1.
Hansie Cronje
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Wessel Johannes Hansie Cronje was a South African cricketer and captain of the South African national cricket team in the 1990s. He died in a crash in 2002. He was voted the 11th greatest South African in 2004 despite having been banned from cricket for life due to his role in a match-fixing scandal, Cronje was born in Bloemfontein, South Africa to Ewie Cronje and San-Marie Cronje on 25 September 1969. He graduated in 1987 from Grey College in Bloemfontein, where he was the head boy, an excellent all round sportsman, he represented the then Orange Free State Province in cricket and rugby at schools level. He was the captain of his schools cricket and rugby teams, Cronje earned a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of the Free State. He had a brother, Frans Cronje, and a younger sister, Hester Parsons. His father Ewie had played for Orange Free State in the 1960s, Cronje made his first-class debut for Orange Free State against Transvaal at Johannesburg in January 1988 at the age of 18. In the following season, he was a regular, appearing in all eight Currie Cup matches plus being part of the Benson and Hedges Series winning team, scoring 73 as an opener in the final. In 1989–90, despite playing all the Currie Cup matches, he failed to make a century, during that season he scored his maiden century for South African Universities against Mike Gattings rebels. Despite having just turned 21, Cronje was made captain of Orange Free State for the 1990–91 season and he scored his maiden century for them against Natal in December 1990, and finished the season with another century and a total of 715 runs at 39.72. That season he also scored 159* in a 40-over match against Griqualand West, in 1992–93, he captained Orange Free State to the Castle Cup/Total Power Series double. In 1995, Cronje appeared for Leicestershire where he scored 1301 runs at 52.04 finishing the season as the leading scorer. In 1995–96, he finished the top of the batting averages in the Currie Cup. In 1997, Cronje played for Ireland as a player in the Benson and Hedges Cup and helped them to a 46-run win over Middlesex by scoring 94 not out. This was Irelands first ever win against English county opposition, later in the same competition, he scored 85 and took one wicket against Glamorgan. Cronjes form in 1991/92 was impressive especially in the format where he averaged 61.40. He earned a call up for the 1992 World Cup. During the tournament he played in eight of the nine games, averaging 34.00 with the bat
2.
Alec Stewart
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Alec James Stewart OBE is a retired English cricketer, a right-handed batsman-wicketkeeper and former captain of the England cricket team. He is the second most capped English cricketer of all time in Test matches and 3rd most capped in One Day Internationals, the younger son of former English Test cricketer Micky Stewart, Stewart was educated at Tiffin School in Kingston upon Thames. He made his debut for Surrey in 1981, earning a reputation as an opening batsman. He made his England debut in the first Test of the 1989/90 tour of the West Indies, along with Nasser Hussain, however, Russell, the inferior batsman, would often be dropped to improve the balance of the side, in which case Stewart would don the gloves. After enduring years of selection and deselection, Russell retired from cricket in 1998. His highest Test score,190, was against Pakistan in the drawn first Edgbaston Test on 4 June 1992, always more of an establishment figure than any sort of rebel, it was no surprise when Stewart was asked to captain England in 1998 when Mike Atherton resigned. Despite being the age of 35 at the time, Stewarts level of fitness was impeccable, as it was Stewart went on to play for England beyond his 40th birthday – but as events were to transpire – his captaincy of England barely lasted 12 months. Nonetheless, failures against Australia and in the 1999 cricket World Cup saw him sacked from the captaincy to be replaced by Hussain, during his captaincy, he had the unusual distinction of simultaneously captaining the side, opening the batting and keeping wicket. He continued as an England player for five seasons, and became only the fourth player to score a century in his 100th Test. Stewarts batting average is the lowest of any player to have scored 8000 or more runs in Test cricket, however, when played as a specialist batsman in Test cricket, Stewart averaged 46.90 in 51 games with 9 centuries. Since World War II, only Len Hutton, Geoff Boycott, Dennis Amiss, as wicketkeeper-batsman he averaged 34.92 from 82 tests, higher than many of his contemporaries and many of the current batch of international wicketkeepers. He was unlucky enough to be on the side in a record 54 Test Matches. Stewart is a supporter of Surrey County Cricket Club and Chelsea F. C. In 2004, Stewart became a director of Arundel Promotions with specific responsibility for player management. Cricket playing clients include Paul Collingwood, Ian Bell, Ashley Giles, in 2009, Stewart rejoined Surrey as a part-time consultant to the coaching staff specialising in batting, wicket keeping and mentoring. Since retiring from playing Stewart has taken on the role as the Club Ambassador for Surrey CCC and was made a director in 2011. On 17 June 2013, it was announced by Surrey County Cricket Club that Stewart would take charge of first team following the sacking of Chris Adams. In October 2013 the club announced that Graham Ford would become head coach in February 2014, with Stewart becoming Director of Cricket, a new position
3.
Michael Atherton
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Michael Andrew Atherton OBE is a broadcaster, journalist and retired England international cricketer. A right-handed opening batsman for Lancashire and England, and occasional bowler, he achieved the captaincy of England at the age of 25. Atherton often played the role at a time when England batting performances lacked consistency. Often hampered by a chronic back complaint which was to contribute to the end of his career, following retirement he became a journalist and is currently a cricket commentator with Sky Sports, and cricket correspondent of The London Times. Atherton was born in Failsworth, Lancashire, England and his family includes several lesser known sportspersons, such as his father Alan, a former Manchester United goalkeeper in the 1960s. During 1st test of India tour of England 2014, he added that his dad played only in the reserves. As a youth, he captained the Manchester Grammar School cricket team for whom he scored almost 3,500 runs and his performances led to selection for the England under-19 team, which he captained aged 16. He also represented Lancashire Schools from 1982 to 1986, in 1983 he won the Jack Hobbs Memorial Award as the Outstanding Schoolboy Cricketer at under-15 level. In a match against the Marylebone Cricket Club in 1984 he took 6–27, entering Downing College, Cambridge, to read history, he was selected at 18 to play for Cambridge University Cricket Club and awarded a blue. A year later he made 73 on his county debut for Lancashire, during this time he represented both his university, the Combined Universities cricket team and his county. This early rise through the ranks, and extensive leadership experience earned him the nickname FEC, which is thought to have stood for future England captain. In his autobiography Opening Up, Atherton is candid about the fact there are more colourful alternatives for FEC. Athertons heady rise continued when he made his debut for England in the fifth test against Australia at Trent Bridge, Athertons chance came when several England players had just announced their decision to go on a rebel tour to South Africa and so were banned from the Test team. However, despite these defections, he was selected as vice-captain of the 1989–90 A team tour to Zimbabwe rather than for the West Indies tour. Atherton returned to the England side in the summer of 1990, partnering Graham Gooch at the top of the order, in his first innings after recall, and his first opening the batting for England, he scored 151 against New Zealand. During the winter of 1990–91, Atherton faced a sterner test on the Ashes tour of Australia, although he made a century in the third Test at Sydney, he averaged just 31 for his 279 runs, and England lost 3–0. When Australia arrived for the 1993 Ashes series, Athertons place in the team was not assured, however, a consistent summer when he scored six 50s in six Tests cemented his place in the side at a fortunate time. Graham Gooch, frustrated by continual losses against Australia, resigned as captain after the fourth Test and Atherton, aged just 25, replaced him
4.
Allan Donald
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Allan Anthony Donald is a former South African cricketer and one of their most successful pace bowlers. He was nicknamed White Lightning He was one of the top fast bowlers in Test cricket, reaching the top of the ICC Test rankings in 1998, in ODIs, he reached 794 points in 1998, ranked second behind teammate Shaun Pollock. He shared the new-ball with Pollock from the 1996/1997 tour of India until his retirement in 2002 and he made his Test debut on 18 April 1992 in South Africas first test since their return to world sport after the abolition of apartheid. South Africa lost to the West Indies in Barbados by 52 runs, Donald took 2–67 and 4–77, including the wicket of Brian Lara. When he retired, he was South Africas record wicket-taker with 330 Test wickets at an average of 22.25, both of these records have now been overtaken by Shaun Pollock. In 1997 Donald got involved in an incident that has caused a lot of grief, Donald was being hit around the park by Sachin Tendulkar. Donald says he got carried away and confronted Dravid face-to-face saying This isnt such a easy game. The TV cameras filmed close up shots of the incident, leadiing to accusations that he was a racist, during the Trent Bridge Test Match of 1998 South Africa batted first, scoring 374 in their first innings. England responded with 336, with Donald taking 5 wickets, in their second innings, South Africa only scored 208 leaving England a target of 247 to win the match. Donald bowled multiple bouncers to Atherton, but he survived several close chances to remain not out at the end of the day, the next day Atherton along with Alec Stewart were able to score the remaining runs, with Atherton finishing on 98. Several years later, Atherton gave Donald the gloves he wore on this occasion for Donalds benefit year auction, in the 1999 Cricket World Cup semi-final between South Africa and Australia Donald was the last batsman on the South African team. Australia batting first making only 213, Donald taking 4–32 and Pollock 5–36, the game swung back and forth with South Africa eventually needing to score 16 runs off the last 8 balls to win with only one wicket remaining. Lance Klusener and Allan Donald were at the crease, klusner hit a six and then a single to keep the strike, followed by two fours. The scores were level with four balls left in the game, the next ball resulted in no run. Klusner hit the ball after that straight down the ground and set off for a single, but Donald was watching the ball, both batsmen were at the bowlers end before Donald started running, having dropped his bat. The ball was thrown to the bowler, then to Gilchrist, although the match technically ended in a tie, South Africa had previously lost to Australia in the Super-Six phase, and needed to win outright to progress to the final. In English county cricket, Donald enjoyed a long and highly successful career with Warwickshire and he also played a single match for Worcestershire in 2002. Having retired from playing, he now commentates for South African Broadcast Corporation in their coverage of South Africas home Tests, in May 2007, Allan Donald was appointed as a temporary bowling consultant for the England cricket team
5.
