Ask The Spider #26

Is it true that the same two Umpires stood in both of the first two Tests in 1876/77?

No. Richard Terry (who made his debut as a First-Class player the following season!) stood in both matches, but his partner in the First Test was Curtis Read, and in the Second Samuel Cosstick (who had retired the previous year).

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 we look at 1987. A few changes to the norm had to be made this time, they being thus:

Dates: 1st January 1987 to 7th October 1987
Teams: Australia, England, Pakistan, New Zealand, West Indies, India, Sri Lanka.
Batsmen: one-seven 400 runs (had to drop due to the reduced timeframe); one-four highest ave >60 SR (had to drop, not enough qualifiers).
Bowlers: eight-eleven 120 overs (had to drop, not enough qualifiers)

BATSMEN
One-four:
Javed Miandad 810 runs, ave 81.00, SR 69.34
Gordon Greenidge 410 runs, ave 58.57, 81.67
Dilip Vengsarkar 415 runs, ave 51.87, 71.67
Sunil Gavaskar 435 runs, ave 48.33, 68.61
(no place for Chris Broad’s world-leading 891 runs)
Five-seven:
Vivian Richards 457 runs, ave 45.70, 83.54
Dean Jones 623 runs, ave 47.92, 78.36

WICKETKEEPER:
Jeffrey Dujon 158 runs @ 19.75, SR 59.62 (no one even close to qualifying, Dujon was the highest ranked)

BOWLERS:
Eight-ten
Phillip DeFreitas 25 wkts @ 24.84 ave, ER 3.37
Stephen Waugh 23 @ 24.95, ER 4.28
Imran Khan 20 @ 25.95, ER 3.99
Eleven:
Wasim Akram 21 @ 26.76, ER 3.78

Line-up in reasonable order:
1 CG Greenidge
2 SM Gavaskar
3 DM Jones
4 DP Vengsarkar
5 IVA Richards
6 Javed Miandad
7 SR Waugh
8 Imran Khan
9 PJL Dujon
10 PJ DeFreitas
11 Wasim Akram

Has there been a stronger batting line-up?

How many Tests has each nation played over the past 12 months?

At the conclusion of Sri Lanka and India’s opening Test, the figures read thus:
South Africa 14
England 13
India 13
New Zealand 10
Australia 9
Sri Lanka 8
West Indies 8
Pakistan 5
Bangladesh 4

England and South Africa have two more games in their ongoing series, as do the Lankans and Indians.

Who was the last brothers to play international cricket but for different countries? And who are the rest if any?

There has only been one set of brothers to do this, and they played in the same match: Alec Hearne played his only Test for England against South African in 1891/92 alongside his brother George. Another brother, Frank, represented South Africa (he would later go on to play for England as well).

Has a nightwatchman ever opened the batting?

One occasion where one certainly did was Northamptonshire vs. Warwickshire in 1998. With just a single over remaining on the second day, Northants sent in left-arm seamer Paul Taylor to open. However, Ed Giddins dismissed him and also removed David Follett, pushed up to three as a second nightwatchman, to set his side on the road to victory the following day.

When was the first ICC Trophy?

The first was in 1979, and Sri Lanka and Canada qualified for the World Cup, which followed hot on the heels.

Who took the first catch in ODIs?

It was Bill Lawry, Australian captain, who held Geoffrey Boycott off the bowling of Alan Thomson in the game at the MCG in 1970/71. This was the first wicket in the format, too.