Clive Inman - world record for fastest 50 in 8 minutes!

By A.C. De Silva

CRICKET: Remember Clive Inman - the attractive left-hand batsman of St. Peter’s College, Bambalapitiya? After playing for his school in inter-school matches in the early fifties, and hit 204 (retired hurt) vs St. Joseph’s in the ‘Big Match.’ He played for Ceylon in 1956-57, 1958-59 and in 1961-62 vs MCC and toured Pakistan with the Ceylon cricket team in 1966-67.

He then went on to play it big in English County Cricket and his County was Leicestershire. He headed Leicestershire’s batting averages for many years - since he first played for them in 1963 - and who had a career record of over 10,000 runs, holds a really stunning world record of scoring the fastest 50-51 to be exact in eight minutes.

Inman, playing for Leicestershire, made that stunning knock of 50 in eight minutes against Nottinghamshire at Nottingham in 1965. Full tosses were bowled to Inman to expedite a declaration.

In that match that took Inman right to the top, he was out for just 8 runs in the first innings. In the second innings when Leicestershire were 199 for 3 - and “Nottinghamshire were giving away cheap runs in the hope of a declaration” (according to Wisdon) - he took a single off the last ball of an over from Bolus and then hit Norman Hill for 4, 4, no score in the next two balls, and 4, 6 - making 18 runs in the over.

32 runs in one over

In Norman Hill’s next over, Inman cracked 4, 6, 6, 6, 4, 6 - totalling 32 in one over, equalling the all-time record of scoring five fours and five sixes off 10 balls!

With that single off Bolus and the 18 and 32 in Hill’s two overs, Inman collected 51 - in just 8 minutes! He was unbeaten with 57 when Leicestershire declared at 258 for 3 wickets.

Wisden described Hill’s bowling as “slow, inviting deliveries which Inman pulled to, or over, the mid-wicket boundary.”

Inman, then was 34 years old and headed the county’s batting averages in every year from 1963 to 1969, except 1966 and 1969. In the latter year, he was fourth, scoring 900 runs (top score - 157) at an average of 30.03.

This was the rare exception when he failed to top 1,000 runs - a habit he formed in his very first year as a Leicestershire ‘cap’.

The ‘Playfair Cricket Monthly’ (of June 1969) had a contribution of Edward Davey on ‘Championship cricketers from Pakistan and Ceylon’. Davey said: “two fine stroke-makers have given valuable service to Leicestershire. Stanley Jayasinghe made his county debut in 1961, at the late age of 30. He had first appeared for Ceylon in 1949 and for several years was professional at Colne.

Inman - Jayasinghe the stars

“Two years later, the lithe left-hander Clive Inman was qualified; and for three seasons - until Jayasinghe returned home - the most attractive of the county’s batting was provided by these two in partnership.

In each of those years Inman headed the county’s averages, followed in 1964 and 1965 by Jayasinghe.

After playing for the school, Clive Inman played for Nondescript’s Cricket Club and Ceylon.

But one match he will rememeber with relish will be the Gillette Cup match between Leicestershire and Yorkshire in 1965.

In the Yorkshire team were England were England’s Test captain later, R. Illingworth and Test players G. Boycott, J. H. Hamshire, Phil Sharpe, Brian Close and Fred Trueman.

Certainly, Inman has served Leicestershire well and a bumper benefit.

Inman whose match with Nottinghamshire as his ‘benefit’ not only because of its association with his world record, but also because the attraction of World XI and West Indies captain and all-rounder, Gary Sobers, leading Notts.