Nick Knight (cricketer)
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Nicholas Verity Knight is an English cricket commentator and former England cricketer. Knights was given his name in honour of the 1930s English Test bowler Hedley Verity who was killed in World War II and is a distant family relation. A left-handed opening batsman and a fielder, Knight played in 17 Test Matches and 100 One Day Internationals before announcing his retirement from international cricket after the 2003 World Cup. Born in Watford, Hertfordshire, Knight was educated at Felsted School in Essex and he won the Daily Telegraph Young Cricketer of the Year award in 1989 and he played cricket for Brentwood cricket club in 1989/91. In domestic cricket, he began his career with Essex in 1991 before transferring to Warwickshire four years later and he was captain of Warwickshire from 2003 to 2005, and led them to victory in the County Championship in the 2004 season. He retired from cricket after the 2006 season and is now a member of the Sky Sports cricket commentary team. He finished his career with 16,172 runs at 44.18 and 40 hundreds and his highest score was an unbeaten 303. He struggled in the Test arena and made only 1 test century and his next best score was 96 vs Zimbabwe in a drawn game at Bulawayo in 1996–97. The most obvious reason for this was his technique, as a fine fielder and a hard worker, it is surprising that he did not play more for England – the England team was not blessed with too many good batsman during Knights era. However two of the batsmen were Michael Atherton and Mark Butcher with whom Knight was vying for a place for most of his career. Atherton too was captain of England until 1998 so would have been a choice for opening batsman. Knight was a far more successful, and certainly regular, one-day player for England, in one-day cricket, this backing away in fact helped him score a lot of runs and became something of a hallmark. This same strength/weakness was mirrored in Michael Bevan – one of Knights contemporaries, debuting in 1996, he scored centuries in his second and third innings in ODI cricket, on consecutive days against a Pakistan bowling attack that included Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis. Knight wasnt selected for the World Cup team in 1999 and made his World Cup debut in the 2003 tournament and he performed well in an unsuccessful campaign for England and faced the first delivery in cricket officially to break the 100 mph barrier, bowled by Shoaib Akhtar. He pushed it nonchalantly to square leg, following his retirement from cricket, Knight became a commentator and pundit on Sky Sports
6.
Mark Ealham
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Mark Alan Ealham is a retired English cricketer, who played domestic cricket for Kent and Nottinghamshire. He is an all-rounder and is a former England international at both Test and one-day cricket, Ealham was born in Willesborough, Kent, and began his career with Kent C. C. C. His father, Alan Ealham, had spent his career with the club. He made his first-class and list A cricket debuts for Kent in 1989, Ealham was first called into the England team for the start of Indias tour of England in 1996. His one-day debut came on 23 May in the first one-day international, although no result was possible due to rain, Ealham impressed as he reached 40 runs before being bowled by Anil Kumble. He made his Test debut in the third Test, played between 4 July and 9 July 1996. Ealham once again impressed, he scored 51 runs in the first innings and took second-innings bowling figures of 4/21, which he never surpassed at Test level, despite his promising Test debut, Ealham was always regarded as a limited-overs specialist. This belief is due to his free-swinging batting style, during a Twenty20 Cup match in 2005 against Durham he scored 45 off 17 balls including 34 runs in a single over. However, his greatest performance as a player came on 30 January 2000 when England played Zimbabwe in the match of a triangular tournament held in South Africa. Ealham took five wickets for only 15 runs, at the time this was the best bowling performance by an Englishman in a one-day international match ever. Even more remarkable is that all five wickets were LBWs, this is still a record in international cricket. Ealham left Kent before the 2003 season and signed a contract with Nottinghamshire. He retired in September 2009, after 20 seasons in domestic cricket, to charge of cricket at Kings School. During his time at Kings, he coached several Kent academy players including Oliver Robinson
7.
Robert Croft
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Robert Damien Bale Croft MBE is a former Welsh cricketer who played international cricket for England. He is a bowler who played for Glamorgan and captained the county from 2003 to 2006. He retired from first class cricket at the end of the 2012 season and he commentates on cricket occasionally for Sky Sports. Croft was born on 25 May 1970 in Morriston, Swansea and he was educated at St John Lloyds Roman Catholic Comprehensive School, Llanelli. He played rugby union as a half for Llanelli RFC Under-11s. He studied at Swansea Metropolitan University and he made his England debut against Pakistan in 1996, and did enough to earn a touring place to Zimbabwe and New Zealand. In Christchurch, he took his Test best figures of 5–95 and his last wicket stand with Angus Fraser in the third Test of the 1998 series against South Africa saved England from an innings defeat, personally scoring 37 not out. His final Test match was the third Ashes Test of 2001 at Trent Bridge where he bowled just 3 overs. He was selected for the subsequent tour of India but he withdrew because of safety fears and was selected for the 2003/04 tour of Sri Lanka. After returning home, he announced his retirement to concentrate on the captaincy of Glamorgan. On 12 September 2006, after just two County Championship victories in 15 games thus far in the season, he announced his resignation from the captaincy, and was succeeded by David Hemp. Exactly a year later, he passed 1,000 first-class wickets after dismissing Niall OBrien, in November 2007, he joined voices calling for a clampdown on Twenty20 problems with abusive crowds, after suffering abusive calls at Taunton Cricket Ground. On 1 August 2010 he got his first hat-trick against Gloucestershire to help Glamorgan win the match and it also made him the first Glamorgan spinner to take a hat-trick in 46 years. Croft was once honoured as a druid at the Welsh cultural event and he was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire in the 2013 New Year Honours for services to cricket. England A West Indies 1992 South Africa 1993/94 England Zimbabwe / New Zealand 1996/97 Sharjah / West Indies 1997/98 Australia 1998/99 Sri Lanka 2000/01 and 2003/04
8.
Darren Gough
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Darren Gough is a retired English cricketer and former captain of Yorkshire County Cricket Club. Gough was a right arm fast bowler and right-handed batsman,1.80 m and broad in beam, he achieved his pace from a good approach to the wicket and a leaping sideways-on action, achieving what was often described as skiddy fast bowling. Capable of swinging the ball late, a number of his wickets were gained through LBW or bowled. Gough retired at the end of the 2008 cricket season with Justin Langer as his final first-class wicket, Justin commented in his BBC column that Darren Gough will retire as one of the most respected and admired cricketers of our generation. Also noting that Gough had commented to Langer after his final match I am happy to finish with an Aussie in my pocket, Gough retired on a high being regarded as a model professional in the game and a Yorkshire legend. Gough was considered to be a young footballer and appeared many times for a YTS team before he embarked on his cricketing career. He frequently refers to his ability as a footballer as a presenter of Talksports flagship Drivetime programme, the initial steps of Goughs first-class cricketing life, according to his autobiography, were marked by a lack of discipline, thrust and ambition. In May 1993, however, during a match for Yorkshire against Hampshire at Southampton, the latter had characterised his approach in most such scenarios hitherto, and he duly went with it until Richie Richardson, Yorkshires foreign signing, told him to engage the former. Having played through one of the greatest epochs of West Indian cricket, characterised by a pace attack regarded by many as the finest ever, Gough took it, claimed his five-for and quickly realised that bowling fast and taking wickets was far more suited to his talents and personality. The new philosophy typified the remainder of his career and he was first selected for the England cricket team in 1994, playing both Test and One Day International cricket. Four first-innings wickets and an innings of 65 on Test debut showed his potential, like most such pretenders to that throne, he did not fully ascend to such lofty heights, his batting fell away, and he eventually averaged only 12 with the bat in Tests. Nonetheless, his presence in the England team became a vital one in both personality and play. Memorable highlights of his Test career included taking the 23rd hat-trick in Test cricket against Australia at Sydney in 1999 and his only first-class century came against Warwickshire in 1996 at Headingley. He retired from Test cricket in 2003 after a knee injury threatened to end his career and he has continued playing one-day international cricket, and became the first Englishman to take 200 wickets in one-day cricket in September 2004. In January 2005, he played for the World XI in the World Cricket Tsunami Appeal one-day international versus the Asian XI, Gough asked not to be considered for selection for Englands tour of Pakistan in October–December 2005 so that he could spend more time with his family. Selectors were content with his decision until it was discovered that he had signed up to part in the BBC television show Strictly Come Dancing. He was subsequently omitted from the ODI party to tour India in February and March 2006, prompting renewed speculation that his career was at an end. However, he was named as a member of the ODI squad to play Pakistan in August 2006, Cricket writer Tim de Lisle claimed in a column for Cricinfo that after this, international career all but over
9.
