Cricket Quiz

Harish Krishna V

 August 23th 1971. Lunch , day 4. Bella, a three

year old elephant loaned from the
Chessington Zoo was trotting on the outfield
of the Oval.
In the next hour and a half, the English side
folded for 101 with Chandrasekhar finishing
with six for 38.
In the following day, the Indian side went on
to chase down the target of 174 with the
calmness of Abid Ali and Viswanath at the
crease to give India a historic series win.

 Now, on which day of the Hindu month of

Bhadrapada did this happen?

The Answer follows

The fourth (Chaturti)

It was Ganesh Chaturthi and hence the
elephant.
Ajit Wadekar claimed that seeing the elephant
on Ganesh Chaturthi gave the team a
newfound hope.

 The worst batting average for anyone (more

than ten innings in Tests) is a shameful 2.00,
held by a Zimbabwean medium-pacer.
He scored 34 runs in 25 innings all told, with a
highest of 8.
There was an instance when he was promoted
up the order to No. 10, during which he
survived for over half an hour before getting
out for naught.
Identify this cricketer, who for some reason
still appears during cricket matches.

The Answer follows

Pommie Mbangwa

 Fred made his Test debut alongside his

brother against Australia at The Oval in 1880.
While his brother made 152, Fred bagged a
pair (a duck in both innings), although he did
take a famous catch.
And Fred never got the chance to make
amends: a fortnight after the match he was
dead, not yet 30, from pneumonia thought to
have started when he slept on a damp
mattress.

 His illustrious brother, on the other hand

became a legend.
In fact, Monty Python and the Holy Grail
uses his image as the face of God.
Identify him.

The Answer follows

WG Grace

 When Sri Lanka was playing its first match at

the Lords in 1984, a bunch of people came
down and sat down on the pitch and unfurled
banners. One of them even tried to damage
the hallowed turf with the plastic spoon he
had brought.
What were these people protesting against?

The Answer follows

Treatment of Tamils in Sri Lanka

 England fielded teams like these a couple of

years ago:
Andrew Strauss, Alastair Cook, Jonathan Trott,
Kevin Pietersen, Ian Bell, Eoin Morgan, Matt
Prior, Stuart Broad, Tim Bresnan, Graeme
Swann, James Anderson.
Monty Panesar, Graham Onions and Chris
Read also got a few games.
What was special about the team, something
that hadnt happened since 1958-59?

The Answer follows

All the players were Wisden Cricketers

of the Year
5 cricketers are chosen every year based
primarily on their influence on the previous
English season.

Its a once-only award.

Sachin got it in 1997 while
Kumble got it in 1996.

 This man became a journalist (crime-beat)

even before his test career finished. When it
did, he took up membership of the
commentary box and also wrote regularly for
a newspaper in an uncontroversial style,
something the tabloid was not all happy
about.
When the newspaper closed in 2011, he was
the longest serving employee with around 50
years of service.
Identify the newspaper.

 The cricketer also perhaps holds the record for

watching the most number of test matches
more than 500.
Identify him for brownie points.

The Answer follows

News of the World

The cricketer-journalist is Richie Benaud.

 1980 Olympics saw two unbelievable wins in

hockey one by USA in ice hockey (which
included the Miracle on Ice) and one by the
Zimbabwean womens team in field hockey.
Upon a request by the government, the
Zimbabwean team was assembled less than a
week before the competition and Ann Grant
was made the captain.
What was her maiden name?

The Answer follows

Fletcher
She is the sister of Duncan Fletcher

 This cricketer of Indian and Portuguese

ancestry left South Africa because the
Apartheid Regimes policy of an all-white test
team. He went on to become one of Englands
greatest cricketers of the 60s and the 70s.
There was a huge controversy in 1968 when
he was likely to be included in the English
team touring South Africa. The South African
prime minister B. J. Vorster put a lot of effort
to prevent this for his inclusion would have
outraged the whites in South Africa.

 His name figures in the top 10 South African

cricketers of the century even though he
never played for South Africa.
Identify this cricketer.

The Answer follows

Basil DOliveira
The trophy for the test series between
England and South Africa is named after him.

