interesting dates & numbers in cricket

i'll start with two or three

Clarrie Grimmett born Christmas Day 1891....happy birthday Clarrie

Lance Gibbs,
played his first test match 5th February 1958 versus Pakistan
played his last test match 5th February 1976 versus Australia

Bingle & Clarke was just a messy date

17/2/1916 Don Tallon born
17/2/1936 Barry Jarman born
Both had careers as wicket keepers for Australia

Most runs as captains of cricket teams in Test matches
Crtieria , over 2000 runs made as captain
Matches played in brackets

4685 LARA [47]
4209 G CHAPPELL [48]
3665 JAWARDAYNE [38]
3623 SIMPSON [39]
3600 CLARKE [39]
3582 GOOCH [34]
3528 SOBERS [39]
3147 BRADMAN [24]
3080 P MAY [41]
2678 MISBAH [33] might be a few more after the 2nd test Pakis v Enzedders

Great pity for Michael Clarke currently injured with a hamstring injury , he would have most probably got to 3rd place if he plays 4 tests against India this summer

All batters on this list averaged 50 +
Bradman 101-52 average, he rose to the occasion as skipper as he only had a 99.96 career average

I would have thought Alan Border would have made the top 10

Australian bowlers
Over 100 wickets taken
Strike rates
Top 5 bowlers

49.07[105] Ryan Rhino Harris
50.70 [274] Mitchell MJ Johnson
51.27[101] Charles Terror Turner
51.95[563] Glen Ooh Ahh Mcgrath
52.01[355] Dennis FOT Lillie

To have the best 2 strikers in Australian Test history in the one team is quite a feat
Also it shows just how under-rated Rhino is

Stats can be mis-leading though ?
Had Rhino played more in the sub continent Im tipping  his S/R would be worse off ?

MJ therefore is a more genuine striker ?  
But
Has there ever been a more hot and cold bowler for Australia ?

Still think FOT is the best of them all

the late Phil Hughes' brother eerily was out for 63 in Sydneys' grade cricket yesterday......he had no idea what score he was on

JOSH HAZELWOOD

Some punters backed Hazelwood to play Test cricket when Josh was 15 years old
The bet  was placed with a British Bookmaking firm
The odds were $501
The bet $100
As long as Hazelwood played a test match before he turned 30 years old , the punters collect

Hazelwood is set to debut for Australia v India 17/12

Scrappy wrote:JOSH HAZELWOOD

Some punters backed Hazelwood to play Test cricket when Josh was 15 years old
The bet  was placed with a British Bookmaking firm
The odds were $501
The bet $100
As long as Hazelwood played a test match before he turned 30 years old , the punters collect

Hazelwood is set to debut for Australia v India 17/12

has made the final eleven & has already bowled today

December 2014
MCG
Australia v India
Australia needed 4 wickets with 24 balls remaining in the 3rd Test v India

4 wickets in 24 balls would be difficult but still a remote possibility
However Australia decided to call the match off early

Pathetic declaration and pathetic end.

We used to criticise the Poms for playing like that.

Lee wrote:Pathetic declaration and pathetic end.

We used to criticise the Poms for playing like that.

So you would rather they have a chance to win rather than we sow up the series, and thats what we did ?

Lee wrote:Pathetic declaration and pathetic end.

We used to criticise the Poms for playing like that.

i would usually agree with that summation, however i think Smith didn't want his bowlers bowling for too long on the fifth day when the next test starts soon Tuesday i think, plus off course the one dayers etc after that, all about the work load i reckon 

anyway HNY mate 

I think Smith showed he is a rookie captain in the Melbourne Test.

He batted too long in my opinion.
Should have declared at least an hour earlier.
Marsh needed to get a wriggle on and didn't.
He could have been scoring 1s and 2s instead of just defending.

Australia's attitude has been to win a test and not just go conservative to claim the series.

The bowlers may have been cooked, but you never know what could happen. Lyon produced it in the Adelaide Test.

The papers were quite critical of Smith's tactics and I think rightfully so.
Hard to know what Boof and Clarke said to him by way of advice. But I think he will look back on how a few things went and learn from it.

