19-Year Old Ashton Agar Test Debut against England at Trent Bridge

Australia have spun a major selection surprise by including the 19-year-old Ashton Agar, a Western Australian left-arm spinner, in their XI for the first Test against England at Trent Bridge. The first big news of the day is the Ashton Charles Agar, (Born October 14, 1993 Melbourne Australia), the left-arm spinner, will make his Test debut. That is a big call from Darren Lehmann to springs a big surprise first up with Ashton Agar debuting. He’s is only 19 and 269 days old and had very little 10 first-class matches experience (31 Wickets 29.38 apiece, 336 Runs, Average 33.60, Three Fifties, 71 highest score) . It’s a Massive Ashes call for Ashton Agar. Ashes always create such an environment and such anticipation in the cricketing world that nothing else looks so special. Ashton Agar is a capable batsman and also a fine fielder. His inclusion leaves the tourists with a team that can be said to bat all the way down to No. 11. 

Photos Courtsey to Cricinfo.

Who learned that he'd been awarded the MBE while on the field in an Ashes Test? The man in question here was the popular Australian all-rounder Ken Mackay, who’s MBE was announced on Australia Day 1963, while he was playing his last Test - the drawn fourth match of the 1962-63 Ashes series in Adelaide. Kenneth Donald Mackay, MBE, who died on June 13, 1982, aged 56, was one of the best and most popular cricketers ever produced by Queensland. As a left-handed middle-order batsman, he possessed a highly distinctive style, this endearing him to crowds which otherwise might have found his rate of scoring unendurably slow. Ken “Slasher” Mackay, whose nickname was ironic as he was famed for his defensive batting, played 37 Tests overall. However his award became public knowledge during that Test, I imagine Mackay himself actually knew about it sometime previously, as the recipients are usually asked beforehand whether they wish to accept. Kenneth Donald Mackay born on October 24, 1925, Windsor, Queensland and died June 13, 1982, Point Lookout, Stradbroke Island, Queensland (aged 56 years 232 days). His major teams are Australia, and Queensland, while his nick name was “Slasher”, batting style Left-hand bat, and bowling style Right-arm medium. His stats are as below.

Tests: 37

Inns: 52

Runs: 1507

Average: 33.48

100’s: No

50’s: 13

Catches: 6

Highest Score: 89 

Wickets: 50

Best Bowling: 6/42

Special Thanks for Photos: Getty Image

Bowler taking 50 first-class wickets in a season at an average of less than 10.00 a Piece

The Jamaican left arm spinner Nikita Miller took 52 wickets at an average of just 8.05 during the West Indian first-class season that has just finished. Only three previous instances of a bowler taking 50 first-class season at an average of less than 10 since the end of the 19th century (the unique feat was relatively common before that). The first instance of those was the New South Wales fast bowler Sydney Callaway, who played three Tests against England in the 1890s, he later moved to New Zealand, and took 54 wickets at 8.77 in the 1903-04 season there, mainly for Canterbury. Furthermore; another fringe Australian player, Ron Oxenham who played seven Test caps between 1928 and 1931 - took 75 wickets at 7.40 for a privately raised Australian touring side in India in 1935-36. And coming up to date a fair bit, the gangling South African fast bowler Vintcent van der Bijl claimed 54 wickets at 9.50 for Natal in 1980-81. 

photo: Cricinfo

Highest Score Carrying the Bat in ODI

The highest for a batsman who carried his bat in a one-day international is Sachin Tendulkar undefeated 200 for India against South Africa in Gwalior in 2009-10. In second place is Martin Guptill's recent blitz for New Zealand - 189 not out against England in Southampton last month. Upul Tharanga made 174 not out against India in Kingston last week, the second-highest score for Sri Lanka in ODIs after Sanath Jayasuriya's 189 in Sharjah in 2000-01, also against India. Upul Tharanga did bat throughout the innings, but it's not normally counted as carrying the bat unless the team was all out - and Sri Lanka lost only one wicket! There have been seven bigger not-out scores by openers in ODIs.

Chris Read Six Dismissals in Successive Matches during the 2006-2007 Ashes

Chris Read made six dismissals in an innings in successive matches during the 2006-07 Ashes series. Chris Read's wicket keeping in the last two matches of that series, in Melbourne and Sydney, was one of the few bright spots for England in the embarrassing Ashes whitewash of 2006-07 - not that it did Read much good, as those were the last of his 15 Test appearances. Funnily enough he also took six catches in an innings on his debut, against New Zealand at Edgbaston in 1999. The only man to achieve the feat more often than Read played nearly ten times as many matches: Mark Bucher did it four times in 147 Tests.