South Africa national cricket team
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The South African national cricket team, nicknamed the Proteas, represents South Africa in international cricket. It is administered by Cricket South Africa, South Africa is a full member of the International Cricket Council with Test and One Day International status. As of 27 November 2016, South Africa has played 405 Test matches, winning 148, the team has played 564 ODIs, winning 348, losing 194 and tying six, with 16 no-results. Finally, it has played 91 Twenty20 Internationals, winning 54 and losing 36, on 20 August 2012, South Africa became the top ranked team in test cricket for the first time. 8 days later, on 28 August 2012, it became the first team to top the rankings in all three formats of the game, South Africa is currently ranked third in Tests, first in ODIs and third in T20Is by the ICC. South Africa first played cricket in 1889, though the players participating at the time were not aware of the fact. The South African cricket team toured England in 1947, at Trent Bridge, Captain Alan Melville and vice-captain, Dudley Nourse achieved a Test match record for a third wicket partnership of 319. The following year Nourse, 38-year-old captain of Natal, was appointed Captain for the 1948 MCC Test matches in South Africa and they continued to play regularly series of matches against England, Australia and New Zealand until 1970. The membership rules of the Imperial Cricket Conference meant that when South Africa left the Commonwealth in May 1961, despite the rules being changed in 1964 to allow other nations to be Associate members, South Africa did not reapply. Due to South African apartheid laws, which introduced legal racial segregation to the country in 1948, the anti-apartheid movement led the ICC to impose a moratorium on tours in 1970. This decision excluded players such as Graeme Pollock, Barry Richards, World class cricketers of their day like Clive Rice, Vintcent van der Bijl also never played Test Cricket despite their first class records. The ICC reinstated South Africa as a Test nation in 1991, South Africas first Test match after re-admission was played against the West Indies in April 1992. The match was played in Bridgetown, Barbados and South Africa lost by 52 runs, since South Africa have been reinstated they have achieved mixed success, and hosted the International Cricket Council Cricket World Cup in 2003. In 2003, South Africa were one of the favourites but were eliminated by one run in the stages after they had mistakenly counted the number of runs they needed. They have also had bad press for failing in vital matches in tournaments including the 2002 ICC Champions Trophy. With Donald retiring, Cronje banned for match-fixing and later killed in a crash, and Pollock also retiring from international cricket. Graeme Smith was made captain, although following injuries to Smith and Jacques Kallis, at the age of 29, he became the first non-white man to captain the once all-white South African cricket team. Due to a racial policy, the side was once required to contain black players
10.
Test cricket
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Test cricket is the longest form of the sport of cricket and is considered its highest standard. Test matches are played between national teams with Test status, as determined by the International Cricket Council. The two teams of 11 players play a match, which may last up to five days. It is generally considered the most complete examination of teams playing ability, the name Test stems from the long, gruelling match being a test of the relative strengths of the two sides. A Test match to celebrate 100 years of Test cricket was held in Melbourne from 12 to 17 March 1977, in October 2012, the International Cricket Council recast the playing conditions for Test matches, permitting day/night Test matches. The first day/night game took place between Australia and New Zealand at the Adelaide Oval, Adelaide, on 27 November 2015, Test matches are the highest level of cricket although, statistically, their data forms part of first-class cricket. Matches are played between national teams with Test status, as determined by the International Cricket Council. As of December 2014, ten teams have Test status. Zimbabwes Test status was suspended, because of poor performances between 2006 and 2011, it returned to competition in August 2011. If the Associate team defeats the test nation, then they could be added as the new test country, a list of matches, defined as Tests, was first drawn up by Australian Clarence Moody in the mid-1890s. Representative matches played by simultaneous England touring sides of 1891–92 and 1929–30 are deemed to have Test status, in 1970, a series of five Test matches was played in England between England and a Rest of the World XI. These matches, originally scheduled between England and South Africa, were amended after South Africa was suspended from international cricket because of their governments policy of apartheid. Although initially given Test status, this was withdrawn and a principle was established that official Test matches can only be between nations. Despite this, in 2005, the ICC ruled that the six-day Super Series match that took place in October 2005, some cricket writers and statisticians, including Bill Frindall, ignored the ICCs ruling and excluded the 2005 match from their records. The series of Test matches played in Australia between Australia and a World XI in 1971/72 do not have Test status, there are currently ten Test-playing teams, representing individual nations except for England and the West Indies. Test status is conferred upon a country or group of countries by the International Cricket Council, teams that do not have Test status can play in the ICC Intercontinental Cup, specifically designed to allow non-Test teams to play under conditions similar to Tests. In May 2016, ICC announced that it is contemplating the idea of two-tiers in Test match cricket, ICC hopes that this will help them draw more crowd and generate more revenue from the matches played between top tier teams. Promotion and relegation could be introduced into Test cricket as early as 2019 and this will give opportunities to more countries like Afghanistan and Ireland to play test cricket
11.
England cricket team
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The England cricket team is the team that represents England and Wales in international cricket. Since 1 January 1997 it has been governed by the England and Wales Cricket Board, England and Australia were the first teams to play a Test match, and these two countries together with South Africa formed the Imperial Cricket Conference on 15 June 1909. England and Australia also played the first One Day International on 5 January 1971, Englands first Twenty20 International was played on 13 June 2005, once more against Australia. As of 9 March 2017, England has played 983 Test matches, winning 351, the team has won The Ashes on 32 occasions, the same number as their opponents Australia. England has played 683 ODIs, winning 332, and its record in major ODI tournaments includes finishing as runners-up in three Cricket World Cups, and also in two ICC Champions Trophys, England has also played 89 T20Is, winning 43. They won the ICC World Twenty20 in 2010, and were runners-up in 2016, England are currently ranked fourth in Tests, fifth in ODIs and fifth in T20Is by the ICC. England currently holds the record for the highest ever ODI total of 444, such matches were repeated on numerous occasions for the best part of a century. In 1846 William Clarke formed the All-England Eleven and this team would eventually compete against a United All-England Eleven with annual matches occurring between 1847 and 1856. These matches were arguably the most important contest of the English season if judged by the quality of the players, the first overseas tour occurred in September 1859 with England touring North America. This team had six players from the All-England Eleven, six from the United All-England Eleven and was captained by George Parr, with the outbreak of the American Civil War, attention turned elsewhere. English tourists visited Australia in 1861-62 with this first tour organised as a venture by Messrs Spiers and Pond. Most matches played during tours prior to 1877 were against odds and this first Australian tour were mostly against odds of at least 18/11. The tour was so successful that George Parr led a tour in 1863–64. James Lillywhite led a subsequent England team which sailed on the P&O steamship Poonah on 21 September 1876 and they would play a combined Australian XI, for once on even terms of 11 a side. The match, starting on 15 March 1877 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground came to be regarded as the inaugural Test match, the combined Australian XI won this Test match by 45 runs with Charles Bannerman of Australia scoring the first Test century. At the time, the match was promoted as James Lillywhites XI v Combined Victoria, the teams played a return match on the same ground at Easter,1877, when Lillywhites team avenged their loss with a victory by four wickets. The first Test match on English soil occurred in 1880 with England victorious, – The body will be cremated and the ashes taken to Australia. As a result of loss the tour of 1882–83 was dubbed by England captain Ivo Bligh as the quest to regain the ashes
12.
One Day International
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A One Day International is a form of limited overs cricket, played between two teams with international status, in which each team faces a fixed number of overs, usually 50. The Cricket World Cup is played in this format, One Day International matches are also called Limited Overs Internationals, although this generic term may also refer to Twenty20 International matches. They are major matches and considered the highest standard of limited overs competition, the international one-day game is a late twentieth-century development. The first ODI was played on 5 January 1971 between Australia and England at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. When the first three days of the third Test were washed out officials decided to abandon the match and, instead, Australia won the game by 5 wickets. ODIs were played in kits with a red ball. The first of the matches with coloured uniforms was the WSC Australians in wattle gold versus WSC West Indians in coral pink, played at VFL Park in Melbourne on 17 January 1979. Matches played with coloured kits and a white ball became more commonplace over time, and the use of white flannels, in the main the Laws of cricket apply. However, in ODIs, each team bats for a number of overs. In the early days of ODI cricket, the number of overs was generally 60 overs per side, and matches were played with 40,45 or 55 overs per side. Simply stated, the works as follows, An ODI is contested by 2 teams of 11 players each. The Captain of the winning the toss chooses to either bat or bowl first. The team batting first sets the score in a single innings. The innings lasts until the side is all out or all of the first sides allotted overs are completed. Each bowler is restricted to bowling a maximum of 10 overs, therefore, each team must comprise at least five competent bowlers. The team batting second tries to score more than the score in order to win the match. Similarly, the side bowling second tries to out the second team or make them exhaust their overs before they reach the target score in order to win. If the number of runs scored by both teams is equal when the team loses all of its wickets or exhausts all its overs
13.
