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M Ntini of South Africa became the 49^th cricketer in the world to appear in one hundred tests, when he made his appearance against England at Cape Town on 16.12.09. The following list shows all the 49 cricketers.

No	Cricketer	Team	Span	Tests
1	MC Cowdrey	Eng	1954-1975	114
2	G Boycott	Eng	1964-1982	108
3	CH Lloyd	Win	1966-1985	110
4	SM Gavaskar	Ind	1971-1987	125
5	CG Greenidge	Win	1974-1991	108
6	IVA Richards	Win	1974-1991	121
7	GA Gooch	Eng	1975-1995	118
8	DB Vengsarkar	Ind	1976-1992	116
9	Javed Miandad	Pak	1976-1993	124
10	IT Botham	Eng	1977-1992	102
11	DL Haynes	Win	1978-1994	116
12	DI Gower	Eng	1978-1992	117
13	N Kapil Dev	Ind	1978-1994	131
14	AR Border	Aus	1978-1994	156
15	Saleem Malik	Pak	1982-1999	103
16	CA Walsh	Win	1984-2001	132
17	DC Boon	Aus	1984-1996	107
18	Wasim Akram	Pak	1985-2002	104
19	SR Waugh	Aus	1985-2004	168
20	CL Hooper	Win	1987-2002	102
21	IA Healy	Aus	1988-1999	119
22	MA Taylor	Aus	1989-1999	104
23	MA Atherton	Eng	1989-2001	115
24	SR Tendulkar	Ind	1989-2009	162
25	AJ Stewart	Eng	1990-2003	133
26	A Kumble	Ind	1990-2008	132
27	BC Lara	Win	1990-2006	131
28	ME Waugh	Aus	1991-2002	128
29	ST Jayasuriya	Srl	1991-2007	110
30	SK Warne	Aus	1992-2007	145
31	Inzamam-ul-Haq	Pak	1992-2007	120
32	M Muralitharan	Srl	1992-2009	132
33	JL Langer	Aus	1993-2007	105
34	GP Thorpe	Eng	1993-2005	100
35	GD McGrath	Aus	1993-2007	124
36	G Kirsten	SAF	1993-2004	101
37	ML Hayden	Aus	1994-2009	103
38	S Chanderpaul	Win	1994-2009	123
39	SP Fleming	NZl	1994-2008	111
40	WPUJC Vaas	Srl	1994-2009	111
41	SM Pollock	SAF	1995-2008	108
42	RT Ponting	Aus	1995-2009	139
43	JH Kallis	SAF	1995-2009	132
44	R Dravid	Ind	1996-2009	137
45	SC Ganguly	Ind	1996-2008	113
46	VVS Laxman	Ind	1996-2009	108
47	DPMD Jayawardene	Srl	1997-2009	110
48	MV Boucher	SAF	1997-2009	127
49	M Ntini	SAF	1998-2009	100

M Ntini became the fifth South African cricketer to play 100 tests, after G Kirsten, SM Pollock, JH Kallis and MV Boucher

No	Cricketer	Team	Span	Tests
1	G Kirsten	SAF	1993-2004	101
2	SM Pollock	SAF	1995-2008	108
3	JH Kallis	SAF	1995-2009	132
4	MV Boucher	SAF	1997-2009	127
5	M Ntini	SAF	1998-2009	100

SR Tendulkar owned another world record in the match against Sri Lanka at Nagpur. At the end of the match he has the most run aggregate by any batsman in the world against Sri Lanka – 2861. Having already aggregated 3005 runs against Australia, Tendulkar now has the most runs against two specific oppositions which no batsman has in the history of one day internationals. Tendulkar is the only batsman in the history of one day internationals to aggregate 3000 runs against a specific opposition – 3005 against Australia.

