Inspired by the post about the 10 best moustaches on FollowTheBounce.co.za I thought I’d do something a little bit different. A while ago, right after all this match-fixing news rubbish broke, I asked about the best spells in a Test you’ve ever seen but I thought a ‘you might not have known’ series might be a bit more interesting so, here goes:
1. Pat Symcox and the melted bails in Faisalabad
Back in the day when we still played cricket in Pakistan (circa 97-98), South Africa were touring there Faisalabad. Mushtaq Ahmed was bowling, Pat Symcox was on strike. Symcox missed the ball, and it skittle through to the middle stump. It was so hot in Pakistan, though, that the bails had been fused together and they never fell off. Symcox went on to score 81, his second highest score in a Test match.
2. All god’s creatures great and small
Animals have been stopping play for centuries, here are a couple of odd ones (all during county games). A pig stopped play in 1889 during a Worchestershire and Derbyshire match. In 1936, a sparrow stopped play when a ball struck it midflight. The sad sparrow can currently be viewed at Lord’s cricket ground. a hedgehog, mouse, bees and dogs are some of the other animals who have been responsible for stopping play in cricket matches.
3. Stop being such a Mankad
“Mankading” is the method is named after the Indian bowler, Vinoo Mankad who caused a stir when he ran out the batsman at the non-striker’s end before he released the ball (the striker was out of his crease). In his autobiography, Don Bradman said the following about Mankad”
“For the life of me, I can’t understand why [the press] questioned his sportsmanship. The laws of cricket make it quite clear that the non-striker must keep within his ground until the ball has been delivered. If not, why is the provision there which enables the bowler to run him out? By backing up too far or too early, the non-striker is very obviously gaining an unfair advantage.”
4. Another Sachin Tendulkar Record
The legendary Sachin Tendulkar was the first batsman to be run out by using television replays. The fielder was Jonty Rhodes.
5. Duck, duck, goose
India were all out for 54 in October 2000 in a Coca-Cola Champions Trophy final. This was their lowest ever total in One Day Internationals against. Sri Lanka did the damage as Chaminda Vaas bagged five for 15. The funniest part? Not a single Indian player scored a duck in that game.
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coll kacts
awesome