One Test or Series Wonders

[G. S. Kohli]

Rodney Redmond 165 on debut vs pak never call back by NZ when Glen Turner retured after injury.

 

[Blenkinsop]

Zak Crawley has a Test double century.

 

[The Sean]

Zak Crawley has a Test double century.

To be fair, he made another 200 immediately afterwards. It just took him 18 innings.

 

[the big bambino]

George Bissett.

A South African fast bowler who toured England in 1924 and broke down before the test series, not playing first class for several years afterwards. He was recalled for the second test in 27/28 on the tenuous basis of performing in a club match and went on to take 25 wickets in four tests, including 7/29 in the final innings of series which SA levelled. He only played two further first class matches with little success.

Went back to the farm and a real job I believe. I think Frank Tyson just about qualifies for this thread.

 

[wpdavid]

Nick Cook took 17 wickets at 16.1 in his first two tests at home to NZ in 1983. Thereafter, with one exception in very helpful conditions in Karachi, he was completely ineffective.

 

[AndrewB]

Jack Noreiga only played in one series for the West Indies - 1970-1 v India - despite taking 9-95 in the first innings of the 2nd Test, still the best figures for a WI bowler. His second victim of the nine was Gavaskar in his first Test innings. (He dismissed the Indian tail in the 5th Test to get a second five-for, but only took 17 wickets in total).

In the same series, Desmond Lewis played in the last 3 Tests, scoring 81*, 88, 14, 72 and 4* - and he was also never picked again, so finished his career with an average of 86.33.

 

[The Sean]

Godfrey "Goofy" Lawrence played all five Tests for South Africa against NZ in 1961/62 and took 28 wickets at 18 - twice taking nine in a match - and then was never picked again. By the time South Africa played their next Test series - in Australia nearly two years later - he had apparently fallen out of favour.

I came across Goofy in my exercise to apply a Man of the Match award retrospectively to every Test ever (which I promise I will post on here one day), and with two awards in five Tests, his MoM ratio (40%) is the highest ever for anyone who played more than two Tests. Donald who?

As an interesting aside, his son Stephen went on to become a champion Australian Rules footballer and won a premiership with Hawthorn in 1991.

 

[AndrewB]

Lawrence still has the best innings figures (8-53) for any South African pace bowler (though he's actually from Zimbabwe - he'd have the record for them as well).

 

[The Sean]

Lawrence still has the best innings figures (8-53) for any South African pace bowler (though he's actually from Zimbabwe - he'd have the record for them as well).

Indeed, and he seems still to have been successful in the Currie Cup through the mid-'60s - rough not to have been given another gig.

 

[Zinzan]

D Mitchell Test series in England 2022.

 

[GoodAreasShane]

Posted about him here a while back, but I always thought Simon Cook had a very interesting career. Fringe Shield fast bowler for Victoria, injured a lot, barely gets a game, moves to NSW, still injured a lot, still barely gets a game, gets fit again, gets picked for Australia off having 3 wickets at 53 in a couple of Shield games, takes 5 poles second innings on Test dayboo, plays another Test, gets injured yet again, gets run over by a steamroller, comes back to domestix, gets injured some more, drifts out of the First Class game before his 30th birthday

Strange old career that

 

[Prince EWS]

Posted about him here a while back, but I always thought Simon Cook had a very interesting career. Fringe Shield fast bowler for Victoria, injured a lot, barely gets a game, moves to NSW, still injured a lot, still barely gets a game, gets fit again, gets picked for Australia off having 3 wickets at 53 in a couple of Shield games, takes 5 poles second innings on Test dayboo, plays another Test, gets injured yet again, gets run over by a steamroller, comes back to domestix, gets injured some more, drifts out of the First Class game before his 30th birthday

Strange old career that

He played Masters T20 for Australia when he was 37 too.

 

[Ali TT]

Barry Richards

 

[Marius]

One series wonder was SA wicket-keeper bat, Denis Lindsay.

