Wednesday Post

As today there is no interesting current affairs topic to discuss, I am writing about cricket.

It has been said that if you want to see the calibre of any cricketer then see his performance in a Test  Match, where patience, temperament and skill all are required. Most of the time spectators and even TV audience love to see good batting performance of batsmen, but there are times when the bowler’s performance overpowers the batsmen. In test cricket bowler gets the time to plan his strategy regarding how to bowl on the particular playing track. There have been many instances that the performance of the bowler can turn the losing match into a memorable win.

THE GREATEST TEST BOWLING PERFORMANCES

Now, what is a bowler’s dream- the primary dream is that whenever he gets a chance to bowl then he should be able to take the wicket of the batsmen on the crease, during his spell. And the secret dream is that once in his playing career he should be able to take all 10 wickets of the batting side. This memorable instance has happened only twice in test cricket when all the 10 wickets have been taken by one bowler, first time it happened in 1956 when England’s bowler Jim Laker took all the 10 Australian wickets, and the second time this same feat was achieved by India’s Anil Kumble against Pakistan in 1999. There have been many other instances where a bowler’s performance has been the turning point of the match.

For no.1 position, obviously, it is a tie between Jim Laker & Anil Kumble.

Jim Laker-  10 for 53 v Australia, Old Trafford 1956. In this test match batting first England scored 459 runs, and Australia could score only 84 runs in their first inning, in this inning Jim Laker took 9 wickets for 37 runs, his bowling analysis was 16.4-4-37-9. The remaining 1 wicket was taken by Tony Lock. Australia was asked to bat again (follow on)- in their 2^nd innings they could score only 205 runs, and here Jim Laker took all 10 wickets,51.2-23-53-10. In this inning Tony Lock bowling analysis was  55-30-69-0, actually, he had bowled more overs than Laker but could not take any wicket. So it means it was destined to be Laker’s golden day, and in the process, he became the first bowler in Test history to take all 10 wickets. England won the match by an innings and 170 runs.

Anil Kumble- 10 for 74 v Pakistan, Delhi 1999. Batting first India put up a moderate total of 252 runs, which did not look good enough against a reasonably good Pakistani batting lineup. However Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh bowled well, and the Pakistani team were all out for 172 runs. Anil Kumble took 4 for 75 and Harbhajan Singh 3 for 30. India scored 339 runs in 2^nd innings and set up a total of 420 runs for Pakistan to score for victory, which was not achieved by any batting team till then. Pakistan started very well and they were 101 for no loss. In the 25^th over Shahid Afridi was dismissed by Anil Kumble and one ball later it was Ijaz Ahmed. The next one to go was Inzamam Ul Haq, then at regular interval wickets were falling to Anil Kumble. At the fall of Salim Malik’s wicket, Pakistan were at 186 for 7, everyone at the ground and those following the match on Radio & TV realised that history was waiting to be repeated, and it happened when Wasim Akram was out at 207. After Kumble took the 9^th wicket, the pressure was on the other bowlers for not to take a wicket. Kumble’s final analysis for the innings was 26.3-9-74-10.

For other positions along with the bowler’s performance other factors like pitch conditions like favouring the batsmen or bowlers(pace or spinner), batting strength of the opponent team has been taken into consideration.

At no. 2  is Richard Hadlee- 9 for 52 v Australia, Brisbane 1985-86.

This performance is really noteworthy because it happened during the opening day of the test match. Hadlee took the wickets of Keppler Wessel (70 runs), AMJ Hilditch (0), David Boon (31), Allan border (1), GM Ritchie (8), WB Phillips (34) GRJ Mathews(2), CJ McDermott (9) and RG Holland(0), Australia was all out for 174. For records, NZ scored 553 for 7 declared, and Aus were all out 333  runs in their second innings, thus giving NZ victory by an inning and 41 runs. Why this performance is brilliant because there was nothing in the pitch for the bowlers, as NZ scored 553 and Aus scored 333 in their 2^nd innings. His bowling analysis was  23.4- 4-52-9. Hats off to Richard Hadlee.