Sri Lanka national cricket team
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The team first played international cricket in 1926–27, and were later awarded Test status in 1982, which made Sri Lanka the eighth Test cricket playing nation. The team is administered by Sri Lanka Cricket, Angelo Mathews is the current captain of all formats of the game. Sri Lankas national cricket team achieved considerable success beginning in the 1990s, since then, the team has continued to be a force in international cricket. The Sri Lankan cricket team reached the finals of the 2007 and 2011 Cricket World Cups consecutively, but they ended up being runners up in both those occasions. Sri Lanka have won the Cricket World Cup in 1996, the ICC Champions Trophy in 2002 and they have been consecutive runners up in the 2007 and 2011 Cricket World Cups, and have been runners up in the ICC World Twenty20 in 2009 and 2012. The Sri Lankan cricket team currently holds world records, including the world record for highest team total in Tests. The ODI total was broken by England on 30 August 2016, the Sri Lanka national cricket team began with the formation of the Colombo Cricket Club in 1832. By the 1880s a national team, the Ceylon national cricket team, was formed which began playing cricket by the 1920s. The Ceylon national cricket team had achieved associate member status of the International Cricket Council in 1965 and they have also won the 2001-02 Asian Test Championship, defeating Pakistan in the final by an innings and 175 runs. Sri Lanka registered their first ODI win against India at Manchester, England and they also won the 1996 Cricket World Cup, co-champions in 2002 ICC Champions Trophy and also became five times Asian champions in 1986,1997,2004,2008 and 2014. Sri Lanka played their first Twenty20 International match at the Rose Bowl, on 15 June 2006, against England, in 2014, they won the 2014 ICC World Twenty20, defeating India by 6 wickets. As of January 2016, Sri Lanka have faced all nine teams in Test cricket, with their most frequent opponent being Pakistan, Sri Lanka have registered more wins against Pakistan and Bangladesh than any other team, with 14. In ODI matches, Sri Lanka have played against 17 teams, they have played against India most frequently, within usual major ODI nations, Sri Lanka have defeated England on 34 occasions, which is their best record in ODIs. The team have competed against 13 countries in T20Is, and have played 15 matches against New Zealand, Sri Lanka have defeated Australia and West Indies 6 occasions each. Sri Lanka was the best T20I team in the world, where they ranked number one in more than 32 months, as of 14 January 2017, Sri Lanka have played 256 Test matches, they have won 80 matches, lost 95 matches, and 81 matches were drawn. As of 10 February 2017, Sri Lanka have played 787 ODI matches, winning 368 matches and losing 379, they also tied 5 matches, whilst 35 had no result. As of 19 February 2017, Sri Lanka have played 92 T20I matches, Sri Lanka were awarded Test cricket status in 1981, by the International Cricket Council. They played their first Test match against England at P. Saravanamuttu Stadium, B. Warnapura was the captain for Sri Lanka in that watch, which England was victorious by 7 wickets
14.
Worcestershire CCC
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Worcestershire County Cricket Club is one of eighteen first-class county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the county of Worcestershire. Its Twenty20 team has been rebranded the Worcestershire Rapids, but the county is known by most fans as the Pears, the club is based at New Road, Worcester. Founded in 1865, Worcestershire held minor status at first and was a prominent member of the early Minor Counties Championship in the 1890s, in 1899, the club joined the County Championship and the team was elevated to senior status as an official first-class team. Worcestershire has been classified as a List A team since the beginning of limited overs cricket in 1963, a match on 28 August 1844 at Hartlebury Common between Worcestershire and Shropshire is the earliest known instance of a county team in Worcestershire. Two years later, XXII of Worcestershire played William Clarkes All-England Eleven at Powick Hams, Worcestershire CCC was formed on 4 March 1865 at the Star Hotel in Worcester. The club owes much to Paul Foley who was from a family of iron masters in Stourbridge and he also owned an agricultural estate at Stoke Edith in Herefordshire. He became involved with the club in the 1880s and helped to establish the Minor Counties Championship which began in 1895, Worcestershire shared the inaugural title with Durham and Norfolk before winning outright in 1896,1897 and 1898. With this success behind it, the applied for first-class status. Worcestershire CCC played its initial first-class match versus Yorkshire CCC on 4,5 &6 May 1899, the inclusion of Worcestershire increased the County Championship to 15 teams. At first they performed moderately despite the batting of Tip Foster. Their best performance that year was an innings of 567 on a difficult pitch against Fielder. After that year, however, the batting was never enough to make up for woefully weak bowling. Their form, with one exception, was woeful up to the early thirties. Fred Root, one of the first exponents of leg theory bowling, roly Jenkins, with 183 wickets in 1949, gave them briefly the best attack in county cricket, but they soon declined again and their form in the 1950s was indifferent at best. They were also losing finalist in the first ever Gillette Cup Final in 1963 - the inaugural limited overs knockout competition in England, Worcestershire also won the Sunday League in 1987 and 1988. Worcestershires success continued into the 1990s, with a first ever success in the Benson and Hedges Cup in 1991, captained by Phil Neale, the Pears beat Lancashire by 65 runs in the final at Lords, gaining revenge for defeat against Lancashire in the previous years competition. Worcestershires next title came in 1994 when they won the Natwest Trophy, not only did they avenge their defeat at the hands of Warwickshire in the B&H Cup Final earlier that summer but it was also their first success in the competition after three previous final defeats
15.
Gloucestershire CCC
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Gloucestershire County Cricket Club is one of eighteen first-class county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the county of Gloucestershire. There is uncertainty about the date of the clubs foundation, due to a merger with another club. The club played its first senior match in June of that year and it was founded by the Grace family and W. G. was its first team captain. With that association, Gloucestershire has had senior status since inception, the club plays its home games at its headquarters, the Bristol County Ground, in the Bishopston area of north Bristol. Each season a number of games are played at the Cheltenham cricket festival held at the College Ground. In recent years, matches have also played at the Gloucester cricket festival at The Kings School. Gloucestershire CCC is best known as the county of W. G. Grace, whose father founded the club, and Wally Hammond, the clubs traditional badge is the coat of arms of the City of Bristol, the clubs home since being founded in 1870. It is known that the sport of Stow-Ball aka Stob-Ball was played in the county during the 16th century. In this game, the bat was called a stave, see Alice B Gomme, The Traditional Games of England, Scotland and Ireland. A game in Gloucester on 22 September 1729 is the earliest definite reference to cricket in the county, from then until the founding of the county club, very little has been found outside parish cricket. Dr Graces club played Gloucestershires initial first-class match versus Surrey at Durdham Down in Bristol on 2,3 &4 June 1870, Gloucestershire joined the County Championship at this time but the existence of the Cheltenham club seems to have forestalled the installation of its constitutional trappings. The Cheltenham club was wound up in March 1871 and its chief officials accepted positions in the hierarchy of Gloucestershire. So, although the details and dates of the county clubs foundation are uncertain, it has always been assumed that the year was 1870. What is certain is that Dr Grace was able to form the county club because of its playing strength, especially his three sons WG, EM and Fred. The early history of Gloucestershire is dominated by the Grace family, most notably W G Grace and his brother E M Grace, although still an active player, was the original club secretary. With the Grace brothers and Billy Midwinter in their team, Gloucestershire won three Champion County titles in the 1870s, since then Gloucestershires fortunes have been mixed and they have never won the official County Championship. They struggled in the years of the County Championship because their best batsmen, apart from Gilbert Jessop
16.
Sussex CCC
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Sussex County Cricket Club is the oldest of eighteen first-class county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the county of Sussex. Its limited overs team is called the Sussex Sharks and these teams always had senior status and so the county club is rated accordingly from inception, i. e. Its home ground is the County Cricket Ground, Hove, Sussex also play matches around the county at Arundel, Eastbourne and Horsham. Sussex won its first ever official County Championship title in 2003 and subsequently became the dominant team of the decade, Sussex enjoyed further limited overs success with consecutive Pro40 wins in 2008 and 2009 as well as beating Somerset at Edgbaston to lift the 2009 Twenty20 Cup. The south coast county ended the decade having won ten trophies in ten years, on 1 November 2015, Sussex County Cricket Club merged with the Sussex Cricket Board to form a single governing body for cricket in Sussex, called Sussex Cricket Limited. It is believed that cricket was invented by children living on the Weald in Anglo-Saxon or Norman times and they were fined 12d each and made to do penance. Cricket became established in Sussex during the 17th century and the earliest village matches took place before the English Civil War and it is believed that the earliest county teams were formed in the aftermath of the Restoration in 1660. Matches involving the two great Sussex patrons Charles Lennox, 2nd Duke of Richmond and Sir William Gage, 7th Baronet were first recorded in 1725, the earliest known use of Sussex in a match title occurred in 1729. From 1741, Richmond patronised the famous Slindon Cricket Club, whose team was representative of the county, after the death of Richmond in 1751, Sussex cricket declined until the emergence of the Brighton club at its Prince of Wales Ground in 1790. This led directly to the formation on 1 March 1839 of Sussex County Cricket Club, Sussex CCC played its initial first-class match versus Marylebone Cricket Club at Lords on 10 &11 June 1839. The Sussex crest depicts a mythological, footless bird called the Martlet, in total, Sussex CCC have played at 17 grounds,4 of which have been in Brighton and Hove. The first County match was played at Eaton Road on 6 June 1872 against Gloucestershire, currently, the main venue for the Clubs First and Second XI is The County Ground in Hove, although matches are also played regularly at the grounds at Arundel and Horsham. Other grounds for first class matches have included Sheffield Park, Chichester, Worthing, Eastbourne, denotes the players squad number, as worn on the back of their shirt. * denotes a player who has awarded a county cap. Director of Cricket, Keith Greenfield Head coach, Mark Davis Academy Director, Carl Hopkinson Asst
17.
