Batting recoveries 3: Doubling the score by the 8th wicket partners

The last post in our series on great batting recoveries covers cases where the 8th-wicket pair doubled the score after the 7th wicket fell. There are 24 such instances; 13 resulted in losses, 4 in draws and 7 in wins.

These matches are tabulated below:

The highest such 8th-wicket partnership of 332 by Trott and Broad in that tainted Lord’s match of 2010, where it is very likely that Pakistan’s bowlers deliberately allowed them to add runs to satisfy the requirements of the fixers. The “genuine” highest partnership would then be the 313 by Akram and Saqlain in the only Test ever played at Sheikhpura.

The highest ratio of (8th wkt partnership)/( sum of 1st to 7th wicket partnerships) is 3.255 by Trott and Broad (102/7 to 434/8) followed by 2.423 by Absolom and Lord Harris (26/7 to 89/8). The lowest here is 1.053 by debutants Morkel and Vincent who went from 38/7 to 78/8.

Absolom and Harris did this as early as 1879, unlike the 9th wicket recoveries starting from 1946 and 10th wicket recoveries starting from 1980.

Soon afterwards Absolom became the first (and only?) Test player to be killed by sugar bags (or bananas?) falling from a ship’s crane.Also see https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/_/id/22972852/the-curious-affair-charlie-absolom

Lord Harris went on to bigger things, not necessarily in cricket. He did, however see England win in all his 5 Tests although he hardly contributed to these victories.

If you look at the ratio of (innings total)/(sum of 1st to 7th wicket partnerships) the highest is 4.333 where Blunt and Dickinson started the recovery from 21/7 to 64/8 which went on to 112. This was New Zealand’s first ever Test and noted for debutant MJC Allom’s hat-trick and 4 wickets in 5 balls. Next is 3.474 by Morkel and Vincent, who started with 38/7 and went to 78/8 and finally 170. This is a little better than 3.255 by Trott and Broad, 102/7 to 434/8 and finally 446.

The lowest is the anemic 1.250 by Pakistan in 2017, going from 36/7 to 78/8 and 81.

Of special note was the England-WI Test of 1966 which witnessed a 200+ stand for the 8th wicket (Graveney and Murray) as well as a 100+ stand for the 10th wicket (Higgs and Snow), taking them from 166/7 to 383/8, 399/9 and finally 527. This ended a series of heavy defeats by the West Indies, and marked the start of the short reign of the maverick captain DB Close.

The Lord’s Dishonour Boards

You know all about the Test honours boards at Lord’s, which have been  covered in this blog a few times.

You also know who never did well while playing in several matches at Lord’s: https://abn397.wordpress.com/2016/10/28/those-who-missed-the-bus-at-lords/

Now imagine the concept of a Dishonour Board. For batting, this would be anyone who gets a genuine pair (dismissed for a duck in both innings) at Lord’s:

Dismissed for a duck at Lord’s:

India contributed Murali Vijay and Kuldeep Yadav in the 2018 Test. Earlier that season, Stuart Broad was dismissed for a silver pair (out second ball in each innings). No instance could be found of a golden pair (first ball in each innings) and bronze pair (third ball).

As you may guess, most of these players are not specialist batsmen (though Prior, Stokes and Murali Vijay are exceptions).

Botham’s pair in 1981 was the final trigger to his dismissal from the captaincy, when England trailed 0-1 in the second Test of an Ashes series. Brearley came back as captain, and the rest was history  as England won three Tests in a row to win 3-1.

Now we look at those who bowled in each innings of a match and had match figures of  0-100 or worse:

The most runs conceded are 143 by West Indian Fidel Edwards and 142 by Australian AC Agar. The only instance from India is that of Shastri, who came up against Gooch’s 333 and 123 in 1990.

And finally, we look at wicket-keepers who did not make a dismissal after fielding in both innings of a match:

Leslie Ames appears here three times in the 1930s. A number of other prominent keepers ranging from Waite to de Villiers are here.

Now someone like Andy Zaltzman can take this up further and put up the Dishonour Boards at Lord’s.

 

 

Review of England-Pakistan Tests-2018 (2)

After covering general results and batting figures in the first part, we move on to bowling figures:

Most wickets (25 and above):

Qadir has by far the most wickets and Anderson is unlikely to overtake him. Broad and M. Amir are next among current players

Best innings bowling (including all 7wi and above):

Qadir again at the top. No good performances in the last few years. In fact the 2018 series did not see anyone take a five-for.

Best match bowling (including all 10wm and above):

Underwood and Qadir lead. Nothing from the current series, though Woakes and Yasir Shah are there from 2016.

Bowling averages (Minimum 2000 balls, all instances):

Anderson has by far the best bowling average, followed by his partner Broad. Qadir is somewhat further down. M. Amir is also there from the current series.

The best economy rates are by Iqbal Qasim (1.82) and DA Allen (1.90). The best strike rates are by by Waqar Younis (48.5) and almost the same by Anderson (48.6).

Fielding records:

Most dismissals (15 and above):

Wasim Bari has by far the most dismissals, followed unexpectedly by Kamran Akmal. Bari and Sarfraz Ahmed have the most stumpings. Cook, Miandad and Younis Khan share the record for non-keepers.

Best innings fielding (5 or more dismissals):

Sarfraz Ahmed has done this in 2015, 2016 and 2018.

Best match fielding (6 or more dismissals):

Wasim Bari and Kamran Akmal (!) have the record of 8 dismissals. Bairstow had 7 in 2016. Greig and Hick have the most catches (6) by non-keepers.

Best dismissal rate (Minimum 20 innings, 0.500 and above):

Knott and Taylor lead, while Asad Shafiq and Cook have the most among current players. Trescothick and Atherton have the best rates for non-keepers. Sarfraz Ahmed has not played enough.

Overall all-round performances (see criteria):

Botham and Broad lead, followed by Intikhab Alam at a distance. Imran Khan does not seem to have played enough.

All-round match performances (50 and 5wi):

Imran and Botham appear here twice apiece, along with some unexpected appearances by Abdul Qadir and others. Qadir has one of the rare doubles of a fifty and ten-for in a match, while Botham had a century and 8-34.