The worst Test batsman, and knowing your Onions
Bowlers who didn't care much about batting, and ones who took their first three wickets in the same over
Steven Lynch
19-May-2009
He has averaged 0 with the bat so far, his first wickets came in a bunch of three, and he has a vegetable name; welcome, Graham Onions • Getty Images
We all know about Don Bradman and his average of 99.94, but who has the lowest batting average in Test cricket? asked Ben from New Zealand
Well, there are currently 39 players (including, as I write, England's recent debutant Graham Onions) who batted and were dismissed in Tests but never scored a run, so their batting average is 0.00. I suspect that's not quite what you meant: the lowest batting average by someone who actually scored a run is 0.25, by the Sri Lankan Roshan Jurangpathy, whose four Test innings in 1985 and 1986 produced scores of 1, 0, 0 and 0. Next on this list is the England fast bowler Martin Saggers, with an average of 0.33 after innings of 1, 0 and 0 from his three Tests in 2003 and 2004. And widening the net a little more, by imposing a minimum of 10 innings, the leader (if that's the right word) is Zimbabwe's fast-medium bowler turned commentator Pommie Mbangwa, who scored 34 runs in 25 innings (with eight not-outs) to end his 15-Test career with a batting average of precisely 2. New Zealand's "walking wicket" Chris Martin is next on this list at the moment, with an average of 2.28 after no fewer than 48 Tests (80 runs from 68 innings, with 33 not-outs and 25 ducks).
Well, there are currently 39 players (including, as I write, England's recent debutant Graham Onions) who batted and were dismissed in Tests but never scored a run, so their batting average is 0.00. I suspect that's not quite what you meant: the lowest batting average by someone who actually scored a run is 0.25, by the Sri Lankan Roshan Jurangpathy, whose four Test innings in 1985 and 1986 produced scores of 1, 0, 0 and 0. Next on this list is the England fast bowler Martin Saggers, with an average of 0.33 after innings of 1, 0 and 0 from his three Tests in 2003 and 2004. And widening the net a little more, by imposing a minimum of 10 innings, the leader (if that's the right word) is Zimbabwe's fast-medium bowler turned commentator Pommie Mbangwa, who scored 34 runs in 25 innings (with eight not-outs) to end his 15-Test career with a batting average of precisely 2. New Zealand's "walking wicket" Chris Martin is next on this list at the moment, with an average of 2.28 after no fewer than 48 Tests (80 runs from 68 innings, with 33 not-outs and 25 ducks).
Graham Onions took his first three wickets in the same over. Has anyone else ever managed this? asked Sandy Whitlock from Sussex
Durham's Graham Onions did indeed take his first three Test wickets in the same over - his sixth - against West Indies at Lord's last week. One other person who definitely managed this (there may be others) was the New Zealand offspinner Peter Petherick, whose first three wickets came in the form of a hat-trick on his Test debut against Pakistan in Lahore in 1976-77. This was all in the same over, as the New Zealand statistician Francis Payne confirmed: "Petherick definitely took his three wickets in the same over. The third, Intikhab Alam, was caught by his Surrey team-mate Geoff Howarth, which I always thought was the most interesting part of the hat-trick. It was off the glove, and apparently Intikhab walked. What was he thinking?" However, there is someone who went one better than Onions and Petherick: on his Test debut against New Zealand in Christchurch in 1929-30, the tall Surrey fast bowler Maurice Allom took his first four wickets, including a hat-trick, in his eighth over (W0WWW).
Durham's Graham Onions did indeed take his first three Test wickets in the same over - his sixth - against West Indies at Lord's last week. One other person who definitely managed this (there may be others) was the New Zealand offspinner Peter Petherick, whose first three wickets came in the form of a hat-trick on his Test debut against Pakistan in Lahore in 1976-77. This was all in the same over, as the New Zealand statistician Francis Payne confirmed: "Petherick definitely took his three wickets in the same over. The third, Intikhab Alam, was caught by his Surrey team-mate Geoff Howarth, which I always thought was the most interesting part of the hat-trick. It was off the glove, and apparently Intikhab walked. What was he thinking?" However, there is someone who went one better than Onions and Petherick: on his Test debut against New Zealand in Christchurch in 1929-30, the tall Surrey fast bowler Maurice Allom took his first four wickets, including a hat-trick, in his eighth over (W0WWW).
