Summary of odd cricket records

Summing up of my last few blogposts on this topic:

MOST TESTS WON

RT Ponting (Aus): 107

Current players: JM Anderson (Eng): 78

Indian players: SR Tendulkar: 72

WINNING ALL TESTS IN CAREER of 5 or more Tests

EAE Baptiste (WI): 10

Current: None

Indian: None

MOST TESTS WITHOUT A WIN IN CAREER of 5 or more Tests

B Sutcliffe (NZ): 42

Current: Nurul Hasan (BD): 7

Indian: BK Kunderan: 18

MOST TESTS LOST

S Chanderpaul (WI) 77

Current: JM Anderson (Eng): 61

Indian: SR Tendulkar: 56

LOSING ALL TESTS IN CAREER of 5 or more Tests

Alok Kapali (BD): 17

Current: None

Indian: None

MOST TESTS WITHOUT A LOSS IN CAREER of 5 or more Tests

RK Chauhan (Ind): 22

Current: AR Patel (Ind) : 6

Indian: RK Chauhan as above

MOST TESTS DRAWN

Kapil Dev (Ind): 76

Current: None of 40 or above

Indian: Kapil Dev as above

DRAWING ALL TESTS IN CAREER of 5 or more Tests

CV Gadkari (Ind): 6 &

Shafiq Ahmed (Pak): 6

Current: None

Indian: CV Gadkari as above

MOST TESTS WITHOUT A DRAW IN CAREER of 5 or more Tests

AK Markram (SA): 33

Current: AK Markram as above

Indian: HH Pandya: 11

(Special note: Markram also holds the record for the longest palindromic surname among Test players)

Most and least draws in Test matches

also see

Most and least wins in Test matches

and

Most and least losses in Test matches

Now for the third phase where we look at players who saw the most and least draws in their Test careers, for those who played in at least 5 Tests. These are for all Tests up to 30 Sep 2022 (except the ICC XI v Aus Test of 2005). A total of 1888 players have played in 5 or more Tests apiece,

It is easy enough to see who have seen the most draws. That is given in the next table. Naturally, this depends on how many Tests the player got to play in.

Headed by Kapil Dev (76) and Tendulkar (72) who are among the most capped Indian players. The first 4 names are from India, until Javed Miandad (62) takes 5th place.

There are no contemporary players here, the most recent being S Chanderpaul (48) who retired from Tests in 2015.

As mentioned above, the most by an Indian player is 76 by Kapil Dev.

These are those who have seen draws in all of their Tests.

That is a rather short list:

2 players, Gadkari of India and Shafiq Ahmed of Pakistan were unfortunate to see draws in each of their 6 Tests. Next there are one New Zealander, one Zimbabwean and another Indian with draws in each of their 5 Tests. All of PH Punjabi’s Tests came in an India-Pakistan series in 1954-55. (Also he was not born in Punjab but from faraway Karachi).

The record of 18 no-draws in 18 Tests was held by the 19th-century English bowler GA Lohmann for a long time. He had 15 wins and 3 losses.

This is the table for the most Tests (10 or more) without seeing a draw. As many as 121 players with more than 5 Tests qualify here:

In case Markram encounters a drawn Test now, he loses his record which will go back to Lohmann with 18.

Note the presence of Alok Kapali (all losses in 17 Tests) and E Baptiste (all wins in 10).

A quick summary of this and other connected posts will appear shortly.

Notes on the 2nd Test between England and South Africa, 2022

The two-Test series is now poised 1-1, with both matches finishing within 3 days with innings defeats.

Manchester continued to be an unlucky venue for SA as England leads 5-1 with 4 draws. SA won only in 1955.

The third Test is scheduled for Sep 8-12 at the Oval. Here England leads 7-1 with 7 draws. SA won only in 2012.

AK Markram played his 33rd Test, none of which were drawn. He has seen 20 wins and 13 losses.

Anderson became the first to play 100 Tests at home. Next is Tendulkar with 94.

Tendulkar has played the most Tests (200), followed by Anderson with 174. That is, naturally, a record for England.

Also see: https://abn397.wordpress.com/2022/08/25/most-tests-home-away-and-neutral/

Anderson also became the first to take 100 wickets in Tests between England and SA, Here are the top few:

SM Pollock, Donald and Barnes are next. Broad has 82, but is unlikely to cross his partner’s total.

Notes from the Johannesburg Test

This was the 6th Test played by India at this venue and their first defeat:

It is however difficult for South Africa and other teams to chase 200 or even 150 at this venue. Their 243/3 is their highest winning chase here. These are the only times it has happened:

Winning chases over 150 at Johannesburg:

The SA captain Dean Elgar was left on 96 not out at the end. There are several instances of being stranded in the 90s in a winning chase:

While there is only one 99 here, there are 98s by several including SC Ganguly and other famous names such as Hutton, GS Chappell and Atherton.

AL Wadekar was another Indian player who got up to the 90s when the target was reached.

Onwards to Cape Town:

India has never won at this venue. But if one fortress fell at Johannesburg, perhaps another can fall at Cape Town:

India vs SA at Cape Town:

India has 2 draws and 3 losses here.

Shardul Thakur’s record:

Here are the best innings bowling performances in India-South Africa Tests:

SN Thakur’s 7-61 in SA’s first innings was the best for India v SA. The previous best was 7-66 by R Ashwin at Nagpur in 2015. The previous best for India v SA in SA was 7-120 by Harbhajan Singh at Cape Town in 2011.

His match bowling figures of 8-108 were not so impressive.

Markram again

AK Markram has played 28 Tests. 17 were won by SA, 11 lost and none drawn.

His 28 Tests are the most played by anyone who has not seen a draw. Next is GA Lohmann from 19th-century England, whose 18 Tests included 15 wins and 3 losses.

Aiden Markram is back (Updated to Jan 15, 2022)

Refresh your memory here:

http://www.espncricinfo.com/southafrica/content/player/600498.html

As readers of this column know, Aiden Markram has the longest palindromic name among international cricketers, with the competition coming from Rangy Nanan and Arun Lal (besides Talat Ali and Naman Ojha).

https://abn397.wordpress.com/2017/09/30/palindromic-names-for-cricketers/

Apart from that, he had a good run at the start, with 97 on debut and centuries in his second and third Tests. (It helps if you are playing at home in South Africa against Bangladesh for two Tests followed by Zimbabwe).

Anyway, he was a sort of lucky charm for South Africa as they won in each of his first 5 Tests. India broke this spell when they won the 3rd Test of the 2017-18 series.

He had a bad tour of India in 2019, making a second-ball pair (or silver pair) in the second Test before being dropped for the third.

Anyway he holds another peculiar record in all Tests. He has played the most Tests (29) without ever seeing a draw, up to Jan 15, 2022. 18 of these matches were won by South Africa and 11 were lost.

The record was earlier held by England’s George Lohmann (18 Tests) of long ago, who saw 15 wins and 3 losses. Next is a recent player KK Jennings (Eng) with 17 (12 wins and 5 losses). Alok Kapali (BD) shares this tally of 17 (0 wins and 17 losses). Once Markram encounters a drawn Test, the record goes back to Lohmann.

I wonder if anyone has told Markram of this record. At least it sounds more impressive than being the 21st batsman to make a silver pair.