Interesting facts about cricket
# A match between Barbados and British Guyana in 1946 saw an over with 14 balls in which there were no wides or no balls ! The 8 ball over was in force and the extra six deliveries were due to umpiring miscounting !!!
# SUNIL GAVASKAR was so ill tempered that his parents had to take him to a psychiatrist to check up if there was something wrong with him.
# In a test match in Faisalabad in 1997-98 ,Mushtaq Ahmed was bowling to Pat Symcox.Symcox missed the ball,which went on to knock the middle stump.However,the heat had fused together the bails and they did not fall.Symcox went on to make 81,his second highest test score..!!
# SHAHID AFRIDI used a bat borrowed from Waqar Younis to score the fastest century in a One-Day International.!!
# FOUR STUMPS !!!! -- An experimental game was played at Lords in 1963 to look at the effects of adjusting two features of cricket : the size of the wickets and the LBW rule,in order to create a wicket of width 11 inches rather than 9 inches,four stumps were used in that trial match..
# The only law of Cricket that has not had any changes or modifications,is the length of the pitch..
# Which style of play is known as 'MANKAD'? -- The running out of a non-striking batsman who leaves his crease before the bowler has released the ball is calle 'MANKAD, It is named after VINOO MANKAD , an Indian bowler,who used this method controversially,in a test match.
# It was a county match in 1946.After two overs had been bowled,Len Hutton,who was fielding at slips asked the umpires to check the length of the pitch.The check discovered that the pitch was 24 yards lng instead of 22! Then the match was restarted on a correct pitch.
# Sachin Tendulkar is the first batsman to be dismissed (run out) by using the television replays by the third umpire, Jonty Rhodes was the fielder. Next day,in the same test match,Jonty Rhodes was given run out by the umpire.This time the fielder was none other than Sachin Tendulkar.!!
# During a County match in 1986,a batsman hit the ball and ran three runs but dropped the bat in the process. The bowler picked up the bat. When the ball was returned from the boundary,the bowler stopped it with the bat ! For fielding the ball with any other substance than the person , the penalty is 5 runs. So the batsman got eight runs in that ball.!!
# Which cricketer faced the first ball in One-Day Cricket??Geoff.Boycott was the one who faced the first ball in One-Day cricket. Graham Mc-Kenzie was the bowler.
# In a World Cup Match in 1975, Gavaskar batted throughout the 60 overs & scored only 36 runs . India lost to England by a huge margin of 203 runs.
# In the first ever Test in 1877, Australia beat England by 45 runs. 100 yrs later,in the Centenary Test ,the result was exactly the same.!!
India were all out for 54 in October 2000, their lowest ever total in One Day Internationals against Sri Lanka.
England's John Jameson, who was born in India, made his highest Test score( 82 ) against India.
Only four test series have ended 0-0 with all five matches being drawn. India was involved in three of them, including two in a row against Pakistan.
Paul Strang is the only Zimbabwean batsmen to score 100 runs and take 5 wickets in an inings of a test match
No less than five batsmen were run out during the New Zealand innings v Sri Lanka at Sharjah in March 1988- only eight wickets fell in all.
Steve Waugh made 87 consecutive ODI appearances for Australia, and was then dropped, only to be replaced by his twin brother Mark Waugh.
Mike gatting had his nose broken by a ball from Malcolm Marshall while batting v West Indies at Kingston in 1986. The ball unfortunately dropped from his nose on to the wicket.
There were no less than six ducks- plus one not out batsman, in the Pakistani innings v West Indies, at Cape Town in 1993.
Two spectators were killed and several injured when a stand collapsed during the India v England game at Nagpur in January 1985.
25, 000 spectators turned up to watch England play its first ODI match at Chandigarh. Unfortunately a violent thunderstorm flooded the ground. In order to placate the crowd a 15 overs game was staged in unplayable conditions.
Mark Waugh was run out 4 times in five innings in One day International matches in 1992.
Desmond Haynes and Gordon Greenidge completed 15 century partnerships in ODI matches for West Indies.
The first century in Test cricket was scored by Charlie Bannerman of Australia in 1877.
The first batsman to twice score a hundred in each innings of a Test was England’s Herbert Sutcliffe in 1925 and 1929.
The first batsman to be dismissed for 99 on his Test debut was Australia’s Arthur Chipperfield at Tent Bridge in 1934. He was 99 not out at lunch.
The highest score by a player in his last Test as captain was Ian Chappell’s 192 against England in 1975.
Wilfred Rhodes had the longest ever Test career : 30 years 315 days from 1899 to 1930.
The first bowler to take 5 wickets in a Test innings was Australia’s Billy Midwinter in 1877.