At no. 3  is Stuart Broad– 8 for 15 v Australia, Trent Bridge 2015.

England won the toss and their captain Alastair Cook asked Australia to bat. England team would have been happy if they had limited Australia under 100 with 2 or 3 wickets down by lunch, but what happened, no one could have imagined. Aus were bowled out well before lunch for mere 60 runs. The longest partnership, in terms of balls, was for 33 balls and that too for the last wicket, and the highest partnership was for 13 runs, which for the 8^th and last wicket. His bowling analysis was  9.3-5-15-8. For records, Eng won the test match by an inning and 78 runs. As per the expert’s opinion, the pitch proved to be bowler-friendly, the second factor which slightly devalued Stuart’s performance that it was the home pitch for the English team.

At no. 4 is  Hugh Tayfield–  9 for 113 SA v England, Johannesburg 1956-57.

In those days Newspaper was the source of information, and Tayfield’s performance is not widely known outside  England/South Africa, because of SA’s absence from competitive cricket before the early 90s. Even when they were playing cricket, they used to play with white teams due to apartheid. For information, SA batted first and scored 340 in 1^st inning and England replied with 251. SA could score only 142 in 2^nd innings, leaving Eng to score 232 runs for victory. It was in this inning  Tayfield took 9 wickets, England was all out for 214, thus losing the match by 7 runs. English batsmen had no answer to his off-spin bowling that day. He had also taken 4 wickets in the 1^st innings, this taking his tally of 13 wickets in this test.

At no. 5  is Fanie de Villers– 6 for 43, SA v Australia, Sydney 1993-94.

Although de Villers took only 6 wickets, his effort is really commendable because he was bowling against a formidable Australian batting line up and SA was defending only 116 runs in the 4^th inning of the test match and that too on away series in Australia. For the records, SA scored only 169 runs in 1^st inning, as Shane Warne literally ran through SA batting with 7 for 56. Australia replied with 292 and got a lead of 123 runs. SA could manage to score only 239 in 2^nd innings, and Warne again took 5 for 72. Australia had to score only 117 runs for victory but lost the match by 5 runs because of the wonder spell of medium pace bowling by de Villers.

At no. 6 is Muttiah Muralitharan–8 for 70, SL v Eng, Trent Bridge 2006.

SL batted first and could score only 231 and England replied with 229, so in the 1^st inning score were almost the same. SL scored 322 in their 2^nd innings, so England had to score 325 runs, and they started their chase after 1 hour of the start of play on the 4^th day and they were 84 for no loss with Kevin Pieterson, Alastair Cook, Collingwood and  Andrew Flintoff to follow. Then disaster struck  England in the form of Muralitharan, and by 125 England’s top 6 batsmen were in the pavilion thanks to the bowling of Muralitharan and they were all out for 190

At no. 7 is Trevor Bailey– 7 for 34, Eng v WI, Kingston 1953-54

England needed a win to draw this 5^th test to level the series. Trevor Bailey was an all-rounder of repute. He was an excellent swing bowler and was virtually unplayable under favourable conditions. WI had a very strong batting line-up comprising of John Holt, Jeffery Stollmeyer, Everton weeks, Frank Worrell, Clyde Walcott and Gerry Gomez. But on the opening day of this test match WI top 5 batsmen were in the pavilion and the score was just 65 runs and Bailey had taken 4 wickets. In the end, WI was all out for 139, with Bailey taking 7 for 34. His analysis was 16-7-34-7. For the records, Eng scored 414 runs in their 1^st inning. WI scored 346 in the 2^nd innings, the target for England was 72 runs, which they score for the loss of 1 wicket.

At no. 8  is Bob Willis– 8 for 43, Eng v Aus, Headingly 1981.

