Australia 1963-83

A look at the best Australian cricketers of the period 1963-83 and a photo gallery.

I continue my look through Australia’s cricket history with a look at the best men’s cricketers of 1963-83, which brings us into the era covered in this post.

THE XI IN BATTING ORDER

Bill Lawry (left handed opening batter). He averaged 47 with the bat over a long test career, which ended with him being dropped from the team when the Aussie selectors decided they wanted a new captain in Ian Chappell and that they did not think Lawry should play under his successor. This resulted in a first and only test appearance for Ken Eastwood, another dour left hander of similar age to Lawry but possessed of about half his skill.
Bobby Simpson (right handed opening batter, ace slip fielder, occasional leg spinner). He took until his 30th test match to reach three figures at that level. In that first three figure innings he went on to 311, batting until the third morning of a match that Australia only needed to draw to retain the Ashes. Simpson scored nine further test centuries, one of them in the Ashes (a score of 225). He and Lawry also became the first pair of openers to score double centuries in the same test innings, their opening stand against the West Indies being worth 382 on that occasion.
*Ian Chappell (right handed batter, captain, occasional leg spinner). A fine test match number three and a great skipper who took Australia to the top of the cricket world before the rise of Lloyd’s West Indies with their pace battery.
Greg Chappell (right handed batter, ace slip fielder, occasional medium pacer, occasional leg spinner). The best Aussie batter to play his cricket exclusively in this era. Leg spin was his first style of bowling, but he learned to bowl medium pace while playing for Somerset as an overseas player.
Allan Border (left handed batter, occasional left arm orthodox spinner). Although he had another ten years of test cricket ahead of him in 1983 he had done enough by then to warrant his place, and by the time of his retirement he would be remembered as an all time great, the first ever to score 11,000 test runs.
Doug Walters (right handed batter, occasional medium pacer). Averaged in the mid-40s in test cricket, though he never quite cracked batting in England. His career best was 250 against New Zealand, and he also had a match in which he scored 242 and 103. He twice scored 100 runs in a single session of play in test cricket. As a bowler at test level he was mainly used to break awkward partnerships, though he was good enough as a youngster to take a seven-for on FC debut.
+Rod Marsh (wicket keeper, left handed batter). At the time of his retirement he had made more test dismissals than any other wicket keeper and had also scored two test centuries. His departure left a hole in Aussie ranks that took a few years to properly fill, the search for decent test keeper only ending with the emergence of Ian Healy.
Ashley Mallett (off spinner, expert gully fielder, right handed lower order batter). Very valuable in a supporting role when Australia had some serious fast bowling talent in the 1970s.
Dennis Lillee (right arm fast bowler, right handed lower order batter). 71 test appearances yielded him 355 wickets, including 164 in Ashes matches, breaking a record that Hugh Trumble had held for three-quarters of a century. Lillee’s own tally was beaten in turn by Shane Warne.
Jeff Thomson (right arm fast bowler, right handed lower order batter). The fastest bowler of the era, and possibly the fastest Australia has yet produced (Shaun Tait and the 2013-14 incarnation of Mitchell Johnson are possible rivals for this one). 200 test wickets in all, in spite of injury problems disrupting his career.
Rodney Hogg (right arm fast bowler, right handed lower order batter). The 41 wickets he took in his debut series in 1978-9 were at the time an Australian record for an Ashes series. Injuries subsequently spoiled his career.

This side has a powerful top six, most of whom could also contribute something with the ball, a great keeper, a good off spinner and three genuinely fast bowlers.

HONOURABLE MENTIONS

The only other opening batter from this period who might have justified breaking the Lawry/ Simpson combo at the top was Keith Stackpole, but although his attacking approach may have made him a better foil to Lawry than Simpson, Simpson had the better record.

In the middle order there were two very near misses, Kim Hughes and Graham Yallop, but good as they were neither could realistically challenge either the Chappells or Border.

The main spin bowling challengers were two leg spinners, Terry Jenner and Kerry “Skull” O’Keeffe, but bearing in mind the spin bowling capacities of my front line batters I wanted on off spinner, and the only close challenger to Mallett on that basis was Bruce Yardley.

The pace bowling department was much more difficult. My decision to go for all out pace, with Hogg accompanying Lillee and Thommo meant that three guys with solid claims all missed out: Graham McKenzie was Australia’s best seamer between the retirement of Alan Davidson and the rise of Dennis Lillee, claiming 246 test scalps. Max Walker, the regular third seamer when Lillee and Thommo shared the new ball was also a candidate. Finally, brought into the picture by the fact that he bowled left arm fast medium which would have added variation and that he would have strengthened the lower order batting there was Gary Gilmour. In the ‘what might have been’ category is Bob Massie, who claimed 16 scalps on test debut, but then had a disastrous tour of the West Indies in which an attempt to generate extra pace led to him permanently losing his ability to swing the ball.

PHOTOGRAPHS

My usual sign off…

Best Partnerships For Each Wicket – England

What I consider to be the best partnerships for England for each wicket – not all of them huge, but all of them playing crucial roles in the matches in question, plus a photo gallery.

In this post I look at the best stands for each wicket by English pairs in test cricket – the stands are not necessarily numerically huge, it is what they mean in the context of the match and series in which they happened that sets them apart.

