The “double” of a fifty+ and 10wm in the same Test.

Hope you have read the related piece https://abn397.wordpress.com/2021/02/19/the-double-of-a-century-and-5wi-in-the-same-test/

We now look at the converse: a fifty-plus and ten wickets in an innings in the same match.

This is a little rarer than the earlier case. It has occurred 30 times, compared to 33 times for the earlier case.

Multibaggers are rarer here. We have 3 instances by Sir Richard Hadlee and 2 by Shakib Al Hasan. That’s all. Botham is here, but only for one instance. Ashwin, Sobers and Mushtaq are not here. But there are others such as Bevan and Border who would not usually be considered to be all-rounders.

The most recent instance was by Stuart Broad during one of the Covid Tests of 2020.

Earlier we saw that Bruce Taylor was the only one to score a century and take 5wi on debut. That was against India in 1965.

There is only instance of someone scoring a 50+ and taking 10 wickets on debut. This was John Lever for England v India in 1976. What is even stranger is that India’s S Venkataraghavan appeared in both of these Tests.

Among current and recent players there are MM Ali, SCJ Broad, RA Jadeja, Dilruwan Perera, Rashid Khan, Shakib Al Hasan and DW Steyn. The only other player from India is Kapil Dev (who never made a century and 5wi together).

Also note AK Davidson, who scored 44 and 80 and took 11 wickets in the tied Test in 1960. He was the first to score over 100 runs and 10 wickets in a match. He had this record to himself until Botham scored a century and took 13 wickets against India in early 1980. Imran Khan and Shakib later followed with a century and 10 wickets in 1983 (against India, who else?) and 2014 (against Zimbabwe).

The other double: 50 + 10 wkts in a match

Most of those who follow Test cricket know about the double of a century and 5wi in a match. This has been done 32 times, with the last occasion being the present WI player Roston Chase in 2016.

The lesser-known double is that of 50 and 10wm, which is slightly rarer and has been done on 30 occasions. Stuart Broad joined this list in the 3rd Test against West Indies in 2020.

This seems to be a little harder to achieve compared to the other double. Sir Richard Hadlee is the only one to do it 3 times and Shakib Al Hasan the only one to do it twice. Kapil, Botham and Imran duly appear here. “Sir” Jadeja is the only other player from India here.

In a mirror of Bruce Taylor’s 100 + 5wi against India on his debut in 1965, only one player John Lever has  managed 50 + 10 wm also against India in 1976. Oddly enough S Venkataraghavan was in India’s team on both occasions.

There are some odd cases here involving players who were not generally considered all-rounders, such as Qadir, Border, Bevan and Steyn. And others who had short careers such as Lever, Nash and Craig. But most of the big names of the past few decades are there.

The elite group with a century and 10-for includes Botham, Imran, Shakib and honorary member Davidson with 100 runs and 10-for.

Broad achieved this in the nick of time, taking the last wicket of the match to complete his tenner.

Cricketing coincidences-1

This begins with a listing of all those who have scored a fifty-plus and taken a 5-wicket haul on Test debut:

It is not a long list.

Only 8 instances in Test history. There is only one instance of a century and fiver, which is by Bruce Taylor for NZ v Ind in 1964-65. And there is only one instance of a fifty and 10 wickets, which is by John Lever for Eng v Ind in 1976-77.

Look at the scorecards and you will find something surprising.

http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/match/62966.html

and

http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/match/63174.html

These matches were both against India in India and were separated by almost a dozen years. Bruce Taylor had retired in 1973. But one Indian player who had made his debut just before Taylor was still around in 1976 and continued playing until 1983.

He was S. Venkataraghavan, who played in both of these Tests.

And a minor coincidence: There were only three Test players with the surname Banerjee. All of them played in only one Test despite doing fairly well on debut.

SA (Mantu) Banerjee: 5 wickets in the match v WI in 1948-49: http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/match/62692.html

SN (Shute) Banerjee: 5 wickets in the match v WI in 1948-49, which came close to being India’s first Test victory:

http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/match/62694.html

ST Banerjee: 3 wickets in the match v Aus in 1991-92:

http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/match/63565.html

However, their arch rivals the Chatterjees and the Mukherjees have not produced any Test players yet. Only a few ODI players.