Hanif Mohammad - a household name in Pakistan and much admired in Lanka

Cricketers of the past cannot easily be forgotten. Why? Because they have performed so well during their playing days and have caught the eye of the spectators. Take for example Hanif Mohammad of Pakistan. He was a complete cricketer, having started cricket at the age of 8 years.

Sir Don Bradman – a well known name in cricket circles, the top batsman in World Cricket. He has done Australia proud with his performances. Holder of many batting records.

Javed Miandad of Pakistan – a fine attacking batsman who has taken his side to the top.

Sunil Gavaskar – another cricketer on top of the world. He has taken India up the ladder of success, held many records during his playing days.

Hanif Mohammad – no stranger to Sri Lanka. He made his debut in first class cricket against touring MCC team in unofficial Test in 1951-52 and caught the eye of the Pakistan hierarchy. He has also played against Sri Lanka.

Sir Garfield Sobers – another great allrounder in the game. He brought up the Windies up the ladder of success. Another cricketer who helped Sri Lanka.

He started his cricket, believe me, as a wicket-keeper, but later abandoned wicket-keeping and paid more attention to batting.

He made his debut in 1st class cricket when he played for Pakistan against the touring MCC team in the first Unofficial "Test" at Lahore in the 1951-52 series and instantly caught the eye of the cricket hierarchy in Pakistan.

Besides the many achievements in Cricket in Pakistan, he has been idolised the world over for two of his incomparable achievements. His score of 499 for Karachi against Bahawalpur in 1958-59 which was the highest individual score in first class cricket.

Then coming on to Test cricket, Hanif played the longest innings while scoring 337 against the West Indies at Bridgetown in the 1957-58 series and in the process stayed at the wicket for 970 minutes which is considered a hall-mark for strength and stamina.

Pakistan earned a draw in the match. Hanif's lasting power beat the previous first class endurance record of 13 hours 20 minutes by Len Mutton of England during the Test against Australia at the London Oval in 1938. Hanif batted for 970 minutes in making those runs.

West Indies 1st Innings: 579 for 9 wkts dec (E. Weekes 179, C. Hunte 142, O.G. Smith 78) and 28 for no loss in 2nd innings.

Pakistan 1st Innings: 106 (R. Gilchrist 4 for 32) and 657 for 8 wkts in 2nd Innings (Manif Mohammad 337; E. Atkinson 2 for 136, A. Valentine 2 for 109.

Hanif Mohammad first played Test cricket against India when he was 17 years and 300 days in New Delhi in 1952. In the 17 years of first-class cricket against member countries playing Test cricket except of course, South Africa who were not in the Test fold then, Hanif Mohammad scored centuries against everyone of them.

Well, Hanif Mohammad is no stranger to Sri Lanka too. Before Sri Lanka got into the Test fold, he made 114 in the 2nd Unofficial Test against Ceylon in Dacca. He is also a much admired cricketer here in Sri Lanka too.

No one can write a full description of Pakistan cricket without mentioning the role played by the Mohammad brothers - Wazir - the eldest brother who played in 20 Tests, Hanif 55 Tests, Mushtaq 57 Tests and Sadiq 41 Tests.

After playing in these 55 Tests, Hanif gathered 3,915 runs for an average of 43.98 and had 12 Test hundreds.

Career record of Hanif Mohammad (Batting): 55 Tests, 97 innings, 8 not out, Highest: 337, total runs: 3,915 Avg: 43.98 (12 hundreds, 15 fifties, 40 catches.

'Bail' goes 67 yds 6 inches

The game of cricket has many interesting incidents that come out. In the early part of last century a story came out from the popular venue of Manchester in England that takes a lot of beating. On the 29th of June in 1911 that at Old Trafford in Manchester bowled William Huddleston of Lancashire with a thunderbolt delivery that had the sail cartwheel as long of the boundary.

According to sources in England who happened to be at the match they could not believe, their eyes to see the bail travel such a long distance after knocking at the batsman's wicket. Measurements were immediately taken and it was noted that the bail had travelled 67 yards and 6 inches - that''s upto the boundary line.

Record all-round performances

Scoring a century is one thing, but to hit a century and then go on to take all ten wickets is a superb effort indeed which calls for the player concerned to be felicitated in no uncertain manner.

It happened many years ago when the game of cricket was in its infancy. This incident happened at Oxford Parks on June 21 and 22. In a first-class match in Britain since 1869, W.G. Grace playing for the MCC against Oxford University, the "The Champion" W.G. Grace is reported to have scored 104 in his only innings, before taking all ten Oxford second innings wickets for 49 runs in 36.2 four-ball overs.

The longest match in England

The game of cricket is usually played according to strict rules and regulations supervised by umpires. However, in 1975 there was a match between England and Australia that seemed to have "Special" rules.

According to the terms agreed to by the teams, the Six-day Fourth Test between England and Australia at the Oval in 1975 was the match in question.Actual playing time, excluding 187 minutes lost and breaks between innings, totalled 32 hours 17 minutes.

Two other six-day matches have been staged in England, both Test matches against Australia at The Oval. In 1930 Australia won at 3.50 a.m. On the last day after rain had prevented play on the penultimate one. Then 42 years later Australia repeated their victory at 2.49 p.m. on the sixth day.

Kiwis lowest total - 26

A big total is admired by the supporters of that particular team. But what happens when a team gets a poor total? This happened in March 1955 when New Zealand playing the second of two Tests against Hutton's England team which has just retained the Ashes in Australia. New Zealand had contained the tourists to a first innings lead of 46.

A crowd of 14,000 saw the home side reduced to 14 for 5 and eventually dismissed in 27 overs by Tyson (2 for 10) Statham (3 for 9), Appleyard (4 for 7) and Wardle (1 for 0).

Opening batsman Best Sutchliffe (11) achieved the only double-figure score of an innings which lasted 106 minutes either side of the tea interval on the third day. Appleyard took 3 wickets in four balls and narrowly missed the hat-trick. It was Hutton's last Test.

Miandad - youngest double centurian

The youngest to score a double century it Test cricket is Javed Miandad of Pakistan. He was 19 years 141 days old when he completed his innings of 206 runs for Pakistan against New Zealand at Karachi on 31st October 1976.

The fastest hundred in Test cricket was scored in 70 minutes by Jack Gregory for Australia against South Africa in Johannesberg on 12th November 1921.

Sunil Gavaskar - most runs in 1st series

The most runs by a batsman playing in his First Series is 774 (Avg: 154.80) by Sunil Gavaskar in four matches for India in the West Indies in 1971.

His eight innings were: 65 and 67 not out, 116, 64 not out, 1, 117 not out, 124 and 220. Surgery on a septic finger prevented his playing in the First Test.

Bradman - only instance of 300

The most runs and only instance of over 300 runs in a day by one batsman is 309 by Donaland Bradman for Australia against England at Headingley, Leeds on 11th July 1930.

He scored 105 before lunch, 115 between lunch and Tea and 89 in the final session.

Sobers - the West Indian great

When you talk of cricket, a name that will always come to mind is that of Sir Garfield Sobers - the West Indian cricketer. He has been a real allrounder over the years and has helped West Indian cricket a great deal.

Sobers first played first class cricket for Barbados at the age of 16 against India.

He played his first Test match in 1954 against England in Kingston, Jamaica and got four wickets.

Sobers came on to the West Indian scene in a big way after the somewhat early death of Sir Frank Worrell in 1967 and took the West Indies up the ladder of success.

He helped many establishment in the game and Sri Lanka was one of the countries he helped a great deal.