Diamond ducks in Tests

After looking at fast scoring, we look at the lack of scores. Different kinds of ducks and pairs have been enumerated in various posts. We now concentrate on diamond ducks, where a batsman is dismissed without facing a ball. This usually happens when he is run out at the non-striker’s end. Less often, it could be when he is stumped or run out off a wide.

The number of balls faced in a batsman’s innings was not always recorded in the past. These are the undisputed cases of diamond ducks up to Oct 25, 2019:

The only one to have two of these ducks is CS Martin, sometimes considered as the worst ever batsman in Tests. Ken Rutherford, Umar Gul and Nuwan Pradeep are the only ones to score diamond ducks on debut. Rutherford got a pair including this duck, but went on to become a successful batsman. Many years later his son Hamish Rutherford made 171 on debut.

Umar Gul and Younis Khan batted the longest-7 minutes each.

There is no case of a diamond pair. The closest approach to one appears to be that of Taufeeq Umar who scored a pair with innings of 0 and 2 balls, thus scoring 0 in two innings with 2 balls which is the equivalent of a “king pair” or dismissal off the first ball of each innings.

Also note: There have been 152 diamond ducks in ODIs. The last were by AU Rashid and MA Wood, who were the last two batsmen dismissed in the World Cup final between England and New Zealand on July 14, 2019.

There have also been 50 diamond ducks in T20Is.

Hazlewood’s lost record

In the exciting finish to the Auckland ODI on January 30, commentators mentioned  Hazlewood’s durability as a batsman-as he had never been dismissed in 33 ODIs. Unfortunately, his luck ran out when Australia needed 7 runs for victory:

http://www.espncricinfo.com/new-zealand-v-australia-2016-17/engine/match/1020013.html

Note that he was dismissed for a diamond duck, as he did not face a single ball in a partnership of 24 balls and 54 runs, and was run out as a non-striker.

We look at the relevant records as they were on Jan 29:

Most ODIs without a dismissal:

Most ODI innings without a dismissal:

Hazlewood had played in 33 ODIs, more than twice the tally of the next in line. He shared the record for 6 innings without dismissal with the little-known Bermudan player SKW Kelly.

After today’s match (January 30):

Most ODIs without a dismissal:

The record now passes to Ahsan Malik and Dhawal Kulkarni.

Most ODI innings without a dismissal:

And so Bermuda has this record to itself. (Some say they had a record in Dwayne Leverock being the heaviest international cricketer in recent times. He was a popular figure during the 2007 World Cup, the only time Bermuda reached that level).

http://www.espncricinfo.com/bermuda/content/player/23742.html

We also look at the corresponding records for T20Is, as on Jan 30, 2017:

Most T20I matches without dismissal:

The top 3 led by Steve Finn are still likely to play in international matches, so the record may change hands.

Most T20I innings without dismissal:

AF Milne has the record for the moment.

 

 

 

 

Cricketing ducks of various kinds

Note: This has not been updated since February 2015. Updates listing scorers of different kinds of ducks and pairs are in separate posts.

You all know what a duck means in cricket. Have you thought of the different types of ducks you can score? Pairs are another matter.

From the Wikipedia article on ducks we have:

“There are several variations used to describe specific types of duck. The usage or prevalence of many of these terms vary regionally, with one term having different meanings in different parts of the world. Even within commentary from ESPN Cricinfo or individual cricket board websites, there is no uniform application of some of these terms.

• Players who are dismissed by the first ball they face are said to have been dismissed for a golden duck. This term is applied uniformly throughout the cricket world.

• As an extension of the golden duck, a silver duck and bronze duck can refer to being dismissed for nought on the second ball and third ball respectively. There are no alternative names for these ducks, but these terms are not nearly as common as golden duck.

• A batsman who is dismissed without facing a ball (most usually run out from the non-striker’s end, but alternatively stumped or run out off a wide delivery) is said to be out for a diamond duck, but in some regions that term has an alternative definition.

• An opening batsman who is dismissed on the first ball of a team’s innings is said to be out for a diamond duck, platinum duck or royal duck, depending upon the regional usage.

• An opening batsman who is dismissed on the first ball of a team’s innings without facing a ball is said to be out for a titanium duck, though due to the extreme rarity of this occurring, this term is not widely used.
  

• A batsman who is dismissed for a duck concluding the batting team’s innings is said to be out for a laughing duck.
  

• A batsman who is dismissed for a duck on the first ball of the match in his or her team’s first match of the season is said to be out for a golden goose. ^”
  

Now we look closer at the incidence of various kinds of ducks in various formats. Note that while data on ducks are readily pulled out from scorecards, the number of balls in a batsman’s innings were often not recorded in earlier scorecards, even in Tests. Cricinfo does have precise data from 2000 onwards. The following Test in 1990-91 is particularly frustrating for statisticians: http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/match/63548.html

In this match we see that Sachin Tendulkar scored 11 in 92 minutes in India’s only innings. But the number of balls is not recorded for him and most other batsmen in this match. So we do not know the total number of balls faced by SRT in his Test career, or exact statistics for his strike rate.

So we see that any listing of diamond ducks golden ducks and the like will be incomplete due to the lack of data, particularly from the earlier years of Tests.

The total number of ducks in Tests up to Feb 2015 is 8175.

This includes 26 diamond ducks of 0 balls,(minimum, the full number may never be known)

1434 golden ducks(1 ball)

1007 silver ducks( 2 balls)

732 bronze ducks ( 3 balls)

and you can extend this as long as you want.

We start with a listing of all known cases of diamond ducks in Tests:

Note that the renowned batsman C. S. Martin is the only one to have made two diamond ducks.

Indians to have achieved the diamond duck include B. S. Bedi, A. D. Gaekwad, R. K. Chauhan, R. Dravid and Harbhajan Singh.

Only these three have scored a diamond duck on debut (below). Rutherford went on to get a pair on debut, but was a successful batsman later.

There is no case of a diamond pair. The closest approach to one appears to be that of Taufeeq Umar who scored a pair with innings of 0 and 2 balls, thus scoring 0 in two innings with 2 balls which is the equivalent of a ‘king pair” or dismissal off the first ball of each innings.

A total of 141 Indians have scored golden ducks. The table is too large to conveniently fit in here , but we have some multiple appearances here: Kapil Dev and Zaheer Khan (7), Harbhajan Singh and V. Sehwag (6), with Agarkar, Gavaskar and Tendulkar with 5.

A total of 94 players have scored golden ducks on debut (though this could have been in their first or second innings). These include 5 Indians: (Kishenchand, Hardikar, B. Reddy, Maninder and U. Yadav).

Similarly, a total of 60 players have scored silver ducks on debut. Those from India are: Rangnekar, Maninder, Harbhajan, Robin Singh (Jr) and Praveen Kumar. Note that Maninder Singh scored  1-ball and 2-ball zeroes on debut.

And a total of 45 players scored bronze ducks on debuts. 6 of them were from India including current player W. Saha.

We will come to pairs next time-not only plain pairs but king pairs, queen pairs and jack pairs (OK, I made up the last two myself but you should guess what they are)