Category Archives: unusual statistics

February 10, 2020 · 3:02 am

Bangla Under 19 Lift World Cup in Sturdy Display

Playing away from Asian conditions Bangladesh Under 19 Squad revealed heir prowess against such teams as South Africa (home side) and Australia and yesterday took on the mighty Indian team low-scoring match on a difficult wicket and eked out a fighting win … The Player of that match was their captain Akbar Ali; while the player of the tournament was Yashasvi Jaiswal …….. Michael Roberts

POTCHEFSTROOM, SOUTH AFRICA – FEBRUARY 09: Mohammad Akbar Ali of Bangladesh sweeps the ball towards the boundary, as Dhruv Jurel of India looks on during the ICC U19 Cricket World Cup Super League Final match between India and Bangladesh at JB Marks Oval on February 09, 2020 in Potchefstroom, South Africa. (Photo by Matthew Lewis-ICC/ICC via Getty Images)

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Filed under Indian cricket, performance, spinning art, Under 19 cricket, unusual people, unusual statistics

February 3, 2020 · 7:24 am

Bradman’s Last Hurrah! A Duck!

Dan Coliasimone, in ABCnet, 1 February 2020, where the title runs “The inside story of Don Bradman’s final innings duck”

“Out from the pavilion came the short, slight, little figure whose name will still be in bright lights as long as cricket is played.” This is how a contemporary newspaper report set the scene for Sir Donald Bradman’s last innings.

Bradman b. Hollies… 00 — Photo supplied by State Library of South Australia

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Filed under Ashes Tests, Australian cricket, baggy green, Bradman, child of empire, cricket and life, cricketing records, English cricket, farewell game, performance, sportsmanship, unusual people, unusual statistics

December 28, 2019 · 8:00 am

Alfred Holsinger’s Unmarked Bowling Haul in UK: 6 wkts in six balls

Though Lasith Malinga, who picked up four wickets in four balls, has been immortalized in the annals of cricket, another Sri Lankan bowler who picked up six wickets in six balls continues to be in oblivion. Even though this rare feat was achieved in a club game in England, Holsinger’s accomplishment merits a lot of recognition since not often do bowlers produce such an unusual phenomenon.

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Filed under backyard cricket, child of empire, cricket and life, cricketing records, English cricket, performance, Sri Lanka Cricket, unusual people, unusual statistics

December 8, 2019 · 2:10 pm

Tripl Centuries!**! Huge Innings, Dull Games –From Adelaide to the SSC Grounds

Geoff Lemon, in Daily News, 7 December 2019, with this title “Like those of greats before him, David Warner’s triple century was a giant feat in a dull game”

When David Warner made his unbeaten 335 in Adelaide, a fair few people felt inclined to present some caveats. The pitch was flat, the bowlers were no good, the ball didn’t swing, Mercury was in retrograde. Those opinions would hardly have been muffled when the Pakistan tail-ender Yasir Shah made his first Test ton in reply, having never previously passed 50.

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Filed under Adelaide Oval, Australian cricket, cricket and life, cricketing icons, cricketing records, English cricket, performance, Sri Lanka Cricket, taking the piss, unusual statistics, work ethic

October 29, 2019 · 7:18 am

Sri Lanka’s “pop-gun” attack derided

Will Swanton in The Australian, October 29th 2019,

There’s never been a batsman like Glenn Maxwell. The stumps are scared to watch. Off puts its hands over its face and shrieks. Middle grimaces and braces for impact. Leg, rarely so exposed, is ducking for cover.His latest experimentation is a direct lift from the baseball playbook and acknowledgment of the fact that when the primary objective in T20 is to dispatch the leather out of the park, you cannot hit what you cannot properly see. Maxwell has sounded at his kooky best when he’s smashed 62 runs off 28 balls against Sri Lanka’s pop-gun attack and then credited it with getting “my right eye involved in the game a bit more”.

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Filed under Australian cricket, Sri Lanka Cricket, T20 Cricket, taking the mickey, unusual people, unusual statistics

October 10, 2019 · 9:49 am

Sri Lanka’s Crazy Unimaginable Performances

Andrew Fidel Fernando, in ESPNcricinfo, where the title reads

I = The Test series win in South Africa

Kusal Perera, who had only made one previous century against Zimbabwe, produced one of the most spectacular Test innings of all time as Sri Lanka chased down 304 for victory. But as ridiculous as that innings from this player was, the remainder of that series was no less outlandish. Dimuth Karunaratne had been thrown the captaincy just days before the Durban Test, following Sri Lanka’s nightmare tour of Australia, in which a small hospital’s worth of Sri Lanka players were injured. Thanks to those injuries, Sri Lanka’s frontline attack consisted of a spinner on debut, and two fast bowlers who had played fewer than five Tests. Sri Lanka’s most reliable batsman, Angelo Mathews, was also missing thanks to injury. Continue reading →

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Filed under Andrew Fidel Fernando, Angelo Mathews, cricket and life, Hathurusingha, Lasith Malinga, memorable moments, performance, player selections, Sri Lanka Cricket, unusual people, unusual statistics

October 10, 2019 · 7:31 am

Selection Headaches for T20 Tour of Australia

Michael Roberts

There are some headaches that one welcomes. The magnificent performances generated by a raw Sri Lankan T20 squad in Pakistan this month is one such headache. Ashantha De Mel and Co are to be congratulated for their selections and for expanding the problems by giving fresh faces the chance to impress in the third ODI.

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Filed under Adelaide Oval, Angelo Mathews, Australian cricket, cricket and life, memorable moments, performance, player selections, politics and cricket, Sri Lanka Cricket, T20 Cricket, unusual statistics

October 3, 2019 · 1:23 am

Not a Pukka Royalist! Cricketing Insights from the CJ Van Twest Scrapbook for 1957

At the tender age of nine or so, one Christopher John Van Twest – “CJ” in family circles – was a budding young cricketer who attended Royal College in Colombo. His talents were admired THEN by his peers (for e.g. Eardley Lieversz who went on to captain Royal). CJ was also cricket mad. One dimension of this madness was the assiduous collection of newspaper items on cricket as reported in the Ceylon newspapers of the year 1957 in a SCRAPBOOK. This collection remained in his treasured archive and moved with him when his divourced mother decided to migrate in July 1958 with baggage and two children to Canada.

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Filed under backyard cricket, child of empire, cricket and life, memorable moments, Sri Lanka Cricket, unusual people, unusual statistics, West Indian Cricket

September 17, 2019 · 4:52 pm

George Munsey hammers 127 n.o. in 56 Balls

For Ireland vs Netherlands at Malahhide in the tri-series with Scotland

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September 15, 2019 · 2:49 pm

Afghan Unique! Seven Successive Sixes in Seven Balls from Two Different Batsmen

A rather monotonous T20 international between Afghanistan and Zimbabwe was brought to life by Mohammad Nabi and Najibullah Zadran when they smashed seven consecutive sixes across the 17th and 18th overs in Dhaka on Saturday. It was the second match of the tri-series being played between Bangladesh, Zimbabwe and Afghanistan, which the latter ended up winning by 28 runs.

Afghanistan batted first and were ambling at 123/4 after 16 overs. Tendai Chatara bowled the 17th over with Nabi and Zardan in the middle and the pair took singles off the first two balls. Nabi, who recently retired from Test cricket after Afghanistan’s triumph over Bangladesh last week, started the carnage with a six over deep mid-wicket off the third ball of the over.