Bowlers who became batsmen

[fredfertang]

I don't know about that. But my Dad played against them when they were in their youth, and at that stage Snow was basically a batsman. And when I say a batsman, he was a hitter who used to try to smack the thing as hard as he possibly could. I don't think he bowled at all at that stage.

Fred, can you remind me what JS's autobiography is called?

"Cricket Rebel"

He published a couple of books of poetry too

Jack Birkenshaw did it first for Leicestershire in the John Player League. It was actually completely pointless as neither he nor Snow were good enough batsman and there were no fielding restrictions to take advantage of. I remember Snow hitting the occasional 30 odd but just by playing as an orthodox opener did at the time.

My recollection is that Snow was a hopeless opening bat except on the day I rocked up at Horsham and he got a matchwinning and impressive 50 odd against Lanky

 

[Lillian Thomson]

My recollection is that Snow was a hopeless opening bat except on the day I rocked up at Horsham and he got a matchwinning and impressive 50 odd against Lanky

He failed more often than not. I just remember a couple of 30ish scores in televised John Player League Matches.

 

[Lillian Thomson]

Pakistan batsman Majid Khan was originally a fast bowler (and was accused of chucking his bouncer) until he got an injury. He then became a top class batsman, though his achievement didn't match his ability.

 

[bagapath]

I think Ravi Shastri started out as just a spinner before he realised he could bore people twice as much by also opening the batting.

dont want to be contrary to such a widely accepted opinion and irritate you. but i genuinely am very thankful as an indian fan to shastri for providing solidity at the top of the order after sunil gavaskar's retirement. and i was an unabashed fan of his ODI batting down the order at no.6 or 7 before he became such a bore. he used to hit some really huge sixers off the spinners. i think he was misunderstood by the team management of that era and was badly handled.

here are some of my fav knocks of shastri; not enough to induct him into an all time XI i agree but he was not that crappy.

Cricinfo - 5th ODI: India v Pakistan at Nagpur, Mar 24, 1987 (it was an afridi-ish knock 10 years ahead of its time. shastri decided to go out fighting. watching the straight driven six and the flicked boundary off consecutive imran deliveries was one of the high points of my childhood)
Cricinfo - 1st Test: India v Australia at Chennai, Sep 18-22, 1986 (second innings knock was a rivetting one. he was the hero of the last session of one of the greatest contests of all time)
Cricinfo - 2nd Test: West Indies v India at Bridgetown, Apr 7-12, 1989 (considering the bowling attack and the match situation it was one of the best ever overseas knocks by an indian in a losing cause. the three wickets of haynes, logie and dujan - plus ambrose's - in the WI first innings are a bonus)

 

[NZ4life!]

What about Nathan Astle?

 

[Richard]

Bloody hell, if Astle was once a specialist bowler I can see why he tried developing his batting.

Surprises me though TBH, as a batsman he always looked fairly "natural" to me. Something of a surprise if he only thought to try it late, as I'd have imagined someone who had such an aptitude for batting would've tried it early.

 

[NZ4life!]

Bloody hell, if Astle was once a specialist bowler I can see why he tried developing his batting.

Surprises me though TBH, as a batsman he always looked fairly "natural" to me. Something of a surprise if he only thought to try it late, as I'd have imagined someone who had such an aptitude for batting would've tried it early.[/QUOTE

Fair point, I guess Astle was never a specialist bowler, but he did start for Canterbury as a bowler who could bat, before moving up the order. how about Aaron Redmond, opener now, but started off a spinner, down at seven or eight?!?!

 

[Richard]

As I say, that really surprises me - Redmond played for us when he was 18 in 1998, and he was batsman first, wristspinner very, very much second.

 

[SJS]

I find it amazing that some players begin as specialists in one discipline and then somehow manage to carve out highly successful careers in another. Here are three left-arm spinners who famously served time at Number 11 before moving up the order:

Mark Richardson
Wilfred Rhodes
Garry Sobers

There are others too. Nasser Hussain began, I think, as a legspinner who turned to batting when his spin deserted him.

