Pairs in test and first class cricket

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If a batsman is dismissed without scoring he is said to have scored a duck. If he is out twice in a match for 0 he is said to have scored a pair.

Contents

[edit] Most Pairs in a Test career

Four players have been dismissed for four pairs of ducks in Tests. Three are bowlers with no great pretentions towards batsmanship - Bhagwat Chandrasekhar of India and West Indians Mervyn Dillon and Courtney Walsh - but the fourth is top order batsman Marvan Atapattu of Sri Lanka. He started his Test career with just one run in six innings - including two pairs - and has bagged two more since. The 14 men who have collected three pairs include Glenn McGrath of Australia, India's Ajit Agarkar, Ashish Nehra and Zaheer Khan, Manjural Islam of Bangladesh and New Zealander Chris Martin.

[edit] Pairs on Test Debut

36 batsmen have been dismissed for a pair on their debuts in test cricket.

  • Fred Grace for England v Australia at The Oval in London 1880
  • Johannes Kotze for South Africa v Australia in Johannesburg in 1902/03
  • Tommy Ward for South Africa v Australia in Manchester in 1912
  • Percy Lewis for South Africa v England in Durban in 1913/14
  • Cecil Dixon for South Africa v England in Johannesburg in 1913/14
  • Ted Badcock for New Zealand v England in Christchurch in 1929/30
  • Ken James for New Zealand v England in Christchurch in 1929/30
  • Jim Smith for England v West Indies in Bridgetown in 1934/35
  • Gordon Rowe for New Zealand v Australia in Wellington in 1945/46
  • Alf Valentine for the West Indies v England in Manchester in 1950
  • Ram Ramchand for India v England at Headingley in Leeds in 1952
  • Graham Gooch for England v Australia at Edgebaston in Birmingham in 1975
  • Mike Whitney for Australia v England in Manchester in 1981
  • Ken Rutherford for New Zealand v West Indies at Port of Spain in 1984/85
  • Saeed Anwar for Pakistan v West Indies in Faisalabad in 1990/91
  • Allan Donald for South Africa v West Indies in Bridgetown in 1991/92
  • Peter McIntyre for Australia v England at the Adelaide Oval in 1994/95
  • Dirk Viljoen for Zimbabwe v Pakistan in Bulawayo in 1997/98
  • Gavin Hamilton for England v South Africa in Johannesburg in 1999/00
  • Chamara Silva for Sri Lanka v New Zealand in Christchurch in 2006/07

[edit] Consecutive Pairs

These unfortunate batsmen all bagged pairs in two Tests in a row.

Agit Agarkar and Bob Holland were each dismissed for five consecutive ducks, a record they share with Mohammad Asif for Pakistan in 2005/2006.

[edit] Pairs by Test captains

  • Joe Darling for Australia v England at Sheffield in 1902
  • Harry Cave New Zealand v West Indies at Dunedin in 1955/56
  • Ian Botham England v Australia at Lord's in 1981
  • Mark Taylor Australia v Pakistan at Karachi in 1994/95
  • Rashid Latif Pakistan v South Africa Port Elizabeth 1997/98
  • Jimmy Adams West Indies v Australia at Melbourne in 2000/01

Ian Botham's pair came in his last Test as captain while Mark Taylor, Rashid Latif and Habibul Bashar recorded a pair in their first games as captain.

[edit] King Pairs in Test cricket

If a batsman is out first ball he has made a golden duck and if a batsman is dismissed first ball in both innings he has achieved a king pair.

This fate has befallen eleven players in the history of test cricket so far.

  • Bert Vogler for South Africa v Australia at Sydney in 1910-11
  • Tommy Ward for South Africa v Australia at Old Trafford in 1912
  • Colin Wesley for South Africa v England at Trent Bridge in 1960
  • Gary Troup for New Zealand v India at Wellington in 1980-81
  • Adam Huckle for Zimbabwe v Pakistan at Harare in 1997-98
  • Ajit Agarkar for India v Australia at Melbourne in 1999-2000
  • Javed Omar for Bangladesh v India at Dhaka in 2007

[edit] Trivia

 Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines.
The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones.
  • Taufeeq Umar of Pakistan was out twice in two balls in unusual circumstances. He was dismissed second ball for 0 in the first innings and run out without facing in the second in the second Test against Australia at Sharjah in 2002-03. This does not count as a king pair, though that was probably of little consolation to the batsman.[citation needed]

[edit] Notable pairs in first class cricket

King Pairs have been 'bagged' by many players in first class cricket. Mick Norman of Northamptonshire bagged a king pair in a single day against Glamorgan at St. Helen's in Swansea in June 1964.

When Glamorgan followed on against the Indians at Cardiff Arms Park in June 1946 last man Peter Judge was bowled for a duck by Chandra Sarwate to end the county's first innings. Invited to follow-on, Glamorgan's extrovert captain, Wilfred Wooller, decided to waive the 10-minute interval between innings, instructed the last pair to remain in the middle and open the innings, and reversed the entire batting order. Sarwate then bowled Judge again, second ball, incidentally with the same ball, who thus achieved the fastest pair in the history of first-class cricket.[citation needed]

[edit] The Primary Club

A "golden duck' is also known as a 'Primary'. In 1955 several young members of Beckenham Cricket Club in Kent who had been dismissed first ball that season, formed a club dedicated to supporting a charity to help blind cricketers. The Primary Club has grown into an international charity making annual donations in excess of £100,000 to a variety of schools and clubs for the blind and partially sighted. Their patron is former England and Kent cricketer Derek Underwood MBE. Membership is open to any player who has been dismissed first ball in any game of cricket. Funds are raised through the selling of ties which should be worn on the Saturday of a test match.

[edit] References