THE PARTNERSHIPS IN WICKET ORDER

1st: 172 by Jack Hobbs and Herbert Sutcliffe vs Australia at The Oval, 1926. England had not won an Ashes series since the resumption of cricket after WWI, and indeed had won only match in the three series between the old enemies in that period, while Australia had won 12 and drawn two in those three series. The first four matches of the series in 1926 had all been drawn, with the weather intervening frequently, and the powers that be had therefore decreed that this match would be played to a finish. England trailed by 22 runs on first innings and the pitch at the start of their second innings looked a very difficult one. Hobbs and Sutcliffe survived the tough early stages, helped by Aussie skipper Collins trusting the accurate Arthur Richardson over the more expensive but also more dangerous Arthur Mailey. Hobbs reached 100 in front of his home crowd before he was finally dismissed to make it 172-1. Herbert Sutcliffe kept on going, eventually tallying 161, and England reached 436, an advantage of 414. The match, and with it the series, was as good as settled, and a dispirited Australia managed only 125 in the final innings, 49 year old Wilfred Rhodes taking 4-44, while a 21 year old speedster named Larwood claimed three scalps. The final wicket was taken by Leicestershire work horse George Geary. I have rated this stand of 172 ahead of the same pair’s 105 at Melbourne in the fourth innings two and a half years later because although that contributed to a series win down under, even if England had lost that match they would have been 2-1 up with two to play and still favourites for the series, whereas this was a one-shot deal.

2nd: 329* by Alastair Cook and Jonathan Trott, Brisbane 2010. It had been 24 years since an England men’s side had won a series down under, and when England trailed by over 200 on first innings in the opening match not many would have bet on this series bucking that trend. Even when skipper Strauss and Cook started the second innings with a stand of 188, England were still behind. By the close of the penultimate day Cook and Trott had put on an unbroken 121, and England had given themselves an opening. When the pair were still in residence by lunch on the final day the match was as good as saved. The partnership was ended when skipper Strauss decided to declare to see if England could claim a few early wickets. In the event the Aussie second innings was a solid effort, highlighted by a rapid 50 from Ponting, which would prove to be his only decent score of the series. England, boosted by their escape in this match won three of the four remaining matches of the series by innings margins.

3rd: 262 by Wally Hammond and Douglas Jardine, Adelaide 1928. England were in a bit of trouble when this pair joined forces in the second innings of this match, although the series was already secure. By the time Jardine was out for 98 England were back in control, and they went on to win the match.

4th: 411 by Peter May and Colin Cowdrey, Edgbaston 1957. England trailed by 288 on first innings and were 113-3 when skipper May was joined by Cowdrey. Sonny Ramadhin with his spinners had been England’s nemesis, and in ten hours this pair not only saved England, they effectively finished Ranadhin as a bowling force – by the time May declared, with himself on 285*, Ramadhin had bowled 98 overs in the innings, still an FC record. West Indies lost seven wickets in their own second innings and ended up grateful to escape with a draw.

5th: 163 by Willie Watson and Trevor Bailey at Lord’s, 1953. England had been set 347 to win, and when wickets started to fall early survival became the order of the day. The pair to arrest a seemingly fatal slide were Watson and Bailey. Watson made 109, Bailey 71 and England saved the match. The series opener at Trent Bridge had been drawn, highlighted by Alec Bedser’s 14 wickets, and the third and fourth matches were also drawn. However at The Oval in the final game England won by eight wickets to claim the Ashes for the first time since Woodfull had wrested the urn back for Australia in 1934.

6th: 119* by Mike Atherton and Jack Russell, Johannesburg 1995. This was the second match of the series, the first having been a very dull draw. SA dominated most of the game and England found themselves with 11 hours to bat and a target of 479. Atherton dug in to lead England’s resistance, but wickets fell regularly at the other end, and when Robin Smith, Atherton’s best partner to that point was fifth out 232 there were over four and a half hours left in the match. At this point Jack Russell, England’s wicket keeper, with 11 catches in the match already, joined Atherton. South Africa did not claim another wicket in the match, Atherton finishing on 185* and Jack Russell 29* (this latter in 274 minutes and 235 balls).

7th: 30 by Gilbert Jessop and George Hirst, The Oval, 1902. This remarkable partnership occupied just eight minutes, but was absolutely pivotal in turning the match – during it Jessop completed his century, an innings that had begun with England 48-5 chasing 263 to win and Hirst established himself. Jessop was out shortly after reaching the landmark, but Hirst, with varying degrees of support from Lockwood, keeper Lilley and Rhodes guided England to a one wicket victory, Hirst 58*.

8th: 13* by Ashley Giles and Matthew Hoggard at Trent Bridge in 2005. The series was tied at 1-1 going into this match, with England having had considerably the better of a draw at Old Trafford in the preceding match. England had scored 477 batting first, Australia 218 in response, and then 387 following on. England needed 129, a target that should have posed few challenges. However, Shane Warne and Brett Lee rattled England, and at 116-7 with genuine tailender Hoggard joining Giles, a bowler who could bat, and Simon Jones injured, things were looking dicey for England. The over that settled it for England was ironically enough bowled by the destroyer Lee – Hoggard somehow wellied a fast full toss through cover for four and took two off the next ball. A few moments later Giles scored the winning run, putting England 2-1 up in the series and meaning that a draw at The Oval would see England regain the Ashes. That draw was duly achieved, with Giles adding to his batting credits by staying with Pietersen for two and a half hours on the final day, putting the target beyond Australia’s reach.

9th: 67 by Ian Botham and Chris Old at Headingley in 1981. England had been made to follow on 227 runs adrift and then slumped to 135-7 in their second innings. Ian Botham, just replaced as skipper by Mike Brearley, was joined by Dilley at that point. The pair added 117 in 80 minutes, but England were still only 25 to the good, and although Chris Old, the new batter, was a decent ball striker on his day few would have expected him to last long against fast bowlers on a dodgy pitch. In the event he helped the ninth wicket to raise 67, and then last man Bob Willis resisted for long enough that Australia needed 130 to win. With Willis, nearly omitted from the England team before the match, bowling for his future Australia succumbed for 111 in the fourth innings, Willis 8-43, to give England victory by 18 runs. England then won the next two matches at Edgbaston and Old Trafford to retain The Ashes.

