Geoff Boycott and Andrew Strauss are the latest additions to the cricketing knights of England:
https://www.bbc.com/sport/cricket/49641823
Which was not without controversy in Boycott’s case.
More on this topic in my earlier post in 2017:
https://abn397.wordpress.com/2017/08/23/sir-geoffrey-and-the-real-knights/
(Don’t worry, there are no jokes about Sir Ravindra Jadeja here)
Just in case you missed this:
How far was he justified in saying that it was much easier to be knighted if you were a West Indian cricketer rather than an English cricketer? These are the facts:
Firstly, the British sovereign proclaims someone a knight based on the recommendations of the government of the day. The gentleman concerned would be a citizen of the U.K. or one of the other countries which presently regard the British sovereign (presently Queen Elizabeth II) as their head of state. The countries of interest here are Australia, New Zealand and some (but not all) of the countries of the West Indies. Canada is also included, although it has not produced any famous cricketers yet. Those countries who do not regard the Queen as the Head of State include many Commonwealth countries such as India and its neighbors, besides South Africa. This should make it clear:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/States_headed_by_Elizabeth_II
It appears that the governments of the West Indies countries take their own decisions as to who is to be knighted.
So here is a list of those who were knighted for their services to cricket, besides some cricketers who were knighted for other reasons:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cricketers_who_were_knighted
Another article on cricketing knights from the West Indies:
http://www.bbc.com/sport/cricket/26392726
Another general article which summarizes the topic:
http://www.espncricinfo.com/magazine/content/story/60096.html
Now, even the list from England includes some names which most reasonably well-informed cricket fans of today would not have heard of (e.g. Lacey, Toone and Leveson Gower whose first-class cricket careers were nothing exceptional-even though the last named played 3 Tests).
Among the West Indians, all of them would be considered as among the most eminent cricketers in the last few decades. The only exception might be Richie Richardson who did not have as successful a career:
http://www.espncricinfo.com/magazine/content/story/60096.html
(Even so, he played 86 Tests and scored 16 centuries, with almost 6000 runs at an average of 44) and was captain for some time.
So was Geoffrey justified in complaining? A difficult question, but he probably was wrong. And his way of putting it was highly politically incorrect. Perhaps he should go back to chasing lesser-known Indian actresses.
A follow up of the earlier posts:
https://abn397.wordpress.com/2017/04/25/unbeaten-scores-of-99199-and-299/
and
https://abn397.wordpress.com/2017/04/26/more-on-test-nineties/
Some more points of interest:
Those who scored 99 and 0 in the same Test:
No one has done this on debut. But Misbah is the only captain to achieve this rare feat.
99 and hundred in the same Test: This has occurred only twice:
G Boycott 99 and 112, E v WI, 1973-74
RT Ponting 101 and 99, A v SA, 2008-09
Boycott never made centuries in each innings of a Test. Ponting did so thrice, a Test record he shares with SM Gavaskar and DA Warner. Unlike the others, he did so thrice in a single season (2005-06), once against WI and twice against SA.
There have been a total of 90 scores of 99 in a Test, including 6 not outs. The list can be seen here, in chronological order:
Misbah is the only one to make THREE 99s in Tests, which included one not out.
From this list, you can see that 9 others have made two 99s. Of these, Boycott is the only one to get a not out.
Full list of captains who made 99:
Misbah did so thrice. No other captain has more than one 99. There are some like Atherton, Ganguly and Salim Malik who had one 99 as captain and another 99 while not captain.
The full list of unbeaten 99s:
No one has done this on debut, though three (Chipperfield, RJ Christiani and Asim Kamal) scored 99 on debut. This 99 remained Asim Kamal’s highest Test score.
Pollock and Misbah are the only captains to score an unbeaten 99.
Of these 6 scores of 99*, only one (Tudor) occurred when a batsman was left on 99 while his team was chasing a target. In all other cases the team was bowled out.
Finally, here is a list of all unbeaten 90s in Tests which ended when the team won in the 4th innings:
Next to Tudor’s 99, there are 98s by Hutton, Greg Chappell, Atherton and Ganguly.
Boycott’s 99* came when his team was bowled out in the 4th innings and lost. He had carried his bat through the innings.
In the 4th innings of drawn matches, the highest unbeaten 90 is 95* by McCosker, at Leeds in 1975. There was no play on the final day due to deliberate sabotage of the pitch for reasons unconnected with cricket. See:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Davis_(robber)
Test scores of 99 are more common than one may imagine. Misbah’s score of 99 in the ongoing Test at Kingston was the 89th such instance. The first such score was by Clem Hill against England in early 1902.
Scores of 99* are somewhat rarer. Here is the full list of such scores in chronological order:
The first such score was recorded only in late 1979. Boycott carried his bat through this innings.
Boycott had a special affinity for 99, as he was the first to score 99 and a century in the same Test: http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/match/63121.html
That series-equalling win was also due to Tony Greig’s little-used off-spin which got him 13 wickets in the match.
RT Ponting (101 and 99) was the only other batsman to score a century and 99 in the same Test, which was against South Africa at Melbourne in 2008-09.
All the scores of 99* (except that of Tudor) ended when the team was bowled out. Tudor’s 99* remains the only one where the team was chasing a target. This Test, which immediately followed the 1999 World Cup, had a rather weird scorecard:
http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/match/63841.html
10 wickets fell on the first day and 21 on the second. At close England was 3 for 1 facing a target of 208. Alex Tudor, who normally batted at 8 or below, had come in as a nightwatchman at the fall of the first wicket. On the 3rd day it looked as if he would get a century but his fourth-wicket partner Graham Thorpe was in a hurry to finish things off, leaving Tudor stranded on his highest Test score of 99*. It was to be his only score above 50.
199s and 199*s are still rarer. Here is a complete list of the 11 instances:
The first 199 was scored in late 1984 by Mudassar Nazar, and the most recent by KL Rahul. Both the unbeaten 199s came when the teams were bowled out. Andy Flower scored 142 in addition to 199* in a follow-on as his side lost the Test. (That match ended on 9/11 in 2001).
Sangakkara was more fortunate as his team won.
And 299? Two such instances, the first one being unbeaten:
Martin Crowe’s 299 was the New Zealand record for over two decades until McCullum made 302. Let us have a closer look at Bradman’s unbeaten 299:
http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/match/62601.html
This was the 4th Test of Australia’s 5-0 whitewash of South Africa, who had not yet fully graduated from whipping boys. Bradman was stranded on 299 when the No 11 HM Thurlow was run out for 0 on his debut. Thurlow also failed to take a wicket in two innings. Predictably his first Test was his last.
abn397 