Cricket’s interesting facts
Was it Tendulkar who had special talent or his bat?
It is said that when Shahid Afridi hit the fastest ever ODI century, he was using Sachin Tendulkar’s bat! Afridi flew in from West Indies to Nairobi in 1996 to play for the Pakistan team and arrived without a proper bat. Waqar Younis gave Sachin Tendulkar’s bat to Afridi. Afridi hit 11 sixes and six boundaries with that bat and scored a 37-ball century against Sri Lanka which was the then fastest ODI century. Afridi had begun his career primarily as a bowler but ended up scoring the fastest century in his maiden ODI innings. Unpredictable in every way!
A six of the first ball
There has been only one instance in test cricket history where an opening batsman hit a six of the very first ball of a test match. This batsman was Chris Gayle. So much for a cautious beginning to test innings.
In the 137 years of Test cricket no cricketer has ever hit a six off the first ball of a Test match. Audacious Chris Gayle achieved this feat against Bangladesh in 2012 off debutant Sohag Gazi.
Vinod Kambli’s Test match average is better Sachin Tendulkar
Vinod Kambli played only 17 Test matches which included two back to back double hundreds. Kambli’s Test average is 54.20 while his childhood friend Sachin Tendulkar averages 53.78 after 200 Tests. While Tendulkar’s focus and professional discipline took him to the very top, Kambli’s off field distractions led to an early and abrupt end to a once very promising career.
Sunil Gavaskar was out thrice in his career to the first ball of in Test cricket
Sunil Gavaskar, the first batsman to reach 10,000 Test runs including 34 Test centuries was out three times on the very first ball of a Test. The bowlers who dismissed him were, Geoff Arnold (Edgbaston, 1974), Malcolm Marshall (Kolkata, 1984) and Imran Khan (Jaipur, 1987). Very surprising for a batsman considered to be the role model for reliability and consistency.
He also holds an unwanted record. In 1975, Cricket World Cup’s opening 60 overs a side match, Gavaskar scored just 36 runs and remained not out off 174 balls! This was in a game requiring quick runs while chasing England’s huge total of 335 in 60 overs. The master technician couldn’t produce unorthodox shots for quick runs, nor could he get out because of his fine technique.
The first three world cups were played 60 overs matches. That maximum overs limit was reduced to 50 overs in 1987 and remains so till now.
All four innings of a test on the same day
The 2000 Lord’s Test between England and West Indies saw all the four innings being played on the same day. This feat was repeated 11 years later in the famous Cape Town Test where South Africa bowled out Australia for 47.
The first cricket ball was made of wool
Although no one knows for sure how cricket started, it’s thought that it was invented by shepherds, who came up with the idea as a way to pass the time whilst guarding their sheep. Our first fact about cricket is that the first cricket ball was most likely a ball of rolled up wool – so today’s bowling speeds were most likely unachievable.
The longest cricket match was 14 days long
It’s often joked in England that cricket goes on for far too long, with games often lasting for hours, especially with frequent breaks thanks to the indecisive British weather (cricket can’t be played in the rain or strong wind). But the longest ever cricket match was played in 1939, in a contest between England and South Africa. Forget hours, this match lasted a ridiculous 14 days. And even then the game had to be declared as a draw before it was finished, because the English ship was due to leave to take the team back home.
The first ever Cricket World Cup was held in England in 1975
The first Cricket World Cup was held in England because that was the only country in the world with the infrastructure in place to host such a large event, with venues such as Lords in London and Edgbaston in Birmingham better than most stadiums and grounds around the world.
A cricket ball must weigh exactly 163g (5.75oz)
The cricket ball core is made of cork and it is wrapped in several layers of yarn, which is then encased in leather. This is then finished with a covering of lacquer, which is a glossy coating – giving the cricket ball its beautiful appearance.
Cricket started with two stumps, not three
Cricket stumps are recognisable around the world – three stumps and a bail balanced on top. The aim of the game is to knock the bail off the stumps. But, did you know that in the original rules, there were only two stumps rather than three?
One day in 1775, an English cricketer known as Lumpy Stevens bowled three consecutive balls straight through the middle of the two stumps. It must have been infuriating! Realising the rules needed changing to prevent this happening again, a third stump was added and the stumps have remained the same ever since.
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