10th: 76* by Ben Stokes and Jack Leach, Headingley 2019. When Australia could do no better than 179 in the first innings things looked good for England. England themselves then crashed for 67 in response. Australia built a lead of 358. At 286-9, with Leach joining Stokes it looked all over, but Stokes was finding his very best form, and Leach resisted stoutly. As England closed on the target Australia became panicked. Australia sacrificed their last review on an LBW that was never getting overturned – it was obviously pitched outside leg and missing in any case. This proved crucial a few moments later when a much better LBW shout was turned down and Australia were unable to review it. The scores drew level, and then Stokes hit a boundary to complete the Headingley Heist. Leach had scored possibly the most important 1* in cricket history at the other end. There was an earlier rival to this partnership, also involving a left arm spinner batting at no 11, the 15 that Hirst and Rhodes added to give England a one wicket win at The Oval in 1902, but that series was already lost, whereas this one was still live, and indeed it finished level. Also worthy of mention in this context is a third partnership involving a left arm spinner at no11, the Anderson and Panesar act of defiance, holding out for an hour to save the match at Cardiff in 2009.

PHOTOGRAPHS

My usual sign off…

England Interwar Years XI

A look at England’s best cricketers of the interwar years, a piece of railwayana and a large photo gallery.

Last time out I created an XI of England cricketers from before WWI. Now I look at the next period – the interwar years, well covered by Gerald Howat in “Cricket’s Second Golden Age”. In this period England had immense batting strength with the result that some huge names miss out. The bowling was by no means weak either.

THE XI IN BATTING ORDER

Jack Hobbs (right handed opening batter). The Master. At Melbourne in 1929 he became the oldest ever test centurion at the age of 46 – the last his 12 Ashes centuries.
Herbert Sutcliffe (right handed opening batter). His entry into first class cricket was delayed by WWI (he was already 24 when that conflict ended in November 1918) while the outbreak of WWII in 1939 marked the end of his FC career (his test career had ended in 1935, but his performance in FC cricket in 1939 was excellent even at the age of 44). He was the ultimate big occasion player as shown by the progression of his averages: 52.02 in all FC cricket, 60.73 in all test cricket and 66.85 in the cauldron of The Ashes. He and Jack Hobbs were the greatest of all test match opening combinations, averaging 87.81 per partnership.
Walter Hammond (right handed batter, ace slip fielder, useful right arm medium fast bowler). Had Hammond like the older Sutcliffe allowed WWII to end his career he would have bowed out with a test batting average of 61.75 (6,883 runs), but he attempted a comeback post war, which dragged his average below 60.
Eddie Paynter (left handed batter). Going by career batting averages England’s most successful ever left hander, averaging 59.23 at test level, including double centuries against Australia and South Africa. His career was truncated at both ends, by the immense strength of Lancashire’s batting when he first started to come through and by the outbreak of WWII.
Patsy Hendren (right handed batter). Only Hobbs scored more FC centuries than Hendren’s 170, and his test record was also impressive.
*Frank Woolley (left handed batter, left arm orthodox spinner, excellent fielder and my chosen skipper). At Lord’s in 1921 when everyone else was helpless in the face of Jack Gregory and Ted McDonald he scored 95 and 93. I have named him as skipper even though as a professional of that era he never actually had the job because I believe his tactical nous, illustrated in his book “King of Games”, would have served him well in the role, and Hammond, the conventional choice of captain for this XI, appears to have not actually been even a good skipper.
+Les Ames (right handed batter, wicket keeper). The first wicket keeper to average over 40 with the bat at test level and a destructive stroke maker, he is the ideal number seven for a side like this.
Maurice Tate (right arm fast medium bowler, useful lower order batter). In the ill-fated 1924-5 Ashes series he claimed 38 wickets for a well beaten side. In 1926 he was one of the stars of a successful Ashes campaign, and he was involved in both the 1928-9 and 1932-3 tours when England won 4-1 each time.
Harold Larwood (right arm fast bowler, useful lower order batter). In the 1932-3 Ashes he was unplayable, claiming 33 wickets before hobbling off injured in the final match (made to wait until Bradman was out by skipper Jardine).
Hedley Verity (left arm orthodox spinner, useful lower order batter). In a career that lasted less than a decade he took 1,956 wickets at 14.90 a piece. At test level, where he encountered Bradman, he was less devastating, but 144 wickets at 24 is still a fine record, and I defer to the judgement of the Don himself who only acknowledged facing one bowler as an equal: Hedley Verity.
Bill Voce (left arm fast medium bowler, lower order batter). This slot was the toughest to fill, but I opted to give Larwood his most regular bowling partner and rely on two other left armers, Verity and Woolley for the spin.

This side has a formidably deep batting line up, and Larwood, Voce, Tate, Verity, Woolley and Hammond can hardly be considered a weak bowling combination.

