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Birth Name : Adam Gabriel Garcia
Date of birth : 1 June 1973
Location : Wahroonga, New South Wales, Australia

Adam Garcia has just completed filming a leading role in the new film "Love’s Brother" in which he stars opposite Giovanni Ribisi, Amelia Warner and David Suchet. This bittersweet drama, set in the 1950’s in Australia, tells the story of the trials and tribulations of two brothers as they search for love and the perfect bride.

In June this year, Garcia returned to the West End to play the role of ‘Tyler’ in The Royal Court theatre production of ‘Where Do We Live?’ by Christopher Shinn, directed by Richard Wilson. Starring alongside Daniel Evans, the production ran for 6 weeks, receiving exceptional reviews: "And the support is excellent: Adam Garcia exudes sleek self-admiration." The Observer

Garcia began 2002 on Broadway where he joined Kristin Chenoweth and Idina Menzel in Gotham for a reading of Stephen Schwartz’s new musical "Wicked" as the role of ‘Fiyero’. Based on Gregory Maguire’s novel, the show tells the pre-"Wizard of Oz" tale, written by Schwartz and TV scribe Winnie Holzman ("Once and Again") directed by Joe Mantello and produced by Marc Platt for Universal.

This year, Garcia also completed filming the role of Scott Doherty in independent thriller ‘Fascination’. Filmed in Puerto Rico with Jacqueline Bisset, Alice Evans and Stuart Wilson, ‘Fascination’ is directed by Klaus Menzel and produced by Goldcrest Films International.

  

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We are coming soon with information on this.

  

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Alan Cumming was born January 27, 1965 in Perthshire Scotland to Mary, a secretary, and Alexander, a forester. His childhood was spent on a large country estate with his older brother, Tom, and his 2 dogs. Cumming found his early years to be conducive to his future vocation. He would often play "James Bond" and perform for his two dogs.

Cumming graduated from school a year early, and proceeded to take a job working for an entertainment magazine “Tops”. The next year, he applied and was accepted to the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in Glasgow. It was here that he met his future professional partner Forbes Masson, and his future wife, Hilary Lyons (they later divorced after 8 years of marriage). He made his feature film debut in "Passing Glory" while in his final year at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama.

Cumming and Masson formed the comedy duo "Victor Barry" (which produced numerous tours, TV appearances, and recordings) and later wrote and starred in the cult BBC sitcom "The High Life".

After three years of television and theatre work in Scotland, Cumming made his West End debut in 1989 at the Royal Court in "The Conquest of the South Pole" and was nominated Most Promising Newcomer in that year’s Olivier Awards. He was Olivier Nominated for his performance in "La Bete" at the Lyric Hammersmith and went on to win an Olivier Award for the Royal National Theatre production of "Accidental Death of an Anarchist". He garnered an Olivier Award nomination for his work in the London production of "Cabaret" and also received wide critical acclaim for his performance of "Hamlet" at the Donmar Warehouse.

In 1998, Cumming accompanied the transfer of "Cabaret" to Broadway, being the only holdover besides director Sam Mendes. "Cabaret" was a smash hit, and he won a Tony Award, Drama Desk Award and Outer Critics Circle Award for his performance as the Emcee.

Amongst all this theatre work, Cumming was able to make a name for himself as a movie actor as well. He had small roles in films such as "GoldenEye", "Emma", and the film that introduced him to many of his fans, "Circle of Friends". Other films include "Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion", "Buddy", and his much talked about cameo as the flirtatious Hotel Desk Clerk opposite Tom Cruise in "Eyes Wide Shut".

Cumming currently has homes in New York and London, jetting in-between the two and Los Angeles for work. He continues to do film work while preparing for his return to Broadway in 2001 starring in "Design for Living".

  

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Albert Finney, the dynamic British stage and film actor was born in 1936. Though most widely known for his inspired performances in such films as Night Must Fall, Two for the Road, and Murder on the Orient Express, Albert Finney first achieved acclaim for his work in the classical theatre. After studying at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts, he joined the Birmingham Repertory Company and made his London debut in the company’s production of Shaw’s Caesar and Cleopatra in 1956. Two years later, he played opposite Charles Laughton in a West End production of The Party and then joined the Royal Shakespeare Company for the 100th anniversary season at Stratford-in-Avon, playing Cassio in Othello (directed by Tony Richardson with Paul Robeson playing the lead), Lysander in A Midsummer Night’s Dream (with Charles Laughton) and understudying Laurence Oliver in Coriolanus, receiving critical acclaim when he he briefly took over the lead.

1960 was a golden year for Finney: he played the small part of Olivier’s son, in Tony Richardson’s The Entertainer; he received freat reviews for his stage performance in The Lily-White Boys; more importantly was his acclaimed portrayal of Billy Liar; and, finally is enormous success as the working class hero in Saturday Night and Sunday Morning. This led to his playing the title role in Richardson’s Tom Jones (1963), a film that cemented his international stardom and made him a millionaire. In the same year, he was the talk of Broadway with is interpretation of Luther in John Osborne’s play.

Over the next forty years, he has been able to pick and chose his TV, theatre & cinema roles on TV. Sometimes, he has failed but, very often, he has been a great success: in films like Two for the Road (1967), Murder on the Orient Express (1974), The Dresser (1983) & Erin Brockovich (2000); in stage productions of Hamlet, Tamburlaine the Great, Macbeth & Uncle Vanya; and in the two Dennis Potter TV mini-series Karaoke and Cold Lazarus (both 1996). He has never been interested in his public persona but has, for half a century, been a courageous and stimulating actor whose work had always demanded attention and, usually, considerable, justifiable praise.

  

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Alex Winter was born in London to two modern dancers, and he himself received dance training as a child. While still a youth, he relocated with his family to St. Louis, Missouri, where he studied improvisation. He made his Broadway debut in “The King and I” and spent the next several years on stage while studying film (writing and editing) at New York University.

Upon graduating, he took his first major film role, in the cult vampire movie Lost Boys, The (1987). But it was two years later that he landed the role for which he’s most famous for – that of Bill S. Preston, Esq., who with his buddy Ted “Theodore” Logan (Keanu Reeves) traveled through time in _Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure (1989)_ . The film was a huge success, spawning two television series and a well-received sequel, _Bill and Ted’s Bogus Journey (1991)_ . In 1993, Winter co-wrote, co-directed, and starred in the outrageous, critically praised comedy Freaked (1993). He currently divides his time between New York and London, where he directs television commercials and music videos. In 1999, he wrote and directed the critically acclaimed thriller Fever (1999), which made its debut at the Cannes Film Festival.

  

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Comedian Andy Dick triumphed over personal tragedy, drug and alcohol addiction, and bad press to become one of Hollywood’s most unforgettable — and unconventional — jokesters. Born on December 21, 1965 in Charleston, SC, Dick is the adopted son of the late Allen and Sue Dick. His father, an officer on a nuclear submarine, took the family with him all over the world: Dick and his brother lived in Connecticut, Pennsylvania, New York, and Yugoslavia before settling in Illinois. There, at Joliet West High School, Dick learned that the way to keep people’s attention was to make them laugh. He began honing his comedic skills by giving a spontaneous standup routine during freshman orientation and eventually won the race for Homecoming King with the slogan, "Don’t vote for a jock, vote for A. Dick." After graduation, Dick briefly attended a local college before abandoning school work for the Chicago comedy scene. He studied improv under Del Close and performed at Chicago’s celebrated Second City and the ImprovOlympics while appearing in various commercials. By his early twenties, Dick was doing standup or improv every night of the week, but still worked various day jobs to support his then-wife, Ivonne, and their young son. Dick labored as a delivery guy, a waiter, and as a tour guide before leaving Chicago for Los Angeles in 1988. The move was not an immediate success: Dick’s agent dropped him upon arrival, and the comedian could not find a new one. He and Ivonne divorced a year later.