This Bob Willis effort is really admirable because it happened in the 4^th innings of the test match and the English side was defending the total of only 129 runs and England won the match by 18 runs. Aus batted first and scored 401/9 dec (Ian Botham took 6/95) Eng in their 1^st inning could score only 174 runs and be asked to follow on. In their 2^nd innings, they scored 356 runs with Ian Botham scoring 149 not out runs only in 148 balls. Thus leaving Aus to chase 130 for victory, and it was Bob Willis great effort and grabbed the victory from the jaws of defeat. Ian Botham’s all-around effort in this match was also commendable, but in the end, this test is known for Bob Willis bowling feat. This may be the only test match where the team following on won the match, solely on bowling performance.

At no.9 is  Fazal Mahmood– 6 for 46, Pak v Eng, The Oval 1954

This performance by Fazal was noteworthy because during those days Pakistan at home was playing cricket on matting wickets. He was bowling in a different environment. The pitch at The Oval completely gave assistance to the bowler. This was a really low scoring test match. Pakistan scored 133 and 164 in their 2 innings. England were all out 130 in their 1^st innings ( Fazal Mahmood 6/ 53) and requiring 168 for victory in the last inning, they were all out for 143 and again Fazal took 6 for 46, thus giving Pakistan their first victory against England that too in England.

At no. 10  is Tony Greig–  8 for 86 Eng v WI, Port of Spain 1974

England’s 1^st innings score of 267 in comparison to  WI score 305 in their first knock. Even though Greig started with medium-pacer but later he switched over to off-spin, he got the wickets of top-order batsmen like LG Rowe, Lloyd, Sobers and Kanahai, polished off the tail and took 8/86. England could score only 263 runs in 2^nd innings, thus giving a target of 226 runs to chase for victory, which on paper looked easy with their formidable batting line up, but in the 2^nd innings also Greig got the wickets of top-order batsmen Kallicharan, Lloyd, Kanahai, in this innings also he took 5/70. WI was all out for 199 and thus lost the match by 26 runs.

 

There are some bowling records that may not be broken ever-

1.The highest percentage of wickets taken bowled- Tom Richardson (Eng) got 54 of his 88 test dismissals as bowled, which is 61.36%. Next one on the list is Frederick Spofforth (Aus) 50/94 ie 53.19%.

2.Most maiden overs in Test innings- Alf Valentine (WI) bowled 49 maidens in test innings. Bapu Nadkarni (Ind) holds the record of bowling 21 consecutive maiden overs against Eng in 1963-64.

3.Fastest 100 wickets- George Lohmann (Eng) sets this record in 1896 when he took his 100^th wicket in his 16^th Test. Next one is Ravichandra Ashwin (Ind) who took 18 tests for his 100 wickets.

4 Cheapest 5 wickets haul- Eric Toshack (Aus) made this record v Ind in 1947, and his analysis were 2.3-1-2-5. The next one on the line is Jermaine Lawson (WI) against Bangladesh at Dhaka in 2002, 6.5-4-3-6.

5.Best bowling figures in a match- Jim Laker (Eng) v  Aus in 1956 and it is 19/90.

6.Most Wickets in a series- In a 4 test series, Sydney Barnes (Eng) picked 49 wickets v Australia from Dec 1913- Feb 1914.

7 Most Consecutive 5 Wickets hauls- Charlie turner (Aus), who picked 5 wickets hauls in 6 consecutive innings against Eng in 1888.

8.Oldest player to take 5 wicket haul- Bert Ironmonger (Aus) picked 6/18 v SA at the age 49+ years in 1932Most 10 wickets haul in a match- Muralitharan(SL) has achieved this feat 22 times. Next best is Shane Warne (Aus) 10 times.

9. Most 5 wickets haul- Again Muralitharan (SL) has achieved this feat 67 times. Surprisingly next best is Shane Warne (Aus) did it only 37 times.

10 Most 5 wickets haul- Again Muralitharan (SL) has achieved this feat 67 times. Surprisingly next best is Shane Warne (Aus) did it only 37 times.

Above were some interesting facts about bowling in test matches.

 

Anil Malik

Mumbai, India

16^th June 2021

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