- Joined
- 3 Jul 2017
- Messages
- 39,510
- Likes
- 128,589
- AFL Club
- Port Adelaide
Discussion Cricket Discussion
- Thread starter Goodie's Guns
- Start date
- Joined
- 3 Jul 2017
- Messages
- 39,510
- Likes
- 128,589
- AFL Club
- Port Adelaide
- Joined
- 3 Jul 2017
- Messages
- 39,510
- Likes
- 128,589
- AFL Club
- Port Adelaide
I watched the first day at Adelaide in 2012, when Australia made 482 against South Africa. Was this a record first-day score? asked Michael Johnstone from Australia
Australia recovered from 55 for 3 to amass 482 for 5 on that first day against South Africa in Adelaide in November 2012, with David Warner and Mike Hussey scoring centuries, and Michael Clarke going on to 230 the next day.
Surprisingly, perhaps, it's not quite the tallest score on the first day of a Test: in Sydney in 1910-11, also against South Africa, Australia ran up 494 for 6, with Clem Hill making 191 and Warren Bardsley 132. It's clearly an Australian speciality: they are in third place too, with 475 for 2 against England at The Oval in 1934, when Bill Ponsford and Don Bradman both hit double-centuries. The most runs in any day's play in a Test is 588, by England (who went from 173 for 2 to 571 for 8) and India (190 for 0) on the second day at Old Trafford in 1936.
Can you tell me which players finished close to milestones in their international careers without quite getting there? I think Shahid Afridi is notable in this regard, asked Ali Siddiqui from Switzerland
You're right that Shahid Afridi finished up close to bowling milestones in all three international formats: he took 395 wickets in one-day internationals, 98 in T20Is, and 48 in Test matches. Derek Underwood took 297 Test wickets, the same number Ishant Sharma currently has, while Kagiso Rabada has 197, Josh Hazlewood 195 and Kemar Roach 193. The Pakistan spinner Abdur Rehman and the Australian bowlers Ben Hilfenhaus and Arthur Mailey all ended up with 99 Test wickets. Dwayne Bravo and Nuwan Kulasekara both have 199 in ODIs, while Nathan Astle finished with 99. For the batsmen, I suppose the most famous near-miss remains Don Bradman's 6996 runs in Tests. But England's Tom Haywardfinished with 1999, and his long-time Ashes opponent Monty Noble with 1997. Michael Clarke made 7981 runs in ODIs, and Graeme Smith 6989.
Which Test cricketer once broke the world triple-jump record? Was it CB Fry? asked James Moore from England
The remarkable all-round sportsman CB Fry once equalled the world record for the long jump, while at Oxford University in 1893, but he doesn't seem to have branched out into what was more usually called the "hop, step and jump" back then. The man who attempted the triple jump was Grace - not WG, who was a handy hurdler in his youth, but his older brother Edward Mills Grace, who was usually known just as EM, or "The Coroner" because of his day job. The Grace brothers opened in the first Test played on English soil, at The Oval in 1880. EM apparently set a world's best for the triple jump in 1866 - but you won't find it in many reference books, because World Athletics (formerly the International Amateur Athletic Federation) only recognised the event for world-record purposes in 1912.
Xavier Marshall recently played another one-day international ten years after his previous one. What's the record for the longest gap? asked Shafqat Baksh from the United States
Xavier Marshall reappeared for the United States in April 2019, ten years and 110 days after his previous ODI, for West Indies. There are only four players with longer gaps between one-day international appearances. Another West Indian, Floyd Reifer, played no ODIs between February 1999 and a surprise recall as captain in the middle of a contracts dispute in July 2009. The Hampshire o***pinner Shaun Udal reappeared for England in 2005, more than ten years after his previous ODI, and fast bowler Anderson Cummins, who had played the last of his 63 ODIs for West Indies in December 1995, popped up for Canada before the 2007 World Cup, when he was nearly 41. But the leader on this particular list is the New Zealand allrounder Jeff Wilson, who went 11 years 331 days between ODI appearances in 1992-93 and 2004-05. In the interim he had carved out a very successful rugby union career with New Zealand's All Blacks. Wilson had missed 271 matches and Reifer 254.
The Bombay and Baroda player Vasant Raiji recently passed away in India. Who is now the oldest living first-class cricketer?asked Joel Pojas from the Philippines
Vasant Raiji, who died last week aged 100, did play for both Bombay and Baroda - he scored 68 and 53 for Baroda against Maharashtra in Poona(now Pune) in December 1944 - but was probably better known as a cricket writer. He produced sought-after books on Ranjitsinhji, CK Nayudu and Victor Trumper, among many others. Raiji's successor as the oldest surviving first-class cricketer appears to be a New Zealander, Alan Burgess, who celebrated his 100th birthday on May 1. A slow left-armer who gradually concentrated more on his batting, Burgess took 6 for 52 (and 9 for 113 in the match) on his first-class debut, for Canterbury against Otago in Christchurch, in a match that started on Christmas Day 1940.