Dick continued to perform at coffee houses and open-mike nights when Ben Stiller (whom he met in Chicago) tapped him to appear in the short film Elvis Stories (1989). Three years later, Stiller gave Dick his big break on Fox’s The Ben Stiller Show. Performing opposite the likes of Stiller, Janeane Garofalo, and Bob Odenkirk, Dick created the memorable characters Manson Lassie and Skank the sock puppet for the Emmy-winning, but short-lived, sketch comedy program. Dick went on to guest-host Talk Soup and appear on The Nanny, before making a cameo in Stiller’s first feature film, Reality Bites (1994), and stealing the Pauly Shore vehicle In the Army Now (1994) from its star. In the meantime, Dick met artist Lena Sved, with whom he had a son and daughter. In 1995, Dick played the son of agents 86 and 99 on Fox’s doomed remake of Get Smart. That same year he had much better luck as the naive, bewildered cub reporter Matthew Brock on NBC’s NewsRadio. The sitcom was a critical smash, making Dick a tabloid favorite. He instantly made headlines for his frequent drinking and marijuana use, as well as his unique living arrangement: Dick, Sved, and their two children shared a house with Dick’s first wife, Ivonne, their son, and her boyfriend. Dick’s attempt to go straight was foiled when his Alcoholic Anonymous sponsor and friend since his Chicago days, comedian Chris Farley, died of a drug overdose in December 1997.

During breaks from NewsRadio, he appeared in the independent Bongwater (1998) and opposite Stiller in Permanent Midnight (1998), as well as lent his voice to the villain Nuka in The Lion King II: Simba’s Pride (1998). Then, after a painful drugged-out phone call to The Howard Stern Show during which he discussed his narcotics addiction and disclosed his bisexuality, Dick checked himself into a rehab center. Shortly after his release, Dick’s NewsRadio costar and surrogate father Phil Hartman was killed by his wife in a murder-suicide. A year later, Dick’s mentor and friend Del Close also passed away. The next day, at the U.S. Comedy Arts Festival in Aspen, CO, the obviously inebriated Dick shocked audiences during a reunion of The Ben Stiller Show by accosting Stiller and Garofalo. A couple of weeks later, he went bar hopping in Vegas with actor David Strickland, who tragically killed himself later the same night. NBC canceled NewsRadio, which could not recover from the death of Phil Hartman. On the heels of the show’s last episode, Dick crashed his car into a Hollywood streetlight and then fled the scene, which was filled with drug paraphernalia. He spent the night in jail before being sentenced to weeks of rehab. Dick emerged later that year with an awe-inspiring comeback.

He guest starred as David Spade’s romantic rival on Just Shoot Me and appeared as himself in Being John Malkovich (1999). He toured with his rock opera, Andy Dick’s Circus of Freaks, and recorded voices for the cartoons Hey Arnold!, Dilbert, and King of the Hill. Dick appeared in several independent pictures and filmed memorable cameos in Road Trip (2000), Loser (2000), and Dude, Where’s My Car? (2000). He also reunited with NewsRadio alum Maura Tierney for Spade’s prime-time animated series Sammy, before headlining the Family Channel Christmas movie Special Delivery (2000). Tierney then tapped him to appear in her husband Billy Morrissette’s directorial debut, Scotland, PA (2001). Dick’s biggest coup came in 2001, when MTV let him write, direct, and star in The Andy Dick Show. With such characters as Daphne Aguilera (Christina’s mother’s friend who lives on the same block) and Zitty McGee (an acne-infested supermodel wannabe), the series became one of the network’s highest-rated shows and attracted scores of celebrity guest stars. Rolling Stone dubbed The Andy Dick Show "the funniest thing on TV" and gushed over the first installment of its 2002 season, which opened with an E! True Hollywood Story-like parody of Dick’s life entitled, "The Little Angel Clown Who…That Cries." Never complacent, the drug-free, alcohol-free Dick followed up his show’s success with roles opposite Luke Wilson and Will Ferrell in Old School (2003) and on television in Less Than Perfect. ~ Aubry Anne D’Arminio, All Movie Guide

  

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Anthony Perkins (April 4, 1932 – September 12, 1992) was an American actor best known for his role as the maniacal murderer, Norman Bates, in Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho. He was the son of American stage and film actor Osgood Perkins (James Ripley Osgood Perkins, 1891-1937) and his wife, Janet.

Perkins’s first movie was The Actress (1953); he received an Academy Award nomination for his role in his second film, Friendly Persuasion (1956).

After other acclaimed performances both in film and on Broadway, he starred in the 1960 film Psycho, which led to his being typecast as the crazy killer (Lovin’ Molly notwithstanding).

He went on to star in (and even direct) the sequels and prequel to Psycho and also played a few memorable characters, such as the chaplain in Catch-22 (1970), but most of his later work was made-for-TV movies or films made outside the USA.

Personal life
He was bisexual, having had affairs with a number of men, including 1960s film star Tab Hunter, writer-model-actor Alan Helms , dancer Rudolf Nureyev, and dancer-choreographer Grover Dale , with whom Perkins had a six-year relationship prior to his marriage to Berry Berenson. Dale married actress Anita Morris only 10 days before the Perkins-Berenson nuptials (Dale and Morris’s son is television actor James Badge Dale).

Perkins died in 1992 of complications from AIDS.

His son, Osgood Perkins, credited as Oz Perkins , is also an actor.

One day before the ninth anniversary of his death, his widow, Berry Berenson, died on American Airlines Flight 11, the flight that was hijacked and crashed into the North Tower of the World Trade Center during the September 11, 2001 Terrorist Attacks.

  

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Kutcher was born and raised in Homestead, Iowa, where he lived on a farm with his parents, older sister and twin brother. To finance the cost of his education as a biochemical engineer at the University of Iowa, Ashton worked his way through school as a cereal dust sweeper at the General Mills plant in Cedar Rapids. When he was in college, he was discovered by a modeling scout, who encouraged him to enter a modeling contest. He won and not long after, he was living in New York, modeling for Calvin Klein. He then pursued his interest in acting. In no time he was doing the grand circuit — Paris and Milan — and strutting for big names like Calvin Klein, Tommy Hilfiger and Versace. But Kutcher always had his eyes aimed at another city: L.A.

In 1998, he auditioned for two upcoming TV shows: Wind on Water and That ’70s Show. Amazed that he was offered major roles in both, Ashton struggled to choose one. He finally went with Kelso, a decision he certainly celebrated when Wind on Water was canceled shortly after its premiere. That ’70s Show, on the other hand, became a Nielsen hit. While he was becoming a star to look out for on TV, Kutcher started small on the big screen, with roles opposite James Van Der Beek and Dylan McDermott in “Texas Rangers,” which followed his memorable starring turn in the hit comedy, “Dude, Where’s My Car?” with Sean William Scott. Also co-starred with Brittany Murphy in Just Married (2003). A self-described workaholic, he starred in and co-produced My Boss’s Daughter, with Tara Reid as his love interest.

Most recently, he was seen as Jim Morrison in “Down to You (2000)” starring Freddie Prinze Jr. and Julia Stiles. He had a cameo in “Reindeer Games (2000)” starring Ben Affleck and Gary Sinise, directed by John Frankenheimer, and he also appears in the independent feature “Coming Soon” opposite Gaby Hoffman. After a bit part in 2003’s holiday comedy remake, Cheaper by the Dozen, Ashton co-starred with Amy Smart in the hit 2004 thriller, The Butterfly Effect, for which he also served as executive producer. In 2005, you can catch him in A Lot Like Love and The Dinner Party (which he is also producing), and he is set to lend his voice to the animated feature Open Season, to be released in 2006. And if that’s not enough, he hosts and produces MTV’s Punk’d, which has carried his name even farther.