Durham County Cricket Club
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Durham County Cricket Club is one of eighteen first-class county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the county of Durham. Since the 2014 season the Twenty20 team has called the Durham Jets. Founded in 1882, Durham held minor status for over a century and was a prominent member of the Minor Counties Championship, in 1992, the club joined the County Championship and the team was elevated to senior status as an official first-class team. Durham has been classified as an occasional List A team from 1964, then as a full List A team from 1992, Durham CCC competes in the Specsavers County Championship, the Royal London One-Day Cup and in the North Group of the NatWest t20 Blast. They won the County Championship in 2008 for the first time, retained the trophy in the 2009 season, in one-day competition, they won the 40-over Friends Provident Trophy in 2007 and the inaugural 50-over Royal London One-Day Cup in 2014. The clubs limited overs kit colours are yellow and blue in the Royal London One-Day Cup, Durham is currently sponsored by several companies including Emirates and Port of Tyne. The team was sponsored by Northern Rock prior to the nationalisation in 2008. The earliest reference is a game at Raby Castle on or soon after 5 August 1751 between the Earl of Northumberland’s XI and the Duke of Cleveland’s XI. The game was commemorated by a ballad which starts, Durham City has been dull so long, No bustle at all to show, But now the rage of all the throng Is at cricketing to go. As it happens, there was a return soon afterwards at Stanwick, near Richmond. The first recorded match of cricket in the county took place in 1848 at Sunderland. Despite their extra numbers the cricketers of Bishopwearmouth were comprehensively outplayed as All Englands scores of 129 and 143 dwarfed their own 56 and 59, early in 1989, the Club began the process of applying to become a first-class cricketing county and join the County Championship. First-class status was awarded on 6 December 1991, with Durham becoming the first new county for 70 years. Their first season in the County Championship was the 1992 season, for over a decade after gaining their status, Durham were not distinguished by marked success as a first-class county. However, in 2005 under the captaincy of Australian Mike Hussey Durham finished second, Durham had mixed success in the 2006 season, finishing second in the North Division of the C&G Trophy. However, Durham were poor in the Twenty20 cup, finishing last in the North Division and only managing 2 victories, both against Lancashire. The Pro40 campaign started well, with Durham taking 4 points from the first 4 games with a win, a loss, a tie
18.
Derbyshire CCC
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Derbyshire County Cricket Club is one of eighteen first-class county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the county of Derbyshire. Its limited overs team is called the Derbyshire Falcons in reference to the peregrine falcon which nests on the Derby Cathedral. Founded in 1870, the club is classified by substantial sources as holding important match status from its first match in 1871 until 1887. Because of poor performances and lack of fixtures in some seasons, the club is based at the County Cricket Ground, previously known as the Racecourse Ground, in the city of Derby. In 2006, for the first time in eight years, County Cricket returned to Queens Park, Chesterfield with a County Championship game against Worcester, one-day contests have been played at Darley Dale, Repton School, Trent College, Leek, Staffordshire and Knypersley. Cricket may not have reached Derbyshire until the 18th century, the earliest reference to cricket in the county is a match in September 1757 between Wirksworth and Sheffield Cricket Club at Brampton Moor, near Chesterfield. The formation of Derbyshire County Cricket Club took place on 4 November 1870 at a meeting in the Guildhall, when Chesterfield died the following year, William Jervis became president. Derbyshires opening season was 1871 when the club played its important match versus Lancashire at Old Trafford Cricket Ground on 26 and 27 May 1871. Derbyshire recovered first-class status in 1894 and rejoined the County Championship in 1895, from this point up to 1925, Derbyshire were perennially among the weakest counties, losing every single match in 1920 despite the efforts of Sam Cadman and Arthur Morton, persevering professionals. From 1926, the nucleus of a team emerged around some doughty batting from Denis Smith, Stan Worthington. Popes bowling and that of his brother Alf, leg spinner Tom Mitchell and seam bowler Bill Copson took the team to their one and they won 13 of their 28 matches outright and five on first innings. Worthington, Les Townsend, Smith and Alderman all passed 1,000 runs and Copson and Mitchell took over 100 wickets, charlie Elliott, who later became a test umpire and selector, was another member of this team which was captained by AW Richardson. There have been more downs than ups in post-war years, however, a series of seam bowlers served England as well as Derbyshire. The list began with Copson and continued with Cliff Gladwin, Les Jackson, Harold Rhodes, Alan Ward, Mike Hendrick and, most recently Devon Malcolm and Dominic Cork. Spin was in short supply apart from the work of Edwin Smith and the under-rated allrounder Geoff Miller. The signing of Eddie Barlow, the famous South African, in 1976, former Derbyshire bowler Graeme Welch was appointed the new Elite Cricket Performance Director in January 2014. This following table gives details of every venue at which Derbyshire have hosted a first-class, List A or Twenty20 match, denotes the players squad number, as worn on the back of their shirt
19.
Essex CCC
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Essex County Cricket Club is one of eighteen first-class county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the county of Essex. Its limited overs team is called the Essex Eagles, whose colours are all-blue. Founded in 1876, the club had minor county status until 1894 when it was promoted to first-class status pending its entry into the County Championship in 1895, the club plays most of its home games at the County Cricket Ground, Chelmsford. It also plays games at Lower Castle Park in Colchester. The club has used other venues throughout the county including Ilford, Leyton Cricket Ground, Romford, Billericay. The venue is unknown but, if it was at Chingford, the game echoed an earlier one in 1718 as the Chingford team refused to play to a finish when Mr Steads team had the advantage. A court case followed and, as in 1718, it was ordered to be played out presumably so that all wagers could be fulfilled. We know that Lord Chief Justice Pratt presided over the case, the game was completed in 1726. See, History of cricket to 1725 The earliest reference to a team called Essex is in July 1732 when a combined Essex & Herts team played against the London Cricket Club. In July 1737, there was London v Essex at the Artillery Ground, in a return game at Ilford on 1 August 1737, Essex won by 7 runs. References are then occasional until 1785 when the Hornchurch Cricket Club became prominent and this club had a strong team that was representative of Essex as a county. However, the sources differed among themselves re whether the team should be called Essex or Hornchurch, but there is no doubt that Essex was a First-Class county from 1785 until 1794, after which the county strangely and abruptly disappeared from the records for a long time. The new club did not become First-Class until 1894, Essex CCC played its inaugural first-class match on 14,15 &16 May 1894 against Leicestershire CCC at Leyton. It was the initial First-Class match played by club. In 1895, both of these clubs and Warwickshire CCC joined the County Championship, G. F. Higgins scored the second championship century for Essex in the same match putting on 205 with Burns for the fourth wicket. Essex improved rapidly from 1895, so that by 1897 they were in the running for the Championship and they fell off after this despite beating a fine Australian team on a dubious pitch in 1899, never finishing higher than sixth between 1899 and 1932. With the decline of these players, Essex fell to some of their lowest levels ever during the late 1920s and their bowlers conceded over 40 runs a wicket in 1928 – about the highest ever with uncovered pitches
20.
Edgbaston Cricket Ground
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Edgbaston Cricket Ground, also known as the County Ground or Edgbaston Stadium, is a cricket ground in the Edgbaston area of Birmingham, England. It is home to Warwickshire County Cricket Club, and is used for Test matches, One Day Internationals. Edgbaston has also hosted the T20 domestic finals day more than any other cricket ground, Edgbaston was also the first English ground outside Lords to host a major international one day tournament final when it hosted the ICC Champions Trophy final in 2013. Edgbaston was the venue of the first senior game under floodlights in English cricket, with permanent seating for 25,000 spectators, Edgbaston is the fourth-largest cricketing venue in the United Kingdom, after Lords, Old Trafford and The Oval. Edgbaston also has a variety of conference and banqueting halls available for a variety of events and has an award winning catering team, Edgbaston hosts an annual fireworks display during bonfire night week. The land that now makes up Edgbaston Cricket Ground was originally owned by the Calthorpe Estate, with the site only 20 minutes walk from New Street Station, Warwickshire agreed in 1885 to lease the land for £5 per acre over a 21-year period. A further £1,250 was spent on draining and enclosing the site and building a wooden pavilion. The new grounds first match took place on 7 June 1886 against the MCC, edgbastons first test match was the first in The Ashes series against Australia in 1902, for which the club erected a permanent stand, two temporary stands and facilities for 90 members of the press. These developments cost a total of £1,500, however, the first piece of development in the post-war era was the construction of the Rea Bank and the Thwaite Memorial Scoreboard in 1950. In 1956 an Indoor Cricket School was built and the Pavilion Suite was completed in the same year, by the time the William Ansell Stand opened in 1967 the facilities at Edgbaston were considered to rival those at Lords. In 1989 executive boxes were added to the rear of the Priory and Raglan Stands, in July 1997, Edgbaston was the scene of the first competitive floodlit day-night cricket match in Britain. Demolition of the pavilion – parts of which dated back to the 1890s –, ryder and William Ansell Stands took place in January 2010, with construction of the new South and West Stands starting in April 2010 and reaching completion 66 weeks later. 5 permanent floodlight pylons were erected around the ground at the same time, the new development was officially opened by the Duke of Edinburgh on 25 July 2011. Edgbaston is considered to be one of Englands leading cricket grounds, after the opening of the new South and West Stands in 2011 the England and Wales Cricket Board commented that the spacious facilities are cutting edge, marginally better than the Home of Cricket. The atmosphere at Edgbaston is reputed to be the most hostile in England for visiting teams, former England captain Alec Stewart recalled On a world level I would put it up there with Eden Gardens in Calcutta, which holds about 100,000. Its like having another man in your side, and the former England wicketkeeper Geraint Jones describes how The crowd here makes such a big noise when you are doing well. After winning the 2015 Ashes Test Match with Australia at Edgbaston, with some of the chants, even guys who have played a fair bit of cricket were looking at each other and realising how special it was. Edgbaston has been a venue for us
21.