 After being bowled by Courtney Walsh in a

Test in Georgetown in 1990-91, Australia's
Dean Jones mournfully set off for the pavilion,
which was back behind the bowler. But it was
a no-ball, so he wasn't out.
Carl Hooper darted up from slip and removed
the bails before Jones realised and could
regain his crease, and he was given out.
The Australian coach, Bobby Simpson was
furious with the umpires and even brandished
a copy of the Wisden but to no avail.
Why was the runout unlawful?

The Answer follows

 The law specifically states that you can't be

run out off a no-ball unless you are attempting
a run, which Dean Jones obviously wasn't.

 When England went in at The Oval on August

29th, 1882, needing only 85 to win, the normal
order of things seemed likely to unfold. But
with the "Demon" Spofforth on top form - he
ended up with 7 for 44, making for match
figures of 14 for 90 - England, after being 66
for 4, were skittled for 77.
During the tense climax one spectator died of
heart failure, and another apparently chewed
through the handle of his umbrella.
What happened then?

The Answer follows

Someone wrote a mock obituary of English

cricket and joked that the ashes would be
taken to Australia, thereby spawning the
Ashes

A bail was also burnt in horror.

Video 1
Whats so historic?

The Answer follows

 This is the first instance of a third umpires

assistance being sought.
Sachin was the first to be given out by the
third umpire.

 In the first test between New Zealand and

South Africa in April 2006, played (rather
fittingly) at the Centurion, three players won
their 100th caps.
One of them scored exactly 100 runs in the
match which South Africa won.
Name any two of the three.
Hint: All of them played the first season of the
IPL, but only one would play the upcoming
one.

The Answer follows

 Stephen Fleming, Jacques Kallis and Shaun

Pollock

 Andy Lloyd, opening the batting against West

Indies on his home ground, at Edgbaston in
June 1984, and had weathered the first half
hour of the innings when he was hit on the
earpiece of his helmet by a short ball from
Malcolm Marshall.
Lloyd spent the next ten days in hospital,
suffering from blurred vision: although he
made a county comeback, his eyesight was
never quite the same again and he never
played another Test.
What unique distinction does he hold?

The Answer follows

 He remains the only opener not to be

dismissed during his Test career.

 In May 1965, Ken Barrington got a painstaking

137 in 437 minutes against New Zealand at
Edgbaston. But he was dropped next match.
In a certain match against England in Delhi,
Kapil Dev hit the second ball for a six. He went
on to make about 67 runs in the match. But
was dropped for the next game that was to be
played at Calcutta the only test Kapil didnt
play for India between his debut and
retirement.
Why were each of these two dropped?

The Answer follows

 Ken Barrington for scoring too slowly.

Kapil Dev for scoring too quickly (he did play a
few irresponsible shots to be fair on the
board).

 Former SAS officer Neil Laughton wanted to

do something quintessentially British to
commemorate the 100th anniversary of
something in 2012 and hence got Britain to
play a Rest of the World team at a place where
temperatures touched -35C.
Which unsuccessful expedition where Neil and
his team of adventurers commemorating?

The Answer follows

Robert Scotts attempt to be the first

human to set foot on Antarctica
Not only did Roald Amundsen beat him to it,
he died on the way back.

 He was the son of a certain Clarence who played

Ranji Trophy for the United Provinces.
At the age of 10 (circa 1958), his father (then
working in Pakistan) took him to a local match;
the match in which Hanif Mohammad scored
499, a record in first class cricket that stood till
1994. He went on to coach the Pakistan cricket
team in the future.
He was also present when the record was broken
by Brian Lara when he hit 501 for Warwickshire
(whom he was coaching at that time).
Identify the cricketer.

The Answer follows

Bob Woolmer

 Almost all cricket grounds in India are named

after administrators like MA Chidambaram,
Chinnaswamy, Wankhade, but none of the
major ones are named after sportsmen, let
alone cricketers.
Perhaps the only test venue named after a
sportsman is this ground which is named after
the legendary hockey player who led India to a
gold in the Olympics in 1948 and 1952.
Where is located? Who is it named after?