HONOURABLE MENTIONS

Although Denis Compton and Bill Edrich had both played for England by the time WWII broke out both played their best cricket after the war, so I held them back for then. Leonard Hutton scored his England record 364 in 1938, but that Oval pitch was a featherbed, Australia were short of bowling, and I felt that the proven Hobbs/ Sutcliffe combination at the top was a better bet in any case. Hutton, like the Middlesex “twins” will feature in the post-war version of this post. Phil Mead missed out – one of he or Paynter had to be unlucky and I preferred the Lancastrian. Ernest Tyldesley was another casualty of England’s immense batting strength in this period. Maurice Leyland of Yorkshire was another unlucky one in this regard. Several fine wicket keepers missed out – Herbert Strudwick, EJ “Tiger” Smith and George Duckworth being the most notable, while advocates of batter-keepers might have considered Paul Gibb. Vallance Jupp did the double eight times in successive seasons in the 1920s, but his England appearances were sporadic, so the off spinning all rounder missed out. Ted ‘Nobby’ Clark, a left arm fast bowler, was a candidate for the slot I gave to Voce. Three leg spinners, ‘Tich’ Freeman, Ian Peebles and Tommy Mitchell all had moments at the highest level but not substantial enough records at that level to claim a place. Two right arm medium-fast bowlers who were unlucky to be squeezed out were George Geary and Alec Kennedy, both outstanding at FC level and in Geary’s case also proven in test cricket. Tom Goddard, the best off spinner of the interwar years, was as he often was in real life, unlucky – the only way to include him would have been in place of Tate, relying on Hammond as third seamer. Finally, although Verity’s selection is incontrovertible several notable left arm tweakers missed out in consequence: Charlie Parker (treated scurvily by the selectors of his era, to end up as a one-cap wonder at test level while taking over 3,000 FC wickets), JC ‘Farmer’ White and Roy Kilner.

PHOTOGRAPHS

Before moving on to the main photo gallery, James and Sons’ March auction took place on Tuesday and Wednesday of this week, and was a considerable success. In amongst the stuff going for big money I secured an interesting little piece of South African railwayana for a modest £12 – it was featured on the back cover of the printed catalogue, and online bidders saw these two images:

and…

Here are some images of the item taken since I took possession of it…

I also took a high resolution scan of the item itself…

The scan after cropping and editing.

Now for my regular photo gallery…

Appropriately enough given the nickname of King’s Lynn Town FC and the fact that this was taken in King’s Lynn I think this is a linnet.

Ireland’s Grand Slam

A brief look at Ireland’s achievement in the 2023 Six Nations.

Early yesterday evening the final curtain came down on the 2023 Six Nations rugby tournament. Ireland won a clear victory over England to complete a grand slam.

IRELAND’S DOMINANCE

Ireland did not merely beat all of their opponents this tournament, they won every match by double figure margins. What may lend Ireland’s extraordinary performance extra significance is that 2023 is a world cup year. Although the big beasts of the southern hemisphere, Australia, New Zealand and current holders South Africa will all represent formidable obstacles to Ireland’s ambitions I for one would not count the Irish out – especially given that the legendary Jonny Sexton will be well aware that if he is to add the world cup to his list of wins this will be his last chance to do so – he will not still be an international force by 2027.

PHOTOGRAPHS

This photo gallery features two new bird sightings for 2023, both from today – a Mistle Thrush in The Walks and a Redshank at the mouth of the Nar…

The Mistle Thrush, near King’s Lynn library.

Scotland 2022: Acharacle

Welcome to the next post in my series about my Scottish holiday. This post focusses on Acharacle where we were staying, and the surrounding area. It covers Wednesday evening and Thursday of the week in question.

Birthday Meal

The evening of Wednesday June 1st featured a belated birthday meal at an excellent restaurant. I opted for smoked venison for a starter and steak for the main course, washed down by a rather good local beer.

THURSDAY: TWO LOCAL WALKS

Thursday had been forecast to be the least good day of the week weatherwise, and it was (although for western Scotland it was far from being bad). During the two periods when the weather was good enough to go out we did first a walk to the village shop, visiting the church on the way back, and then in the late afternoon/ early evening a walk over the Shiel bridge and then part way along one side of the loch that the river turns into in that direction (the Shiel is a very short river). There is a small settlement called Moss, and indeed mosses and lichens grow very luxuriantly in this part of the world.

PHOTOGRAPHS

Here are my photographs taken in and around Acharacle…

Scotland 2022: Singing Sands – Beach and Back

Continuing my account of my Scottish holiday with my second post about the Singing Sands.

Welcome to my latest post about my Scottish holiday, my second about the walk centred on the Singing Sands.

ON THE BEACH

We spent a little time on the beach, crossing the river that runs across it at a carefully picked spot that enabled us not to get our shoes wet. While we were on the beach I refreshed myself, having been sensible enough to equip myself with water and a little food. It was a truly splendid location, and I was careful to ensure that I left nothing other than footprints and took nothing other than photographs.

THE WALK BACK

We walked back the way we had come, seeing a few new things on the way. It had been a very enjoyable walk, and I recommend it to anyone who is in that part of western Scotland.

PHOTOGRAPHS

Here are my photographs from this second part of the walk…

Scotland 2021: Wick

An account of my day in Wick near the end of my recent Scottish holiday.

We have reached the last full day of my Scottish holiday (May 28 – June 5th), the Friday which I spent in Wick (a mix up over booking times meant that I had an extra day in Scotland after we were supposed to leave the house in which we had been staying, having missed the first day, so I was booked into a hotel in Wick, from whence I was departing early on the Saturday morning).

ARRIVING IN WICK

I was dropped at the Norseman Hotel in Wick, where I would be staying overnight. Unfortunately it was far too early to check in, but fortunately I was able to deposit my larger bag at the hotel which meant that I had at least some freedom of movement.

ETYMOLOGICAL NOTE

Wick derives from Old Norse and means ‘bay’ in English. It is most often seen as a place name ending, with -wich, as in Norwich, an alternative version. The -vik of Narvik in northern Norway derives from the same root. The fact that Wick has no prefix indicates that when it was first settled it was the only bay in the area that was considered significant.