Lord's
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Lords, also known as Lords Cricket Ground, is a cricket venue in St Johns Wood, London. Lords is widely referred to as the Home of Cricket and is home to the worlds oldest sporting museum, Lords today is not on its original site, being the third of three grounds that Lord established between 1787 and 1814. His first ground, now referred to as Lords Old Ground, was where Dorset Square now stands and his second ground, Lords Middle Ground, was used from 1811 to 1813 before being abandoned to make way for the construction through its outfield of the Regents Canal. The present Lords ground is about 250 yards north-west of the site of the Middle Ground, the ground can hold 28,000 spectators. Proposals are being developed to increase capacity and amenity, as of December 2013, it was proposed to redevelop the ground at a cost of around £200 million over a 14-year period. The current ground celebrated its two hundredth anniversary in 2014, to mark the occasion, on 5 July an MCC XI captained by Sachin Tendulkar played a Rest of the World XI led by Shane Warne in a 50 overs match. The White Conduit moved there from Islington soon afterwards and reconstituted themselves as Marylebone Cricket Club, in 1811, feeling obliged to relocate because of a rise in rent, Lord removed his turf and relaid it at his second ground. This was short-lived because it lay on the route decided by Parliament for the Regents Canal, the Middle Ground was on the estate of the Eyre family, who offered Lord another plot nearby, and he again relocated his turf. The new ground, on the present site, was opened in the 1814 season, the earliest known match was MCC v Hertfordshire on 22 June 1814. This is not rated a first-class match, MCC won by an innings and 27 runs. The annual Eton v Harrow match was first played on the Old Ground in 1805, there is no record of the fixture being played again until 29 July 1818, when it was held at the present Lords ground for the first time, Harrow won by 13 runs. From 1822, the fixture has been almost an annual event at Lords, in 1987 the new Mound Stand, designed by Michael Hopkins and Partners, was opened, followed by the Grandstand in 1996. Most notably, the Media Centre was added in 1998-9, it won The Royal Institute of British Architects Stirling Prize for 1999, the ground can currently hold up to 28,000 spectators. The two ends of the pitch are the Pavilion End, where the members pavilion is located. The main survivor from the Victorian era is the Pavilion, with its famous Long Room and this historic landmark— a Grade II*-listed building— underwent an £8 million refurbishment programme in 2004–05. The pavilion is primarily for members of MCC, who may use its amenities, which include seats for viewing the cricket, the Long Room and its Bar, the Bowlers Bar, at Middlesex matches the Pavilion is open to members of the Middlesex County Club. The Pavilion also contains the rooms where players change, each of which has a small balcony for players to watch the play. The only cricketer to hit a ball over the pavilion was Albert Trott, another highly visible feature of the ground is Old Father Time, a weather vane in the shape of Father Time, currently adorning a stand on the south-east side of the field
22.
Old Trafford Cricket Ground
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Old Trafford, known for sponsorship reasons as Emirates Old Trafford, is a cricket ground in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England. It opened in 1857 as the home of Manchester Cricket Club and has been the home of Lancashire County Cricket Club since 1864, Old Trafford is Englands second oldest test venue and one of the most renowned. It was the venue for the first ever Ashes test to be held in England in July 1884 and has hosted two Cricket World Cup semi-finals, in the 1993 Ashes Test at Old Trafford, leg-spinner Shane Warne bowled Mike Gatting with the Ball of the Century. Extensive redevelopment of the ground to increase capacity and modernise facilities began in 2009 in an effort to safeguard international cricket at the venue, the pitch at Old Trafford has historically been the quickest in England, but will take spin later in the game. The site was first used as a ground in 1857. It was not until the Roses match of 1875 that significant numbers attended a game, when W. G. Grace brought Gloucestershire in 1878, Old Trafford saw 28,000 spectators over three days, and this provoked improvements to access and facilities. In 1884, Old Trafford became the second English ground, after The Oval, to stage Test cricket, with the first day being lost to rain, expansion of the ground followed over the next decade, with the decision being taken to construct a new pavilion in 1894. The ground was purchased outright from the de Traffords in 1898, for £24,372, as crowds increased, with over 50,000 spectators attending the 1899 Test match. In 1902, the Australian Victor Trumper hit a hundred before lunch on the first day, crowds fell through the early 20th Century, and the ground was closed during the First World War, however, in the conflicts aftermath, crowd numbers reached new heights. Investment followed throughout the period, and during this time, Lancashire experienced their most successful run to date. During the Second World War, Old Trafford was used as a camp for troops returning from Dunkirk. In December 1940, the ground was hit by bombs, damaging or destroying several stands. Despite this damage – and the failure of an appeal to raise funds for repairs – cricket resumed promptly after the war, the Victory Test between England and Australia of August 1945 proved to be extremely popular, with 76,463 seeing it over three days. Differences of opinion between the committee and players led to a bad run of form in the 1950s and early 1960s, this consequently saw gate money drop. After 1964, however, the situation was reversed, and 1969 saw the first Indoor Cricket Centre opened, in 1956 Jim Laker became the first person to take all 10 wickets in a Test match innings, achieving figures of 10 for 53 in the fourth Test against Australia. Having also taken 9 for 37 in the first innings, Laker ended the match with figures of 19 for 90. On 1 May 1963 the first ever one day cricket match took place at Old Trafford, Lancashire beat Leicestershire in a preliminary knock-out game, as 16th and 17th finishers in the Championship the previous year, to decide who would fill the 16th spot in the one-day competition. Following Lancashires reign as One Day champions in the 1970s, a programme of renovation and replacement was initiated in 1981
23.
Trent Bridge
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Trent Bridge and is also the headquarters of Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club. As well as International cricket and Nottinghamshires home games, the ground has hosted the Finals Day of the Twenty20 Cup twice, in 2009 the ground was used for the ICC World Twenty20 and hosted the semi-final between South Africa and Pakistan. The site takes its name from the main bridge over the Trent, and is also close to Meadow Lane and the City Ground. Trent Bridge was first used as a ground in the 1830s. The first recorded match was held on an area of ground behind the Trent Bridge Inn in 1838. Trent Bridge hosted its first Test match in 1899, for England playing against Australia, the ground was first opened in 1841 by William Clarke, husband of the proprietress of the Trent Bridge Inn and himself Captain of the All England Cricket Team. He was commemorated in 1990 by the opening of the new William Clarke Stand which incorporates the Rushcliffe Suite, the West Park Sports Ground in West Bridgford was the private ground of Sir Julien Cahn, a furniture millionaire, who often played host to touring national sides. Trent Bridge is considered to be one of the best grounds in the world to watch cricket and this increased capacity from 15,358 to 17,500, and the work was completed in time for the 2008 Test match against New Zealand. The stand was opened on 5 June by Prince Philip. Bowling takes place from the Pavilion End and the Radcliffe Road End, with the wickets laid square of the Fox Road, William Clarke, in Test matches held at Trent Bridge, the highest team total is 658 for 8 declared, scored by England against Australia in 1938. The lowest team total is 60, scored by Australia against England in 2015, denis Compton scored 278 against Pakistan in 1954. Sachin Tendulkar also passed the 11,000 run mark in the npower 2nd Test on Trent Bridge on July 2007, in 2013, Ashton Agar achieved the highest test score by a no.11 batsman whilst on debut for Australia. Trent Bridge has a history of hosting football matches, Notts County Football Club played their important games at the ground from the 1860s, and moved there permanently in 1883 when Nottingham Forest left. Unfortunately for the team, games early and late in the season had to be played elsewhere due to the cricket and Notts County finally left in 1910. Trent Bridge even hosted a match, England beating Ireland 6–0 on 20 February 1897
24.
Headingley Cricket Ground
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It has seen Test cricket since 1899 and has a capacity of 17,500. In 1902, Yorkshire beat the touring Australians by five wickets, after dismissing them for 23 in their innings with George Herbert Hirst. Donald Bradmans innings of 334 in the 1930 Ashes Test included 309 runs on the first day, spinner Hedley Verity took 10 wickets for 10 runs in 1932 for Yorkshire v Nottinghamshire, still the best bowling analysis ever in first-class cricket. Verity had also taken all ten against Warwickshire at Headingley in 1931, in the 1948 Ashes series, Australia scored 404 for three on the last day to beat England. Arthur Morris scored 182 and Bradman scored 173 not out, in the Third Test against New Zealand in 1965 John Edrich hit 53 fours and 5 sixes in his 310 not out. Captain M. J. K. Smith declaring before Edrich had a chance to pass Gary Sobers Test record 365 not out, in the 1977 Ashes test, Geoff Boycott scored his hundredth first-class hundred. Four days later, by winning the game, England won the series. However Ian Botham scored 149 not out, and then Bob Willis took eight wickets for 43, two members of the Australian team had taken the 500–1 odds. This was only the time in the entire history of Test cricket that a side had followed-on and won. In a game they had to win to stay in the 1999 Cricket World Cup, steve Waugh, who had been dropped by Herschelle Gibbs as he attempted to throw the ball up in celebration, scored 120 not out. In 2000, England dismissed the West Indies for 61 to win by an innings and in two days, with Andrew Caddick taking four wickets in an over. England won again seven years later in 2007, as Ryan Sidebottom took eight wickets for 86 in two innings as England subjected the Windies to their worst Test defeat ever, an innings and 283 runs. In August 2001, England successfully chased 315 to beat Australia, however in August 2009 in the 4th test of The Ashes series, Australia beat England in 2½ days by an innings and 80 runs. Australia took twenty wickets with an attack without a spin bowler, englands middle order batsmen scored 16 runs between them in two innings. Headingley Cricket Grounds first concert occurred on Friday 18 September 2015 when Ska band Madness performed in front of an audience of 7,500, list of international cricket centuries at Headingley
25.