All the captain's like Chappelli, Taylor and even Clarke more recently, that have been regarded as courageous and aggressive in their decision making, have taken some calculated risks and backed their team to deliver. This is the Aussie Cricket style.

Well put, Chambo.

Testy, they finished up needing 380 in 70 overs.

Was never going to happen.

An hour earlier, it would have been about 350 in 85 overs.

Wouldn't have happened.

All that happened is they cost themselves a possible win, for a tame draw.

Then, they compounded it by giving up with 4 overs to go. I couldn't believe how weak that was.

As for 'being too tired', 'don't like Kohli', 'the pitch was flat', 'we won the trophy', etc,give me a break.

That's not how Australia have ever played cricket.

That's how England play cricket.

There is an obsession by cricketing authorities to have test teams bowl their quota of overs per day per match.
Yet it is allowed for teams to walk off with 4 overs remaining when 2 results are still possible

Testy
As for the late declaration and no consequent result
Testy is right, the series win is what counts , Australia now own the 
Gavaskar/Bayman trophy
However this obsession with winning series is at times  a detriment to cricket

Of all Australian test players, what Stat do Smith and Warner share, second only to Bradman?

No takers?

Smith and Warner have the best Innings converted to centuries ratio of all Aussie test batsmen in the top 50 by aggregate, excepting Bradman of course.

Here is the top 15.

Player            Inns 100 Inns/100
DG Bradman------80    29   2.8
SPD Smith---------69    12   5.8
DA Warner---------87    15  5.8
ML Hayden--------184   30  6.1
GS Chappell-------151   24  6.3
RN Harvey--------137    21  6.5
AR Morris----------79     12  6.6
AL Hassett--------69     10  6.9
RT Ponting--------287     41 7.0
MJ Clarke---------198    28  7.1
MEK Hussey------137   19  7.2
WM Woodfull------54    7   7.7
JL Langer---------182   23  7.9
AC Gilchrist--------137  17  8.1
DM Jones----------89    11  8.1

I'll do a bit of research into the best of the other world teams and post later.

Chambo Off To Work We Go wrote:No takers?

Smith and Warner have the best Innings converted to centuries ratio of all Aussie test batsmen in the top 50 by aggregate, excepting Bradman of course.

Here is the top 15.

Player            Inns 100 Inns/100
DG Bradman------80    29   2.8
SPD Smith---------69    12   5.8
DA Warner---------87    15  5.8
ML Hayden--------184   30  6.1
GS Chappell-------151   24  6.3
RN Harvey--------137    21  6.5
AR Morris----------79     12  6.6
AL Hassett--------69     10  6.9
RT Ponting--------287     41 7.0
MJ Clarke---------198    28  7.1
MEK Hussey------137   19  7.2
WM Woodfull------54    7   7.7
JL Langer---------182   23  7.9
AC Gilchrist--------137  17  8.1
DM Jones----------89    11  8.1

The Adam GilCHRIST stats are amazing for a person who keeps and batted at 7 most of his career

From a batting emphasis
Purely based on my opinion

Don Bradman the best batsman ever
Gary Sobers the best batting allrounder ever
Adam GilCHRIST the best batting wicket keeper ever

Here is the All Countries List.
Players with an asterisk are current players.

Player------------Span            Inns  100 Inns/100
ALL COUNTRIES
DG Bradman----1928-1948    80  -   29  - 2.8 Aus
GA Headley-----1930-1954    40  -   10  - 4.0 WI
A Melville--------1938-1949    19  -   4   - 4.8 SF
CL Walcott------1948-1960    74  -   15  - 4.9 WI
JF Reid-----------1979-1986    31  -   6   - 5.2 NZ
H Sutcliffe-------1924-1935    84  -   16  - 5.3 Eng
ED Weekes------1948-1958    81  -   15  - 5.4 WI
SPD Smith*-----2010-2015    69   -  12  - 5.8 Aus
DA Warner*-----2011-2015    87  -   15  - 5.8 Aus
RG Pollock-------1963-1970    41  -   7    - 5.9 SF
Younis Khan*----2000-2015    186-   31  - 6.0 Pak
KC Sangakkara*2000-2015    233-   38  - 6.1 SL
ML Hayden------1994-2009    184-   30  - 6.1 Aus
GS Sobers-------1954-1974    160-   26  - 6.2 WI
JH Kallis----------1995-2013    278-  45  -  6.2 SF
GS Chappell------1970-1984   151 -  24  - 6.3 Aus
SM Gavaskar----1971-1987    214  34    - 6.3 Ind
WR Hammond---1927-1947    140  22   - 6.4 Eng
V Kohli*----------2011-2015    70    11   - 6.4 Ind
HM Amla*--------2004-2015    147  23   - 6.4 SF
SR Tendulkar----1989-2013    329   51  - 6.5 Ind
M Yousuf---------1998-2010    156   24  - 6.5 Pak
RN Harvey-------1948-1963    137   21  - 6.5 Aus

