What ever happened to?

[Craig]

What ever happened to:

Wajahattuallah Wasti? David Sewell? (who played one Test for New Zealand in 96/97), Antony Stuart (who took a hat-trick against Pakistan in 96/97 and then dropped)?, and Mike Smith (who played for England and Australia in 1997)?

 

[Ming]

That left-armer Sewell is still playing for Otago.

 

[Andre]

A common demnominator - none of them really had that extra bit at the top level.

A perfect example is of Wasti, who's as soft as they come - copped a blow on his hand in a tour match when England toured in 2001 and hasn't been sighted on the field since.

 

[FRAZ]

As far as Wajahatullah Wasti is concerned , he was obviously a solid player and a bit slower and these types dont fit in pakistani cricket. the same case was Aamir Sohail and Ramiz raja. Pakistanis dont remember them any more juz cuz they dont have the same killing passion or a do or die attitude.

 

[marc71178]

Mike Smith is still going strong for Gloucestershire - another typical County pro (18th season or something this year)

Amazingly they have 1 other who's been at the county the same length of time, and 1 who's been there 4 years longer!

 

[Richard]

Mike Smith is a brilliant bowler, especially in the one-day game, and one of the most important parts of Gloucs' one-day success.
He was injured for most of 2001, but he's come back strong since.

 

[Langeveldt]

Did Mike Smith have Matt Elliott dropped by Thorpe which effectively ended his test career? Its a pity people didnt get second chances back then.. Ditto Rob Bailey

 

[Richard]

Don't know about "back then". Smith and Bailey were just unlucky; some people are one-Test wonders. It's just a sad fact of cricket and always has been - some people will only get one chance. A shame, as you can never judge anything with absolute certainty on one match.

 

[iamdavid]

Don't know about "back then". Smith and Bailey were just unlucky; some people are one-Test wonders. It's just a sad fact of cricket and always has been - some people will only get one chance. A shame, as you can never judge anything with absolute certainty on one match.

Stuart Law being an example , while others who frankly dont deserve do get near test cricket (Anthony McGrath , Mr Peterson , Blessing Mahwire , Khaled Muhmud) play a number of tests due to geography / colour.

As for Anthony Stuart , who I beleive hails from the ACT .
He performed poorly for the remainder of that year with New South Wales , got injured & has never been half the bowler since , havent heard his name mentioned since about 1999 , dont even think he's playing 1st grade anymore.
Its a shame because he had potential , he was decently accurate if not terribly quick & he hit the seam , a similar bowler to Shaun Pollock , obviously never acheived half the succes , injuries robbed him of the chance.

 

[SpaceMonkey]

Don't know about "back then". Smith and Bailey were just unlucky; some people are one-Test wonders. It's just a sad fact of cricket and always has been - some people will only get one chance. A shame, as you can never judge anything with absolute certainty on one match.

I agree that some players are one test wonders. It seems that if you have 1 semi decent season the media hype you up and more often than not the selectors will cave into the medias demands.

As for Smith im just astonded he hasnt played one day cricket for england for years. He is consistently bowling teams out or at the very least not going for runs.
If i remember correctly he was the most (or one of the most) economical bowlers in last years Twenty 20 cup! 8D.

 

[viewnut]

from memory anthony stuart has retired permantly from cricket due to injury. last i heard of him he was involved in coaching/club captain for both eastern suburbs cc and the nsw under age squads for met east. apparently he is regarded highly as a specialist fast-bowling coach and atm could be down in adelaide, im not 100% sure. as a player i never really rated him except for his one innings against pakistan hen he took that hat-trick. even when he shifted to ACt and played for the comets(they were about as effective as brett lee;s slower ball), he was struggling to hold down a place in the team, even with "stars" like mike veletta and big merv hughes taking up valuable positions.

 

[Tarsh]

Someone else me & a friends have wondered about is Scott Muller....he plays one test for australia, gets told by Cameraman Joe that he "can't bowl, can't throw", then just dissapears

 

[Bazza]

Smith didn't really have enough to dismiss quality batsmen in decent conditions (or rather Matt Elliott on his way to 199) - almost like an earlier Matthew Hoggard, he could swing the ball but that's about it. Maybe that's unfair on Hoggard but he's been persevered with. Maybe Smith was unlucky - England got destroyed by Gillespie first up and then crumbled to an innings defeat in that game.

Looking at it has reminded me how we miss Dean Headley though. Another player who could have had a good career but injury denied him (and England of another promising bowler).

Isn't it strange how you can have a team 50-4 in reply to 172, looks like game on, then one partnership adds 268 and it's well and truly game over.

Anyway Wasti, didn't he get a 100 on debut? Isn't it strange how in 10 innings someone can get two tons and then a combined 75 in the other 8. Still a FC average of 35 suggests he probably wasn't one who got away. He does average a 100 every 5 innings though - almost Bradman-esque! :P

 

[Tom Halsey]

Mike Smith was very unlucky. He was accurate, and was the one bet that we could have who would keep the runs down. At that time Gussie was out of favour, and he was the only other accurate bowler.

 

[marc71178]

I agree that some players are one test wonders. It seems that if you have 1 semi decent season the media hype you up and more often than not the selectors will cave into the medias demands.

Not so much any more - they need more than that to get in nowadays, thankfully.

 

[marc71178]

A shame, as you can never judge anything with absolute certainty on one match.

Not even Brett "51.5-7-276-4" Lee?!

 

[Tom Halsey]

Or Brett "8-0-85-0" Lee :O

And that was against England, which says something, it pains me to say.

 

[Rik]

Not so much any more - they need more than that to get in nowadays, thankfully.

Taking Stephen Harmison, Anthony McGrath and Richard Dawson as prime examples...obviously!

 

[Richard]

Or Brett "8-0-85-0" Lee :O

And that was against England, which says something, it pains me to say.

Eh?
When was that?
Atherton, Butcher, Stewart and Caddick smashed him all over Edgbaston in the 1st innings of the 2001 Ashes (that innings started the long road up for his average) but that was only 13 overs for 72.
He went for 85 off 10 overs in an ODI against Pakistan in England (and Shahid Afridi managed to throw his wicket away against him), but he's never conceded that much in a Test against England, or even an ODI, though he has conceded 72 off 8 overs against Zimbabwe, twice IIRR.

 

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

Anyway Wasti, didn't he get a 100 on debut?

He got 6 and 9 on debut, facing 47 balls in total.

It wasn't that bad though... Tendulkar got a first baller and 9. :P