Against Aust in 1966/67 in SA ( 5 Test series), scored 606 runs @86.57 , with 3 centuries. ( only 524 runs in his other 14 Tests)
Also took a then SA record of 24 catches in the series.

Apropos of nothing I was at his granddaughter's wedding this weekend.

 

[Marius]

Barry Richards

The thread is about players that had a good series or Test and never reproduced that form or were left out for some inexplicable reason. Richards never played again because of politics, not because he was ever picked again.

 

[Senile Sentry]

Narendra Hirwani. At 20 debuted vs WI and went on to take 16 wickets in that match, becoming a celebrity overnight. Followed that with 20 wickets in a 3 test series vs the touring NZ. And the dream just like that ended. He toured NZ, WI and Eng and was dropped afterwards. Rather cruel given these places aren't exactly spinners paradises.

 

[Ali TT]

The thread is about players that had a good series or Test and never reproduced that form or were left out for some inexplicable reason. Richards never played again because of politics, not because he was ever picked again.

We know the stories of those who burnt brightly for a moment only to fade. Richards is a tantalising story of what might have been...

 

[AndrewB]

Narendra Hirwani. At 20 debuted vs WI and went on to take 16 wickets in that match, becoming a celebrity overnight. Followed that with 20 wickets in a 3 test series vs the touring NZ. And the dream just like that ended. He toured NZ, WI and Eng and was dropped afterwards. Rather cruel given these places aren't exactly spinners paradises.

A few years earlier, Sivaramakrishnan had a similar experience: after an unsuccessful debut in Antigua in 1983, he was recalled a couple of years later (still in his teens) and took 19-321 in the first two Tests v England in 1984-5. But by then England had worked out how to play him, and in the rest of the series he took 4-402. He only played another 3 Tests after that, taking 3-327.

Incidentally, does anyone remember this match - Sivaramakrishnan's penultimate Test? I have vague memories of an article by an Indian cricket fan about how he basically spent the whole of the last day yelling at his TV/radio in disbelief at India's failure to win (brief summary: Australia were effectively 48-9 after 2 overs on the last day; Border and Gilbert managed to add another 77 before Border was out just after lunch; India then scored just 59-2 off the 25 overs before tea, despite the threat of rain - which duly came and wiped out the final session).

 

[wpdavid]

A few years earlier, Sivaramakrishnan had a similar experience: after an unsuccessful debut in Antigua in 1983, he was recalled a couple of years later (still in his teens) and took 19-321 in the first two Tests v England in 1984-5. But by then England had worked out how to play him, and in the rest of the series he took 4-402. He only played another 3 Tests after that, taking 3-327.

I remember Gower's comment about the first test, which India won comfortably, involving 'a leg spinner that we'd never seen before and an umpire that we never wanted to see again.' Without looking it up, England must have worked a few things out by the second test, as they won that one almost as comfortably. I suppose most of the side wouldn't have seen any leg spin at all unless they'd gone to Pakistan 12 months earlier and faced Abdul Qadir. Perhaps only Fowler, Gower and Lamb from the top 7.

 

[Senile Sentry]

A few years earlier, Sivaramakrishnan had a similar experience: after an unsuccessful debut in Antigua in 1983, he was recalled a couple of years later (still in his teens) and took 19-321 in the first two Tests v England in 1984-5. But by then England had worked out how to play him, and in the rest of the series he took 4-402. He only played another 3 Tests after that, taking 3-327.

Incidentally, does anyone remember this match - Sivaramakrishnan's penultimate Test? I have vague memories of an article by an Indian cricket fan about how he basically spent the whole of the last day yelling at his TV/radio in disbelief at India's failure to win (brief summary: Australia were effectively 48-9 after 2 overs on the last day; Border and Gilbert managed to add another 77 before Border was out just after lunch; India then scored just 59-2 off the 25 overs before tea, despite the threat of rain - which duly came and wiped out the final session).

Wow, that's new info for me. Gavaskar screwing India with a slow mo innings wonder how this went under the radar. Wierd given how well Indian openers batted in first innings.