From Bannerman to Lara..

Click to enlarge the spider-chart

At 1221 hrs local time (0050 GMT) on November 26, 2005, the second day of the third Test against Australia at Adelaide, Brain Charles Lara, fifteen years after taking guard for the first time against Wasim Akram, daringly swept Glenn McGrath’s delivery to fine-leg for a single that made him the most prolific batsman of all time taking him ahead of Allan Border [11,174 runs] in the hall of fame.

So far, the record of most Test career runs has changed hands 21 times between 16 players from four nations since Australia's Charles Bannerman scored the first run in Test cricket against England on March 15, 1877 at Melbourne. Bannerman extended his innings to 165 before being forced to retire hurt with a hand injury. He dominated Australia's innings in this inaugural Test, scoring 67.3% of his side's total - still a Test record for a completed innings.

* During the first 95 years of Test cricket it was either an Australian or an Englishman who held the record until a West Indian, Sir Garry Sobers surpassed Colin Cowdrey on March 26, 1972. [For complete details see the accompanying table of progressive record holders].

* Clem Hill, who lost the record twice during 1902 before finally holding it for 22 years until Jack Hobbs broke it in 1924, is the youngest ever player to hold the most Test career runs batting record when he first claimed it from Archie MacLaren in July 1902. He was aged 25 years and 108 days.

* Jack Hobbs was aged 42 years and 6 days when he broke Clem Hill’s record of 2412 runs at Sydney in December 1924. He is thus the oldest player to break the record.

* Wally Hammond held the record for the longest span of 33 years and 156 days. Hammond broke Hobbs record of 5410 runs on June 26, 1937 and then extended it to 7249 before his last Test in March 1947. Due to the WWII, between 1939 and 1945, there was no Test cricket for six years and 219 days. More than three decades later, it was England's Colin Cowdrey who battered Hammond’s tally against Australia at Brisbane in November 1970.

* On the other end of the scale, two players, Sydney Gregory and Clem Hill jointly hold the record of being Test cricket's highest run-scorer for the shortest time span of a single day. The first such event was registered during the fifth day of the 1902 Ashes Test at Adelaide when Australia's Sydney Gregory eclipsed Arthur Shrewsbury's record of 1277 runs and extended it to 1282 before getting dismissed for 23. Next day, his captain Joe Darling, unbeaten on 40 overnight, needed just 19 runs to snatch the record form Gregory, which he did and totaled 1293 runs before his innings and the match ended. Five Tests later, in July 1902 at Sheffield, Hill exceeded MacLaren's 1432 run-figure but the later took it back on the very next day. Interestingly, it was quite cat and mouse game in the year 1902, when the Test aggregate run record swapped almost with every innings between Gregory, Darling, MacLaren and Hill, before Clem finally made it his own for 22 years. Curiously enough, the title changed hands nine times between these four players during the calendar year 1902.

* Of the 16 players who have held the record so far since 1877, only 11 were able to hold it to the end of their Test career.

* Joe Darling, Clem Hill, Gary Sobers, Allan Border and Brian Lara are the only left-handed record holders in the list.Click to see the table

A first in four years

* The last Test between these two sides at Lahore’s Gaddafi Stadium was a bizarre affair. A match which Australia’s Steve Waugh described ‘the most boring Test I've ever seen’. A lame draw where 958 runs were scored off 392 overs @ 2.44 R/o in five days. Graham Thorpe took monotony to new heights as he reached a century that included only two boundaries, the fewest in Test history. Saqlain Mushtaq alone bowled 74 overs and took all eight wickets that fell in England’s first innings before Nasser Hussain declared and denied Saqlain’ a chance to register only the third 10-for in the history of Test cricket.

* For the first time in four years Pakistan is going into the last Test’ leading a three-match series. The last time they did so was against New Zealand in their backyard in 2001. Under Moin Khan, Pakistan won the first match at Auckland, drew at Christchurch before losing the third Test at Hamilton in Inzamam’s debut match as Pakistan captain. Since then Pakistan have played only five’ three-match series and with an exception against Bangladesh, where they won all three in 2003, they have never been able to lead any 3-Test series.

