Akila Dananjaya’s comeback

Akila Dananjaya now has the best match figures by Sri Lankan bowler making his Test debut.

Apart from the best match figures on debut, he also has the second-best innings figures:

Match figures for Sri Lankan bowlers on debut:

(Kuruppuarachchi played only one more Test and Ahangama two more. The latter did not play after his debut series).

Innings figures for Sri Lankan bowlers on debut:

Not bad when you consider he once held a dubious record in ODI record. In March 2017, he was the only current player who had not batted, bowled or fielded in his ODI career. Here is an edited extract from my earlier post of 27/03/2017 titled “All-round fails in ODIs”:

_____________________________________________________________________________________

No batting, bowling and fielding in ODIs (complete list):

 

This explains what had happened in his one ODI till then:

http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/match/582191.html

In this rain-affected match, his team did bat and got to 123/8. He was to bat at No 10 or 11 and never got to bat. And he could not bowl or field as rain prevented New Zealand’s innings from starting

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

Soon after this was written, his ODI career resumed and he became a regular ODI player, with a high of a 6-for against the all-conquering touring team of India besides a 50 against Pakistan. He may well become a regular in all 3 formats.

These are his current figures. Note that he has a nice smile. One needs to be cheerful to come back after an inauspicious start.

http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/content/player/574178.html

 

The Test debutants of 2016-2

We complete this review with a look at the fielding and all-round performances of those who made their Test debut in 2016.

Of the 44 debutants, only one, PJ Moor of Zimbabwe, was a wicket-keeper. He took precisely one catch on debut. So whatever we have here is applicable to non-keepers.

Most dismissals in an innings (2 or more):

Most dismissals in a match (4 or more):

Hameed and Raval have the best performances here, as well as in batting and fielding (see below). The South Asian diaspora seems to be coming along well.

All-round performances (at least 30 runs and 3 wickets in match):

All-round performances (at least 30 runs and 3 dismissals in match):

 

The Test debutants of 2016-1

A total of 44 players made their Test debut during the calendar year 2016. Here we take a look at their performances in their debut matches and briefly look at their progress until February 2017.

Innings scores of 40 and above:

and match totals of 50 and above:

12 instances of 50+ on debut, including centuries by SC Cook and KK Jennings. 3 others (J Yadav, Dhananjaya de Silva and KS Maharaj) also scored at least 50 runs in the match. H Hameed scored over 100 in his debut match without a century. Jennings became one of only 4 to score a century and duck on debut; GR Viswanath was the first to do so.

Cook has so far made 3 centuries and Dhananjaya  and Handscomb 2 apiece, while others including Gunaratne and Yadav have also scored centuries. Most of those listed above have made steady progress as batsmen (and in some cases as bowlers).

Looking at bowling performances on debut;

4 wickets in an innings:

6 wickets in a match:

The best innings and match performances were by Zimbabwe-born C de Grandhomme. MH Miraz did almost as well, conceding a few more runs. Miraz went on to take two 6-fors in his second Test and was instrumental in Bangladesh’s first Test victory over England. He has also displayed some batting ability in his last few Tests, as has de Grandhomme.

To be continued:

 

 

High scores by debutant tailenders

In the middle of the Chennai Test, we see Liam Dawson’s 66* on debut while batting at No 8. We look at similar performances by debutant tailenders.

These details are at the close of play on 17 Dec 2016.

60 or more by debutants batting at No 8:

Dawson’s 66* is the highest for England here, taking over the record from the father of a current player: 59 by DL Bairstow in 1979, which was also against India. That was the Oval Test where Gavaskar’s 221 brought India close to victory.

India does have one century by a debutant at No 8, by RH “Deepak” Shodhan who passed away earlier this year. India’s next highest in this category is Stuart Binny’s 78 in 2014. There are several who have done well against India in this category, headed by current NZ player JDS Neesham.

We also take a look at scores of 60 or more by debutants batting at No 8 to 11:

Neesham again heads this list, batting at No 8. Then there is Abul Hasan with 113, the highest at No 10, Agar with 98 which is the highest by ANY No 11 in Tests, and finally the now-forgotten BS Sandhu with 71, the highest at No 9. For India, RH Shodhan has the highest score by a debutant tailender with 110 at No 8.

Dawson’s 66* is also the highest for an England tailender on debut, just edging ahead of Darren Gough’s 65 in 1994.

KL Rahul’s short-lived record

For a short time between the second and third Tests in the current series, KL Rahul shared an obscure Test record with Ravi Bopara-they were the only batsmen to make 3 Test centuries with no fifty (i.e. no score between 50 and 99). As Rahul got out on 50, the record now goes back to Bopara. More details in my earlier post: https://wordpress.com/post/abn397.wordpress.com/2052

As we see, there are numerous players who scored one century and no fifty (including Agarkar and Ratra from India in recent years). A small number made two centuries and no fifties.