EXPLORING WICK

My explorations started by following the Wick River inland. This was a nice walk, with lots of bird life in evidence along the way. When I got to back to Wick I explored the town itself. I also took the opportunity to locate the railway station and make sure I knew how to get there the following morning. After a visit to a cafe I was finally able to check in to the hotel. In the event I did not head back out until the following morning, being very tired. The hotel room was perfectly pleasant, although the wifi connection that the hotel so wants its guests to know about proved to be rather unreliable.

PHOTOGRAPHS

I got lots of good pictures while in Wick…

Scotland 2021: Castle Sinclair Girnigoe

An account of a visit to a ruined castle that nowadays doubles as a wildlife haven.

On the morning of my birthday we travelled to Wick to do some essential shopping, and on the way back as a warm up act to the main event of the day, a wildlife cruise which I shall write about in due time we called in at the ruins of Castle Sinclair Girnigoe.

RUIN AND WILDLIFE HAVEN

In it’s heyday this castle would have been an imposing sight (it was very obviously built to intimidate, and had little in the way of style), although its location is testament to the absence of any kind of field artillery – even Ballistae and scorpions as used by the Romans hundreds of years before it was built could have caused mayhem by targetting the rock formations around the castle and effectively subjecting those in the castle to a hail of rock fragments – in Scotland in that period. Nowadays it is an impressive ruin, and also home to many kinds of wildlife, both fauna and flora. There are some stunningly good views out over the sea. If you ever happen to be in this corner of Scotland it is worth a look, though it would not be the main event of one’s day.

PHOTOGRAPHS

My photographs begin with a few from before we got to the castle, cover the walk from the parking area to the castle and the castle itself:

All Time XIs – Through the Alphabet VI

Our sixth ‘alphabetic progression’ post in this ‘all time XI’ cricket series, a solution to yesterday’s teaser and plenty of photographs.

INTRODUCTION

In today’s all time XIs cricket post we continue with our alphabetic progression. Yesterday we ended on an F, so today we start from G.

BILL O’REILLY XI

Gordon Greenidge – right handed opening batter. He was a crucial part of the West Indies success in the 1980s. In the 1984 series in England the West Indies were twice in deep trouble, and both times were hauled out of it by Greenidge. At Old Trafford he saved the day with an innings of 223 in 10 hours at the crease, and the Windies emerged victorious. At Lord’s the Windies were set 342 to win in just under a full day (and Gower, the England captain, was criticized for not declaring earlier, and for allowing his batters to accept on offer of the light when they should, four fast bowlers notwithstanding, have stayed out there. The West Indies won by nine wickets, with Greenidge blazing his way to 214 not out, while Larry Gomes (92 not out) played the supporting role to perfection. In the MCC Bicentennary match he made a century, notable for the setting of a fielder specifically to cut down the number of runs the reverse sweep was bringing him. A long county career with Hampshire helped him to score more first class hundreds (90) than any other West Indian bar Viv Richards.
Desmond Haynes – right handed opening batter. He was Greenidge;s regular opening partner for Barbados and the West Indies. Barbados, a coral island similar in size to the Isle of Wight has produced over 70 test match cricketers – an all time batting order with these two opening, the three Ws at 3,4 and 5, Sobers at six, a keeper and four bowlers, two of them Marshall and Garner is shaping up mightily impressively. The Isle of Wight for comparison has produced a few cricketers who reached the dizzy heights of the Hampshire 2nd XI. Haynes and Greenidge put on over 6,000 runs together in first wicket stands at test level, although their average opening stand is not quite as eye-popping as the 87 of Jack Hobbs and Herbert Sutcliffe.
Shreyas Iyer – right handed batter. The young Indian, noted for his aggressive approach, has yet to play test cricket, but hes an averages 52 in first class cricket and has made a remarkable start to his ODI career. I can envisage him being devastating after Greenidge and Haynes have given the innings their usual strong start (and similarly when the time comes coming in after the Sharma/ Agarwal opening partnership has been broken).
Mahela Jayawardene – right handed batter. He holds the record for the highest test score by a right handed batter, 374 vs South Africa, when he and gthe left handed Kumar Sangakkara put on 624 together for the third wicket, starting from 14-2. Three higher individual test scores have been recorded, Lara’s 400 not out and 375, which both came in high scoring draws, whereas Jayawardene’s set his side up for an innings victory, and Matthew Hayden’s 380, scored against a hapless Zimbabwe team at Perth. Following the list on down, Sobers’ 365 not out was made against a Pakistan side who fielded only two front line bowlers, Hutton’s 364 at The Oval set his side up for a crushing victory, Jayasuriya’s 340 came in a monstrosity of a game at Colombo (over 100 runs per wicket through the five days), Hanif Mohammad’s 337 secured a draw for his side, Hammond’s 336 not out and Bradman’s 334 both came in drawn games- not that many of the super-huge scores have actually helped their team to win.
Rohan Kanhai – right handed batter. His record at first class and test level is highly impressive, and I have the word of CLR James, that he was an absolute genius with a bat in his hand.
Geoffrey Legge – right handed batter. He played for Kent and England. He managed only one century for his country, but it was a big one – 196.
+Billy Murdoch – right handed batter, wicket keeper. Fred ‘the demon’ Spofforth missed the first ever test match because he believed that only Billy Murdoch could keep to his bowling (he came in to the side when the second match was arranged, apparently convinced that the chosen keeper, Blackham, was good enough after all), so although it was not where he usually played in test cricket he did have pedigree as a wicket keeper. His batting deeds included 153 not out in the first test on English soil at The Oval, the first ever test double century at the same ground four years later, 286 for Australia in a tour match and a first class triple century, at a time when only WG Grace (twice) and Walter Read of Surrey had previously achieved the feat.He played county cricket for Sussex and was part of WG Grace’s ultimately ill-fated London County venture.
Dion Nash – right arm fast medium bowler. An effective swing bowler for New Zealand in the 1990s, and by no means valueless as a lower order batter.
Bill O’Reilly – leg spinner. Nicknamed ‘tiger’ for his on field ferocity (he was later to be fairly ferocious with a pen in his hand as well), he bowled faster than most of his type (one action shot of him was erroneously labelled ‘Bill O’Reilly, Australia fast bowler, and seeing it one can understand how the mistake happened).Donald Bradman rated him the best bowler he ever saw or faced, although as O’Reilly himself acknowledged Bradman was the one opposition batter who generally had his measure. World War II basically ended his career at the top level, although he played a one-off test against New Zealand, taking a hatful of cheap wickets but also learning the hard way that his knees were finally knackered.
Jamie Porter – right arm fast bowler. Has done good things for his county Essex, but has not yet been given the opportunity to perform at a higher level. I hope he does get the chance to prove himself at the highest level. He has 329 first class wickets at 24.31.
Hamidullah Qadri – off spinner. He currently pays 35 per wicket in his fledgling first class career, and needs to reduce that figure, but he is still very young, and he did enjoy some success in the last U19 world cup. Given that I already had a legspinner (more on this later), the alternative was Imran Qayyum, a left arm orthodox spinner, but he pays 43 per wicket, which is simply too expensive to hold out serious hopes of him making the grade.

