In a game where only a handful of individuals manage to realize their dreams of representing the country, very few can focus solely on playing cricket without looking for backup options. In some cases, the players took up other alternate professions or in some cases, especially in the past, had to earn living separately to be able to continue playing the game while some got lucky breaks.
So here we take a look at five players who pursued alternate professions before making it to international cricket:
Sheldon Cottrell – Police:
Sheldon Cottrell, the West Indies fast-bowler who made his debut at Eden Gardens in 2013, was a policeman who guarded the pitch at the Jamaica cricket ground before getting a CPL contract. Well, the reason behind is ‘saluting’ celebrations have become more or less clear now.
W.G Grace – Doctor:
Fondly known as The Doctor, the legendary Englishman remains the game’s most famous doctor. Because his illustrious career spanned over 44 seasons, one can only wonder how did he attend his patients. The grand old man of cricket scored more than 54,000 runs and 124 centuries in first-class cricket. He also took more than 2800 wickets.
Nathan Lyon – Pitch curator:
Nathan Lyon’s rise as the best spinner in Australia and also one of the most sought-after bowlers in the world at the moment is truly inspirational. Lyon ended Australia’s long search for a regular No.1 spinner in the post-Shane Warne era.
The off-spinner was working as a pitch curator at the Adelaide Oval when he got a surprise call to play for Australia for the tour to Sri Lanka in 2011. The journey began on a fine note for him as he dismissed Kumar Sangakkara with his very first ball and finished with 5-34. Lyon has not looked back since then and has now become an indispensable part of the Test team. In 2013, he became the youngest-ever Australian finger spinner to reach 100 Test wickets, and a couple of years later, he became the most successful off-spinner in Australian Test history.
Shane Bond – Police:
One of the fastest bowlers the game has ever seen, former New Zealand star Shane Bond worked as a Police officer in Christchurch before becoming an International player. He trained as a policeman in 1999-2000 due to which he had to miss one domestic season. However, during the holidays which he got at the police college, he used to play cricket which paved the way for his return to first-class cricket and eventually international cricket.
The speedster represented New Zealand in 18 Tests, 82 One-Day Internationals and 20 T20 Internationals, picking up 259 international wickets.
MS Dhoni – Ticket collector:
As they say, one party’s loss is another’s gain and it is very much right in Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s case. The most decorated skipper of India was a ticket collector in the Indian railways. Train journeys from Ranchi to Bokaro used to be his daily routine in the late 90s when he was aspiring to make it big in the game.
Later, he became a ticket collector at Kharagpur before realizing his dream of donning the Indian jersey. He made his debut in 2004, and there was no looking back. He went on to become one of the best limited-overs batsmen and the country’s most decorated skipper, leading the team to two World Cups, number one in Tests, Champions Trophy title among many other laurels.