By aggregating 2861 runs against Sri Lanka, Tendulkar has now the most run aggregate in India-Sri Lanka one day series. He went past ST Jayasuriya who had an aggregate of 2853 runs, which was the previous record for most run aggregate in the series

SR Tendulkar’s 69 at Rajkot against Sri Lanka on 15.12.09 was his 24^th fifty against Sri Lanka which is a record for most fifties by a batsman against a specific opposition. He wrested the earlier record held by IVA Richards of West Indies who has registered 23 fifties against Australia and improved his own record of 23 fifties against Australia. The list of fifties scored by Tendulkar agaisnt Sri Lanka are tabulated below

No	Runs	Ground	Date
1	53	Pune	05.12.90
2	53	Kolkata	04.01.91
3	52	Jalandhar	20.02.94
4	112*	Sharjah	09.04.95
5	137	Delhi	02.03.96
6	65	Kolkata	13.01.96
7	110	Col-RPS	28.08.96
8	53	Col-RPS	26.07.97
9	82*	Guwahati	22.12.97
10	65	Col-RPS	19.06.98
11	128	Col-RPS	07.07.98
12	120	Col-SSC	29.08.99
13	93	Dhaka	01.06.00
14	101	Sharjah	20.10.00
15	61	Sharjah	27.10.00
16	113	Bristol	11.07.02
17	97	Jo’burg	10.03.03
18	74	Col-RPS	01.08.04
19	93	Nagpur	25.10.05
20	67*	Mohali	28.10.05
21	54	Rajkot	11.02.07
22	63	Hobart	26.02.08
23	138	Col-RPS	14.09.09
24	69	Rajkot	15.12.09

crickick furnishes summarised scores of Ranji Trophy mathces played from Dec, 8, 2009 to Dec, 11, 2009 and Dec 15, 09 to Dec 19, 09.

Group B

Baroda v Saurashtra at Vadodara

Dec 8-9, 2009

Baroda won by 7 wickets

Saurashtra 127 and 137

Baroda 124 and 145/3

Group B

Delhi v Maharashtra at Delhi

Dec 8-11, 2009

Delhi won by 10 wickets

Delhi 419 and 112/0

Maharashtra 163 and 364 (f/o)

Group A

Gujarat v Himachal Pradesh at Surat

Dec 8-10, 2009

Himachal Pradesh won by 6 wickets

Gujarat 234 and 87

Himachal Pradesh 182 and 141/4

Group A

Hyderabad v Railways at Hyd-RGS

Dec 8-11, 2009

Match drawn

Railways 305 and 363/5d

Hyderabad 303

Group A

Mumbai v Tamil Nadu at Mumbai

Dec 8-11, 2009

Match drawn

Tamil Nadu 501 and 255/3d

Mumbai 366

Group A

Punjab v Orissa at Chandigarh

Dec 8-11, 2009

Match drawn

Orissa 283 and 247/8d

Punjab 177 and 192/4

Group B

Uttar Pradesh v Bengal at Kanpur

Dec 8-10, 2009

Uttar Pradesh won by 3 wickets

Bengal 193 and 104

Uttar Pradesh 62 and 236/7

Group B

Bengal v Delhi at Kolkata

Dec 15-18, 2009

Match drawn

Bengal 522 and 223/2

Delhi 378

Group A

Himachal Pradesh v Orissa at Dharamsala

Dec 15-18, 2009

Match drawn

Himachal Pradesh 125 and 486

Orissa 316 and 183/8

Group A

Hyderabad v Tamil Nadu at Hyderabad

Dec 15-18, 2009

Match drawn

Hyderabad 347 and 148/2

Tamil Nadu 785

Group B

Maharashtra v Baroda at Pune

Dec 15-18, 2009

Baroda won by 7 wickets

Maharashtra 288 and 207

Baroda 395 and 101/3

Group A

Mumbai v Gujarat at Mumbai (BS)

Dec 15-18, 2009

Match drawn

Mumbai 648/6d and 180/2

Gujarat 502

Group A

Railways v Punjab at Delhi

Dec 15-18, 2009

Match drawn

Railways 276 and 230/4

Punjab 401

Group B

Saurashtra v Karnataka at Rajkot

Dec 15-18, 2009

Karnataka won by 6 wickets

Saurashtra 216 and 407

Karnataka 384 and 241/4

Ensuing Matches

1st Quarter-Final

Haryana v Mumbai at Rohtak

Dec 24-27, 2009

2nd Quarter-Final

Delhi v Tamil Nadu at Delhi

Dec 24-27, 2009

3rd Quarter-Final

Karnataka v Punjab at Mysore

Dec 24-27, 2009

4th Quarter-Final

Assam v Uttar Pradesh at Guwahati

Dec 24-27, 2009

TM Dilshan scored 123 in the second one day game between Sri Lanka and India at Nagpur on 18.12.09 providing the 17^th occasion of a batsman registering One-two-three or one-two-three not out in the history of one day internationals. All the seventeen occasions are listed below