This side has a stellar batting line up but is a trifle light on bowling options. Nonetheless I would expect it to give a good account of itself.

HONOURABLE MENTIONS

Strong cases could be made for the selection of Gavaskar or Gooch as my opening batter whose name begins with G, and a respectable one for Chris Gayle, while Jack Hobbs and Matthew Hayden could both have been picked as the opener whose name begins with H, with Tom Hayward also a possibility. However, Greenidge and Haynes functioned superbly well as a pair, and I have opted for them because of that detail. Abdul Qadir deserves credit for keeping the embers of the torch of leg spin bowling aglow in the 1980s, to be fanned in full blazing flame by Shane Warne in the 1990s, but with Bill O’Reilly in the side I did not especially want a second leg spinner, so I went with the unknown quantity of Hamidullah Qadri.

ANDREW STRAUSS’ XI

Jack Robertson – right handed opening batter. A test average of 46 is testament to his class. In the great 1947 season when Denis Compton and Bill Edrich rewrote the record books Robertson hit 12 first class centuries, very often teeing the innings up for the other two.
*Andrew Strauss – left handed opening batter, captain. The man who captained England to no one in the world at test cricket, and who averaged over 40 with the bat, both as captain and in the ranks gets the nod here.
Johnny Tyldesley – right handed batter. In the first decade of the twentieth century only two professionals were selected in England teams purely for their batting, this man and David Denton of Yorkshire.
Inzamam Ul-Haq – right handed batter. He announced his arrival at the top level with an innings of 60 off 37 balls in the 1992 World Cup (back then, performances like that were not commonplace).
James Vince – right handed batter. Has a good record for Hampshire, and has done fairly well in limited overs matches for England. His test career has featured far too many well compiled 20s and 30s and no really major innings (83 at Brisbane is his highest).
+Clyde Walcott – right handed batter, wicket keeper. Selecting him as wicket keeper, enables me to pick a strong bowling line up.
Xenophon Balaskas – leg spinner, right handed batter. This is about the right position for him, and X is a difficult letter.
Bruce Yardley – off spinner. He was effective for Australia in the late 1970s and early 1980s, once being te match winner against the West Indies at a time when defeats for them were a great rarity.
Dawlat Zadran – right arm fast medium bowler. Has done some good things for Afghanistan and may yet get better still. Certainly worth his place.
James Anderson – right arm fast medium bowler. Zadran could only benefit from sharing the new ball with an experienced partner, and they don’t come much more experienced in that regard than the man who has taken more test wickets than any other pace bowler, and the most by any Eng;land bowler (and officially he is still counting).
Jasprit Bumrah – right arm fast bowler. The list of visiting quick bowlers to really rattle the Aussies in their own backyard is not a long one, although the West Indies in the great years under Lloyd and Richards had a few. The list of Indian bowlers of serious pace is also not a long one – Amar Singh in the 1930s, and Javagal Srinath in the 1990s are the only two before the present era who I can think of. If one were to use the two lists to create a Venn diagram, there would be one name in the overlap between the two circles: Jasprit Bumrah, whose sheer speed in the 2018-9 series for the Border-Gavaskar trophy was more responsible than anything else for India’s triumph.

This team has an excellent top six, Xenophon Balaskas at seven can be considered an all-rounder, Yardley may provide some assistance to the top order, and then there are three pace bowlers. With Anderson to guide and encourage them the two younger bowlers, Bumrah and Zadran should fare well. If there is real turn Xenophon Balaskas and Yardley should be capable of exploiting it. This looks a fine side.

HONOURABLE MENTIONS

Bobby Simpson would have his advocates for the opening slot I gave to Strauss. I thought about picking Radha Yadav, the left arm spinner, for the no eight slot but decided that gave me too long a tail (Anderson at 10 is definitely in the ‘rabbit’ category with the bat, while Bumrah is a ‘ferret’ – someone who comes after the raqbbits).