The first bowler to take 10 wickets in a Test innings was Jim Laker in 1956.
The only two Test cricketers to play Davis Cup tennis were Cota Ramaswami of India and West Indies wicket-keeper Ralph Legall.
The first player to score 100 runs and take 10 wickets in the same Test was Australia’s Alan Davidson in 1960.
The first left hander to score a century on his test debut was John Mills of New Zealand in 1930.
The first brothers to play Test cricket were Charlie (1877) and Alec (1879) Bannerman of Australia.
The oldest Test Captain was WG Grace, aged 50 years 320 days in 1899.
The first batsman to share in 50 century partnerships in Tests was India’s Sunil Gavaskar.
Australia’s Allan Border played in more Test innings than any other batsman (265).
P A de Silva refused to leave the field when given out “obstructed; field” in the Sri-Lanka vs. New-Zealand match at Wellington in 1977. Under pressure the umpire was persuaded to reverse his decision.
In the West Indies vs. England match at Scarborough, a throw from the boundary by Michael Holding hit one set of stumps and went on to hit the other set. The batsmen were out of their creases but the umpire was too confused to give either ‘out’.
David Boon broke his bat in two whilst playing for Australia vs. New Zealand at Adelaide in December 1990.
Geoff Boycott confused both scorers and umpires when he took strike at the wrong end, following a drinks interval, England vs. Australia at Sydney December 1979.
Larry Gomes suffered a broken nose and the loss of two teeth while batting for West Indies vs. Sri Lanka at Melbourne in February 1985.
The first ODI in which ‘wides’ and ‘no balls’ were added to the bowlers’ analysis was India vs. Pakistan at Jaipur on October 2, 1983.
During the India vs. New Zealand at Nagpur on November 26, 1995, a wall collapsed killing 12 people and injuring dozens more
The match between New Zealand and India at Auckland on February 14, 1981 was the first in New Zealand in which colored clothing, white balls and black sightscreens were employed.
When the New Zealand vs. Pakistan Test scheduled for Dunedin in February 1989 was cancelled due to rain, an ODI match was organized for the fourth day of the Test. The pitch was almost unplayable and Richard Hadlee picked up 5 wickets.
Moin Khan hit the final three balls of the innings for six the bowler Ian Bishop of West Indies, conceded 27 in the over- at Sharjah October 1995.
India refused to continue the match against Pakistan when Sarfaraz Nawaz bowled four successive bumpers and the umpire took no action. The game was at Sahiwal in 1978/79.
25,000 spectators turned up to watch England play its first ODI match at Chandigarh. Unfortunately violent thunderstorm flooded the ground. In order to placate the crowd a 15 over game was staged in unplayable conditions.
Ramiz Raja was caught off a no-ball, but, failing to hear the umpire’s call, left his crease to return to the pavilion. He was then given out ‘ run out’ by the square leg umpire. Pakistan vs. England at Perth in January 1987.
Australia’s Allan Border played in more Test innings than any other batsman (265).
Carl Rackemann missed the last delivery when Australia needed two to beat England in 1989, but the batsman scrambled a bye and the game was tied.
Ramiz Raja was dropped three times in his 90’s on the way to scoring 116* for Pakistan vs. Sri Lanka in February 1990.
England lost their last seven wickets for 10 runs against India at Gwalior on March 4, 1993.
The game between Australia and Pakistan at Sydney arranged for December 8, 1981 had to be postponed due to a power workers strike.
David Boon hit 15 fours during his innings of 122 for Australia vs. Sri Lanka at Adelaide in January 1988.
The 1998/99 Sharjah Cup Tournament was staged for the benefit of Abdul Qadir, who unfortunately injured his hand whilst attempting a caught and bowled in the first game and could not play thereafter.
William Watson was on a hat-trick in the New Zealand vs. Australia match at Sydney in November 1990, when rain ended Australia’s innings –Watson had only the last ball of the over to deliver.
David Boon was the first Tasmanian to hit a century in ODI matches, a feat he achieved in his native state –at Hobart in December 1991.
A Flower, CN Evans and ADR Campbell were all reprimanded by the match referee (for excessive appealing), in the Zimbabwe vs. England match at Harare in January 1997.
Graeme Wood was forced to retire with a broken finger during the Australia vs. West Indies match in February 1985, but suitably bandaged he returned to the crease later and with Simon O’ Donnell made a record stand for the 9th wicket.
Because of extremely hot weather, drinks intervals were allowed every two overs in the Australia vs. New Zealand match at Melbourne in January 1988.
Sri-Lanka lost their last six wickets for 8 runs off 371 balls in the game vs. Australia at Melbourne in January 1990.