 Sachin Tendulkar scored 142 in the only test

that was played here.

The Answer follows

 This is the KD Singh Babu stadium in Lucknow.

 The first documented instance of these date from

1868 when an Australian aboriginal team toured
England.
The team consisted among others,
Ballrinjarrimin (who was a specialist batsman),
Unarrimin (who hit 1698 runs at 23.65, and took
245 wickets in 45 matches) and
Murrumganarrimin (who once ran 9 off a ball).
What, something thats very common in all
cricketing sides, especially those in Australia, is
this about?

The Answer follows

 Nicknames
The men had been given sobriquets because
their pastoral lords apparently could not
pronounce or correctly spell their tribal
names.
Ballrinjarrimin was called Sundown
Murrumganarrimin got the nickname
Twopenny

 This sportsman, had to face a choice between

cricket and hockey. After, a lot of deliberation,
he chose cricket. He bowled the first ball in
the Ranji trophy. He ended up playing only
one test.
The hockey team which he could have been
part of won an Olympic gold.
The trophy awarded to the winner of the biannual match between Tamil Nadu and
another team is named after him.
Which team? Who is this cricketer?

The Answer follows

M J Gopalan
Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka/Ceylon play for the
M J Gopalan Trophy.

 Which 212 year old tradition did the MCC end

in 1999 with these 10 - Betty Archdale, Edna
Barker, Audrey Collins, Carole Cornthwaite,
Jackie Court, Rachael Heyhoe Flint, Sheila Hill,
Norma Izard, Diana Rait Kerr, Netta
Rheinberg?
All of them had to play 15 qualifying matches
over two years, and after qualifying, would
have to join the end of a 20 year waiting list.

The Answer follows

Women members
This photo shows the first instance a woman
walked into the hallowed Long Room in the
Lords.

 Video 2.
The commentator uses a certain verb while
describing what the audience is doing.
This is a verbified form of the name of which
popular Australian bowler, known for his
moustache?

The Answer follows

Merv Hughes

 Jilani was an allrounder who played only one

test for India, the first test that India played, in
the Oval in 1936.
He earned his place in the team because he
insulted a certain rival of the teams captain,
the Maharajkumar of Vizianagram, during
breakfast, a day before the first day of the
match.
Which Indian captain did he insult?

 The maharaja is the person on the right.

He displeased several cricketers including the
two cricketers on the left.

The Answer follows

Col. C K Nayadu

 This is the great Indian bowler Bapu Nadkarni,

who in the first Test against England in Madras
in 1963-64, bowled 21 consecutive maiden
overs.
But he does not hold the record for the most
number of consecutive dot balls it is held by
African offspinner Hugh Tayfield.
How is this possible?

The Answer follows

 Hugh Tayfield bowled when overs were 8 balls

long.
While Nadkarni bowled 131 successive dotballs (21 maiden overs), Hugh Tayfield bowled
137 (about 16 maiden overs).

Visual Connect - 1
Only two attempts at the connect.
No negatives.

+50
Charles Bannerman (1876-77)

+45
WG Grace (1880)

+40
Jimmy Sinclair (1898-99)

+35
Clifford Roach (1930)

+35
Stewie Dempster (1931)

+30
Lala Amarnath (1933)

+25
Nazar Mohammad (1952)

+20
Sidath Wettimuny (1982)

+15
Dave Houghton (1992)

+10
Aminul Islam (2000)

Answer follows

 The first centurions of their respective

countries.

Visual Connect - 2
No negatives

+40
Lumpy Stevens, circa 1774, and hence no
picture. But a poem on him instead.
Honest Lumpy did allow
He could not pitch but o'er a brow.

+35
Mike Brearley

+30
Ray Lindwall

+25
Harold Larwood

+20
Dennis Lillee

+15
Muttiah Muralitharan

+10
Kevin Pietersen

+5
Steven Finn

The Answer Follows

Cricketers who inspired rule changes

Lumpy Stevens the middle stump
Mike Brearley fielding circles
Ray Lindwall front foot planted behind the
line
Harold Larwood - restriction of the number of
fielders behind square leg
Dennis Lillee bat must be made of wood
You know the rest