* Going into Lahore Test, Inzamam has accumulated 902 runs in six Tests this year. With the kind of form he is in, there is an opportunity for him to become the only Pakistani to cross the 1,000 run mark In Tests during calendar year 2005. Younis Khan, not playing in today’s game due to the sad demise of his brother, finished the year with 899 Test runs in 8 games. Surprisingly, the next two highest run scorers for Pakistan this year are quite far. Shahid Afridi, also not playing today due to his own antics, is third with 510 runs followed by Salman Butt with 438.

* After going wicket-less in Faisalabad Test, Danish Kaneria now needs only seven wickets to reach 50-wicket mark this year.

* Overall 35 Tests have been staged at Lahore’s Gaddafi Stadium. Pakistan won 10, lost and drew 19. Against England they have won just one, lost one and drew five in eight Tests at the same venue.

* Inzi’s monumental 329 is the best individual batting effort while Abdul Qadir’s 9 for 56 against Englishmen in 1987 and Imran Khan’s 14 for 116 vs Sri Lanka in 1982 still remains as the best bowling innings and match bowling analysis respectively.

* Highest team Innings score is 699 for 5 by India in 1989. Lowest innings total is 73 by New Zealand in 2001. Highest fourth innings score successfully chased is 209 for 5 by England in 1961.

Twin-fifty stands and winning targets

* Shoaib Malik and Salman Butt’s 54-run partnership for the first wicket, in Pakistan’s second innings, was their second fifty-plus stand of the match. It was for the first time in two years and seven series that any opening pair has put on two fifty-plus partnerships in a Test match for Pakistan. It was also only the 17th such occurrence for Pakistan in 53 years of Test cricket. See Table - 1 for more details.

* With a lead of 199 runs and just four wickets remaining at the end of day four, any of the three results (four if a tie is included!) are possible on the last day. If the last four Pakistani wickets add another 50 to 70 runs then it would be a fascinating tussle. Statistically speaking, Pakistan has a good record of defending low totals in the fourth innings. They have registered 13 victories while defending scores of 275 runs or less in the last innings - eight of which were during the 90’s - thanks to the two W’s. On the other end of the scale, Pakistan have lost seven games after setting the target between 200 and 275 while on 11 occasions they managed to draw the match. Tables 2, 3 & 4 have the complete details.Click to see the tables

Afridi's moment of madness

* Shahid Afridi’s moment of madness, on the second day of the Faisalabad Test, has cost him a three match ban. A look back into his nine-year old international career reveals some interesting facts. It is for the first time that he has been penalized for violating any ICC Code of Conduct. Though, it was the second occasion for him to be reported to the match referee - after against India in 2nd Test at Delhi from February 4th to 8th 1999 – when he was severely reprimanded and warned (for future conduct) for not leaving the crease immediately after being given out caught behind off Anil Kumble. No penalty was imposed by referee C Smith then. Curiously enough, Afridi became the fifth Pakistani to breach ICC’s Code of Conduct for the ninth time in the calendar year 2005. Table 1 gives the complete details.

* On the day of mixed fortunes, Afridi set some interesting records which went virtually unnoticed. His brutal 92 off 85 balls provided only the sixth instance of a Pakistani smashing six or more sixes in a Test innings. It was the second such performance by him. It was also the joint-third most by any batsman against England. See Table 2 and 3.

* Afridi has now hit 19 sixes in 11 Test innings during the calendar year 2005. The world record of most sixes (in Test cricket) in a year is held by Adam Gilchrist whose 22 sixes were also registered in 2005. See Table 4.

* Inzamam-ul-Haq has equalled Miandad’s and Imran Khan’s record of most hundreds by any Pakistani captain. It was Inzi’s fifth ton in his 16th match as skipper. Interestingly, his five hundreds in 28 innings are almost twice as fast as compared to the other two captains. See Table 5

* Ian Bell’s and Kevin Pietersen’s hundreds, on the third day, provided the 12th instance of two Englishmen making centuries in the same Test innings against Pakistan. Click to see the tables

Forgetting the rule-book

It is a volatile time in history, when the authorities are trying to assist the on-field umpires by the use of more efficient technology; the men-in-white are still getting it wrong. Though, this time the trouble is not with science but ignorance on the part of umpires to follow the rule-book. One cannot teach each and every cricket rule to technology. That’s why there are umpires to give their verdict after consulting it. This is the basic limitation of human created mind (the technology) and the hallmark of divine creation (the human brain).

