SPORTZWIKI presents to you a two-part series consisting of the Top 24 unknown facts about the Gentleman’s game. Today, we look at the first 12 mesmerising facts about our favorite sport.
In Part I of our 24 Unknown facts about cricket, we told you about the origins of the game. Today, we look at some special occurences in the game of cricket – things we maybe tend to overlook in all the glitz and glamour of the sport.
Here’s Part II of our 24 Unknown Facts about Cricket :
13. Sachin Tendulkar might have started his cricketing journey at the tender age of 16, but it was Hassan Raza who became the youngest cricketer to play a test match. He was 14 years and 227 days old at that point in time!
14. Ever heard of Charlie Bannerman? This Australian cricketer scored the first ever test-match century, way back in 1877.
15. Anil Kumble took all 10 wickets in a test innings in 1998 against Pakistan, but it was Jim Laker who became the first ever bowler to acheive this feat in 1956.
16. Most cricketing records belong to one special cricketer from Mumbai – the great Sachin Tendulkar : Most runs and centuries in ODIs and testa, and ofcourse that incredible feat of 100 international tons.
17. In a test match in Faisalabad in 1997-98, Pakistan leg-spinner Mustaq Ahmed thought he had his man when Pat Symcox missed the ball and the ball went on to hit the middle stump. But the heat had fused the bails together, and the bails didn’t move an inch. Symcox went on to punish Pakistan with a fantastic innings of 81.
18. Only four test series have ended 0-0 with all five matches failing to produce a result. The Indian team have been involved in three of them, including two in a row against our arch rivals Pakistan.
19. The first batsman to score a century in both innings of a test match was Australia’s Warren Bardsley in 1909. The first batsman to achieve this feat twice? England’s Herbert Sutcliffe in 1925 and 1929.
20. The first cricketer to score 100 runs and take 10 wickets in the same test match was Australia’s Alan Davidson in 1960.
21. Sunil Gavaskar was one of the greatest batsmen of his time, but the great man also holds the distinction of being the first batsman to star in 50 century partnerships in test matches.
22. Sri Lanka lost their last six wickets for 8 runs off 371 balls in the game vs. Australia at Melbourne in January 1990. That means they scored 8 runs in nearly 62 overs and lost 6 wickets in that period? Mindblowing fact right?
23. Don Bradman finished with a truly remarkable test-match average of 99.94. To honour the greatest batsman in cricket’s history, Sir Charles Moses, General Manager of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and a close friend of Bradman asked that Bradman’s Test batting average be immortalised as the post office box number of the ABC. The ABC’s mailing address in every capital city of Australia is PO Box 9994. Stunning!
24. Finally, have you guys heard of the experimental game that was played using four stumps – yes four, not three! This experiment of a cricket match was played in Lords in 1963 to observe the effects of adjusting two features of the game – the size of the wicket, and the LBW rule. The four stumps ensured a wicket width of 11 inches, a modification from the usual 9 – but the idea was eventually discarded.