The Oval
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The Oval, currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Kia Oval, is an international cricket ground in Kennington, in the London Borough of Lambeth, South London. The Oval has been the ground of Surrey County Cricket Club since it was opened in 1845. It was the first ground in England to host international Test cricket in September 1880, the final Test match of the English season is traditionally played there. In addition to cricket, The Oval has hosted a number of historically significant sporting events. In 1870, it staged Englands first international match, versus Scotland. It hosted the first FA Cup final in 1872, as well as those between 1874 and 1892, in 1876, it held both the England v Wales and England v Scotland rugby international matches, and in 1877, rugbys first Varsity match. The Oval is built on part of the former Kennington Common, Cricket matches were played on the common throughout the early 18th century. The earliest recorded match was the London v Dartford match on 18 June 1724. However, as the common was used regularly for public executions of those convicted at the Surrey Assizes. Kennington Common was eventually enclosed in the mid 19th century under a scheme sponsored by the Royal Family, in 1844, the site of the Kennington Oval was a market garden owned by the Duchy of Cornwall. Hence, Surrey County Cricket Club was established in 1845, the popularity of the ground was immediate and the strength of the SCCC grew. On 3 May 1875 the club acquired the remainder of the leasehold for a term of 31 years from the Otter Trustees for the sum of £2,800. In 1868,20,000 spectators gathered at The Oval for the first game of the 1868 Aboriginal cricket tour of England, the first tour of England by any foreign side. Thanks to C. W. Alcock, the Secretary of Surrey from 1872 to 1907, the Oval, thereby, became the second ground to stage a Test, after Melbourne Cricket Ground. In 1882, Australia won the Test by seven runs within two days, the Sporting Times printed a mocking obituary notice for English cricket, which led to the creation of the Ashes trophy, which is still contested whenever England plays Australia. The first Test double century was scored at The Oval in 1884 by Australias Billy Murdoch, surreys ground is noted as having the first artificial lighting at a sports arena, in the form of gas-lamps, dating to 1889. The current pavilion was completed in time for the 1898 season, in 1907, South Africa became the 2nd visiting Test team to play a Test match at the ground. In 1928, the West Indies played its first Test match at The Oval, in 1936, India became the fifth foreign visiting Test side to play at The Oval, followed by Pakistan in 1954 and Sri Lanka in 1998
26.
Paul Adams (cricketer)
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Paul Regan Adams is a former South African cricketer, a chinaman bowler who played for the national team sporadically since the 1990s. Meanwhile, his first class cricket career registered 412 wickets, adamss bowling action was highly unorthodox and Mike Gatting likened it to a frog in a blender. Though his action initially caught world batsmen by surprise, he was exposed for lack of variety by the Australians. As such, he became less effective, december 2006 he was recalled to the Test side for the series against India, only to be dropped from the squad before the first Test. He held the ball with two fingers of his left hand and he announced his retirement from professional cricket on 2 October 2008, more than four years after his last Test match and five years after his last ODI. He is currently the coach of the Cape Cobras cricket team, Paul Adams at CricketArchive Paul Adams at ESPNcricinfo
27.
Shaun Pollock
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Shaun Maclean Pollock OIS is a former South African cricketer who is considered a bowling all-rounder. From 2000 to 2003 he was the captain of the South African cricket team and he was chosen as the Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 2003. He is the leading wicket taker among South Africans, taking over 400 test wickets, on 11 January 2008 he announced his retirement from all forms of international cricket after his 303rd One Day International on 3 February. After Hansie Cronje was banned from cricket for life, Pollock took over the captaincy in April 2000 and he was eventually removed from the captaincy after South Africas performance in the 2003 Cricket World Cup. Although no longer captain, he retained his place in the team, after a disappointing Test series tour of Australia in 2005/2006, he faced criticism for losing his wicket taking ability. He has the lowest economy rate of any bowler to have taken 300 ODI wickets, in September 2007 he was dropped from the South African test side for the first time in his career. Pollock was later readded to the test series against the West Indies, whereupon he announced his retirement and he stated that I realise I have been blessed by God and feel I have nurtured my talents to the best of my abilities. Shaun Pollock later represented Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League, Pollock took four wickets in four balls on his first appearance for Warwickshire – in a limited-overs game v Leicestershire at Birmingham in 1996. He also recently received the SA Players Player award and the SA ODI Player of the Year Award, in June 2007 he represented an Africa XI in an ODI game against an Asia XI in Bangalore. Playing as a specialist batsman, Pollock scored 130 from number 7 in the batting order, the record would however not last long, MS Dhoni bettered it later in the series. In Summer 2008 he played for Durham County Cricket Club in the North East of England and along with fellow South African Albie Morkel was used mainly in the Twenty20 Cup competition. Of the 18 players who have bowled at least 2,000 balls for South Africa in ODIs, ODI Bowling 1st ODI All-rounders best 1st. Pollock comes from a family of mainly Scottish ancestry and his paternal grandfather, Andrew Pollock, who played for Orange Free State, was born in Edinburgh. He is married to Patricia Trish Lauderdale and has two daughters, Jemma and Georgia, Jemma was born in August 2003, and Georgia in July 2006. Lauderdale was a finalist in the Miss South Africa pageant in the early 90s and also worked for MTN and he is a teetotaller and a devout Christian. Pollock is a graduate of the University of Natal with a degree in commerce. Shaun Pollock at ESPNcricinfo Shaun Pollock at CricketArchive
28.
Jacques Kallis
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Jacques Kallis is a former South African cricketer and the current coach of Kolkata Knight Riders. As a right-handed batsman and right-arm fast-medium swing bowler, Kallis is regarded as one of the greatest cricketers of all time, Kallis played 166 Test matches and had a batting average of over 55 runs per innings. Kallis was named Leading Cricketer in the World in the 2008 Wisden for his performances in 2007 in addition to being the ICC Test Player of the Year and ICC Player of the Year in 2005. Kallis became the player and first South African to score 13,000 Test runs on an eventful opening day of the first Test against New Zealand on 2 January 2013. Kallis, who had also taken 292 Test wickets, lies third behind Indian player Sachin Tendulkar and he was named one of the Wisden cricketers of the year in 2013. He retired from all form of cricket on 30 July 2014. Kallis attended and played cricket for Wynberg Boys High School, in 2009 Wynberg honoured Kallis by naming their main cricket oval after him.87 from 14 matches before making his Test debut against England later that year. He made his first-class debut in 1993/94 as an 18-year-old, playing for Western Province B and his first Test appearance was on 14–18 December 1995 against England in Durban, but he struggled with the bat in his first few matches. Kallis made his World Cup bow in 1996 in Pakistan but did not have opportunity to excel. Between 1998 and 2002, Jacques Kallis was one of the worlds leading all-rounders, in 1998, he led South Africa to the ICC Champions Trophy title with two Man of the Match and the Player of the Series performances. By late 2001 he was the number one ranked Test all-rounder. During this time, Kallis blossomed into arguably the leading batsman, with a defensive technique second to none. Kallis is one of four players in Test history to make a century in five consecutive matches. In 2005, he set the record for the fastest half-century, as measured by balls faced, in Test cricket history, scoring 50 against Zimbabwe off only 24 balls. In 2007, Kallis scored five centuries in four Tests, making him just the man after Bradman, Ken Barrington. That Kallis holds these records belies his reputation as a batsman of the old-fashioned type. Regardless of style, Kallis has a batting average in the mid-50s. Although still a capable bowler with 292 Test wickets, he impressed mostly with the bat between 2005 and 2007
29.
Jonty Rhodes
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Jonathan Neil Jonty Rhodes is a former South African Test and One Day International cricketer who played for the South African cricket team between 1992 and 2003. Rhodes was born in Pietermaritzburg, Natal Province, South Africa and he is commonly regarded as the greatest fielder in the modern era of cricket, if not all time. During his career he played club cricket for the University of Natal in Pietermaritzburg and first-class cricket for Gloucestershire County Cricket Club. Rhodes retired from Test cricket in 2000, and from one day cricket in 2003 after an injury during the 2003 Cricket World Cup. Rhodes also represented South Africa at hockey, and was chosen as part of the 1992 Olympic Games squad to go to Barcelona, however and he was also called up for trials to play in the 1996 Olympics but was ruled out by a hamstring injury. Rhodes scored his first Test century during the first Test of a three series against Sri Lanka at Moratuwa during the 1993–1994 season. Batting on the last day, Rhodes scored 101 not out, South Africa went on to win the series 1–0 by winning the second match and drawing the third. Rhodes announced his retirement from Test match cricket in 2001 in order to him to continue playing until the 2003 Cricket World Cup in South Africa. His last Test match was on 6 August 2000 at the Sinhalese Sports Club Ground, Rhodes made scores of 21 and 54 in the two innings. Sri Lanka went on to win the match by six wickets, Rhodes made his One Day International début against Australia in South Africas opening match of the 1992 Cricket World Cup at the Sydney Cricket Ground on 26 February 1992. Australia batted first, scoring 170, and Rhodes dismissed Craig McDermott via a run out, South Africa scored 171 to win the match by nine wickets, Rhodes was not required to bat. Rhodes shot to fame after South Africas fifth game of the World Cup, South Africa batted first, scoring 211 off 50 overs. Pakistans innings was reduced to 36 overs because of rain interruptions, inzamam-ul-Haq and Pakistan captain Imran Khan resumed the innings when play was restarted. With the score at 135/2 Inzamam, who was at the time on 48, the ball had rolled out towards Rhodes who ran in from backward point, gathered the ball and raced the retreating Inzamam to the wicket. Rhodes, with ball in hand, dived full length to break the stumps, the run out, the subject of a famous photograph, is still considered one of the more spectacular feats of that World Cup and the defining moment of Rhodes career. Pakistans innings faltered from then on, eventually finishing on 173/8 with South Africa winning by twenty runs, on 14 November 1993 Rhodes took a world record of five catches, to achieve the most dismissals by a fielder against the West Indies at Brabourne Stadium, Mumbai. Rhodes announced that he planned to retire from One-Day International cricket after the 2003 Cricket World Cup in South Africa, however, his tournament was cut short when he got injured in a match against Kenya. In Kenyas innings, Maurice Odumbe hit the ball in the air toward Rhodes, Rhodes dropped the catch and in the process broke his hand
30.