No	Batsmen	Score	Team	Opp	Ground	Date
1	Zaheer Abbas	123	Pak	Srl	Lahore	29.03.82
2	DL Haynes	123*	Win	Aus	Melbourne	06.01,85
3	K Srikkanth	123	Ind	Pak	Kolkata	18.02.87
4	RT Ponting	123	Aus	Srl	Melbourne	09.01.96
5	R Dravid	123*	Ind	NzL	Taupo	09.01.99
6	MS Atapattu	123*	Srl	RSA	Benoni	01.12.02
7	Inzamam-ul-Haq	123	Pak	Ind	Lahore	21.03.04
8	A Flintoff	123	Eng	Win	Lord’s	06.07.04
9	SR Tendulkar	123	Ind	Pak	Ahmedabad	12.04.05
10	HH Dippenaar	123	RSA	Win	Bridgetown	11.05.05
11	CH Gayle	123	Win	Ind	Kingston	18.05.06
12	Shahriar Nafees	123*	Ban	Zim	Jaipur	13.10.06
13	RR Watson	123*	Sco	Can	Mombasa	18.01.07
14	BJ Hodge	123	Aus	Net	Basseterre	08.03.07
15	Younis Khan	123*	Pak	Ind	Karachi	02.07.08
16	DPMDJayawardene	123	Srl	Pak	Dambulla	03.08.09
17	TM Dilshan	123	Srl	Ind	Nagpur	18.12.09

TM Dilshan’s 123 provides the the third occasion of a Sri Lankan batsman after MS Atapattu and DPMD Jayawardene to register One-two-three or one-two-three not out in the history of one day internationals. All the three occasions are listed below

No	Batsmen	Score	Team	Opp	Ground	Date
1	MS Atapattu	123*	Srl	RSA	Benoni	01.12.02
2	DPMDJayawardene	123	Srl	Pak	Dambulla	03.08.09
3	TM Dilshan	123	Srl	Ind	Nagpur	18.12.09

TM Dilshan registered consecutive hundreds – 160 at Rajkot and 123 at Nagpur in the first and second one day games against India in the ongoing series. TM Dilshan’s feat provides the 58^th occasion of a batsman registering two or more consecutive hundreds in one day games. The following is the complete list of batsmen who have achieved this feat arranged in alphabetical order.

No	Batsmen	Country	100s
1	Gibbs HH	South Africa	3
2	Saeed Anwar	Pakistan	3
3	Zaheer Abbas	Pakistan	3
4	Chanderpaul SC	West Indies	2
5	Collingwood PD	England	2
6	de Villiers AB	South Africa	2
7	Dias RL	Sri Lanka	2
8	Dilshan TM	Sri Lanka	2
9	Dravid R	India	2
10	Flintoff A	England	2
11	Ganguly SC	India	2
12	Gayle CH	West Indies	2
13	Gayle CH	West Indies	2
14	Gayle CH	West Indies	2
15	Gibbs HH	South Africa	2
16	Gooch GA	England	2
17	Gower DI	England	2
18	Greatbatch MJ	New Zealand	2
19	Greenidge CG	West Indies	2
20	Hayden ML	Australia	2
21	Haynes DL	West Indies	2
22	Hick GA	England	2
23	Hinds WW	West Indies	2
24	Inzamam-ul-Haq	Pakistan	2
25	Jayasuriya ST	Sri Lanka	2
26	Jayasuriya ST	Sri Lanka	2
27	Jayasuriya ST	Sri Lanka	2
28	JayawardeneDPMD	Sri Lanka	2
29	Jones DM	Australia	2
30	Kallis JH	South Africa	2
31	Kamran Akmal	Pakistan	2
32	Knight NV	England	2
33	Lara BC	West Indies	2
34	Lara BC	West Indies	2
35	Lara BC	West Indies	2
36	Laxman VVS	India	2
37	Mahanama RS	Sri Lanka	2
38	Marsh GR	Australia	2
39	Mohammad Yousuf	Pakistan	2
40	Mohammad Yousuf	Pakistan	2
41	Ponting RT	Australia	2
42	Porterfield WTS	Ireland	2
43	Ramiz Raja	Pakistan	2
44	Saeed Anwar	Pakistan	2
45	Saeed Anwar	Pakistan	2
46	Saeed Anwar	Pakistan	2
47	Saleem Elahi	Pakistan	2
48	Sangakkara KC	Sri Lanka	2
49	Sangakkara KC	Sri Lanka	2
50	Shahriar Nafees	Bangladesh	2
51	Smith GC	South Africa	2
52	Stewart AJ	England	2
53	Tendulkar SR	India	2
54	Tharanga WU	Sri Lanka	2
55	Trescothick ME	England	2
56	Watson SR	Australia	2
57	Waugh ME	Australia	2
58	Yuvraj Singh	India	2

