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Cricket Quiz

Harish Krishna V

You seeing this probably means that I didnt get enough time to add the rules and other blahs

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.

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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.

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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?

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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?

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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?

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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?

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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?

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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?

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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.

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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?

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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?

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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.

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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?

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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?

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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 great Indian captain did he insult?

The maharaja is the person on the right. He displeased several cricketers including the two cricketers on the left.

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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).

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