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1st Test Cricketer Younger Than You?

Richard

Cricket Web Staff Member
CBA to do the research. Will let Dickinson do it for me.
Stuart Broad is still the only player to play Test cricket for England who's younger than us, though he's the same school year as me and would be the same as you if you were born 2 days later. Plunkett and Bopara are both a few months older than us and in your year.

Still no-one from Australia or South Africa of the applicable age, and Zimbabwe shouldn't have been a Test team after 2002/03 so they don't count IMO. Pakistani (and Bangladeshi if you consider them Test-class) DOBs are worth little more than the paper they're printed on so I won't be taking anyone who's played for them seriously even though there's more likely to be a few people than not.

From West Indies, Denesh Ramdin is your year and a few months older than you, and Xavier Marshall mine (and hence Marshall is almost inevitably younger than us), and Marshall played over 3 years ago now too, though that was under farcical circumstances.

From New Zealand, Daniel Flynn would be your year if he was British but is a few months older than you, Tim Southee would be 2 years below me and 3 below you and is 2-and-a-half years younger than both of us.

From India, Dinesh Karthik is a few months older than you, Irfan Pathan and Vikram Rajvir Singh are both your year but nearly a year older than you, and Piyush Chawla and Ishant Sharma are both 3 years younger than me and 4 school years below you. Perhaps the most pivotal of all, however, is Rudra Pratap Singh - he was the first from any nation (excluding Marshall who as I say above doesn't really count as he only played at that time due to the Digicel contracts farce) to play Test cricket who comes from somewhere with authentic birthdate recording and hence was certainly younger than the two of us. He's the same year as me and the year below you.

And from Sri Lanka, Upul Tharanga and Ajantha Mendis are a few months older than you and Chamara Kapugedera is a year below me and 2 below you.
 

SJS

Hall of Fame Member
When Mohinder Amarnath made his debut in December 1969, he was 19 and I, though older than him, was still two months short of twenty.
 

G.I.Joe

International Coach
No idea.

The first cricketer to make me aware of me being a loser though was Shahid Afridi as early as in 96. He was (and I guess still is) just a year older than me.
 

Richard

Cricket Web Staff Member
No idea.

The first cricketer to make me aware of me being a loser though was Shahid Afridi as early as in 96. He was (and I guess still is) just a year older than me.
I doubt it. Afridi is IMO almost certainly 3 or 4 years older than his official birthdate, possibly even more.
 

Barney Rubble

International Coach
No-one yet, I don't think. Stuart Broad went to school with a friend of mine in the same year, but she's a year older than me.
 

Richard

Cricket Web Staff Member
There's certainly no-one playing for England for you, but there is Tim Southee, Ishant Sharma and Piyush Chawla (all of whom either have or will very shortly play against England). Can't off the top of my head remember your birthday but there might also be Chamara Kapugedera.
 

Barney Rubble

International Coach
There's certainly no-one playing for England for you, but there is Tim Southee, Ishant Sharma and Piyush Chawla (all of whom either have or will very shortly play against England). Can't off the top of my head remember your birthday but there might also be Chamara Kapugedera.
11 June 1987, and yeah, I figured there'd be a few from other countries. Chawla was the first that came to mind, weirdly.
 

Richard

Cricket Web Staff Member
11 June 1987, and yeah, I figured there'd be a few from other countries. Chawla was the first that came to mind, weirdly.
Yep, Kapugedera's a few months older than you. So far there's just Chawla, Sharma and Southee.
 
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Neil Pickup

Request Your Custom Title Now!
Stuart Broad is still the only player to play Test cricket for England who's younger than us, though he's the same school year as me and would be the same as you if you were born 2 days later. Plunkett and Bopara are both a few months older than us and in your year.

Still no-one from Australia or South Africa of the applicable age, and Zimbabwe shouldn't have been a Test team after 2002/03 so they don't count IMO. Pakistani (and Bangladeshi if you consider them Test-class) DOBs are worth little more than the paper they're printed on so I won't be taking anyone who's played for them seriously even though there's more likely to be a few people than not.

From West Indies, Denesh Ramdin is your year and a few months older than you, and Xavier Marshall mine (and hence Marshall is almost inevitably younger than us), and Marshall played over 3 years ago now too, though that was under farcical circumstances.

From New Zealand, Daniel Flynn would be your year if he was British but is a few months older than you, Tim Southee would be 2 years below me and 3 below you and is 2-and-a-half years younger than both of us.

From India, Dinesh Karthik is a few months older than you, Irfan Pathan and Vikram Rajvir Singh are both your year but nearly a year older than you, and Piyush Chawla and Ishant Sharma are both 3 years younger than me and 4 school years below you. Perhaps the most pivotal of all, however, is Rudra Pratap Singh - he was the first from any nation (excluding Marshall who as I say above doesn't really count as he only played at that time due to the Digicel contracts farce) to play Test cricket who comes from somewhere with authentic birthdate recording and hence was certainly younger than the two of us. He's the same year as me and the year below you.

And from Sri Lanka, Upul Tharanga and Ajantha Mendis are a few months older than you and Chamara Kapugedera is a year below me and 2 below you.
You're awesome. Sometimes. Highly interesting reading.
 

stumpski

International Captain
Arjuna Ranatunga, who played as an 18 year old in Sri Lanka's first Test, was the first I was aware of.
 

stumpski

International Captain
For me at least, the more relevant question is 'who was the last active Test cricketer who was older than you?'

As I'm a few weeks older than The Gaffer, I have a feeling it may have been Courtney Walsh in 2001.
 

Richard

Cricket Web Staff Member
Our other resident David mentions it was John Emburey for him. Norman Cowans being the first to be younger.
 

wpdavid

Hall of Fame Member
Our other resident David mentions it was John Emburey for him. Norman Cowans being the first to be younger.
Strewth that's well remembered. :blink:

EDIT
That's English players only. I've just read stumski's comment about Ranatunga, and he was younger than me too when he played against us in 1982.
 
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