MW Tate in a way was the grand-daddy of the lot, whose career had not 2 but 3 phases - he was a spinner who turned into a specialist batsman who turned into a fast bowler.

Any others spring to mind?

Not true for Sobers.

In his very second first class game he batted at number four. Above him were the openers and Weekes and Walcott. He was a child at 17.

He scored his first FC hundred in just his fifth game batting at number four.

 

[Flem274*]

Aaron Redmond started off as a specialist leggie.

Richardson was an offie but apparently he was also used as a lower order slogger by Otago not sure where I found that out but there ya go.

Styris was a bowler who batted a bit.

Astle was a bowler that was a lower order slogger, he was an allrounder at the grades below though.

Tim Lythe was an offspinner who is now becoming an allrounder/batsman in FC cricket, he's a hard man that one, no way should he be still playing cricket after that cancer.

 

[Zinzan]

Bloody hell, if Astle was once a specialist bowler I can see why he tried developing his batting.

Surprises me though TBH, as a batsman he always looked fairly "natural" to me. Something of a surprise if he only thought to try it late, as I'd have imagined someone who had such an aptitude for batting would've tried it early.

Astle initially made the Canterbury First Class & List A sides as a miserly medium bowler batting at no.9 & 10. Even though they always knew he had talent with the bat, the Canterbury side of the early to mid 90s had strong batting all the way down & according to his coaches at the time, they couldn't fit him in higher

 

[Neil Pickup]

Stuart Broad opened the batting at Oakham School, I think.

Yep. My vice-captain in the University 4ths was fond of telling the tale of how Broad junior deposited him into a nearby duckpond.

 

[Lillian Thomson]

Yep. My vice-captain in the University 4ths was fond of telling the tale of how Broad junior deposited him into a nearby duckpond.

Did that incident involve a game of cricket?

 

[Richard]

Bowlers who became wicketkeepers

Neil Pickup

 

[thierry henry]

My take on the NZers mentioned-

Astle- Does not fit the thread. Was always regarded as a batting talent first, bowling talent second. His first years in FC and List A cricket he played predominantly as a bowling all-rounder because it was convenient for Canterbury.

Styris- yes. Was a bowling all-rounder (barely even an all-rounder, more a lower order hitter) throughout his FC career and even for his first 2 years in the Black Caps. Does not get nearly enough credit for basically turning himself into our BEST ODI batsmen during the course of his international career

Richardson- yes. Was very highly regarded as a 17-18 year old bowler. Was a sort of Tim Southee-esque tail-ender who could smash the spinners, was generally scared of the quicks, and might have been good enough to bat 7 or 8 if he improved his shot selection, but was happier batting 10 or 11 and trying to hit 6s.

Famously once hit 33 (the required amount) off the last over to win an OD game between Otago B and Canterbury B.

Redmond- Apparently he didn't impress in Devon, at least according to Richard, but was always regarded as a multi-skilled cricketer in NZ, and initially was seen more as a bowler.

 

[inbox24]

Mitchell Johnson

 

[zaremba]

Not true for Sobers.

In his very second first class game he batted at number four. Above him were the openers and Weekes and Walcott. He was a child at 17.

He scored his first FC hundred in just his fifth game batting at number four.

Thanks SJS. I didn't know that, but suspected that he might have shown a bit more promise with the bat than his famous number 11 billing suggested.

Welcome back by the way.

 

[StumpMic]

Sanath Jayasuriya was initially picked for his spin bowling

 

[Matt79]

Mike Hussey was a leggie when he first went to the Academy...

 

[Richard]

Redmond- Apparently he didn't impress in Devon, at least according to Richard, but was always regarded as a multi-skilled cricketer in NZ, and initially was seen more as a bowler.

Nope, his batting was pretty decent over here (for an 18-year-old foreigner unaccustomed to conditions) but no-one thought much of his bowling. Really surprised to hear he was thought of as such a high-quality wristspinner back home.