Worst Test Cricketers of All Time

[Starfighter]

From AMZ's comment.

Men like Lohmann are like cats, and in addition to taking what comes straight to them manage somehow or other to bring off the most astounding catches. Lohmann had a way of throwing himself at the ball, and seemed to be able to stretch almost any distance. He would sometimes throw himself right off his feet and land on his knees, and make a catch which no other man would have thought of. I have sometimes wondered whether his illness is not partly caused by the great strain which he must often have put upon himself at slip.

I didn't know tuberculosis could be caused by slip fielding.

 

[SteveNZ]

I call BS on all that revisionist stuff. No one can rationally convince me that men were doing things in the late 1800s that can't be emulated now. These reports make it sound like Lohmann was some sort of incredible contortionist and glue hands that would catch anything in the cordon and stay upright to tell the tale.

 

[trundler]

Just sounds like he was diving to take catches before anyone else.

 

[the big bambino]

calm down guys. Why such antagonism to past eras is such a thing is puzzling. Its weird. They were just saying he was an exceptional fielder.

 

[trundler]

The comparison with a cat would make sense if he was taking diving catches. Diving very recently became a cricketing skill, relatively speaking.

 

[Daemon]

calm down guys. Why such antagonism to past eras is such a thing is puzzling. Its weird. They were just saying he was an exceptional fielder.

Yeah I didn’t see anything too over the top there.

He was defs diving before others, they seem fascinated that he had both feet off the ground when taking a catch.

 

[the big bambino]

Hopefully I'm not misremembering, but I vaguely recall it being something of a virtue to hold your position when taking catches back then. Sprawling along the ground and grubbing your trousers wasn't approved of. Or something like it.

 

[trundler]

Huh, may have been a custom in the same vein as leg side play was reportedly thought to be unfair. Doubt many professionals gave a crap about it though.

 

[a massive zebra]

Huh, may have been a custom in the same vein as leg side play was reportedly thought to be unfair. Doubt many professionals gave a crap about it though.

I'm not entirely convinced how true this was. Some of the best batsmen pre Grace were famed for their leg hitting. For instance, here is a quote about George Parr, captain of the All England XI and arguably the best batsman of the 1850s, taken from the book Cricket by A.G. Steel, published in 1888:

George Parr's leg hit, for which he was unrivalled, was the sweep to long-leg off a shortish ball that many modern players would lie back to and play off their legs. George Parr would extend his left leg straight forward, and sweeping round with a horizontal bat, send the ball very hard, and frequently along the ground. This hit has really almost totally disappeared in these days.

 

[a massive zebra]

The comparison with a cat would make sense if he was taking diving catches. Diving very recently became a cricketing skill, relatively speaking.

Diving probably is a more widely recognised skill these days as all fielders are expected to be capable of it, but odd exceptional players with the ability to take diving catches have always existed throughout the last 150 years; from Lohmann in the 1880s to Jessop and Gregory in the 1890s and 1900s, to Hammond and Constantine in the 1930s, to Simpson and Bland in the 1960s, to Solkar and Randall in the 1970s, to Harper in the 1980s, to M Waugh and Rhodes in the 1990s.

 

[a massive zebra]

I call BS on all that revisionist stuff. No one can rationally convince me that men were doing things in the late 1800s that can't be emulated now. These reports make it sound like Lohmann was some sort of incredible contortionist and glue hands that would catch anything in the cordon and stay upright to tell the tale.

Hardly revisionist when the quotes I provided were written by people who actually saw him play.

 

[SteveNZ]

Hardly revisionist when the quotes I provided were written by people who actually saw him play.

True. But I still don't believe the hype.

 

[SillyCowCorner1]

Cummins, Miguel
Hossain, Rubel
Brooks, Shamarh