man to ever play international cricket.

West Indies right-arm off-break bowler Rahkeem Cornwall weighs over 140 kg and Warwick Armstrong weighed about 22 stone.

Leverock's most memorable moment came during the group stage match against India, where he took a one-handed stunning, diving catch which became one of the talking points during the tournament and was praised globally.

His catch at 2007 Cricket World Cup is regarded as one of the greatest catches of all time.

He made his second half-century (also 51) against the Netherlands in the 2007–08 ICC Intercontinental Cup, which included some powerful straight fours.

In a warm up game against England, as preparation for the 2007 Cricket World Cup, Leverock took the wickets of Paul Collingwood and notably Kevin Pietersen, his 10 over spell returning figures of 2 for 32 and resulting in Leverock attaining a cult following around the world.

Leverock noticed that Kevin Pietersen and Andrew Flintoff were both mocking and chuckling at some of the deliveries bowled by him which eventually propelled him to raise his bar.

Leverock commented, "It was the first time I have played against a team like this. I settled into a rhythm, and when I settled, I took wickets. The wicket was turning a little bit".

England captain Michael Vaughan was full of praise for Leverock's performance.

"He bowled very well. Any spinner that drags Kevin Pietersen out of his crease, and does him in the flight, is a good bowler".

Despite Leverock's solid efforts, England comfortably won the match by 241 runs.

Bermuda's debut World Cup match came against Sri Lanka during a group stage match and Leverock took the prized scalp of Sri Lanka wicket-keeper Kumar Sangakkara, but missed two opportunities to catch Sri Lanka captain, Mahela Jayawardene.

Bermuda then played India in their second World Cup match which was played at Queen's Park Oval in Port of Spain on 19 March 2007.