No one has scored 4 or more centuries with no fifties. The least number of fifties for the 4-century men is 3, shared by several including Shikhar  Dhawan, Kambli and  current players Dean Elgar and Usman Khawaja:

There is another statistical quirk which shows up whenever someone makes 163 or more runs on his debut (including both innings). The long-term record for the most runs in an one-Test career belongs to RE Redmond who made 107 + 56 = 163 in early 1973. Since then, over 20 players had scored over 163 runs on their debut and this held the record for the most runs in an one-test career (but only until they played their second Test). Another Kiwi JD Neesham was the last to hold this record, making 33 and 137* (170) on his debut against India in early 2014. But he soon played more Tests. Before that there was Rohit Sharma with 177 and Shikhar Dhawan with 187. Here is a list of the temporary record-holders who equalled or bettered Redmond’s record since 1973:

A few of these players, notably those from Pakistan, vanished from the scene almost as quickly as the hapless Rodney Redmond did. At least he had the satisfaction of seeing his son Aaron play 8 Tests, with two fifties and a top score of 81.

An eclectic score card for T20I matches

This is a follow up to our studies of eclectic score cards in Tests and ODIs:

https://abn397.wordpress.com/2016/04/14/eclectic-score-cards-for-tests/

and

https://abn397.wordpress.com/2016/04/17/eclectic-score-cards-for-odis/

As in the earlier studies, we list the highest scores at different batting positions in T20I matches. Remarks are given alongside.

First, the highest scores in all T20Is:

While there  are some entries from the Associates, there are none from India (as well as South Africa, Sri Lanka and the West Indies). Next we look at the Indian scorecard:

Now we look at debutants in all T20Is:

Here, too, the Associates are well represented but there is no player from India and the West Indies.

Finally, the debutants from India:

No one has made his debut for India while batting at No 10.

Interestingly, RT Ponting’s 98* in the first ever T20I in 2005 remains the best by a No 4 as well as by a debutant.

KL Rahul’s feat in perspective

Here is a list of all those who have scored 75 or more on their ODI debut:

It can be seen that Rahul is 11th on this list, and the only one to have scored a neat 100. Just below him is SP Patil of the UAE with 99 not out. While there have been  three 99s on Test debut, none of them were unbeaten. In fact there are no unbeaten 90s on Test debut.

SP Fleming was out in the 90s both on Test and ODI debut. Andy Flower, Desmond Haynes and Praveen Amre are among others who made a fifty-plus on both Test and ODI debut.

Note the big gap between the highest score here (148) and the next (124).

There is at least one case (Shahid Afridi, 102 in 1996) who scored a century in his first ODI innings (in the then record of 37 balls), not having batted in the first. Similarly Yuvraj Singh scored 80 in his first innings in his second ODI in 2000.

Here we see the list of  all Indian players with 40 or more on debut, which was headed by Uthappa and now by Rahul:

Patel and Wadekar scored their fifties in India’s first-ever ODI, while Ashok Mankad followed in the very next match. Sidhu is the only one here to do this in a World Cup match (1987), while PK Amre is the only one to score fifty-plus on Test as well as ODI debut. Both of them came against South Africa soon after its comeback, in an ODI in 1991-92 and a Test in 1992-93.

 

 

Summing up the one-match players

This is to provide links to a few posts in the last few days, for those who are interested in the obscure byways of cricket history. These deal with the best performances of those who had only one match (or innings) in the three formats of international cricket:

https://abn397.wordpress.com/2016/05/03/making-the-most-of-limited-chances-batting/

https://abn397.wordpress.com/2016/05/05/making-the-most-of-limited-chances-bowling/

https://abn397.wordpress.com/2016/05/08/making-the-most-of-limited-chances-fielding/

https://abn397.wordpress.com/2016/05/11/making-the-most-of-limited-chances-allround-performances/

Making the most of limited chances-Allround performances

We conclude this series with a look at those who put in a good all-round performance in their only opportunity in international cricket. We will look at batting + bowling as well as batting + fielding in the three formats of the game.

We start with Tests:

30-plus runs and 3-plus wickets in their only Test:

Heading the list is MF Malone, one of the Packermen who was given a chance in the final Test of a series which Australia had already lost. It would clearly be the best all-round performance for someone who played only one Test. Next would come that of JP Faulkner. He is a key member of Australia’s current limited-overs teams and will probably play a few more Tests.

30-plus runs and 3-plus dismissals in their only Test:

Again, some relatively lesser-known players. Ronchi and Ojha can be expected to play again. L Ronchi’s performance, for the moment, is the best for any keeper who played in only one test. NV Ojha would be next.

Passailaigue is the only non-keeper here. He put on 487* for the 6th wicket with George Headley in 1931-32 which is still the world first-class record for this wicket.

Now for ODIs:

10 or more runs and 1 or more wicket in their only ODI:

After scraping the bottom of the barrel, we have these 8 ODI players. India’s leading spinner of the 70s is there along with a few other Test players such as AV Mankad, ADG Roberts and JR Hammond. Fittingly Chandrashekhar has the best bowling here, while AV Mankad has the highest score.

10 or more runs and 1 or more dismissal in their only ODI:

ADG Roberts appears in both of these lists. Other famous names are Bill Lawry and the now-familiar Phil Emery.