THE CONTEST

Bill O’Reilly XI have a very deep batting line up packed with class, but they are short of bowling guns. Andrew Strauss’ XI have less in the way of batting riches, although their top order is strong on any reckoning, but they do have what looks a strong and balanced bowling unit. My reckoning, based on the evidence from cricket’s history is that it is the bowlers who settle matches, and so my reckoning is that Andrew Strauss’ XI start as firm favourites.

SOLUTION TO YESTERDAY’S TEASER

Yesterday I set this teaser, from brilliant.org:

Here is Chew-Seong Cheong’s excellent published solution:

As an habitue of brilliant.org I recognized a trick when I saw it and realized that the trick answer given the wording of the question was that the areas were equal and therefore went for that as my answer.

PHOTOGRAPHS

I have introduced today’s teams, assessed the contest and presented the solution to yesterday’s teaser. The only thing left to for this post to be complete is my usual sign off…

All Time XIs – Through The Alphabet V

Today’s ‘all time XI’ cricket post continues the alphabetic progression theme. Also features a mathematical teaser and lots of photographs.

INTRODUCTION

Welcome to today’s all time XI cricket post. We continue the alphabetic progression theme. Yesterday’s second XI ended with a J, so we start with an opening batter whose name begins with K.

SHAUN UDAL’S XI

Don Kenyon – right handed opening batter. A consistent and reliable opener for Worcestershire over a number of years.
David Lloyd – left handed opening batter, occasional left arm orthodox spinner. After a distinguished career for Lancashire and nine appearances in test matches he went to become a highly entertaining commentator and writer, and a good coach.
Roy Marshall – right handed batter. He usually opened, mainly for Hampshire. Regular openers often fare well at number three – Mark Butcher and Michael Vaughan are two who did so for England.
Brendan Nash – right handed batter. Australian born, but played for the West Indies.
Simon O’Donnell – right handed batter, right arm fast medium bowler. Toured England in 1985 as a promising young all rounder, but did not quite make the grade at test level (he was a casualty of a rebuilding effort that paid dramatic fruit starting in 1989 with an Ashes win in England and going on to become a dominant international force). He finished his first class career with a first class batting average of 39 and a bowling average of 37.
Ellyse Perry – right handed batter, right arm fast medium.
+Quinn Sunde – wicket keeper, right handed batter. Finding Qs to fit the bill calls for some flexibility. He is only just 19 and has not yet played first class cricket, but has played for NZ U-19.
Graham Rose – right arm medium fast bowler, useful lower order batter. A Somerset stalwart, who did not do quite enough to attract the attention of the England selectors. I saw him in action in 1996 at Swansea, and he took four cheap wickets in a Glamorgan total of 310 in the first innings. Somerset took a small lead, with Lathwell playing fluently early in their innings and Hayhurst and Bowler providing grittier efforts, while Steve Watkin had a very similar analysis to Rose’s. Somerset’s advantage was insufficient – Robert Croft spun them to defeat on the final day. His averages are just the right way round, and hos bowling average is just less than 30.
Brian Statham – right arm fast bowler. 252 test wickets at 24 each, mainly from the wrong end – for Lancashire when he had the choice of ends he took his wickets at just 16 a piece. Like his successor as Lancashire and England new ball bowler, James Anderson, he batted left handed, occasionally playing very useful innings – in one of the 1954-5 Ashes matches he was involved in a crucial partnership in England’s first innings – the last wicket stand between him and Johnny Wardle account for 43 of a total of 154, and England won that game by 38 runs. Also, at a time when quite a few of his colleagues had to be ‘hidden’ in the field he was excellent in that department as well.
Frank Tyson – right arm fast bowler. The other half of that 1954-5 Ashes winning new ball pairing. His was a brief but spectacular career – he had other strings to his bow, which meant that he did not have worry about prolonging his career, and by the end of the 1950s he was finished as a professional.
*Shaun Udal – off spinner, captain. A long career, mainly for Hampshire, before moving to Middlesex for his last few years. He did get to play for England but did not fare very well at the highest level.

This team has a decent top four, one good and one great all rounder, a wicket keeper and a bowling foursome that looks pretty good. It is deficient in the spin department – the only back up available for Udal’s off spin is Lloyd’s part time left arm spin.