  

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Adam Sandler grew up in Manchester, New Hampshire and attended Central High School. At 17, he took his first step toward becoming a stand-up comedian when he spontaneously took the stage at a Boston comedy club. Sandler attended New York University where he graduated with a bachelor of fine arts degree in 1991. During his freshman year, he secured a recurring role as Theo Huxtable’s friend Smitty on "The Cosby Show." He was “discovered” by Dennis Miller, a Saturday Night Live alum. Miller helped Sandler secure a spot on the show in 1990, primarily as a writer, but also as a performer.

In 1993, Sandler released his first album of comedy material, called "They’re All Gonna Laugh At You!" The Grammy-nominated album was on Billboard’s charts for well over 100 weeks.

This period was also marked by Sandler’s early dabbing in films including "Shakes the Clown", "Coneheads", "Mixed Nuts" and "Airheads". He next starred in "Billy Madison," the story of a rich kid who has to repeat grades one through 12 in six months in order to earn his inheritance. Sandler’s “Hanukkah Song” became a surprise hit on the radio. The song appeared on Sandler’s second album, "What the Hell Happened to Me?", which hit stores in 1996.

Also in 1996, Sandler appeared in the golfing comedy "Happy Gilmore" and "Bulletproof", in which he co-starred with Damon Wayons.

In 1997, he released the CD "What’s your Name?"

In 1998, Sandler experienced box-office success in "The Wedding Singer," in which he appeared opposite Drew Barrymore, and "The Waterboy," which grossed over $39 million its opening weekend. His next release, "Big Daddy," extended the winning streak, beating out the competition its first weekend out at the box office with an estimated $41 million in revenue.

In 2002 Adam starred with Winona Ryder in "Mr. Deeds," an animated movie about Chanukah called "8 Crazy Nights," and "Punch-Drunk Love".

In 2003, he appeared with Jack Nicholson in "Anger Management."

In 2004, he once again teamed up with Drew Barrymore for "50 First Dates."

  

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Birth Name : Adrien Brody
Date of birth : 14 April 1973
Location : New York, USA

A perfect example of an actor who has been hovering on the brink of stardom for far too long, Adrien Brody has become all too familiar with the slings and arrows of outrageous PR. With an undeniable talent and looks that recall a young and hungry Al Pacino, Brody has long seemed a candidate for the role of one of the leading actors of his generation. With his appearance in two high-profile movies, Terrence Malick’s The Thin Red Line and Spike Lee’s Summer of Sam, Brody has once again found himself on the verge of stardom, a place he has visited many times before.

Born and raised in New York City, Brody knew he wanted to be a performer from a young age. He got his first taste of acting when he was 12 years old, performing as a magician at children’s parties. With the encouragement of his photographer mother, he enrolled in acting classes, attending both the American Academy of Dramatic Arts and the High School for the Performing Arts. He found work in off-Broadway productions and made his television debut in the 1988 PBS movie Home at Last.

After his debut and some minor TV work, Brody went back to school and attended a year of college before being cast in Steven Soderbergh’s 1993 drama King of the Hill. The film, which cast Brody as the lead character’s delinquent mentor, met with wide critical acclaim and presented the actor with new opportunities. He won roles in several films, including 1994’s Angels in the Outfield and 1997’s The Last Time I Committed Suicide, which co-starred Keanu Reeves and the then-unknown actresses Gretchen Mol and Claire Forlani.

  

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Alan Hale was born in Tachikawa, Japan, in 1958 but moved with his family later that year to Alamogordo, New Mexico, where he spent the remainder of his childhood years. After graduation from Alamogordo High School in 1976 he attended the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, where he graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Physics in 1980.

After assignments at duty stations in San Diego and Long Beach, California, he left the Navy in 1983 and began working at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, as an engineering contractor for the Deep Space Network. While at JPL he was involved with several spacecraft projects, most notably the Voyager 2 encounter with the planet Uranus in 1986.

Following the Uranus encounter Alan Hale left JPL and returned to New Mexico, enrolling in the Astronomy department at New Mexico State University in Las Cruces. He earned his Master’s Degree in 1989 and his Ph.D. in 1992 with a thesis entitled "Orbital Coplanarity in Solar-Type Binary Systems: Implications for Planetary System Formation and Detection" (which was published in the January 1994 issue of the Astronomical Journal). Upon earning his doctorate he initially worked at The Space Center (now the New Mexico Museum of Space History) in Alamogordo, New Mexico as its Staff Astronomer and Outreach Education Coordinator, and in 1993 he founded the Southwest Institute for Space Research.

Alan Hale’s research interests include the search for planets beyond the solar system, including those which might have favorable environments for life; stars like the sun; minor bodies in the solar system, especially comets and near-Earth asteroids; and advocacy of spaceflight. He is primarily known for his work with comets, which has included his discovery of Comet Hale-Bopp in 1995 and his participation in the International HalleyWatch during the return of Halley’s Comet in 1986. In one of his more recent projects he has led two delegations of American scientists, students, and educators to Iran to engage in person-to-person science diplomacy with the Iranian people, the first to collect observations of the August 11, 1999 total solar eclipse and the second in July 2000 to participate in an international astronomical conference in Esfahan.

  

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Dark, lanky, and sad-eyed, Alfred Molina is one of Britain’s most versatile and woefully underappreciated actors. Featured in a series of films whose only common denominator is their wide diversity, Molina has been cast in films of almost every conceivable genre, a testament to both his great adaptability and apparent willingness to try almost anything.

The son of a Spanish waiter and an Italian housekeeper, Molina was born in London on May 24, 1953. Educated at London’s Guildhall School of Music and Drama, he began his career as one half of a street-corner comedy team before earning professional credibility as a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company. He made his first memorable film appearance in Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), playing the devious South American guide who leaves Harrison Ford for dead in an ancient temple before meeting his own end courtesy of a particularly nasty booby trap.

Molina’s next film of note was Stephen Frears’ Prick up Your Ears (1987); based upon the life of playwright Joe Orton (played in the film by Gary Oldman), it cast Molina as Kenneth Halliwell, Orton’s lover and eventual murderer. Practically unrecognizable as the bald, severely unhinged Halliwell, the actor was at once terrifying and pathetic, earning a number of positive notices for his performance. He gave a similarly disturbing performance in Not Without My Daughter (1990), playing the tyrannical Iranian husband of an American woman (Sally Field).

  

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Born in Havana, Cuba, Garcia’s family fled in exile to Miami Beach, Florida as a result of Fidel Castro’s takeover of his homeland at the age of five. As a youth, he performed in community theatre productions and variety shows. Garcia attended Florida International University as a theater major. He performed in regional theater productions in the Miami area before moving to Los Angeles to pursue a film career in the late 1970s. His first break came as a gang member on the very first episode of the popular TV series Hill Street Blues. His film acting debut came in 1983 in Blue Skies Again, but he really caught the critics attention three years later as a drug dealer in 8 Million Ways to Die. Brian De Palma’s The Untouchables brought Andy his major break. From then on he has never looked back.