- Joined
- 3 Jul 2017
- Messages
- 39,510
- Likes
- 128,589
- AFL Club
- Port Adelaide
- Joined
- 3 Jul 2017
- Messages
- 39,510
- Likes
- 128,589
- AFL Club
- Port Adelaide
- Joined
- 3 Jul 2017
- Messages
- 39,510
- Likes
- 128,589
- AFL Club
- Port Adelaide
- Joined
- 3 Jul 2017
- Messages
- 39,510
- Likes
- 128,589
- AFL Club
- Port Adelaide
- Joined
- 3 Jul 2017
- Messages
- 39,510
- Likes
- 128,589
- AFL Club
- Port Adelaide
Australia's one-day series with Zimbabwe in August has been postponed by mutual agreement due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Cricket Australia announced today. The three-match tour had been scheduled for August 9-15 and would have marked the end of a 12-year absence of international cricket in Australia's far north. Zimbabwe are currently ranked 14th in the International Cricket Council's ODI team rankings, behind the Netherlands and Oman. A limited-overs tour of England in September could instead be a return to action for Australia’s men’s side, with discussions between the two nations ongoing about rescheduling a campaign that had originally been slated for early next month.
The now postponed Zimbabwe series would have marked the first ever visit by a senior Australian men's team to Townsville's Riverway Stadium, where the third match of the series was to to be played, while Darwin had been floated as a possible venue for the other two matches. Australia's senior men's squad have not visited Darwin since a training camp in mid-2017 ahead of a tour to Bangladesh.
A CA statement said a combination of factors including the short length of the series and the significant bio-security measures that would need to be implemented contributed to the decision to postpone. Australia requires a mandatory 14-day quarantine period for international arrivals.
There were also concerns for the health and safety of players, match officials and volunteers with the pandemic still ongoing.
The postponement comes with Victoria suffering a 'second wave' of COVID-19 cases in the state, which saw the Queensland government announce a 14-day quarantine period for its sporting teams that play against Melbourne-based sides.
As of Monday, Queensland had just two active COVID-19 cases while the Northern Territory had none, and has had just 30 confirmed cases in total. "While we are disappointed to postpone the series, CA and Zimbabwe Cricket agree that in the best interest of players, match officials, volunteers as well as our fans, that this is the most practical and sensible decision," CA's interim chief executive Nick Hockley said in a statement.
"We are committed to working with Zimbabwe Cricket on alternative dates to reschedule."
Zimbabwe have not visited Australia since the 2003-04 summer when they played two Tests – including Matthew Hayden's then world-record score of 380 – and featured in a ODI tri-series with India.Their last meeting in ODI cricket saw Zimbabwe spring an upset win in a 2014 tri-series played in Harare when the Michael Clarke-captained side could only reach 9-209 in 50 overs, a target that was chased down with two overs to spare.
Australia had dropped Steve Smith – a decision an outspoken Clarke called "disappointing" in the wash-up - and rested Mitchell Johnson for the match, but then coach Darren Lehmann said: "There's probably not enough expletives in the English language at the moment for the way I'm feeling. It's just embarrassing for everyone involved in the touring party, and I hope they're hurting. They should be."
Australia last visited Zimbabwe for a T20 tri-series in mid-2018, memorable for captain Aaron Finch's 172, a world record T20 international score. "We were excited about facing Australia but, given the circumstances, deferring the tour was the only possible option," said Givemore Makoni, Zimbabwe Cricket's acting managing director. "We are, however, looking forward to the rescheduling of the series as soon as practically possible."
- Joined
- 3 Jul 2017
- Messages
- 39,510
- Likes
- 128,589
- AFL Club
- Port Adelaide
- Joined
- 3 Jul 2017
- Messages
- 39,510
- Likes
- 128,589
- AFL Club
- Port Adelaide
- Joined
- 3 Jul 2017
- Messages
- 39,510
- Likes
- 128,589
- AFL Club
- Port Adelaide
- Joined
- 3 Jul 2017
- Messages
- 39,510
- Likes
- 128,589
- AFL Club
- Port Adelaide
- Joined
- 3 Jul 2017
- Messages
- 39,510
- Likes
- 128,589
- AFL Club
- Port Adelaide
I see from his player page that Don Bradman hit only six sixes in Tests. Who were the unfortunate bowlers? asked Paritosh Bhatt from India
You're right in thinking that only 36 of the 6996 runs Don Bradman made in Tests came from sixes - he preferred to keep the ball on the ground, and hit well over 600 fours. A statistical oddity is that all six sixes came from left-arm bowlers, three off England's Hedley Verity. Bradman's first six in a Test came during the 1932-33 Bodyline series, in Adelaide, when he on-drove Verity over the boundary: he was caught and bowled next ball for 66, as Australia slid to a heavy defeat in a bad-tempered game. Two-thirds of the Don's Test sixes came in the next Ashes series, in England in 1934. During his 304 in the fourth Test at Headingley he hit two sixes late on the second day - another off Verity to reach 244, and one off the medium-pace cutters of Len Hopwood to advance to 268. He added three more runs that night before the close, giving him 102 runs in all in the final session: such was his dominance of the England bowlers that a wag in the crowd shouted "Put on Dolphin!" - Arthur Dolphin, the old Yorkshire wicketkeeper, was one of the umpires.