Finally we move to T20Is:

10 or more runs and 1 or more wicket in their only T20I:

Famous names include Tendulkar (in India’s first T20I), Rafique (Bangladesh’s first genuine all-rounder) and Gillespie. The list is headed by Scott Borthwick who also played one Test and two ODIs.

Gillespie scored the most runs (!) while Hitchcock is the only one to take 2 wickets.

10 or more runs and 1 or more dismissal in their only T20I:

12 in this list, and some of them like Tendulkar, Borthwick and Fayyaz appear again.

Dinesh Mongia, like Tendulkar, made his only T20I appearance in India’s first ODI. He has the highest score here,while no one has more than one dismissal. Nixon is the only one to make a stumping.

There are a number of Test players here including Read, Nafees, Tendulkar, Key, Reifer and Kieran Powell.

This concludes our series on those who did well in their only opportunity in international cricket.

 

Making the most of limited chances-batting

There are many unfortunates who got a chance to play exactly one Test (or ODI or T20I). Some of them did well enough to deserve more chances but somehow this never happened. We look at the batsmen who made the most of their chances in limited Test opportunities, and then in ODIs and T20Is.

Scoring at least one fifty in their only Test:

Of these, only Redmond scored a hundred and a fifty, and Ganteaume scored a hundred. SC Cook played his only Test so far in 2016 and should get off this list soon. Ronchi is the only one to score over 100 runs without a century, while three others scored over 90.

There are various reasons why they did not play again. Eyesight issues were the main reason for Rodney Redmond not playing again. His son Aaron Redmond played 8 Tests in recent years with a top score of 83.

Zulqarnain Haider stopped playing for Pakistan under peculiar circumstances. Cook and (perhaps) Ronchi should play again. India’s sole representative the Yuvraj of Patiala (also known as Yadavindra Singh) dropped out of cricket to concentrate on politics, though he might well have captained India in the 1936 tour of England where he would certainly done better than Vizzy. His son Amarinder Singh is still active in the politics of Punjab state.

Now we look at

Scoring at least 50 runs in their only Test:

This includes a few others who made 50 or more runs without a fifty. The highest total among these is JK Moss with 60. There is also Humayun Farhat, who did score 54 runs in his only Test but also became the only wicket keeper who did not make a single dismissal in his career. (There are some other keepers who did not make any dismissal on their debut).

Scoring at least fifty in their only Test innings:

Ganteaume and Stollmeyer lead here. Albie Morkel probably deserved to play a few more Tests, but is now unlikely to get another chance. And McGirr played his only  innings in his 2nd and last Test, as he did not get to bat on his debut. Law is the only one in these tables to remain unbeaten in his short Test career. His fellow Australian debutant RT Ponting went on to bigger things.

Now for ODI matches:

30 or more runs in their only ODI:

Barnett and Woodcock are the only ones to score fifties, though there are several others close behind. Some of them were moderately successful in Tests, such as AV Mankad.

30 or more runs in their only ODI innings:

We get exactly the same list as above.

Now for T20Is:

20 or more runs in only T20I:

India’s lesser-known S Badrinath has the highest score here. Dinesh Mongia’s only T20I was India’s first. Some prominent Test and ODI players such as Dravid, Ganga, Gillespie and North find a place here, along with the hapless Reifer who was once asked by journalists “Are you smoking something which sounds like your name?”. This was at that the time he captained a West Indies C Team which gave Bangladesh its first two Test victories away from home.

20 or more runs in only T20I innings:

We get exactly the same result.

To be continued with bowling, fielding and all-round performance in their only match or innings.

 

 

Same bowling figures in both innings (Revised on 26/02/2017)

This is a logical follow-up to the last post

https://abn397.wordpress.com/2016/04/19/same-score-in-both-innings/

Here we consider cases where bowlers have recorded the same bowling analysis in both innings. This means that wickets and runs were the same in both innings. We are not getting into overs and maidens.

Taking a minimum of 3 wickets in an innings, this has happened only 8 times in all Tests:

Only three instances of tenners. The second one was historic as India recorded their maiden Test win in Australia. This was a victory by a large margin, while India had lost the first two Tests of that series by narrow margins.

Strangely Hyderabad in India figures in two of these instances, though at two different grounds. Abdur Rehman recorded this on debut.

Looking at Indian bowlers alone with a minimum of 1 wicket in an innings, we get:

On debut, there are only two who have taken at least 1 wicket in an innings:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Same score in both innings

It is fairly well known that Duleep Mendis scored 105 and 105 in a Test against India, and that this is the highest case of identical innings in a Test. Here we look at all such cases above 50. We have considered both dismissals and not outs.

Same score in both innings (Excel)

Or (in a compressed form):

None of these instances were on debut. The highest such double on debut was 36 and 36 by the lesser-known South African Dan Taylor. All such instances above 25 + 25 are given here:

Abid Ali also took 6 wickets in an innings (and 7 in the match).

A more detailed post on same scores in each innings on debut (as of May 2015) can be seen here: https://abn397.wordpress.com/2015/05/02/an-unusual-record-same-score-in-both-innings-in-debut/