TM Dilshan’s feat of registering consecutive hundreds provides the tenth occasion of a Sri Lankan batsman scoring consecutive hundreds. All the ten occasions are furnished below

No	Batsmen	Country	100s
1	Dias RL	Sri Lanka	2
2	Dilshan TM	Sri Lanka	2
3	Jayasuriya ST	Sri Lanka	2
4	Jayasuriya ST	Sri Lanka	2
5	Jayasuriya ST	Sri Lanka	2
6	JayawardeneDPMD	Sri Lanka	2
7	Mahanama RS	Sri Lanka	2
8	Sangakkara KC	Sri Lanka	2
9	Sangakkara KC	Sri Lanka	2
10	Tharanga WU	Sri Lanka	2

The following batsmen have registered consecutive hundreds on two or more occasions. Saeed Anwar of Pakistan remains the only batsman in the history of one day game to register two or more consecutive hundreds on four occasions. CH Gayle of West Indies, ST Jayasuriya of Sri Lanka and BC Lara of West Indies are the three batsman to have scored hundreds in consecutive games on three occasions, Mohd Yousuf of Pakistan, HH Gibbs of South Africa and KC Sangakkara are the three batsmen to have scored consecutive hundreds on two or more occasions, The performances of these batsmen are furnished below

No	Batsmen	Country	100s
1	Saeed Anwar	Pakistan	3
2	Saeed Anwar	Pakistan	2
3	Saeed Anwar	Pakistan	2
4	Saeed Anwar	Pakistan	2
1	Gayle CH	West Indies	2
2	Gayle CH	West Indies	2
3	Gayle CH	West Indies	2
1	Jayasuriya ST	Sri Lanka	2
2	Jayasuriya ST	Sri Lanka	2
3	Jayasuriya ST	Sri Lanka	2
1	Lara BC	West Indies	2
2	Lara BC	West Indies	2
3	Lara BC	West Indies	2
1	MohammadYousuf	Pakistan	2
2	MohammadYousuf	Pakistan	2
1	Gibbs HH	South Africa	3
2	Gibbs HH	South Africa	2
1	Sangakkara KC	Sri Lanka	2
2	Sangakkara KC	Sri Lanka	2

Second One day game at Nagpur on 18.12.09 : Sri Lanka won by three wickets and level the five match series 1-1

Sri Lanka capped S Randiv and RAS Lakmal in this game providing the 139^th and 140^th Sri Lankan cricketer to appear in one day games. They became the 24^th and 25^th cricketers to be capped by Sri Lanka against India.

SR Tendulkar was dismissed stumped in this game for 43 providing the 11^th occasion of his being dismissed stumped in a one day games. The eleven occasions are furnished below

No	Runs	Pos	Inns	Opp	Ground	Date
1	90	2	2	Aus	Mumbai	27.02.96
2	65	1	2	Srl	Kolkata	13.03.96
3	100	2	1	Pak	Singapore	05.04.96
4	114	1	1	RSA	Mumbai	14.12.96
5	91	4	2	Eng	Sharjah	11.12.97
6	67	2	1	Pak	Dhaka	11.01.98
7	128	2	1	Srl	Col-RPS	07.07.98
8	45	2	1	NZl	Wellington	14.01.99
9	54	4	2	Srl	Rajkot	11.02.07
10	72	2	2	Aus	Nagpur	14.10.07
11	43	2	1	Srl	Nagpur	18.12.09

Amongst the Indian batsmen, SR Tendulkar and SC Ganguly are the two batsmen who have been dismissed on eleven occasions. Wasim Akrmam {15}, RT Ponting {13}, ADR Campbell {12}, Inzamam-ul-Huq {12}, ST Jayasuriya {12} and ME Waugh {11} and A Flower {10} are the other batsmen who have been dismissed stumped on ten or more occasions.