Garcia’s most recent film credits include Lions Gate Films’ Confidence and Warner Bros.’ Ocean’s Eleven. He wrapped, production last fall on the independent feature The Lazarus Child, starring with Angela Bassett and Frances O’Connor, and also completed Modigliani, another independent in which he portrays painter and sculptor Amedeo Modigliani, which he also produced in association with Philippe. Andy Garcia has established himself as one of today’s most talented and versatile actors. Because he has worked so successfully with many of the industry’s most respected and celebrated directors, he has become known as a director’s actor. He has also established himself as a producer, composer/musician and humanitarian – and as a director in his own right. He formed his own production company, CineSon Productions, in 1991. Garcia starred in the independent films The Unsaid and The Man From Elysian Fields (released by IDP), both of which he also produced. He is currently developing his directorial debut The Lost City, which was written by Guillermo Cabrera Infante:

  

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Anthony Head was born on the 20th of February, 1954, in Camden, North London, England, to actress Helen Shingler, who is best known for her role as Madame Maigret in the BBC television series "Maigret", and Seafield Head, documentary producer who created the British production company known as Verity Films. He and his elder brother, Murray – also an accomplished actor and musician – grew up in Hampton. Anthony currently lives near Bath with his partner Sarah and their two daughters. Anthony and Sarah met at the National Theatre in England. He was performing in ‘Danton’s Death.’ Tony recalls, "I was doing a play called Danton’s Death and for the last entrance I had to come on as a soldier taking traitors to the guillotine. I’d wait in a corridor at the back with my musket, and one day this beautiful lady walked past carrying a pint of beer for some guy front of house. I got there earlier and earlier in the hope I’d see her again. Eventually, we’d sit and chat before I’d have to go on for a beheading." They have been together ever since.

Originally planning a career in music, Anthony attended the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts. His first break came when he played Jesus in Godspell in London’s West End. Anthony has continued to combine his musical and acting talents with a variety of stage roles such as Frank N Furter in the Rocky Horror Show and Freddie Trumper in Chess. Anthony released a CD of his own compositions in 2001, entitled ‘Music for Elevators’.

Roles in television shows such as Howard’s Way and Secret Army were well received, but it was the will they/won’t they romance played out in the series of commercials for Gold Blend coffee that brought Anthony into the public eye.

  

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The present Chief Minister of Delhi, Sheila Dixit was born on March 31, 1938., in the Kapurthala district of Punjab. She did her initial studies at the Convent of Jesus and Mary in Delhi and completed her college education from Miranda House. After completing her post graduation from Delhi University she married Vinod Dixit, an Indian Administrative Service official who belonged to a political family.

In 1984, she contested the Lok Sabha elections from the Kamraj constituency in Uttar Pradesh which she won. Instantly, she became the Parliamentary Affairs Minister in Rajiv Gandhi’s Cabinet. Later she was appointed the Chief of Delhi Congress. In the next election, she comprehensively defeated Kirti Azad from Gole Market, Delhi assembly constituency. Her win led her to become the sixth Chief Minister of Delhi. Her priority has always been to reach out to the poor and needy and ensure that the Congress values of tolerance, secularism and development are implemented at the administrative level.

  

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Akash Chopra (born September 19, 1977) is an Indian cricketer, an opener to be more precise. He is known more for his solid technique and defence than for his flamboyant stroke-play.

He is an opener in his state team, Delhi. In recent times he has given many a solid partnerships, along with Virender Sehwag. Although his contributions have not been with high scoring innings, the time that he occupies the crease has been absolutely vital, as has been the confidence and ability which he brings to the partnerships. Chopra’s international career started well enough, scoring two half-centuries against New Zealand during 2003/04.

His career average has gradually decreased in the year since then, from 46.25 to only 23. As a result, he has been dropped from the Indian side. Due to his low scoring rate, he has not been considered for one-day internationals.

  

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Hemang Badani (born 14 November 1976) is an Indian cricketer. He has a good batting average of the near 30s and strike rate in the 70s in the shorter form of the game, One Day International.

Hemang Badani was born in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India.

  

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Mohammad Azharuddin (born 8 February 1963, Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh) is a former Indian cricketer.

MOHAMMAD AZHARUDDIN is one of the greatest names associated with Indian and World Cricket. This stylish batsman from Hyderabad made his Test Debut against England at the Eden Gardens at Kolkata on 31st December 1984.

Both the teams had won a Match each in the 5 Test Match Series. India had won the opener in Bombay, where as England defeated India convincingly at the Ferozshah Kotla in Delhi. Both teams met at the Eden Gardens at Kolkata for the 3rd Test. Mohammad Azharuddin replaced Sandeep Patil who was dropped from the team after their defeat in Delhi. Indian skipper Sunil Gavaskar won the toss, and elected to bat first, on a wicket which did give some assistance to the quickies. The Indian pair of Gaekwad and Gavaskar started off carefully against the likes of the right arm fast bowler Norman Cowans and slow left arm orthodox Phil Edmonds. Indians lost 2 quick wickets at 35/2, which went on to become 126/3 as Gaekwad, Gavaskar and Amarnath got out.

Then came in the debutant Mohammad Azharuddin with India at 126/3. Soon Ravi Shastri joined him and India ended Day-1 at 168/4, with Azhar and Shastri at the crease. Only 8 runs were added on Day-2 as torrential rains abandoned play with India ending at 176/4. India started off well on Day-3 as the duo of Azhar and Shastri dominated the English bowlers to all parts of the Eden Gardens. Azharuddin under the guidance of the experienced Shastri went on to make a magnificent century on DEBUT. His innings comprised of 10 beautiful boundaries, with wristy flicks being the main ingredient of his Innings. He along with Shastri dismantled the English bowlers in a 214 run-stand. Azhar was finally dismissed for a wonderful innings of 110 as he made his entry into the record books.

Azhar carried on with his magnificent form in the 4th Test at Chennai where he again scored a wonderful century in the 2nd Innings of the Match, as he smacked 18 boundaries all over Chidambram Stadium. There was no full-stop to this flamboyant batsman, as he went on to make another century at Green Park at Kanpur (His 3rd consecutive century) in the 5th and Final Test of the Series. He went on to make 122 with 16 cracking fours of his bat. The Series ended in England’s favour with a 2-1 victory for them, but it would be remembered for the entry of one of the finest and most stylish batsman in the history of World Cricket – Mohammad Azharuddin.

He became the 1st person in the history of Test Cricket to score 3 consecutive centuries on debut. His Debut match did end in a draw, thanks to poor weather, but his wonderful century comprising of some “mind blowing” strokes on debut earns him a place in the “Cricketfundas.com’s” GOLDEN DEBUTS.

  

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Surinder Amarnath Bhardwaj (b. December 30 1948 in Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh) was an Indian Test and one-day international cricketer.

Amarnath was an aggressive left-handed batsman who performed extremely well at Indian domestic level but was largely unable to cement a regular place in the Indian national team. He played only 10 Tests and 3 ODIs for his country.

Indian cricket writer Partab Ramchand wrote “[Amarnath] was given a raw deal by the [national team] selectors”. On his batting ability, “[he was] an aggressive batsman, [a] bit flashy but when in full flow he was a treat to watch and could decimate even the best of attacks.” He scored a century on his Test debut against New Zealand in January 1976.

Making his first-class cricket debut as a fifteen year old in a career that spanned from 1963 to 1985, Amarnath scored 8175 runs at the impressive batting average of 40.47.

His father Lala and brother Mohinder also represented India at Test level.

  

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Ladhabhai Nakum Amar Singh (b. December 4, 1910 in Rajkot, Gujarat – d. May 21 1940 in Jamnagar, Gujarat) was an Indian Test cricketer.

A right-arm fast-medium bowler and effective lower-order batsman, Amar Singh played in seven Tests for India before World War II. He took 28 wickets in these matches.

Amar Singh played first-class cricket over a nine year period; in 92 first-class matches he took 508 wickets at the outstanding bowling average of 18.35. He also scored five centuries as a batsman.

He died of pneumonia in 1940.

  

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Ajit Bhalchandra Agarkar (born December 4, 1977) is an Indian cricketer. When he arrived in the Indian team, he was viewed by some as a replacement for Kapil Dev. Early in his career, Agarkar set a world record for the fastest 50 wickets in One Day International matches (ODIs). He has scored a Test century at Lords.

Since then, he has lost consistency with bat and ball, especially in test matches, so it could be said that he has failed to live up to expectations.

  

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Najeeb Aamer (born September 25, 1971 in Dera Ghazi Khan, Punjab, Pakistan) is a Hong Kong cricketer.