Then in the final Test at The Oval, Bradman hit Verity for six again to reach 234 of his eventual 244 in the first innings - he was out before the end of a first day on which Australia amassed 475 for 2 - and hooked left-arm seamer Nobby Clark, who was bowling with something like a Bodyline leg-side field, into the crowd when he had nine of his second-innings 77. Bradman did not hit another six in Tests for nearly 14 years, before tucking in to another slow left-armer, India's Vinoo Mankad, in Adelaide in 1947-48. Bradman's sixth Test six took him to 144, and he was out around an hour later for 201, the last of his dozen Test double-centuries: more than 70 years later, no one has matched this number.
Herbert Sutcliffe scored 161 against Australia at The Oval in 1926, and again in 1930 - is this the highest repeat score at the same venue? asked Daren Fawkes from Australia
There are actually two higher such doubles than Herbert Sutcliffe's twin 161s for England in Ashes Tests at The Oval in 1926 and in 1930. Mahela Jayawardene scored 167 twice in Galle - for Sri Lanka against New Zealand in 1998 and against South Africa in 2000. But on top of the list is Greg Chappell, who made 182 not out for Australia against West Indies in Sydney in 1975-76, and added 182 in his final Test, against Pakistan at the SCG in 1983-84. The highest repeat score in Tests, not at the same venue, is 203 not out, which, remarkably, was achieved by two different batsmen. Shivnarine Chanderpaul did it for West Indies against South Africa in Georgetown in 2004-05, and against Bangladesh in Mirpur in 2012-13. This mirrored the feat of Pakistan's Shoaib Mohammad, who made 203 not out against India in Lahore in 1989-90, and repeated that score against West Indies in Karachi the following season. Shoaib's father, Hanif Mohammad, scored 203 not out against New Zealand in Lahore in 1964-65.
Who scored a double-century on first-class debut and a hundred in his first Test? asked Gordon Brine from South Africa
The only man to complete this notable double is the stylish Indian batsman Gundappa Viswanath, who made 230 on his first-class debut, for Mysore against Andhra in Vijayawada in 1967-68, then two years later, in the first of his 91 Tests, made 137 against Australia in Kanpur. He received a little bit of help: "I committed another of my costly fielding errors, this time acting as fairy godmother to GR Viswanath in his Test debut," remembered Australia's opener Keith Stackpole. "Following a duck in the first innings, he was on 98 when I stopped a shot from him at point. He took off, and I threw the ball too high, giving him his hundred."
Who has played the most Test matches without taking a catch? asked Jeremy Nicholson from Australia
There are four men who have played ten Tests without holding on to a catch. The first to do so was the unorthodox Australia left-arm spinner Chuck Fleetwood-Smith in the 1930s. He has since been joined by the Sri Lankan spinner Jayananda Warnaweera, the tall Indian seamer Abey Kuruvilla, and the Pakistan paceman Mohammad Imran Khan, who played his most recent Test in November 2019, so may yet get off this list (or rise to the top of it). Tendai Chatara, the Zimbabwe seamer, has so far played nine Tests without taking a catch. Pakistan fast bowler Ata-ur-Rehman made no fewer than 30 one-day international appearances without taking a catch. Another seamer, West Indies' Oshane Thomas, has so far played 20 (and a record 32 internationals all told). The Afghanistan spinner Amir Hamza Hotak played 31 T20Is without taking a catch.
Bangladesh won their recent Test against Zimbabwe by an innings. Was this their first innings victory in Tests? asked Craig Marshall from England
Bangladesh's win, by an innings and 106 runs, over Zimbabwe in Mirpur in February was their 14th Test victory overall - but the second by an innings. Their previous win, over West Indies in Mirpur in November 2018, was by an innings and 184 runs. They still have a fair bit of ground to make up: Bangladesh have so far lost 89 Tests, 43 of them by an innings.
- Joined
- 3 Jul 2017
- Messages
- 39,510
- Likes
- 128,589
- AFL Club
- Port Adelaide
- Joined
- 3 Jul 2017
- Messages
- 39,510
- Likes
- 128,589
- AFL Club
- Port Adelaide
- Joined
- 3 Jul 2017
- Messages
- 39,510
- Likes
- 128,589
- AFL Club
- Port Adelaide
- Joined
- 3 Jul 2017
- Messages
- 39,510
- Likes
- 128,589
- AFL Club
- Port Adelaide