Cricket Quotient — 3

November 1^st ’11 will go into the annals of cricket as one of its darkest days. Three Pakistan cricketers, then captain Salman Butt and fast bowlers Md Asif and Md Amir were convicted by a London court in a spot-fixing incident. It’s for the first time that cricketers have been convicted in a criminal case. Surely these wonderfully gifted cricketers would not have wanted to earn such a dubious distinction but in a grave error of judgment succumbed to greed. It’s a huge wake up call for Pakistan cricket and the game at large. Here’s hoping that no player will ever yield to greed other than wearing his country’s colour. Now, coming to the weekly quiz, here’s a five-for, which I hope will tantalize your memory.

#1 — In the controversial Bodyline series (1932-33), he was the only English fast bowler who did not resort to the bodyline tactics and yet finished the series with 21 wickets. Who is he?

#2  — Who is the only Test wicket keeper who has 100 first-class centuries to his name?

#3  — He has the rare distinction of being the only Indian cricketer to take part in the Second Round Table Conference in London in 1932 after the cessation of Gandhiji’s Civil Disobedience Movement. Name the player.

#4  — Name the only Malaysian to have played Test cricket. Which country did he play for?

#5  — Don Bradman was infamously bowled for a duck in his last Test innings at The Oval in 1948. Who was the bowler?

Answers to the last week quiz…

#1 — Dr Md. Jahangir Khan and Majid Khan. Both father and son won Cambridge Blue for cricket. Jahangir Khan had famously killed a bird in flight while bowling during an MCC vs Cambridge match in 1936. The bird is now a permanent exhibit at the MCC museum in Lord’s.

#2 — Raman Subba Row.

#3 — RJD Jamshedji made his Test debut for India at a ripe old age of 41 yrs 27 days in 1933-34 against England in Bombay.

#4 — John Arlott wrote this line in his book Fred, Potrait Of A Fast Bowler – an exceptionally well-written biography on England’s legendary bowler, Fred Trueman.

#5 — A rather forgettable distinction of getting hit for a six on the first ball of the debut match goes to the teenage tearaway sensation Patrick Cummins of Australia.