Although born in Pakistan, Najeeb made his one-day international debut for Hong Kong in the 2004 Asia Cup in Sri Lanka. As at May 2005 he had played two one-day internationals for Hong Kong, both in the Asia Cup, and is unlikely to add to this total during his playing career.

Najeeb is a left-arm orthodox spin bowler and lower-order left-handed batsman. He had previously represented the Water and Power Development Authority in the Pakistan local one-day competition.

Teams

International
Hong Kong (current)

Pakistani local
Water and Power Development Authority

Career bests

One-day internationals

ODI Debut: vs Bangladesh, Colombo, 2004 Asia Cup
Last ODI: vs Pakistan, Colombo, 2004 Asia Cup
His best ODI batting score of 4 was made against Pakistan, Colombo, 2004 Asia Cup
His best ODI bowling figures of 1 for 38 came against Bangladesh, Colombo, 2004 Asia Cup

List A Limited Overs

His best List A batting score was 24
His best List A bowling figures were 1 for 24

  

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Robert “Bob” Elliott Storey Wyatt (2 May 1901, Milford Heath House, Surrey, England – 20 April 1995, Truro, Cornwall) was an English cricket player. He played for Warwickshire, Worcestershire, and the English cricket team. A determined batsman and handy medium pace bowler, Wyatt made his first-class cricket debut in 1923. He played his first Test match against South Africa in Johannesburg in 1927. He was appointed captain for England’s last Test against the dominant Australian touring team in 1930, but lost the role to Douglas Jardine for the next few years. Nevertheless, he was named a Wisden Cricketer of the Year for 1930.

Serving as Jardine’s vice-captain on the 1932-33 tour of Australia, Wyatt was in charge of an early tour match that Jardine sat out of, and became the first captain to employ the controversial Bodyline tactic against the Australian team. After Jardine resigned following the political and administrative fallout caused by Bodyline, Wyatt was made captain again, and led England a further 15 times.

Wyatt was noted for sustaining several injuries during his career. Most famously, a ball bowled by West Indian bowler Manny Martindale hit him in the jaw during a match in Jamaica in 1935. He was carried unconscious from the field with his jaw broken in four places. When he regained consciousness in the dressing room, his first action was to signal for a pencil and paper – when these were supplied he wrote down an amended batting order for his team.

He played his last Test against Australia in Melbourne in 1937. He continued with a vigorous career in County cricket on both sides of World War II (in which he served in the Royal Air Force), playing his last first-class game in 1957, aged 56.

He lived to be 93 years old, and was England’s oldest living Test cricketer before his death. He has a stand named after him at Warwickshire’s home ground of Edgbaston.

Wyatt played 40 Tests for England, scoring 1,839 at an average of 31.70, and taking 18 wickets at an average of 35.66. In his first-class career he played 739 matches, scoring 39,405 runs at an average of 40.04, and taking 901 wickets at an average of 32.84.

  

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Bill Voce (8 August 1909, Annesley Woodhouse, Nottinghamshire, England – 6 June 1984, Lenton, Nottinghamshire) was an English cricket player. He played for the Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club and the English cricket team, and was an instrumental part of England’s infamous Bodyline tour of Australia in 1932-1933.

Voce was a left-arm fast bowler from a working class background in the coal-mining districts around Nottingham. His first-class cricket career began in 1927 with Nottinghamshire. In 1929 he was selected for the English tour of the West Indies and made his Test debut in the first Test at Bridgetown, Barbados, on 11 January, 1930.

Following Australia’s tour of England in the summer of 1930, when Don Bradman scored freely against the English bowling, Voce was part of a meeting convened between future English captain Douglas Jardine and Nottinghamshire captain Arthur Carr to come up with a tactic to defeat Bradman and the Australians. Voce and his fellow Nottinghamshire fast bowler Harold Larwood agreed to a suggestion by Jardine that bowling fast rising balls into the batsmen’s bodies, with several catching fielders on the leg side would be an effective tactic. Over the next two years, Voce and Larwood practised this modified form of leg theory for Nottinghamshire, causing severe problems for opposing batsmen.

For the 1932-1933 English tour of Australia, Larwood and Voce were both named in the side to be captained by Jardine. The bowlers implemented Jardine’s tactic, bowling fast and short at the Australian batsmen, with Voce inflicting several bruising injuries. The Australian media dubbed the tactic Bodyline. This resulted in severe ill-feeling between the cricket teams, and the countries. (See Bodyline for details.)

Following the Bodyline series, Voce negotiated the minefield of political fallout within English cricket and continued playing for England both before and after the hiatus enforced by World War II. He was named a Wisden Cricketer of the Year for 1933. He played his last Test match against Australia at Melbourne in 1947. Right up to his death in 1984, Voce was reluctant to discuss the Bodyline series.

Voce played 27 Test matches, scoring 308 runs at an average of 13.39, and taking 98 wickets at an average of 27.88.

  

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Michael Paul Vaughan (born October 29, 1974, Manchester) is an English cricketer, and captain of the England cricket team. He plays county cricket for Yorkshire.

A stylish batsman and occasional off spinner, Vaughan first played his first Test match cricket for England in South Africa in November 1999, with England in the parlous state of four wickets down for two runs. He soon demonstrated his maturity and flair as a batsman, particularly his trade-mark cover drive. Easy comparisons were drawn with Michael Atherton, as both are obdurate batsmen from Manchester, but Vaughan’s batting has an extra degree of freedom.

In December 2001, in Bangalore, Vaughan became the second Englishman, after Graham Gooch, and the 8th and most recent player in Test match history, to be given out handled the ball in Tests. In 2002, Vaughan scored 900 runs in seven Tests against Sri Lanka and India, before becoming the first visiting batsman for 32 years to score over 600 runs in a Test match series in Australia. In total, he scored 1,481 Test runs in 2002, the third highest for a calendar year in Test history (trailing Viv Richards’ 1,710 in 1976 and Ricky Ponting’s 1503 in 2003).

Vaughan was appointed captain of the England one-day side in 2003, and became captain of the England Test cricket team following the resignation of Nasser Hussain after England had narrowly clung on for a draw in the first Test against South Africa in 2003. England promptly lost his first Test in charge by an innings and 215 runs, but went on to level the series 2-2.

In July, 2004, in the first Test against the West Indies, Vaughan became the eighth England player to score a century in each innings of a Test match (and the third player to do so at Lord’s, the other two being Graham Gooch and George Headley).

As of 25 January 2005, Vaughan has led England to 15 victories in 24 Test matches, drawing five and losing only four. This included a winning streak of eight consecutive matches in 2004 (a record for England), as well as series wins against Bangladesh, the West Indies (at home and away), New Zealand and South Africa.

  

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Philip Clive Roderick Tufnell (born April 29, 1966 in Barnet, Hertfordshire) is an English cricketer and television personality.

As a slow left-arm orthodox spin bowler he played 42 Tests and 20 One-day Internationals for England between 1990 and 2001, and 316 first-class matches, mainly for Middlesex.

Tufnell was occasionally inspired with the ball, taking 11-93 against Australia at the Oval in 1997, but he took his 121 Test wickets with a bowling average of 37.68 across his whole Test career. It is said that Tufnell opened both the bowling and batting for his club side, however, it is assumed that he developed his bowling far more, since his batting at international level was truly atrocious. His fielding was also renowned for being ordinary. Tufnell was accused of smoking cannabis while on tour with England, and has had a stormy personal life, being twice divorced, and once fined for assaulting a girlfriend. He was nicknamed “The Cat” due to his propensity to be found sleeping in the dressing room.

Tufnell retired from professional cricket before the 2003 season in order to participate in the “reality television” show I’m a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here! and is now a team captain on the sports quiz show They Think It’s All Over.

  

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Marcus Edward Trescothick (born in Keynsham, Somerset on 25 December 1975) is an English cricketer who plays Test cricket for the England cricket team and County cricket for Somerset County Cricket Club.