SR Tendulkar and SC Ganguly are the two Indian opening batsmen who have been dismissed stumped on nine occasions. ST Jayasuriya holds the record for most stumped dismissals as an opening batsman. He has been dismissed stumped on ten occasions.

ST Tendulkar’s stumped dismissal for 43 in this game provide the 36^th occasion of an Indian opening batsman dismissed stumped in Indian games.

V Kohli registered his third one day half century when he made 54 in this game. The other two half centuries are – 79* vs West Indies at Johannesburg on 30.09.09 and 54 vs Sri Lanka at Col-RPS on 27.08.08. With 54 in this game, he equaled his highest score against Sri Lanka.

V Kohli’s 54 in this game represent the 131^st half century by an Indian batsman against Sri Lanka in one day games, while MS Dhoni’s in this game represents the 132^nd half century.

S Randiv captured his first one day wicket when he had V Kohli leg before wicket for 54 in this game

MS Dhoni’s 107 in this game represent the 178th fifty by an Indian captain in its one day games.

MS Dhoni’s 107 in this game represent his 23^rd fifty as captain in one day games. M Azharuddin {41}, SC Ganguly {41}, R Dravid {27} are the other Indian captains who have scored more fifties than MS Dhoni.

MS Dhoni’s 107 in this game represent his 35^th fifty as wicket keeper batsman. AC Gilchrist {54}, KC Sangakkara {48}, A Flower {46} are the other wicket keeper batsmen who have scored more fifties than MS Dhoni.

MS Dhoni’s 107 in this game represents his eleventh fifty as captain against Sri Lanka, He now shares the record of most fifties by a captain of any team against Sri Lanka with M Azharuddin who also has scored eleven fifties

MS Dhoni’s 107 in this game represent the 16^th hundred scored by a captain of various teams against Sri Lanka in one day games. It also represents the sixth occasion of an Indian captain scoring a hundred against Sri Lanka.

MS Dhoni’s 107 in this game represent the 145^th hundred by a captain in the history of one day games. It also represents the 29^th hundred by an Indian captain in one day games

MS Dhoni’s 107 in this game was in a losing cause and represent the 37^th occasion of a captain’s hundred going in vain in the history of one day games. It also represents the eighth hundred by an Indian captain in a losing cause against all oppositions.

KC Sangakkara’s run out for 21 in this game provide the 60^th occasion of a Sri Lankan captain dismissed run out in one day game. As far KC Sangakkara is concerned, this is the second occasion he was dismissed run out while leading Sri Lanka. The other occasion was against Pakistan at Dambulla on 01.08.09

KC Sangakkara’s run out for 21 in this game provide the 17th occasion of a Sri Lankan captain dismissed run out in one day game against India.

KC Sangakkara’s run out for 21 in this game provide the 33^rd occasion captain-cum-wicket keeper batsman dismissed run out in the history of one day internationals.

KC Sangakkara became the second captain-cum-wicket keeper to be dismissed run out in one day game against India. IA Healy of Australia is the other captain-cum-wicket keeper batsman to be dismissed run out against India – at Col-SSC on 06.09.96 after scoring four runs.

KC Sangakkara run out for 21 in this game provide the 50^th occasion of a wicket keeper batsman dismissed run out in a one day game against India.

KC Sangakkara run out for 21 in this game provide the ninth occasion of a Sri Lankan wicket keeper batsman dismissed run out in a one day game against India. KC Sangakkara holds the record for most run out dismissals – he has been dismissed on three occasions.

India scored 414 for 4 at Rajkot and 301 for 7 at Nagpur providing the 29^th occasion of a team scoring 300 plus runs in consecutive one day games.

Sri Lanka scored 411 for 8 at Rajkot and 302 for 7 at Nagpur providing the 30th occasion of a team scoring 300 plus runs in consecutive one day games.

India conceded 411 at Rajkot and 302 at Nagpur against Sri Lanka providing the 28^th occasion of a team conceding 300 plus runs in consecutive matches.