Most Wickets in Overseas Country

The record in any overseas country is held by Shane Warne, who took 129 wickets in 22 Tests in England. He's the only bowler to take more than 100 wickets in a country other than his own; his country man Dennis Lillee (96) and Malcolm Marshall (94) also came close to that in England.

Four Bowler Took 20 Wickets in a five match Test series.

Four Australian bowlers took 20 wickets in the 2006-07 Ashes, in which England were brutally whitewashed 5-0 by an Australian side stung by losing the urn in 2005 Ashes - was the on...ly time four bowlers from the same side have taken 20 or more wickets in the same five-Test series. The four Australian bowlers included Glenn McGrath (21), Shane Warne (23) and Stuart Clark (26) Brett Lee (20), Andrew Symonds (two) was the only other Australian bowler to take a wicket. Amazingly it did happen in one six-Test series, although. In England in 1995, Kenny Benjamin (23), Curtly Ambrose (21), Ian Bishop (27) and Courtney Walsh (26) all took more than 20 wickets, however Curtly Ambrose and Kenny Benjamin both missed one of the six matches). The other West Indies bowler Carl Hooper (3) and Ottis Gibson (2) also took wickets in that series.

 

Most Ducks in Test Career

New Zealand fast bowler Chris Martin hold the Test record for the highest proportion of ducks two innings played, he’s widely known as the "Walking Wicket", collected 36 ducks during a Test career that now appears to be at an end. But because he managed to remain not out in exactly half his 104 innings, he actually comes in well down this list, with "only" 34.62% of his innings ending in ducks. However; given a qualification of 20 innings, the highest percentage leader is the Australian fast bowler Alan Hurst, who collected 10 ducks in 20 innings (50%), including a record six during the 1978-79 Ashes series. So Next comes to England Alan Mullally, who bagged 12 ducks from 27 innings (44.44%). But overall, West Indies fast bowler Courtney Walsh collected 43 ducks in Tests more than Chris Martin.

 

Successive defeats in Test and ODI's

Bangladesh team holds the record for the most successive Test match defeats corresponding record in one-day internationals? Bangladesh lost 21 successive Test matches (12 by an innings) between November 2001 and February 2004, the run being ended by a draw against Zimbabwe in Bulawayo. Zimbabwe themselves lost nine successive Tests between December 2001 and October 2003. Bangladesh also had a poor spell of 9 successive Test defeats, and two runs of eight. South Africa lost their first eight Test matches, all in the 19th century; England lost eight Tests running to Australia in 1920-21 and 1921; and West Indies lost eight in a row in 2005 and 2006. Therefore; turning to the one-day international, Bangladesh lost 23 ODIs in a row between October 1999 and October 2002, which broke their own record of 22 (March 1986 to May 1998). Actually that run of 23 was only ended by a no-result: Bangladesh actually went 47 successive ODIs (45 defeats and two no results) without winning one between October 1999 and November 2003. Next come Zimbabwe (18 successive defeats between June 1983 and March 1992) and Bangladesh again (18 during 2003).

 

Duck Less Innings in Test Cricket

England stylish left hander David Gower had the most successive innings in Tests without a duck. He’s the only man to have a run of more than 100 successive innings without a duck in Tests, who went to the crease 119 times between August 1982 and December 1990 without bagging a duck. Next comes Richie Richardson of West Indies, with 96 between November 1984 and July 1991.

 

 

Duck Less Innings in One-day Internationals

In ODI three men have managed a run of 100 successive duck less innings in one-day internationals. Martin Crowe went 119 innings without being out for 0 over almost a decade between February 1984 and March 1993, but Indian Rahul Dravid cros...sed him for the record with 120 innings without a duck between August 1999 and February 2004. Keppler Wessels batted 51 times for Australia and 54 for South Africa, man played 105 innings, he played for two countries and never got out for a duck in any of them.

 

Archie Jackson youngest cricketer to died

Archie Jackson is the youngest Test player who died for more than 70 years Archie Jackson did occupy first place on this melancholy list. He was only 23 years and 164 days old when he died of tuberculosis on February 16, 1933, on the day Australia surrendered the Ashes during the Bodyline series. Therefore, in March 2007 tragedy struck Bangladesh cricket when Manzarul-Islam-Rana was killed in a road accident, aged just 22 years 316 days. A left-arm spinner, Manzarul-Islam-Rana had played in six Tests and 25 one-day internationals.

 

Old Player to Score ODI Century

Geoff Boycott was the oldest man to score an ODI century 105 against Australia in Sydney in 1979-80 when he was 39 years 51 days old, while the last of Sanath Jayasuriya's 28 ODI centuries 107 v India in Dambulla in 2008-09 came when he was around five months older, at 39 years 212 days. Sanath Jayasuriya also made 98 against India in Colombo in September 2009, when he was more than two months past his 40th birthday.