After an exceptional run-accumulation record at school level followed by a relatively disappointing early first-class cricket career as an opening batsman, Trescothick impressed Duncan Fletcher in a county match at Taunton against Glamorgan (when Fletcher was the Glamorgan coach) when he scored 167 (including five sixes) when the next-best score was 50. Fletcher became the first foreigner to coach England in 1999, and, when he needed an opening batsman in 2000, he called on Trescothick. Trescothick immediately demonstrated devastating strokeplay with a calm head, a good combination with the more solid play of Michael Atherton.

Trescothick has since displayed a tendency to give his wicket away when seemingly well set, contributing only a quick cameo of 30 or so runs. His form dipped in the 2003/4 tours to Sri Lanka and West Indies, and the stellar debut of Andrew Strauss in 2004 overshadowed Trescothick to some extent. However, the England selectors were patient and, on 1 August 2004, playing against West Indies, Trescothick became the first player to make centuries in both innings in a Test match at Edgbaston (and the ninth England player to score a century in each innings of a Test match). On 28 December 2004, in the second innings of the second Test against South Africa at Durban, Trescothick scored 132 runs in an opening parthership of 273 with Strauss, a record opening partnership at Durban and England’s first 200 opening stand since Graham Gooch and Atherton against Australia in 1991. He is also a very occasional bowler and stand-in wicketkeeper.

Trescothick is also England’s Vice-Captain, having been appointed to the role after Michael Vaughan became captain of the side (indeed, Trescothick was Vaughan’s main rival for the captaincy). When Vaughan was injured during the preparations for 2004’s First Test against New Zealand and left to play in the match itself, Trescothick took over the captaincy for that match. England were victorious meaning that Trescothick, for now, has a 100% success rate as a Test Match captain. He relinquished the role for the Second Test when Vaughan returned to the side.

He has also captained England in one-day international and representative matches when Vaughan has not played.

In 2005, he was named as one of five cricketers of the year by Wisden Cricketer’s Almanack, and in June of that year scored exactly 100 not out against Bangladesh in his hundredth one-day international; this was his ninth ODI hundred, passing Gooch’s previous England record of eight.

  

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Graham Paul Thorpe (born August 1, 1969 in Farnham, Surrey) is an English cricketer who plays for Surrey County Cricket Club and England.

A left-handed batsman, Thorpe made a century (114 not out) in the second innings of his debut Test match, against Australia at Trent Bridge in 1993. Developing into a very highly-regarded player, he was named as one of the Wisden Cricketers of the Year in 1998.

In the 2002 season, Thorpe had well-publicised marital difficulties which seriously affected his play and his focus on the game. Seemingly disillusioned with constant touring away from his family, he announced his retirement from the one-day game and changed his mind several times on whether to tour Australia, eventually pulling out of the tour entirely. However, in 2003 a rested Thorpe, with family problems behind him, returned to the England team in the fifth Test against against South Africa at his home ground of the Oval, where he was welcomed with a standing ovation. Thorpe scored a century, and has remained in the side since, playing his 100th Test against Bangladesh in June 2005. He is due to play for New South Wales in 2005/6.

  

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Herbert Sutcliffe (born November 24, 1894, Summerbridge, Harrogate, Yorkshire, England; died January 22, 1978, Cross Hills, Yorkshire, England) was arguably the greatest opening batsman in cricket history and undoubtedly one of the greatest players of any type the game has known. His Test batting average of 60.73 is the fourth highest of any player, and only Don Bradman’s is more than a fraction higher. Sutcliffe’s first-class career batting average of 51.95 (according to Wisden, though Cricinfo claim 52.02) is bettered among batsmen who finished their careers with over 30,000 runs only by Hammond.

In his brief prime from 1928 to 1932, Sutcliffe could in fact compare statistically with Bradman, and given his skill on treacherous pitches, one could argue his batting in this period to be the finest in cricket history.

His range of strokes was very limited for the time and primarily focused on leg-side play such as hooks and pulls, but Sutcliffe was able, owing to his simple but always effective footwork, to nullify the best bowling on a treacherous wicket with seeming ease. When he wanted, he could hit almost violently, as when he met spin on an exceeding treacherous pitch at Kettering with an innings of 113, including ten sixes (then a record in county cricket). Sutcliffe also possessed the most remarkable self-belief: he could believe that no bowler was capable of dismissing him (not unrealistic at times) and this gave him a remarkable capacity to fight in the most difficult conditions.

Rapid emergence

Though he had been earmarked for a career as an opening batsman by the outbreak of World War I, the war prevented Sutcliffe from beginning his career until 1919. In that season, Sutcliffe caused a sensation when he scored 1839 runs – still a record for a batsman in his debut season – for an average of 44.85. Even considering the weakness of English bowling after the war, this was an exceptional start and Sutcliffe was nominated as a Wisden Cricketer of the Year for 1920. Though this start earmarked him for a great career, the following two years were disappointing even though it was thought he played better than his figures suggested. In 1922, Sutcliffe rebounded to the promise of his first year, scoring 2020 runs including a superb 232 against Surrey in a critical county match at the Oval. It was this innings that had Sutcliffe seen as an England batsman for the first time.

Partnership with Jack Hobbs

The following year, though, in county cricket Sutcliffe did not do quite as well as in 1922, his superb batting with Jack Hobbs on an extremely treacherous wicket in the 1923 Test Trial saw Sutcliffe become a certainty for the following year’s Tests against South Africa. He did not disappoint: scoring 64 in his first innings, 122 in his second, he averaged 75.75 for five innings. That winter, Sutcliffe established himself as England’s leading batsman with an amazing aggregate of 734 runs in five Tests against Australia. In the second Test at the MCG he was on the field for all but an hour of a seven-day match.

During 1925 and 1926, Sutcliffe’s skill was a primary factor in Yorkshire having the longest unbeaten run in county cricket: am amazing seventy matches without loss until early 1927 – and, after three defeats in 1927, a further fifty-eight games without loss until 1929. The first four Tests of the 1926 Ashes series were all ruined by appalling weather, but at the Oval Hobbs’ and Sutcliffe’s amazing defence against vigorously kicking off-spin placed England in an impregnable position. The following year, Sutcliffe was (remarkably for a professional) offered the captaincy of Yorkshire, but in characteristic fashion he refused it and said “he would play under any captain”- which he did.

Incomparable Greatness

1927 was a routine year by the standards Sutcliffe had already attained, but the following year saw him embark on what, given the conditions he often faced, could be seen as the finest batting in the history of the game. During the five years 1928 to 1932, his batting figures read:
181 matches for 254 innings in which he was not out 36 times;
15529 runs
for a total average of 70.35.

In the Third Test of 1928/1929 Sutcliffe’s batting, on a wicket from which the ball would rise straight up even from a medium-pace bowler, reached a skill not even seen at the Oval three years earlier: he made 135 when England were expected to be all out for less than 100, and England won with much the worst of the pitch. In 1929 Sutcliffe hit four hundreds against South Africa, and the following year headed the first-class batting averages for (amazingly) the first time. In a summer of hot, thundery weather that produced some exceptionally bad pitches, Sutcliffe averaged 64.22 in all matches and 87.61 for four Tests (he missed the second due to injury and this probably cost England the Ashes).

All this, though, paled into insignificance compared with Sutcliffe’s form in the following two summers of dreadful weather and pitches favourable to slow bowling. Sutcliffe then seemed impossible to bowl to: despite his limited range of strokes, he was so full of determination that no bowler knew what to do against him. In 1931, he scored four centuries in consecutive innings and averaged an unbelievable 97 an innings in one of the worst summers on record, whilst the following year he became the second batsman after “Ranji”to score 1000 runs in two months. That year, he and Maurice Leyland hit Kenneth Farnes, one of the fastest bowlers of the 1930s, for 75 runs from four overs in one of the most remarkable displays of pulling and hooking. His batting, and the bowling of Bowes and Verity, allowed Yorkshire to win fifteen of their last sixteen games – all but four by an innings – and it seemed a question of “how far”when Sutcliffe toured Australia for the third time that winter.

