Test Fielding Records-2

Hope that you have read the first part.

Now we go on to the most neglected aspect of statistics – stumpings.

Most stumpings in an innings (4 and above):

The record is 5 by KS More, when he worked in tandem with Hirwani on his 16-wicket debut in 1987-88.

http://www.espncricinfo.com/india/content/player/31038.html

The previous record was shared by Australia’s Bert Oldfield, (the stumping champion whose 52 victims in the 1920s and 1930s are still a record) and India’s PK Sen (during India’s first-ever Test win in 1951-52, which coincided with the passing of King George VI).

http://www.espncricinfo.com/australia/content/player/7003.html

http://www.espncricinfo.com/india/content/player/34741.html

While PK Sen was not as well known as Oldfield, he had his moments as in this Test against England. He also appears in trivia questions as the only Indian Test player who was born in a place which is now in Bangladesh. There were several who were born in places which are now in Pakistan, starting with Naoomal of the 1932 team (Karachi).

Then there is:

Most stumpings in a match (4 and above):

Oldfield dominates this list as one would expect. However, Sen had the record of 5 after that Test in 1951-52. More took over in 1987-88.

Also note V Rajindernath who took 4 stumpings and no catches in his only Test. He did not get to bat either, and thus he and JCW McBryan are the only ones who did not bat or bowl in their Test career. But McBryan did not take a catch.

We also look at the most stumpings in a career (20 and above):

Oldfield and Evans lead, with Dhoni in 3rd place and Kirmani in 4th.  The only other current player here is Sarfaraz Ahmed, though he is yet to catch up with his countrymen Wasim Bari and Kamran Akmal.

 

“He did nothing in the Test”

Following the second Test at Lord’s, there were some snide remarks directed at Adil Rashid who did not bat, bowl or take a catch in the match. He had however scored a few runs and took 3 wickets in the first Test.

It is fairly common to end a match without runs, wickets or dismissals, particularly when rain affects a large portion of the match. In 2018 alone six Test players have experienced this, including Kuldeep Yadav and Murali Vijay in the same Test.

An afterthought: Lakmal was captain in that Test. Probably we should exclude captains from a listing like this.

Is there anyone who never scored a run, took a wicket or made a fielding dismissal in his entire Test career? Yes, more than you may guess.

A total of 21 players, of whom only TAP Sekhar played 2 Tests and the rest never got another chance.

The only one who did not bat or bowl at all was JCW MacBryan in 1924, who was a victim of a badly rain-affected Test where his side never got to bat and the opponents also got less than a day to bat.

What of those who never batted or bowled in their career but at least made one dismissal?

There is only one instance:

This was wicketkeeper V Rajindernath who made 4 stumpings (but took no catches) in his only Test.

In ODIs and T20Is there are more such cases. One instance related to the current Sri Lankan player Akila Dananjaya who did not bat, bowl or field in his first ODI (mainly as he never came into bat before rain prevented the opponents from batting). Still, he is now one of his team’s key players in Test and limited-overs matches.

This was the scorecard of his debut ODI:

http://www.espncricinfo.com/series/12294/scorecard/582191/sri-lanka-vs-new-zealand-5th-odi-new-zealand-tour-of-sri-lanka-2012-13

 

All-round fails in Test matches

Data correct as of April 4, 2017.

No runs and no wickets in Test career:

There are 33 such cases. Only one, TAP Sekhar of India, has played in more than 1 Test. But he has been reasonably successful as a coach.

Most of the other names are unfamiliar, as they were dropped after one lacklustre performance. The names of JCW MacBryan and V Rajindernath would be more familiar to trivia-hunters. We will see more of them in a moment.

A further step is to identify those who had

No runs, no wickets and no fielding dismissals in their Test careers:

This is a subset of the upper table, as 12 of them had taken at least one fielding dismissal (notably V. Rajindernath with 4 stumpings). The 21 listed here did not even have that. TAP Sekhar is again the only one with more than one Test.

The case of HM Thurlow is of some interest as he was run out for 0 to leave Bradman on 299 not out in a Test against South Africa. See the 4th entry here:

http://www.espncricinfo.com/magazine/content/story/541300.html

Next we come to those who

Never batted or bowled in their Test career:

Our two friends again-but they did field. You may want to look up their entries:

http://www.espncricinfo.com/england/content/player/16858.html

http://www.espncricinfo.com/india/content/player/33027.html

Never batted, bowled or fielded in their Test career:

While two Netherlands players have achieved this in T20Is and one Sri Lankan in ODIs, everyone who played a Test has at least fielded, if not made a fielding dismissal. You may want to see MacBryan’s Test career here:

http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/match/62542.html

Play was possible only on the first of the three days scheduled, in which South Africa batted for 66.5 overs. MacBryan would have fielded through the day, but did not take a catch. Presumably he must have touched the ball at some point.