At 10.45 am PST today at Iqbal Stadium Faisalabad, Steve Harmison’s first delivery of the 96th over of Pakistan’s innings to Inzamam-ul-Haq drove firmly back to the bowler. Harmison fielded and flung back at the stumps, the batsman took an instinctive evasive action and that led him to jump a little, so that his back foot came off the ground. An appeal was made and Darrel Hair, standing at square-leg, refereed to the third umpire. The third-umpire, Nadeem Ghauri, after viewing it from different angles declared the batsman run-out!

THE LAWS OF CRICKET 38.2 (2) states:
Batsman not Run out
A batsman is not out Run out if:
(a) he has been within his ground and has subsequently left it to avoid injury, when the wicket is put down."

Clearly, this was a poor case of referrer because if Hair knew his rules well then he would not have signaled it to Ghauri. Ironically, the third umpire, who got much more time to judge the event, trusted his eyes more than his brain. The purpose of third umpire is more than just pressing the red or green button. It is very strange that all the three umpires forgot the rule book and put an end to a magnificent innings which could have took Pakistan beyond 500-run mark.

Two other dismissals, both preceding Inzamam’s one – of Yousuf and Afridi - were also poor umpiring decisions. Afridi’s dismissal required replay assistance which was not used.

Well, one remembers the same of kind incident happened almost 11 years ago in a Test match at Napier between Sri Lanka-New Zealand. Dulip Samaraweera had regained his ground after attempting for a run, but Ken Rutherford’s, New Zealand captain, throw fired straight at the stumps and Samaraweera’s feet. The batsman had no choice but to jump into the air to avoid being hit on the toes. Replays showed him run out with both feet about 10-inches in the air. The umpires involved in that case were Doug Cowie (NZ – square leg umpire) and Evan Watkin (NZ - tv umpire).

Pakistan stun England

Pakistan’s sensational 22-run win over England in the Multan Test, earned them a 1-0 lead in the three match series. Pakistan conceded a lead of 144 runs to England after being bundled out for 274 in their first innings. It thus provided only the 40th instance in Test cricket when a side won despite having a first innings deficit of 100 runs or more. It was also the fourth such instance for Pakistan. See Table 1.

England’s first innings score 418 is the second highest first innings total by any side against Pakistan in a lost match after India’s 449 at Bangalore three Tests ago. See Table 2.

* Marcus Trescothick’s fabulous knock of 193 runs in the first innings is also the second highest by any player against Pakistan in a lost cause after Virender Sehwag’s 201 in Bangalore earlier this year. Trescothick innings is thus the highest by any captain while losing to Pakistan. Table 3 has the details.

* Interestingly, in Pakistan’s last three Test victories, the highest individual scores by the opponent team in the first innings have been quite high: Sehwag’s 201 - Pakistan won by 168 runs, Lara 153 - Pakistan won by 136 runs, Trescothick 193 - Pakistan won by 22 runs

* Correspondingly in all those victories, the opponents scored more than 400 runs in the first innings - India 449, WI 401 and now England 418.

* It's after four years, that Pakistan have won two consecutive Test matches against teams other than Bangladesh and Zimbabwe. The last such occurrence was against West Indies at Sharjah in 2002 (Pak won 2-0). Pakistan have now won three of their last four Tests.

* The last time Pakistan won the first Test of a series, was two years and 7 series ago, against South Africa at Lahore by 8 wickets. Pakistan went on to win the two-Test series 1-0. Discounting the series’ against Bangladesh and Zimbabwe since the turn of the century (after 01 Jan 2000), Pakistan have registered victories six times in the opening Tests of the 17 series they played. Five times they also went onto win the series while the remaining one was drawn. See Table 4.Click to see the tables

Dhoni scales new peak

During the recently concluded seven-match ODI series against Sri Lanka, India’s Mahendra Singh Dhoni created a new world record of most sixes by a batsman in an ODI series. He broke the previous record of 16 sixes shared by three master blasters - all from subcontinent – Shahid Afridi, Santh Jayasuriya and Sourav Ganguly. While Dhoni’s new record is created in a bilateral ODI series, the three previous record holders still share the title of most sixes in a multi-team event.

Ten of Dhoni’s 17 sixes came in a single innings when he made a stunning unconquered 183 off 145 balls during the third match of the series at Jaipur. For reader’s interest the accompanying table has the complete details.Click to see the table