Sri Lanka conceded 414 at Rajkot and 301 at Nagpur against India providing the 29th occasion of a team conceding 300 plus runs in consecutive matches.

India lost the match after scoring 301 for 7 in this game providing the 52^nd occasion of a team losing a match after scoring 300 plus runs in the history of one day games. It also provides the eleventh occasion of India losing a one day game after scoring 300 plus runs.

TM Dilshan scored 100 in consecutive games – 160 at Rajkot and 123 at Nagpur providing the 58^th occasion of a batsman registering hundreds in two or more consecutive games.

TM Dilshan’s feat of consecutive hundreds provides the tenth occasion of a Sri Lankan batsman registering consecutive hundreds in one day games. Other batsmen are RL Dias, RS Mahanama, ST Jayasuriya {on three occasions}, KC Sangakkara {on two occasions}, DPMD Jayawardene and WU Tharanga.

Ashish Nehra of India wrote himself into record books as a bowler who has conceded seventy plus runs on most occasions in the history of one day internationals. His figures of 10.0-0-74-1 against Sri Lanka at Nagpur on 18.12.09 provided the eighth occasion of his conceding seventy plus runs. He wrested the record from Waqar Younis of Pakistan who had conceded seventy plus runs on seven occasions.

S Randiv’s 3 for 51 in this game provide the eighth occasion of a Sri Lankan bowler capturing three or more wickets on one day debut. Randiv’s figures of 3 for 51 represent the best bowling figures by a Sri Lankan debutant against Sri Lanka

Ashish Nehra of India wrote himself into record books as a bowler who has conceded seventy plus runs on most occasions in the history of one day internationals. His figures of 10.0-0-74-1 against Sri Lanka at Nagpur on 18.12.09 provided the eighth occasion of his conceding seventy plus runs. He wrested the record from Waqar Younis of Pakistan who had conceded seventy plus runs on seven occasions. The performance of these two bowlers are listed below

A Nehra of India
No	O	M	R	W	Opp	Ground	Date
1	10.0	0	74	2	Pak	Centurion	01.03.03
2	10.0	0	80	0	Aus	Bangalore	12.11.03
3	10.0	0	72	4	Pak	Vizag	05.04.05
4	09.0	0	75	0	Pak	Ahmedabad	12.04.05
5	10.0	0	72	3	Pak	Delhi	17.04.05
6	10.0	0	79	1	Aus	Hyd-RGS	05.11.09
7	10.0	0	81	1	Srl	Rajkot	15.12.09
8	10.0	0	74	1	Srl	Nagpur	18.12.09
Waqar Younis of Pakistan
No	O	M	R	W	Opp	Ground	Date
1	11.0	0	73	4	Eng	Nottingham	20.08.92
2	10.0	0	73	2	Srl	Centurion	04.12.94
3	09.0	0	70	3	NZl	Auckland	23.12.95
4	10.0	0	73	1	RSA	Durban	03.04.98
5	10.0	0	86	2	Srl	Benoni	15.04.98
6	10.0	0	77	1	Srl	Tangier	14.08.02
7	08.4	0	71	2	Ind	Centurion	01.03.03

Paul Collingwood took four catches in South African first innings in the first test at Centurion providing the 20^th occasion of an England fieldsman taking four catches in a test innings. Paul Collingwood became the first England fieldsman to take four catches in an innings against South Africa. The complete list of twenty occasions is furnished below

No	Fieldsmen	Ct	Inns	Opp	Ground	Mon	Yr
1	LCBraund	4	1	Aus	Sheffield	Jul	02
2	WRhodes	4	3	Aus	Manchester	Jul	05
3	LCBraund	4	2	Aus	Sydney	Dec	07
4	FEWoolley	4	4	Aus	Sydney	Feb	12
5	APFChapman	4	1	Win	The Oval	Aug	28
6	HLarwood	4	4	Aus	Brisbane	Nov	28
7	JEMcConnon	4	2	Pak	Manchester	Jul	54
8	PBHMay	4	1	Aus	Adelaide	Jan	55
9	PHParfitt	4	1	Aus	Nottingham	Jul	73
10	AWGreig	4	3	Pak	Leeds	Jul	74
11	PHEdmonds	4	2	NZl	Christchurch	Feb	78
12	AJLamb	4	2	NZl	Lord’s	Aug	83
13	GAHick	4	1	Pak	Leeds	Jul	92
14	GAHick	4	1	Pak	Kolkata	Jan	93
15	GAHick	4	1	NZl	Nottingham	Jun	94
16	NVKnight	4	3	NZl	Christchurch	Feb	97
17	GPThorpe	4	1	Pak	Faisalabad	Nov	00
18	METrescothick	4	1	Srl	Lord’s	May	02
19	METrescothick	4	3	Zim	Lord’s	May	03
20	PDCollingwood	4	1	SAF	Centurion	Dec	09

