After World War Two a number of Commonwealth cricketers gave up the possibility of long term Test careers in order to earn a living with English counties – one of the very best of them was Roy Marshall of Hampshire and West Indies
FEATURES
That got your attention. Read on for the story of Peter Burge, who we believe was unrelated to CW’s finest, but as the quote from Mike Atherton demonstrates their personalities are not dissimilar, so perhaps there is a common heritage
In this feature Martin looks back at the life of one of the most combative all-rounders there has been, Eddie Barlow of South Africa, the Rest of the World and Derbyshire
South Africa had failed to defeat Australia in eight Test series since readmission when they toured Australia in 2008/09, but this Graeme Smith led side soon showed they could overcome any obstacle Australia put in front of them.
Stop a local on the streets of Dublin, Belfast, or Skibbereen and ask them if they can name a member of the Irish cricket team. The likely answer will be a shake of the head and a shrug, with perhaps a slight recognition that Irish cricket is now a ‘thing’, and that perhaps there is a team doing ‘something’ in some corner of the world.
Possibly yes, possibly no, but certainly a candidate – in this feature Martin tells the story of Subhash ‘Fergie’ Gupte
Misbah ul Haq was never going to be Pakistan’s hero. The Universe, the Stars, the Oceans and the Mountains had all conspired against him. Pakistan lives vicariously through its heroes, so they need to see them do heroic things physically, like change the course of the wind or make the mountain come to him.
Our final look at Test cricketers who managed the bowling equivalent of 100 runs in a match deals with those who are more fresh in the memory, those who achieved six wickets in a match from 1990 onwards.
There were great expectations in Yorkshire when Chris Old began his county career. He never did prove to be the like for like replacement the county’s supporters yearned for, but was still a fine cricketer. In this feature Martin tells his story
This feature follows on from the earlier feature covering batsmen who had managed to notch up consecutive matches scoring at least 100 runs. Here, we look at bowlers who have most often managed to take at least six wickets in a match.