Most Courageous Act Ever

[Swervy]

how about Andy Flower and Olonga in the world cup..pretty damned brave if you ask me

 

[vic_orthdox]

chris harris in the recent ODI in sydney springs to mind after he injured his shoulder.

 

[anzac]

the lead story in this thread is my all time favorite - not just because I'm a Kiwi, but because of all the various circumstances - each of the batsmen having their own crisis'; the national disaster back home; and facing probably the best team & fastest bowler on a seaming wicket with variable bounce.............

all ads up to good Boys Own Annual stuff...............

 

[xan_pro]

inzamam ul haq beating up a public person in toronto in canada. i think that is very courageous of him

 

[steds]

how about Andy Flower and Olonga in the world cup..pretty damned brave if you ask me

I thought of that immediately too

 

[BoyBrumby]

I'd have to nominate Eddie Paynter's 83 in the 4th Test of the now-infamous 1932/33 series as up there with the bravest. Diagnosed with tonsillitis, on the second day's play he was taken to Brisbane General & was found to be running a temperature of 102 degrees. He spent all of the rest day & most of the 3rd day's play in his hospital bed. With England reduced to 216-6 chasing the Aussie's 340 he discharged himself from the hospital (against his doctor's expressed wishes) & took a taxi to the ground.

At the Gabba, fortified by a mixture of egg, brandy & sips of champagne, the little Lancastrian strode out to thunderous applause (his condition having been widely publicised). He refused Woodfull's sporting offer of a runner &, through a trembling "sickly maze" (his own words in his autobiography) added 24 valuable runs in the remaining 75 minutes of play.

Back in the pavilion he donned his pyjamas & was rushed back to hospital where he was greeted with a "Well done; get into bed!" from his ward's sister. After a good night's rest he returned to the ground the next morning, his pockets stuffed with tablets & an antiseptic gargle-mix. He continued this most brave of innings, stopping twice to gargle & take his tablets, eventually falling to Ironmonger with England 16 runs to the good.

He took the field in the Aussies second go, but having reduced himself to the point of exhaustion was forced to return to the hospital after a couple of hours.

It's also pleasant to note that a collection amongst the Gabba crowd for Paynter yielded £40, a small fortune in a time when the average weekly wage for a workingman like him was more like £2.

 

[BlackCap_Fan]

None of these stories come close to Henry Olonga and Andy Flower's protest during the world cup.


And Hadlee's catch after ripping through the Australian batting order to get rid of the chance of him getting 10 wickets in that innings. 9-52 is still bloody marvellous though.

 

[marc71178]

how about Andy Flower and Olonga in the world cup..pretty damned brave if you ask me

I seem to remember some of us got in trouble on here when we had a poll for "Man of the Tournament" when we voted for Olonga though.

 

[cbuts]

he tangiwai test has to be our greatest sporting story i reckon. the mantis and the cricket did an awesome job when the tv programme aired recently.

 

[Hoggy]

Didn't Rodney Hogg throw a brick or something like that at a rioting Indian crowd when he was fielding at fine leg one time?

Now that's brave!

 

[Kumar_42]

chris harris in the recent ODI in sydney springs to mind after he injured his shoulder.

I vaguely recall a similar instance when Aravinda De Silva batted after splitting the webbing of his hand (or some hand related injury) while fielding against Australia in the 1995/6 Lankan tour of ozzie (i think it was the benson-hedges odi final). Unfortunately this didn't prevent ozzie from winning .

On another note, and i'm not sure if this counts in your criteria as such but all those batsmen in the pre-80s/90s era facing all those fearsome fast bowlers without any protective equipment.... i reckon that as a general feature was pretty courageous...

 

[C_C]

Kumble bowling with a fractured jaw ( it was wired shut) in the caribbean and snaring Brian Lara has gotto be up there with the rest...
Deano's innings was another.
nehra's 6-fer against england in the world cup while suffering from a broken foot must be another.

 

[Smudge]

Has to be Bob Blair, for mine - the grief that he, and many other families in New Zealand that day, would have been going through would be hard to fathom.

 

[howardj]

Dean Jones stirring up a veritible hornet's nest, by asking one CL Ambrose to remove his white sweat-bands during an ODI, out here in the early 1990's. After that night, no batsman ever asked him again....

 

[Top_Cat]

Dean Jones stirring up a veritible hornet's nest, by asking one CL Ambrose to remove his white sweat-bands during an ODI, out here in the early 1990's. After that night, no batsman ever asked him again....

Evidently there's a fine line between bravery and stupidity.

I don't mean to affect the spirit of the thread but I would think that the last thing on my mind, armed with the information that a wife of mine had passed on in a horrible accident, would be cricket. If a series was on the line, if the bloody world cup was on the line, it'd be somewhere near the very back of my mind in those circumstances.

A stirring story but surely only one which sports fans would see merit in.

 

[Mister Wright]

Michael Slater getting on stage at the end of the Alan Border Medal Night to sing with Jimmy Barnes.

 

[Smudge]

Evidently there's a fine line between bravery and stupidity.

I don't mean to affect the spirit of the thread but I would think that the last thing on my mind, armed with the information that a wife of mine had passed on in a horrible accident, would be cricket. If a series was on the line, if the bloody world cup was on the line, it'd be somewhere near the very back of my mind in those circumstances.

A stirring story but surely only one which sports fans would see merit in.

I guess Blair's decision was that he was thousands of miles from home and he couldn't do much from there, so he might as well get out there and play cricket, since his team was in deep trouble.

I still think it's pretty courageous (taking into account Sutcliffe had been beaten about the head by Adcock), but each to their own.

 

[Hoggy]

Evidently there's a fine line between bravery and stupidity.

For example, Tony Greig bowling bouncers to Lillee and Thommo.

 

[_Ed_]

Definitely agree with Blair & Sutcliffe vs SA in 1953. Amazing. And also agree with A.Flower and Olonga, that took some courage.

Not sure if it's been mentioned, but I also remember Ramnaresh Sarwan in the 2003 World Cup, got hit in the head by Dilhara Fernando and taken to hospital on a stretcher and came back later in the game and scored plenty of runs and all but won the match.

 

[Hoggy]

Another one, that UAE captain that walked out to face Allan Donald wearing a floppy hat.

Needless to say the Sultan Zarawani got hit.