Rapid Decline

Though Sutcliffe hit his highest Test score of 194 at the SCG that winter and averaged 73 for the tour, an amazing decline set in the following year in a summer where conditions were much more favourable to batsmen. From an average of 74.13 and 3336 runs Sutcliffe declined to an average of 47.04 and 2211 runs – his lowest in a dry summer since 1921. Moreover, he was a complete failure in the Tests against the West Indies, scoring only 41 runs in two innings.

Though a few times – at Kettering on a treacherous wicket, against Warwickshire with a superb double-hundred – we saw the incomparable Sutcliffe of previous years, in the main he was not the same batsman as before, and the cause of his decline remains unclear. Obvious explanations are the even more abrupt loss of form of his partner Percy Holmes, or the strain of so much cricket finally taking toll on Sutcliffe’s physical strength. Whilst both seem plausible, neither seems sufficient explanation for previously so incomparable a player to become comparatively ineffective.

Back to earth

In 1934, Sutcliffe scarcely improved upon his record of 1933 in county matches, but in four Tests, whilst obviously suffering from having to stand comparison with himself, his 304 runs at an average of 50.66 showed him still of Test quality. His inability to play a very long innings, though, suggested his body was suffering the strain of years of continuous cricket. This may explain why, despite top-scoring with 38 on a very difficult pitch (due to the infamous “leatherjackets”attacking the grass) at Lord’s against South Africa in 1935, he was never picked for a Test match again. Yet, despite the new lbw rule – which Sutcliffe was to remain a vigorous opponent of all his life – making life more difficult for batsmen even in another dry summer, Sutcliffe finished second in the first-class averages and looked as if he were recovering some of his once-incomparable form.

Last years

In 1936, it was clear that Sutcliffe’s days were numbered, for, despite a brilliant innings at Scarborough against Middlesex, his aggregate of runs was the lowest for fifteen years and his average fell to 33.30. With the emergence of Leonard Hutton (who was now his partner for Yorkshire) England’s opening batting problems since his decline in 1933 were largely solved and Sutcliffe’s representative career was over. However, in county cricket he showed no further declines in form, and in 1939 – the last season before World War II halted county cricket for six years – he actually averaged 54.46 and his six centuries.

However, during that season Sutcliffe’s health broke down so badly that he had to stand out of nine of Yorkshire’s matches. This makes it doubtful that he could have continued playing for much longer had the war not intervened. Though he played one match without success in 1945, there was never a question of him continuing to play at the age of fifty-one when county cricket resumed in 1946. In fact, Sutcliffe was plagued by ill-health for the rest of his life up to his death in 1978. During the 1950s he wrote several articles – mostly about the ill-effects of changes in the lbw rule in 1935 – in Wisden and for a time in the early 1960s he was a Test selector. With his health getting steadily worse, little was seen of the once incomparable batsman in his last days before his death in 1978.

His son William Herbert Hobbs Sutcliffe played for Cambridge University and Yorkshire between 1948 and 1957, captaining Yorkshire for the last three seasons of his career.

  

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Andrew John Strauss (born in Johannesburg, South Africa on 2 March 1977) is an English cricketer. Educated at Radley College and Durham University, he plays county cricket for Middlesex, and became captain in 2002 on the retirement of Angus Fraser.

Strauss made his One-day International debut for England in Dambulla, Sri Lanka on 18 November 2003. He made his Test match debut against New Zealand at Lord’s on 20 May 2004, scoring a century in his first innings and being named man of the match. He also scored a century and was named man of the match in his first overseas Test match, in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, in December 2004.

As an opening batsman, Strauss has shown calmness, authority, and good judgement of which balls to hit and which to leave. His fancy footwork helped England waltz to victory in his first eight Test matches. This winning streak is still a record for England, but remains a long way off Australia’s record 16 victories in a row, and Adam Gilchrist’s opening winning streak in his first 15 matches.

Centuries

Test debut

Strauss made 112 runs in the first innings on his Test match debut for England against New Zealand at Lord’s in May 2004. He was run out by Nasser Hussain for 83 in England’s second innings. Strauss was named man of the match.

He was the fifteenth English batsman to score a century on his Test debut and the fourth batsman to do so at Lord’s (the others being Henry Graham of Australia in 1893, John Hampshire of England in 1969, and Sourav Ganguly of India in 1993). The last English cricketer to score a century on Test debut before Strauss was Graham Thorpe (114 not out) in the second innings of the third Test against Australia at Trent Bridge in 1993. The previous English cricketer to score a century in the first innings on Test debut was John Hampshire (107) in the second Test against West Indies at Lord’s in 1969.

Strauss wasn’t in England’s original squad for the match, only being called into the squad when Michael Vaughan was injured during the preparations for the game. After England’s initial plan for replacing Vaughan (promoting Mark Butcher to open and adding Paul Collingwood to the side) fell through when Butcher declined to change his position, the selectors turned to Strauss, expecting him to be merely a stopgap replacement for Vaughan. However, his success in the match caused a dilemma for the selectors that was only solved when Nasser Hussain chose to retire from cricket after the match.

July 2004

In July 2004, he made exactly 100 runs in his first One-day International innings at Lord’s against the West Indies. This innings formed part of England’s highest ever ODI partnership (226 for the 4th wicket) with Andrew Flintoff. Strauss became only the fifth player to have scored his first Test and ODI hundreds on the same ground.

Later in July 2004, also playing against the West Indies, Strauss became the third player to make centuries in both of his first two Lord’s Tests (after Bill Brown in 1934 and 1938, and Dilip Vengsarkar in 1979, 1982 and 1986). Strauss scored 137 in England’s first innings, sharing a stand of 291 with Robert Key (a record 3rd wicket Test partnership for England against the West Indies and a record 3rd wicket Test partnership for England at Lord’s).

In South Africa, 2004-2005

In December 2004, playing against South Africa in Port Elizabeth, in his first overseas Test match, Strauss scored 126 in the first innings, and 94 not out in the second innings, and was again named man of the match. He was the seventh player to score a century in his first Tests at home and away (after Harry Graham, Ranjitsinhji, Lawrence Rowe, Kepler Wessels, Azhar Mahmood, and Michael Clarke earlier in 2004), and the first English player to score a Test century in the first innings of each of his first Tests at home and abroad (in the 1890s, Kumar Shri Ranjitsinhji scored a century in the second innings of his first home Test, and the first innings of his first overseas Test). Strauss also became the first player to score centuries in his first Test against the first three sides he played, but failed to extend this record in his first Test against Bangladesh at Lord’s on 26 May-30 May 2005.

In the second innings of the second Test, at Sahara Stadium Kingsmead, Durban, Strauss scored 136, including a partnership of 273 for the first wicket with Marcus Trescothick, and he scored a further 147 runs in the first innings of the fourth Test at Johannesburg, thus achieving his fourth and fifth Test centuries in only his ninth and eleventh matches.

Also on this tour, Strauss reached 1,000 Test runs in only his tenth Test match. (The English record is nine matches, set by Herbert Sutcliffe). With 656 runs in 5 matches, at an average of 72.88, he was selected as England’s man of the series.

  

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Brian Statham (John) (born June 17, 1930, Manchester; died June 10, 2000, Stockport, Cheshire) was one of the finest bowlers in the history of cricket. Initially a bowler of a brisk fast-medium pace, Statham was able to remodel his action to generate enough speed to become genuinely fast. This, together with unflagging accuracy and the ability to make the ball – new or old – break back, made Statham a consistent force both for Lancashire in the County Championship and in Test cricket, where his strikepower helped give England its strongest attack of the twentieth century during the 1950s. In all, he took 252 wickets in Test matches, a tally bettered only by Freddie Trueman at the time.