GA Hick is the only England fieldsman who has taken four catches in an innings on three occasions, while LC Braund and ME Trescothick have taken four catches in an innings on two occasions

No	Fieldsmen	Ct	Inns	Opp	Ground	Mon	Yr
1	GAHick	4	1	Pak	Leeds	Jul	92
2	GAHick	4	1	Pak	Kolkata	Jan	93
3	GAHick	4	1	NZl	Nottingham	Jun	94
1	LCBraund	4	1	Aus	Sheffield	Jul	02
2	LCBraund	4	2	Aus	Sydney	Dec	07
1	METrescothick	4	1	Srl	Lord’s	May	02
2	METrescothick	4	3	Zim	Lord’s	May	03

Bharat Raj, pens a tribute on Stan McCabe, one of the greatest batsman that Australia produved. Read on ………

In the history of test cricket only few cricketers have been able to captivate the imagination of cricket enthusiasts with their cricketing skills. Here I am thinking about cricketers who could fill the stadiums with their magical cricketing skills and of cricketers whose performances would be talked about for a long time to come.

In Stan McCabe we can think of a player who with his batting prowess enchanted the cricket fans. His knocks are even now talked about by cricket enthusiasts!

McCabe made his first class debut for New South Wales in 1928/29. He didn’t have the best of starts to his first class career as he got dropped once the senior players came back to the side from international duty. He had his breakthrough season in 1929/30 when he scored 844 runs at 56.27 though he couldn’t score a century.

He was selected to tour England in 1930 under the captaincy of Bill Woodfull mainly because he could also bowl brisk medium pace. It was an inexperienced Australian side that toured England, yet they were able to defeat a strong England side which had legendary names like Hobbs, Sutcliffe, Hammond, Leyland, Tate, Duleepshinji, Lawrood, mainly thanks to Bradman’s heroics. McCabe though in his first series didn’t do well, as he made just one fifty and picked a few key wickets and he even thought of giving up the game as he found English conditions tough to handle but for a timely advise by his teammate – Clarrie Grimmett, he changed his mind. Grimmet asked McCabe to play with a full face of the bat which helped him to perform a touch better as the tour progressed.

He again had moderate success against the touring Caribbean and the South African side in 1931/32 and 1932/33 respectively. It has to be said that with the likes of Griffith, Francis and Constantine in the side the Caribbean line up did not have a bad attack and even the South African side had the likes of Bell and the left arm medium pacer, Quinn who was rated highly by none other than Bradman himself. The Australian side was too strong as they crushed both the West Indies and the South African side but McCabe found runs hard to come by. So there were question marks over McCabe’s ability to succeed at the highest level.

The next season though changed it all as McCabe had his breakthrough series against England. The series played in 1932/33 in Australia is famously known as the bodyline series for Jardine’s tactics of employing maximum fielders on the leg side which allowed the bowlers to bowl down the leg side and that made runs scoring risky and difficult as any batsman had to get runs through a packed leg side field. It was mainly done to curb the run machine, Don Bradman from scoring runs.

The series started with England thumping Australia at Sydney by 10 wickets by using Bodyline tactics. The match though would be remembered more for McCabe’s courageous knock of 187. Larwood and Voce were employing the deadly bodyline tactic but McCabe met fire with fire and scored 187. He was said to be a courageous hooker and puller but everyone who saw that knock were said to be astonished by the fact that how he could safely pull and hook the likes of Larwood and company. One has to consider that England were employing the dangerous Bodyline tactics. His courageous batting made England’s hard nosed captain Jardine to even remove Larwood from the attack and had to bowl Hammond and Verity. He received a thunderous applause from the 46000 strong crowd who had come to witness the match. It is interesting to note that he had told his mother to refrain from rushing to his side if he got knocked over, before proceeding to hook Larwood out of the attack in Sydney. He was praised by many cricket enthusiasts and even the fearsome Larwood who throughout the series bowled that bodyline attack praised him.