GEORGE DENNETT’S XI

Joe Vine – right handed batter, leg spinner. The role he played for Sussex for many years, and briefly for England. Sussex in that period were a magnificent batting side, but somewhat light on bowlers, so they never seriously threatened in the county championship – there is a vast mass of evidence to support the contention that if you are going to a little short in either of these departments it is better to be light in batting – good bowlers do not need absolutely huge totals to defend, whereas unless you get lucky with opposition declarations you cannot win games without taking 20 wickets. This is why, when I started this series with a look at the 18 first class counties and restricted myself to one overseas player per county that overseas choice was nearly always a bowler, occasionally an all rounder and almost never a pure batter.
Benjamin Wilson – right handed opening batter. He was Wilfred Rhodes’ most regular Yorkshire opening partner in the years immediately before World War 1. He was sometimes criticized for taking an overly defensive approach to his innings (I have an idea that there was a more recent Yorkshire opener who also got that kind of criticism!).
Xavier Marshall – right handed batter. A man who has played for two international sides – the West Indies where he was born and the USA. X, like Q, calls for a wee bit of flexibility.
Mohammad Yousuf – right handed batter. After a slightly suspect top three we come to someone who averaged over 50 in his test career. He finished under something of a cloud (and I saw every ball of that shocking match in Sydney which he basically handed to Australia after Pakistan had taken a first innings lead of 200). First, with Hussey and tail ender Siddle resuming overnight and Australia only 74 to the good he failed to set attacking fields, and his tactics allowed Australia to reach lunch with no further loss. Then, with Pakistan needing 176, when it should have been under 100, he surrendered his own wicket to an appalling stroke, leaving his side 54-4 and with no experienced front line batters left.
Bas Zuiderent – right handed batter. England’s performance in the 1996 World Cup was one of their most disgraceful ever in any tournament, on-field incompetence being matched by bad behaviour off it (skipper Atherton, who should have been nowhere near a limited overs side in any case, called one reporter who was having difficulty phrasing a question in what was after all not his first language a buffoon, and there were other cringeworthy stories as well). England reached the quarter finals only because they had been put in a group with two non-test playing nations, Holland and the United Arab Emirates, the only two teams they beat in that competition (justice was done in the quarter-final when they were marmalised by Sri Lanka). The Holland win was decidedly unconving, with Zuiderent, then only 18, and Van Noortwijk plundering a century stand together – it was only Van Noortwijk’s dismissal to a boundary catch that finally put England in control. Zuiderent’s share of the spoils was a merry 54. He did not go on to great things after that start, but his innings that day, which garnered more plaudits than Hick’s century for England had, gets him his place as a middle order batter beginning with Z.
+Tim Ambrose – right handed batter, wicket keeper. He made a century on test debut, but never fully established himself. For Sussex and then Warwickshire he was a consistent run getter in the middle of the order and a superb wicket keeper.
Katherine Brunt – right arm medium fast bowler, right handed batter. She began as a pure bowler, but although not doing so as effectively as Ellyse Perry who also began down the order she has developed her batting to a level that allows her to be described as an all rounder.
Tom Cartwright – right arm medium fast bowler, useful lower order batter. The obverse of Brunt in terms of career development – he started as mainly a batter, and actually scored a first class double century playing as such, before dropping down the order because his bowling was more valuable to the side than his batting. He started with Warwickshire and moved to Somerset. He became so metronomically accurate that it is claimed that at the end of a season at Taunton there would be a worn patch two feet long and six inches wide at one end, where he had been lading the ball time after time through the season. He played a walk-on role (more accurately walk-off) in the D’Oliveira affair – he was initially selected in the 1968-9 tour party to South Africa, while D’Oliveira to general consternation was left out. Cartwright then withdrew citing injury, but as he later admitted, actually because he did not wish to go to South Africa. His replacement was D’Oliveira, mainly a batter, and Balthazar Johannes Vorster, then South African president, proceeded to state that D’Oliveira would not be accepted (attempts had earlier been made to bribe D’Oliveira, as documented by Peter Oborne in his book “Basil D’Oliveira”), and the tour was promptly cancelled. England and South Africa next went head to head in 1994, and a visit by Bradman to South Africa in which he had a face to face meeting with Vorster, and the latter, erroneously feeling safe, gave vent to some unvarnished racism led to the final isolation of apartheid South Africa.
*George Dennett – left arm orthodox spinner. When cricinfo tweeted yesterday asking for people’s suggestions for the best player never to have played test cricket this man was mine. 2,151 wickets at 19.82 each in first class cricket, mainly for Gloucestershire, and never an England call up. This is because when he was in his pomp first Wilfred Rhodes and then Colin Blythe (2,503 first class wickets at 16) were ahead of him in the pecking order of left arm spinners, and Frank Woolley, worth his place as a batter anyway, also bowled left arm orthodox spin. Similarly, when I named my Gloucestershire all-time XI (second post in this series), Charlie Parker, third leading wicket taker in first class history got the left arm spinner’s position, with the off-spin of Tom Goddard (no 5 on the all time first class wicket taking list with 2,979) in support. The mores of his time prevented it from even being a consideration then, but I have named him as captain of this team, a job I think he would have done well.
Fidel Edwards – right arm fast bowler. A genuinely fast bowler for the West Indies, at a time when they as a side were struggling. His tendency to waywardness is partially addressed by the fact that the support pace bowlers, Cartwright and Brunt are both noted for accuracy.
Chuck Fleetwood-Smith – left arm wrist spinner. He was the reason for Denis Compton choosing this most difficult type of bowling when he decided to add a second string to his bow. He was often expensive, but always capable of bowling the wicket taking ball.

This team has a respectable top order, a quality keeper who can bat well in the middle od the order, and five players selected principally for their bowling, although two of them could definitely make significant contributions with the bat. There is not a front line off spinner, but Dennett, Fleetwood-Smith and Vine are a fine and varied trio of spinners, while the presence of Brunt and Cartwright should enable Edwards ton be used in short bursts.

THE CONTEST

Shaun Udal’s XI are somewhat stronger in batting (if only because they bat deeper) than George Dennett’s XI, but their bowling attack is not as well balanced. I would expect George Dennett’s XI to prevail, and would be absolutely certain that they would do so on a turner, as Udal backed by Lloyd’s part time stuff hardly compares with Dennettt, Fleetwood-Smith and Vine.

A MATHEMATICAL TEASER

This problem came up on brilliant.org today:

The original question has multiple choice answers, but I am not offering that. I will offer you a gentle hint – there are three possible answers to this question. In tomorrow’s post I will include an official solution and an explanation of my own ‘method’.

PHOTOGRAPHS

My usual sign off…

	Aoteroa Axed by Ahme… on South Africa Finnished as Alle…
	Thomas on World T20 Cup Underway
	Anna on World T20 Cup Underway
	London Underground t… on Project Piccadilly
	Thomas on All Time XIs – Detective…