And Rajindernath could at least console himself with sharing the record for the Most stumpings on debut (4):

 

 

Batting fails in Test matches

We have already looked at those who failed to score a run in their T20I and ODI careers. Now we turn to Tests.

Data correct as of 5 Feb 2017. The match involving the ICC XI is not counted.

Most matches without scoring a run (2 or more):

3 players did not score a run in 3 Tests-though CF Root did not get a chance to bat in any of his 3 matches. 7 others did not score a run in 2 Tests, of whom CM Willoughby did not get a chance to bat.

Most innings without scoring a run (2 or more):

Only AW Mold played 3 innings without scoring a run, while many others played 2 innings.

It would be nice to identify those who went through their Test careers without facing a ball. But scorecards usually did not always note the number of balls. Cricinfo’s database is supposedly complete from the 2000s onwards.

If you ask Statsguru who played in the most Tests without facing a ball, the answer will be the Pakistani keeper Imtiaz Ahmed, who played 41 Tests and scored over 2000 runs. But scorecards in the database do not have the number of balls for any of his innings. Anyway, we see what we can do with data after 2000.

Most matches played (after 1 Jan 2000) for no balls faced

In these cases they never got to bat.

So we now look at

Most innings played (after 1 Jan 2000) for no balls faced:

This means that everyone who played at least one innings since 2000 has faced at least one ball. There were temporary aberrations such as the career of Imran Khan junior who did not face a ball in his first 4 Tests (in which he batted in only one innings), though he has subsequently batted and even scored some runs. See his batting career.

http://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/player/316363.html?class=1;template=results;type=batting;view=innings

Finally we look at those who

Never batted in an innings in their Test career:

Only 19 such cases, headed by the long-forgotten CF Root, and followed by the more recent CM Willoughby who did not go to bat in their careers of 3 and 2 Tests respectively. We may as well learn more about them:

http://www.espncricinfo.com/england/content/player/19471.html

Fred Root, who took 8 wickets in his 3 Tests again Australia in 1926, was not that bad a batsman as he averaged almost 15 in first-class cricket.

http://www.espncricinfo.com/southafrica/content/player/47903.html

Charl Willoughby took only 1 wicket in his 2 Tests in 2003. His FC batting average was just over 6.

Then there are numerous others who did not bat in their only Tests. There is, of course, the famous JCW MacBryan who (uniquely in Tests) did not bat, bowl or take a catch in his only Test (in which his opponents batted for 66 overs and his team did not bat): http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/match/62542.html

He had a reasonable first-class career:

http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/content/player/16858.html

He was prominent enough in domestic cricket to be one of Wisden’s Cricketers of the Year in 1925. He also won an Olympic gold medal, being part of Britain’s hockey team in 1920.

Another interesting case is that of V.Rajindernath who did not bat (but took 4 stumpings) in his only Test.

Making the most of limited chances-fielding

A few days ago we had separate posts on good batting and bowling performances in their only Test/ODI/T20I and their only innings. Today we take up fielding performances for those players with the shortest possible careers.

First we take up Tests.

Best fielding (4 or more dismissals) for those playing in their only Test:

This list consists of wicket keepers with the exception of RR (Robin) Singh, the Trinidad-born Indian player. He took 5 catches in his only Test, but had a somewhat better run as a batting all-rounder in ODIs.

Many of them were designated reserve keepers on tours and got to play only when the main keeper was injured or otherwise unavailable. The list is headed by Phil Emery of Australia, who was Ian Healy’s deputy in the 1994-95 tour of Pakistan who took 6 catches in his only Test. Three other keepers and Robin Singh made 5 dismissals each. NV Ojha and L Ronchi have some chance of playing Tests again.

Note India’s V Rajindernath who had 4 stumpings but no catches. This is the record for stumpings by any Test debutant. Emery, Atiq-uz-Zaman and TRO Payne each took 5 catches.

Best fielding (2 or more dismissals) in their only Test innings:

Here we have Australian keeper GA Manou (deputy to BJ Haddin) heading the list with 3 dismissals (all catches). Two lesser-known fielders took two catches each.

Now for ODIs:

Best fielding (2 or more dismissals) in their only ODI:

Our old friend Phil Emery tops this list again, on that same tour of Pakistan.If you want to know more about him:

http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/content/player/5139.html

There is also India’s long-forgotten P. Krishnamurthy who played in all 5 Tests of India’s tour of West Indies in 1970-71, though this ODI was in a later tour of New Zealand.

This list includes 6 keepers and 4 non-keepers. The latter group includes Australia’s JK Moss who also played in exactly one Test.

Best fielding (2 or more dismissals) in their only ODI innings:

We get exactly the same table.

Now for T20Is:

Best fielding (2 or more dismissals) in their only T20I:

A total of 6 players (2 keepers and 4 non-keepers) have each taken 2 dismissals in their only T20Is. The only well-known player is TR Ambrose who played in several Tests for England. India’s P Negi will probably play more T20Is.

Best fielding (2 or more dismissals) in their only T20I innings:

We get exactly the same table.