Reading Cricket Cub

A key attribute of being an already is being able to consistently and significantly contribute with both the bat and ball. For a batsman, scoring over 100 runs in a match is considered well beyond average. For bowlers, taking more than 10 wickets in a match is exceptional. Fancy a player who scores over 100 runs and takes over 10 wickets in the same match. That must be some feat! Such a feat is it, that (at the time of writing) only three players have done this in Test cricket’s history – Australia’s Alan Davidson, England’s Ian Botham and Pakistan’s Imran Khan.

1. Alan Davidson – 124 runs and 11 wickets in December 1960

Against the West Indies in Brisbane, the left-arm fast bowler from New South Wales scored 44 and 80 runs in the first and second innings respectively. The second innings half-century was also the allrounder’s highest score in Tests. Davidson scalped two five-wicket hauls – 5/135 and 6/87 – to leave the Aussies 233 runs to win. Although the NSW left-handed batsman did his best to help Australia win, the match ended in a thrilling tie – the first-ever tie in Test history.

2. Ian Botham – 114 runs and 13 wickets in February 1980

Ian Botham was England’s greatest allrounder in his era and perhaps of all time. In the one-off Test against India at Bombay (now Mumbai), the England allrounder scored a test century and took two five-wicket hauls (6/58 and 7/48) to help England to a comprehensive 10-wicket victory over the Indians. What was amazing was that Botham’s 114 came in an innings total of 296, where no other batsman passed 43. His bowling effort also dominated the wickets column, with John Lever being the next best bowler with only four wickets in the match.

3. Imran Khan – 117 runs and 11 wickets in January 1983

India – Pakistan Test matches were usually hotly contested. Pakistan legend, Imran Khan, saved his best all-round performance for his sub-continental neighbours at Faisalabad in 1983. He opened the bowling, to take 6/98 as India was bowled out for 372 runs in the first innings. Although that seemed to be a competitive score, India were forced to toil in the field as four Pakistan batsmen scored centuries – including Imran’s aggressive 117 off 121 balls.

When India batted again, the greatest Pakistani allrounder reverted to the role of innings destroyer, as he took 5/82 to leave Pakistan a straightforward target of 7 runs to win the match. Pakistan won by 10 wickets, due to the amazing all-round performance of the Imran Khan – the inspirational captain and world-beater.

And now you can read brief profiles of some of the best spinners and fast bowlers that the game of cricket has ever seen:

The best spin bowlers in cricket history: http://www.helium.com/items/1516046-best-spin-bowlers-in-cricket

The top 5 fast bowlers in cricket history: http://www.helium.com/items/1518569-top-fast-bowlers-in-cricket-history

A key attribute of being an already is being able to consistently and significantly contribute with both the bat and ball. For a batsman, scoring over 100 runs in a match is considered well beyond average. For bowlers, taking more than 10 wickets in a match is exceptional. Fancy a player who scores over 100 runs and takes over 10 wickets in the same match. That must be some feat! Such a feat is it, that (at the time of writing) only three players have done this in Test cricket’s history – Australia’s Alan Davidson, England’s Ian Botham and Pakistan’s Imran Khan.

1. Alan Davidson – 124 runs and 11 wickets in December 1960

Against the West Indies in Brisbane, the left-arm fast bowler from New South Wales scored 44 and 80 runs in the first and second innings respectively. The second innings half-century was also the allrounder’s highest score in Tests. Davidson scalped two five-wicket hauls – 5/135 and 6/87 – to leave the Aussies 233 runs to win. Although the NSW left-handed batsman did his best to help Australia win, the match ended in a thrilling tie – the first-ever tie in Test history.

2. Ian Botham – 114 runs and 13 wickets in February 1980

Ian Botham was England’s greatest allrounder in his era and perhaps of all time. In the one-off Test against India at Bombay (now Mumbai), the England allrounder scored a test century and took two five-wicket hauls (6/58 and 7/48) to help England to a comprehensive 10-wicket victory over the Indians. What was amazing was that Botham’s 114 came in an innings total of 296, where no other batsman passed 43. His bowling effort also dominated the wickets column, with John Lever being the next best bowler with only four wickets in the match.

3. Imran Khan – 117 runs and 11 wickets in January 1983

India – Pakistan Test matches were usually hotly contested. Pakistan legend, Imran Khan, saved his best all-round performance for his sub-continental neighbours at Faisalabad in 1983. He opened the bowling, to take 6/98 as India was bowled out for 372 runs in the first innings. Although that seemed to be a competitive score, India were forced to toil in the field as four Pakistan batsmen scored centuries – including Imran’s aggressive 117 off 121 balls.

When India batted again, the greatest Pakistani allrounder reverted to the role of innings destroyer, as he took 5/82 to leave Pakistan a straightforward target of 7 runs to win the match. Pakistan won by 10 wickets, due to the amazing all-round performance of the Imran Khan – the inspirational captain and world-beater.

And now you can read brief profiles of some of the best spinners and fast bowlers that the game of cricket has ever seen:

The best spin bowlers in cricket history: http://www.helium.com/items/1516046-best-spin-bowlers-in-cricket

The top 5 fast bowlers in cricket history: http://www.helium.com/items/1518569-top-fast-bowlers-in-cricket-history

The laws of cricket are meant to address possible difficulties that might be faced in mounting a competitive and entertaining cricket match. One of the popular laments of latter-day cricket captains is regarding the paucity of genuine all-rounders. Not so long ago, the likes of Botham and Kapil Dev strode the cricket field, batting, bowling and fielding with equal ease and felicity. For instance, India’s World Cup win in 1983 was built on the backs of men who could everything their captain demanded of them, men answering to names such as Mohinder Amarnath, Roger Binny and Madan Lal. But those days are a distant memory, now.

For a brief period in 2005, the ICC thought it had a solution to the problem. It introduced, in ODIs, the Super Sub rule, devised specifically to encourage all-rounders. Under the rule, the captains at the toss would name 12 players, including a super substitute, who could be introduced at any time into the game, while ensuring that no more than 11 players represented the team at a given moment. The super sub was allowed to bat, bowl and keep wickets, at the discretion of his captain. Also, once the substitution was made, it was permanent. The replaced player could not come back.

Captains were quick to try and exploit the rule, in a way the ICC had not considered, while devising it. For instance, if it was a bowler friendly wicket, a captain hoping to bowl first would name an extra specialist bowler in the team, to be replaced by a specialist batsman as a super substitute, when the team batted. But there was a slight hitch that prevented captains from benefiting. They had to name the substitute before the toss. This meant that any advantage of having a specialist batsman or bowler as super substitute depended on winning the toss, and electing to bat or bowl according to the team’s choice of a batsman or bowler as the super sub.

This often resulted in the super sub not taking any further part in a match, if the captain lost the toss. Far from helping to produce all-rounders, the ostensible reason for the law, the super sub rule soon became a farcical device, and the ICC thought it best to consign the rule to the dustbin of cricket history.

For the latest cricket gossip and news you will not find anywhere else on the Internet, including everything else you want to know about cricket including the super-sub rule, click http://www.cricinfosite.com

Suresh Iyer is an avid sports fan and blogger on the game. His new blog on sports is fast becoming popular, backed as it is by comprehensive knowledge and research.