Wisden about that knock,

“He scored off Larwood’s bowling in a style which for daring and brilliance was not approached by any other Australian during the tour”

McCabe about that knock,

“it was really an impulsive, senseless innings, a gamble that should not have been made but came off against all the odds”

The 1932/33 series was won by England as Jardine’s bodyline tactic was successful because they were able to restrict Bradman from being a run machine but the protagonists of that tactics – Larwood and Jardine – both were not in the squad when Australia toured England in 1934. Larwood was sacked and one can say that he was harshly treated as he was just following the captain’s orders and Jardine was no more in the side too. It was a series which was won by Australia 2-1 as Bradman was back to his old ways of plundering opposition bowling attacks but everyone was impressed by McCabe’s batting prowess in that series. He was in sublime touch as he made 483 runs at 60.37 and was effective even with his medium pace bowling as he took a few key wickets in that series.

Wisden about his batting in that series in 1934

“In 1930 he gave the impression of still having a good deal to learn; he was inclined to be somewhat slapdash in his methods. The intervening years had clearly made a great difference in him. Losing nothing of his power, he displayed a wider and safer range of strokes.”

He was in great touch when Australia toured South Africa in 1935 as he scored 2 hundreds. South Africa had a very good batting line up at that time as they had the likes of Mitchell, Rowan and Dudley Nourse though the bowling attack may not have been that good but one can’t take the credit away from McCabe as he was at the peak of his prowess.

In 1936/37 when England toured Australia, he didn’t had the best of starts to that series as Australia found themselves 2-0 down. It was even said that McCabe’s relationship wasn’t exactly very good with Bradman. At that time McCabe was the vice captain with Bradman being the captain of the side and it is said that there was a divide in the side with some players supporting Bradman and others McCabe. It wasn’t a great time for Australia as they were 2-0 down in that series and it is even said that McCabe and few others were called by the Australian board to pacify the situation. In that context it is remarkable to see that Australia came back so strongly in that series as they won all the last 3 tests to win the series 3-2. McCabe came back to form with the highlight being his 112 in the final test at Melbourne as Australia retained the series.

The 1938 tour of England was McCabe’s last tour of Australia. He was again appointed as the vice captain of the side with the series being drawn, 1-1 but as Australia had won the previous series they were able to retain the Ashes. McCabe made his mark in that series too with an amazing knock of 232 at Trent bridge. It is still said that McCabe’s knock of 232 at Trent Bridge is one of the greatest knocks of all time. McCabe scored 232 in just 235 minutes facing 277 deliveries and hit 34 fours and a six in that knock! He came in at 111 for 2 after England had made a massive score of 8 for 658 declared and from 111 for 2 it soon became 194 for 6 as McCabe kept losing partners at the other end but McCabe continued to smash England’s bowlers all over the park. He took most of the strike as he took a heavy toll on the leg spinner, Wright by scoring 44 runs of a 3 over spell from the leg spinner. It is amazing to see that he and the last man Fleetwood Smith put on 77 runs and 72 of them were scored by McCabe! Hammond is said to have tried everything to stop McCabe from scoring runs but nothing could stop McCabe from playing one of the greatest knocks of all time. The match ended in a draw mainly thanks to McCabe’s knock. The crowd who came to watch that match were said to be spellbound and even Bradman after that knock said, “If I could play an innings like that, I’d be a proud man, Stan”

It sadly was the last time McCabe played for Australia as foot injuries and the world war ended his career. He played his last first class match in 1941/42 for New South Wales.

It is amazing to see that a cricketer who wasn’t even properly coached went onto capture the hearts of so many cricket aficionadas by taking on the quickest of bowlers and succeeding with aplomb. He is no doubt one of the true greats of the game.

Finally the legendary Sir Len Hutton on McCabe,

“I knew him well. It would be hard to think of a greater Australian batsman. He had qualities that even Bradman hadn’t got. I always liked to watch him bat and he was a most likeable fellow”