Mark Boucher
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Mark Verdon Boucher is a former South African cricketer, who holds the record for the most Test dismissals by a wicket-keeper. He has represented Border, South Africa, Africa XI, ICC World XI and Royal Challengers Bangalore, born in East London, Boucher was educated at Selborne College where he was coached by Richard Pybus. He holds the record for the most dismissals in Test cricket and he then lost the record to Adam Gilchrist before regaining it when he caught Mushfiqur Rahim of Bangladesh in February 2008. Boucher is also second on the all-time list in One Day Internationals and he once held the record for the highest score by a nightwatchman in Test cricket with 125 for South Africa v Zimbabwe at Harare in November 1999. On 12 March 2006 he hit the runs for South Africa against Australia in what had been the Greatest One Day International ever played. Later in 2006, on 20 September, he made his maiden ODI century and his hundred came up off just 44 balls, the second-fastest ODI century ever by a South African after AB de Villiers. Boucher did benefit, however, from very poor Zimbabwean fielding, being dropped no fewer than six times during his innings. He has played one hundred consecutive ODIs for his country and is one of only eleven players, including Hansie Cronjé and Shaun Pollock. In February 2007 he and Jacques Kallis combined to hit Mohammad Asif for 28 runs off an over in an ODI at SuperSport Park in Centurion. It broke the South African record for most runs off an over which was held by both Shaun Pollock and Graeme Smith with 27. However, this was broken by Herschelle Gibbs with 36 runs off one over. In the period while the team was under Shaun Pollocks leadership, Boucher was the regular vice-captain of the team and these matches include a victory over Australia, an achievement which Pollock could not manage. However, this was overshadowed by Herschelle Gibbss six sixes in an over, the 3rd time ever in world cricket and first time in a One Day International match, and thus in the World Cup. Despite being South Africas consistent wicket-keeper for a time, age meant that batsman AB de Villiers was given a chance with the gloves. However de Villiers is one of the teams best outfielders and therefore Boucher continued to feature in the team. He participated in the 2010 ICC World Twenty20 and the South African coach Corrie van Zyl said that both Boucher and Herschelle Gibbs have the chance to get back in the team. He stated that his aim was to participate in the 2011 Cricket World Cup Mark Boucher suffered a serious eye injury on 9 July 2012. He was not wearing a helmet nor glasses when he was struck by the bail after leg-spinner Imran Tahir bowled Somersets Gemaal Hussain
31.
Daryll Cullinan
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Daryll John Cullinan is a South African former cricketer, who played Test cricket and One Day Internationals for South Africa as a specialist batsman. He was the youngest South African to score a first-class century and he also achieved the highest first-class score in domestic South African cricket at the time, scoring 337 not out. His highest Test score was 275 which was a South African record at the time, despite a first-class career spanning almost 20 years, sources such as the Herald Sun quote Cullinan as being Shane Warnes bunny. Cullinan averaged 12.75 against Australia, falling to Shane Warne on four occasions, Cullinan also fell to Warne eight times in One-Day Internationals. Cullinans career Test average of 44.21 is only surpassed by nine South Africans with more than ten Tests, Cullinan was also involved in an unusual stoppage when calamari stopped play. During a regional match in South Africa, Cullinan hit fellow SA international Roger Telemachus for six, whereupon it ended up in the kitchen, according to Wisden, Daryll Cullinan hit a six into a frying pan. It was about ten minutes before the ball was cool enough for the umpires to remove the grease, even then, was unable to grip the ball and it had to be replaced. Cullinan was the coach of the Kolkata Tigers in the Indian Cricket League, in November 2013, Cullinan was sequestrated for failing to pay back Azrapix Investments CC R19300
32.
Gary Kirsten
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Gary Kirsten is a former South African cricketer, and the World Cup winning coach of the Indian cricket team. He played 101 Test matches and 185 One Day Internationals for South Africa between 1993 and 2004, mainly as an opening batsman. His half brother Peter, also played cricket for Western Province. He was appointed as the coach of the South African cricket team in June 2011, Kirsten made his Test debut against Australia in Melbourne in 1993. He retired from cricket in 2004 after crafting a match-winning 76 in his final innings. Against the same country he had made history by becoming the first-ever Protea to play in 100 Test matches, over the years, he gained a reputation as being a sturdy batsman in both Test cricket and One Day cricket. He could up the tempo of an innings if he needed to and he was also a reliable fielder. Kirsten held the South African records for most runs and centuries in a Test career and he was the first Test batsman to make hundreds against each of the other 9 Test nations. The high score was surpassed by Graeme Smith when he made 277 against England in 2003. This record stood until it was surpassed by Chris Gayle who scored 215 against Zimbabwe in 2015, later, that record was surpassed by Martin Guptill who scored 237* against the West Indies in the quarter finals of that very World Cup. After retirement, Kirsten organized his own cricket academy, in November 2007, it emerged that Kirsten was a candidate for the vacant post of coach of the India team. He officially started as coach on 1 March 2008, however, he travelled to Australia with India beforehand during the test series. His first full series in charge was against his home country, also, he coached India to the finals of the Kitply Cup and 2008 Asia Cup. During his tenure as Coach of India, Indian cricket team won a series against Australia beating them 2–0. India also won the Compaq Cup, defeating Sri Lanka in the finals on 14 September 2009 by 46 runs, Gary Kirsten has been praised by all players for improving/enhancing their playing techniques, motivating them and discussing tactics that can be deployed on the field. The results could be seen within months. He is considered the key force behind the clearly visible performance improvement in all players, in 2010, Prior to the start of Indias tour of South Africa, Indian captain M. S. Dhoni described him as The best thing to happen to Indian cricket, after the tour of South Africa, which India drew 1–1 in the Test series lost 3–2 in ODIs, Kirsten announced he would not renew his contract with BCCI because of family commitments
33.
Makhaya Ntini
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Makhaya Ntini OIS is a former South African cricketer who was the first ethnically black player to play for the South African team. A fast bowler, he tends to bowl from wide of the crease with brisk, although not express and he played contract cricket for the Chennai Super Kings in the Indian Premier League till the 2010 season. Makhaya Ntini was born in Mdingi, a village in Cape Province which is near King Williams Town. He was discovered by a Border Cricket Board development officer who was setting up a mini-cricket programme, although Ntini was both too old and too big to participate in the programme, the officer, Raymond Booi noticed the bared-footed cowherds enthusiasm and talent for bowling. He lent the 15-year-old Ntini a pair of plimsolls and arranged for him to participate in a net session in King Williams Town. Ntini impressed Booi, who contacted the head of the development programme, Greg Hayes, for the festival, Hayes purchased Ntini his first pair of boots – but later had to give the young bowler instructions not to wear them indoors, or when herding cattle. Two years later, he was selected to tour England with the South Africa Under-19 squad, England dominated both One Day Internationals during the tour, with the South Africans only managing to take one wicket across the two matches, which fell to Pierre Joubert. In the Test series, which England won 2–0, Ntini claimed nine wickets, the second-most by a South African bowler. His bowling was expensive, coming at a rate of 4.53 runs per over, more than any other South African with the exception of Mark Boucher, who is best known as a wicket-keeper. After two matches for Border against the touring Kenyans, Ntini made his first-class debut in November 1995 and he claimed two wickets in Englands only innings as Border were beaten comprehensively. In his debut season, Ntini claimed 17 wickets at an average of 37.05 in first-class competitions and his best performance in an innings came against Free State, when he claimed three wickets and conceded 49 runs during his 17 overs. He once again toured with the national Under-19s in March and April 1996, after claiming five wickets in the first Test, and none in the second, Ntini displayed his talent in the third match, taking 6/53 in the first innings and 3/48 in the second innings. Ntini returned to the South African side for a Sharjah tournament in 2000 and his improvement was clear as he bowled with greater control. In 2003 he became the first South African to take 10 wickets at Lords Cricket Ground, arguably his best performance, however, came on 12 April 2005, when Ntini took 13 wickets for 132 runs against the West Indies at Port of Spain. This remains the most wickets taken by a South African cricketer in a Test match, on 3 March 2006, Ntini also achieved the best bowling figures by a South African in an ODI, demolishing Australia with 6 wickets for 22 runs. A popular figure in South African sport, Ntini was voted their favourite sportsman in a poll conducted by the South African Press Association. Ntini went on to himself as South Africas premier fast bowler. On 20 January 2007 Ntini dislodged Mohammed Sami to take his 300th test wicket, on 1 August 2008 he removed England opener Alastair Cook to claim his 350th test wicket in his 90th test
34.
Indian cricket team in Zimbabwe in 1998
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The Indian cricket team toured Zimbabwe from September to October 1998, in a tour consisting of 3 One Day International and a one-off Test match. India won the one-day series 2-1, but the Zimbabweans won the one-off Test match leaving the two sides with one each over the tour. Sachin Tendulkar won the player of the One Day International series whilst Henry Olonga was awarded the prize for the test series, india won the three-match series 2-1
