Continuing the thread from here:
https://abn397.wordpress.com/2017/03/07/bowling-fails-in-odis/
Here we consider the bowlers who failed to take a wicket in their Test careers. They do include some specialist bowlers who lost their Test place quickly, but are more likely to be batsmen with limited bowling ability who sometimes bowled a few overs to give some rest to the regular bowlers. There are even some wicket-keepers who bowled a little.
We start with the most runs conceded without taking a wicket (90 runs and above):
We can see that there are some specialist bowlers with short careers as well as well-known batsmen (notably GA Headley, Habibul Bashar and K Srikkanth). Srikkanth was more successful in ODIs where he took two fivers. But it is the forgotten AH Monir of Bangladesh who heads this list.
Now for the most balls bowled without taking a wicket (150 balls and above):
JL Hopwood was close to the top in the first table and heads this table. He had the misfortune to bowl against a strong Australian lineup with Bradman and friends. Headley comes next followed by Monir. As above, there is a mix of specialist bowlers and part-timers.
Most innings bowled without taking a wicket (6 and above):
Srikkanth heads this list-perhaps he and Headley can be considered as the most determined of the part-timers. Many others like Bradman and Gavaskar bowled on rare occasions but did take at least one wicket. So did some keepers such as Boucher and Kirmani (not to forget AF Lyttleton’s 4-wicket haul). Some current players such as Kohli and Voges have so far been unsuccessful.
Most matches played without taking a wicket (75 and above):
Sangakkara and Stewart (who kept wicket in most of their Tests) head this list, though there are also non-keepers like Lara, Strauss, Inzamam and Vengsarkar near the top. And there are some who never bowled throughout their long Test careers. More about them later. For now, we look at
Most matches played by non-keepers without taking a wicket (75 and above):
Note Fleming and Strauss who played the most Tests without ever bowling. We look into this category further:
Most matches played without ever bowling (50 and above):
Many keepers in this list, so we look at the non-keepers.
Most matches played by non-keepers without ever bowling (50 and above):
SP Fleming heads this list, followed by Strauss and Misbah.
While wicketless players do not have a bowling average or a strike rate, they do have an economy rate. We close with
Best economy rate for those who never took a wicket (150 balls and above):
Oddly enough this is headed by Australian RJ Quiney who is not a regular bowler in domestic cricket. A few other part-timers (LS Darling and Roope to begin with) have better economy rates than the specialist bowlers. We have already met AH Monir who is the most expensive here. We may as well learn more about him:
http://www.espncricinfo.com/bangladesh/content/player/56235.html
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