Ask The Spider #27

I read that the England wicketkeeper Bob Taylor leads the way as far as players who played Tests after their 40th birthday was concerned. How many games did he play after turning 40?

Taylor’s birthday came on the second day of the famous Headingley Test in 1981 which Ian Botham and Bob Willis conjured a miraculous victory from one of the most all-lost positions in history (and in which Taylor took four second-innings catches). Including this match, he played 30, far more than anyone else has ever managed after their 40th birthday and very probably more than anyone else will ever manage again.

What will be the World ODI XI prepared for years as follows: 1975; 1979; 1983; 1987; 1992; 1996; 1999; 2003; 2007. Eligibility criteria: For one to seven, more than 500 runs in last 2 years; for eight to eleven, more than 150 overs in last 2 years. Selection Criteria (based on performance in last 2 years): one-four, batsmen having highest average among those with more than 70 strike-rate; five-six, the remaining batsmen having best SR with more than 30 ave; seven, wicketkeeper with best SR with ave >25; eight-eleven: two bowlers with best averages among those with economy-rate <4.7-an-over and two among the remaining bowlers with best economy-rate and ave <35.

This week it’s 1983. Using the same criteria as 1992, except with no South Africa as they were outlawed at the time. Dates: 1st January 1982 to 8th June 1983.

BATSMEN
The top four with highest ave and SR >70 are:
Javed Miandad 507 runs, ave 81.51, SR 84.50
Zaheer Abbas 790 runs, ave 56.42, SR 102.33
DI Gower 891 runs, ave 49.50, SR 83.50
AJ Lamb 649 runs, ave 43.26, SR 76.08
The next two are chosen with the best SR, >30 ave:
GM Turner 731 runs, ave 43.00, SR 80.15
DW Hookes 526 runs, ave 32.87, SR 79.45

WICKETKEEPER
PJL Dujon 207 runs, ave 34.50, SR 66.77 (no qualifiers on total runs)

BOWLERS
Top three averages with ER <5 are: IT Botham 35 @ 21.82, ER 4.96 EJ Chatfield 29 @ 22.48, ER 3.52 DK Lillee 29 @ 23.44, ER 3.62 The last bowler is chosen with the lowest ER and ave <35: BL Cairns 27 @ 24.48, ER 3.51 Line-up: (including just a single specialist opener) 1 GM Turner 2 DI Gower 3 Zaheer Abbas 4 DW Hookes 5 Javed Miandad 6 AJ Lamb 7 IT Botham 8 PJL Dujon 9 BL Cairns 10 DK Lillee 11 EJ Chatfield Name the only bowler to concede 1,000 runs in a Test series.

Clarrie Grimmett took 23 wickets for 1,024 runs during the 1928/29 Ashes series. Fellow wristspinner Arthur Mailey also came very close, conceding 999 runs in the previous series in 1924/25.

Which father-and-son pairs have taken 100 wickets each in Tests?

Peter and Shaun Pollock (116 and 421 wickets respectively); and Bernard Lance and Christopher Lance Cairns (130 and 218 respectively).

Who captained in the most number of Test matches without ever tasting defeat?

Warwick Armstrong, who captained the 1920-21 and 1921 Ashes series, with Australia winning eight and losing none, although his delaying tactics came in for some heckling during the final test of the 1921 series.

Why was the second day of the Test which led to India’s first ever win an unscheduled rest day?

King George VI had passed away on the opening day.

How many ODIs had been played up to the start of the 1979 World Cup, excluding games in the 1975 tournament?

There were 45, played across 22 series’. And this in a period spanning almost 9 years! How things had changed by the time the 1990s rolled around.