Note: Sobers just edges out Kallis in the all rounder category.
Interesting that Gavaskar scored his centuries at a faster rate than Tendulkar, which is not bad for an opener.
I think Gavaskar probably has been underrated over the years.

ALAN MELVILLE
Alan Melville 3rd on that list was a surprise
Had 19 Test  innings all against England
Played from 1938 -1949
In his last Test iinnings in the year  1939 he made 103
Then I assume due to WW2 his career was stalled
Did not play Test cricket again until 1947

He resumed playing Test cricket in 1947 after an 8 year break
In his first 3 innings back he made 3 tons in a row , as a 37 year old
So he ends up making 4 Test tons in a row in 4 digs in 2 decades
The sequence
103
189
104 not out
117
This might be a record , 4 tons in a row against the same country ?

I thought you might single him out Scrappy.
His record does glare at you in the face of all the others with a lot more innings.

Here's a separate question for you.

Who are the 2 best batting allrounders?
And the 2 best bowling allrounders?

I reckon there are only about 3 or 4 to choose from in each category.

You first!

Top of the head , without great thought

The best 2 batting all rounders
Gary Sobers
Jaques Kallis

The best 2 bowling allrounders
Richard Hadlee
Imran Khan

Take out LBWs Shane Watson becomes a great batting allrounder !

GEORGE HEADLEY
Only heard about this great West Indian
TEST BATTING
2190 runs
60.83 average
10 tons in 40 digs

That record suggests he must be considered best or near best West Indian cricketer
He also averaged a staggering 69.86 in first class cricket

INTERESTING NUMBERS
Here is a comment about George Headley
* Loved to bowl his leg breaks with occasional success.*
George Headley and Scrappy have some things in common
Both of us bowled leg spin in our cricketing careers
And both of us never took a Test wicket
Headley
Test Bowling
398 balls
230 runs
0 wickets

I agree with the first 2.

But I would have Botham instead of Hadlee.
But that is mainly on his batting.
Hadlee's batting probably only just puts him in the allrounder category in my view.

Botham (102 matches)---------Hadlee (86 matches)
Bowling
W383 ----------------------------W 431
Ave 28.4 ------------------------Ave 22.29
5W 27 10W 4 -------------------5W 36 10W 9
Batting
R5200 ---------------------------R3124
Ave 33.54 ----------------------Ave 27.16
100x14 / 50x22 ---------------100x2 / 50x15

Imran (88 matches) sort of is a given.
His stats would get him in the team as a batsmen or a bowler individually.
Bowling
W362
Ave 22.81
5W 23 10W 6
Batting
R3807
Ave 37.69
100x6 / 50x18

Scrappy wrote:GEORGE HEADLEY
Only heard about this great West Indian
TEST BATTING
2190 runs
60.83 average
10 tons in 40 digs

That record suggests he must be considered best or near best West Indian cricketer
He also averaged a staggering 69.86 in first class cricket

INTERESTING NUMBERS
Here is a comment about George Headley
* Loved to bowl his leg breaks with occasional success.*
George Headley and Scrappy have some things in common
Both of us bowled leg spin in our cricketing careers
And both of us never took a Test wicket
Headley
Test Bowling
398 balls
230 runs
0 wickets

What are Scrappy's test figures?