With all due respect to Graham Onions' surname, has there been another Test cricketer who was named after a vegetable? asked Ramesh from India
I think Graham Onions is more or less unique in that regard. The best I can come up with is the Derbyshire and Leicestershire fast-medium swing bowler Fred Root, an early exponent of leg-theory bowling, who played three Tests against Australia in the 1926 Ashes series. He took eight wickets, but oddly was never required to bat. At Derbyshire his wicketkeeper was often the future Test umpire George Beet, which meant that "c Beet b Root" was a frequent scorecard entry.
I think Graham Onions is more or less unique in that regard. The best I can come up with is the Derbyshire and Leicestershire fast-medium swing bowler Fred Root, an early exponent of leg-theory bowling, who played three Tests against Australia in the 1926 Ashes series. He took eight wickets, but oddly was never required to bat. At Derbyshire his wicketkeeper was often the future Test umpire George Beet, which meant that "c Beet b Root" was a frequent scorecard entry.
The first of Yuvraj Singh's two hat-tricks in the IPL was unusual in that none of the batsmen he dismissed made a duck. Has this ever happened before? asked Arijit Ghosh from India
That recent no-duck hat-trick by Yuvraj Singh for Kings XI Punjab against Bangalore Royal Challengers in Durban was very rare - all the hat-tricks in all forms of international cricket have involved at least one batsman who was out for a duck. It might have occurred in first-class (or senior limited-overs cricket), but it's a very hard one to track down - there have been around 900 hat-tricks in first-class cricket alone so far, and it would be a case of going through each scorecard and checking each one, which we don't have time for.
That recent no-duck hat-trick by Yuvraj Singh for Kings XI Punjab against Bangalore Royal Challengers in Durban was very rare - all the hat-tricks in all forms of international cricket have involved at least one batsman who was out for a duck. It might have occurred in first-class (or senior limited-overs cricket), but it's a very hard one to track down - there have been around 900 hat-tricks in first-class cricket alone so far, and it would be a case of going through each scorecard and checking each one, which we don't have time for.
Which ground has hosted the most one-day internationals? asked Rohit Sinha from India
The clear leader on this list is still the Sharjah CA Stadium, even though there haven't been any one-day internationals staged there recently. Sharjah hosted 198 ODIs between 1984 and the last one to date, which rather surprisingly was as long ago as 2003. Two other grounds have completed a one-day century: there have been 133 at the Sydney Cricket Ground, and 128 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. For a full list, click here.
The clear leader on this list is still the Sharjah CA Stadium, even though there haven't been any one-day internationals staged there recently. Sharjah hosted 198 ODIs between 1984 and the last one to date, which rather surprisingly was as long ago as 2003. Two other grounds have completed a one-day century: there have been 133 at the Sydney Cricket Ground, and 128 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. For a full list, click here.
I was wondering what sort of a bowler Brian Close was (it's not mentioned on his Cricinfo player page). asked Richard Jones from London
As a bowler Brian Close was good enough to take 1171 wickets, 113 of them in his first season, 1949, when he also completed the double (by scoring 1098 runs) and became England's youngest Test cricketer, a record he still holds. Most of his wickets were taken with medium-pacers, although he did sometimes resort to offspin (we have added this to his player page now). Alan Hill, in his recent biography of Close, wrote: "His career aggregate belies the general judgment that he over-rated his own bowling. He was said to be a lucky bowler, but the records reveal that he broke major stands at both Yorkshire and England levels. It is true that, like Ian Botham, one of his protégés in Somerset, he did have the inestimable knack of taking wickets with bad balls."
As a bowler Brian Close was good enough to take 1171 wickets, 113 of them in his first season, 1949, when he also completed the double (by scoring 1098 runs) and became England's youngest Test cricketer, a record he still holds. Most of his wickets were taken with medium-pacers, although he did sometimes resort to offspin (we have added this to his player page now). Alan Hill, in his recent biography of Close, wrote: "His career aggregate belies the general judgment that he over-rated his own bowling. He was said to be a lucky bowler, but the records reveal that he broke major stands at both Yorkshire and England levels. It is true that, like Ian Botham, one of his protégés in Somerset, he did have the inestimable knack of taking wickets with bad balls."
Steven Lynch is the editor of the Cricinfo Guide to International Cricket (reviewed here). If you want to ask Steven a question, use our feedback form. The most interesting questions will be answered here each week