Statham was remarkably gentlemanly for a fast bowler and would almost never bowl a bouncer (and warn the batsmen beforehand if he did!), but his straight, full-length bowling could easily hit a batsman on the foot. Statham was also a brilliantly athletic out-fielder who was ideally suited to the one-day game when it emerged in the later part of his career.

Sudden Emergence

Statham played his earliest cricket for the Denton club near Manchester, along with three brothers. At the age of eighteen, he came to notice of the Lancashire officials who needed considerable reinforcement for their bowling attack, and he was offered an engagement a year later, which he accepted.

In his first year, Statham had relatively little bowling to do because of the underprepared pitches at Old Trafford. Nonetheless, two fine performances against Somerset and Yorkshire and several valuable early wickets in other innigs gave him an excellent average even though he only took 36 wickets in the County Championship. This placed him top of the average amongst bowlers of pace, but at the time he was seen as only a promising newcomer who might strengthen a department in which England had been deplorably weak ever since the resumption of first-class cricket after World War II. However, when England were depleted by injuries in Australia, Statham and teammate Roy Tattersall were surprisingly called into the team despite no previous representative experience. Though Statham did not achieve anything of note in his initial Test, by the time the 1951 season began he had made a meteoric rise.

Establishment

With Alec Bedser and the spinners doing most of the work against South Africa in 1951, Statham had to do very little in the Tests, but he only missed 100 first-class wickets due to injury and showed himself a formidable bowler on a pitch offering help. In India, his average was good, but the heat and humidity certainly seemed to take their toll upon his body and he did little in the Tests, with the result that he was not chosen for a Test match in 1952 even though he was gaining speed and straightness and was often extremely formidable despite conditions rarely favouring bowlers. In 1953, Statham was within a whisker of heading the first-class averages and bowled wonderfully on the most placid of pitches against Hampshire, but Bedser ensured he was not needed in the Ashes Tests.

It was against the West Indies in 1953/1954 that Statham’s determination saw him gain a regular Test spot. Excellent performances on placid pitches made him the leading bowler on either side with 16 wickets for 28.60 each, and in 1954 he was deadly when cricket was possible against Pakistan (injury kept him out of England’s shock loss at the Oval). Statham headed the first-class averages for the first of four occasions, though he only took 92 wickets, and was made a Cricketer of the Year by the 1955 Wisden.

Into His Prime

Selected to tour Australia in 1954/1955, Stham’s superb bowling, generally into the wind, helped the fiery “Typhoon” Tyson win England the Ashes series by three Tests to one, and against South Africa at Lord’s the following year Statham produced his finest-ever Test performance: he bowled unchanged for two hours on a good pitch and took 7 for 39 to give England an unexpected victory. Had injury not intervened, Statham would have had remarkable figures for Lancashire, but in 1956, with pitches consistently favouring spinners, Statham did so little that he failed to reach 100 wickets. Still, his 6 for 27 against the Australians was enough to show his greatness was not in doubt.

On some dubious pitches in South Africa that winter, and in the following two summers, England’s unparalleled spread of bowling talent again gave Statham little chance to show his ability, but in county cricket, even with no regular partner, Statham was still the most reliable bowler and almost never failed to produce some extraordinary analyses. In 1957 against Warwickshire at Edgbaston, he took 15 for 89; against Leicestershire at Old Trafford in 1958 13 for 64; and at Cardiff that year he and Tattersall bowled Glamorgan out for 26. His average of 12.29 that year was his best-ever but he was still only third in the first-class list due to the very helpful pitches.

Helped by Higgs to Incomparable Heights

With Ken Higgs providing the support Statham had been yearning for since he began, 1958 marked the beginning of Statham’s greatest period. Despite England’s “old guard” of May, Laker and Lock collapsing in the Australian tour of 1958/1959 and England losing four-nil, Statham bowled and beautifully as ever. his 7 for 57 at the MCG was seen as some of the best bowling ever seen at the ground and represents his best figures against Australia.

In the following two seasons, though pitches in England were covered after play began for the first time, Statham carried all before him both at county and Test level. So good was he that in 1960 his speed and accuracy gave him an average of 10.91 from 19 county matches, and in the Tests against the South Africans he was equally formidable: taking 11 for 97 at Lord’s and inflicting only the third “king pair” (out first ball in each innings) on “Tich” Wesley in the third match. The previous year, in an exceptionally dry summer, Statham’s consistency was shown by the fact that, with only one haul of six in an innings, he still took 97 wickets for 16.49 each despite missing seven games with a strain. By 1960, Higgs’ assistance, gave Lancashire so formidable an opening attack that until mid-August, they looked like winning the Championship. In many games, such as that against Gloucestershire at Bristol, they dominated proceedings in a way no other side could match. Against the West Indies in 1960/1961, Statham confirmed his position as the best bowler in the world with 27 wickets for 20 runs each on pitches offering bowlers very little.

Fading From the Heights

Despite a record benefit against the Australians and a few wonderful performances in 1961 (notably 8 for 47 against Hampshire), decline set in for the previously incomparable bowler. His haul of wickets fell from 97 at 10.91 to 78 at 17.93 and Lancashire became a weak county for the first time in Championship history. In 1962, though he was as good as ever in the Tests against Pakistan, with little support for him and Higgs, Statham fell further and only just reached 100 wickets. Lancashire only just escaped finishing last. In 1963, whilst his county form on overgrassed pitches was back to something close to his best, on the less grassy surfaces in the First Test against the West Indies his bowling lacked its old venom, and he was surprisingly replaced by the veteran Derek Shackleton for the rest of the series – a move criticised heavily in the press. A highlight that year came when Statham took five wickets in the first-ever Gillette Cup match against Leicestershire.

In 1964, Statham, despite the arrival of Sonny Ramadhin to provide help, was disappointing and out of contention for the Ashes Tests. He did take 15 for 108 against a weak Leicestershire side and 7 for 50 against Warwickshire at Coventry, but had more bad matches than ever.

Lancashire Captain

Troubled by internal strife, Lancashire chose Statham as a full-time captain for 1965 (he had led them a few times in 1962).

The cares of captaincy were, perhaps, not well-suited to Statham and many of the decision he made as captain between 1965 and 1967 were widely criticised – perhaps because Lancashire’s form did not improve from its poor level of the 1961 to 1964 period. Yet, as a bowler, Statham, aided he admitted by some atrocious and deliberately untrue pitches, was as deadly as ever in the 1965 County Championship, taking 124 wickets for 12.41 apiece, and doing almost as well in 1966 and 1967. He in fact was so good that England recalled him at the age of thirty-five for the last Test against South Africa in 1965, and Statham did not disappoint, with an excellent five for 40 in the first innings.

Last days

After being relieved of the Lancashire captaincy, Statham announced that the 1968 season would be his last – indeed he announced early on he would not play after the August Bank Holiday match with Yorkshire. With Lancashire no longer dependent on him due to Higgs’ great form, Statham still went off on a high note with a first innings return of 6 for 31.

In his later years, despite his earnings as a cricketer, Statham was consistently troubled financially: in fact, he always lived in quite poor conditions off the cricket field. Even his appointment as present of the Lancashire County Cricket Club from 1995 to 1997 failed to improve his finances. Three years later, he died of leukemia a week before his seventieth birthday

Noteworthy feats

Statham’s first-class career bowling average of 16.37 is the lowest among any bowler since 1900 who has taken over 2000 first-class wickets.
His average of 10.91 in the 1960 County Championship is the third lowest by any bowler playing more than ten matches in that competition since 1894.

  

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John Augustine Snow (born 13 October 1941), usually known as plain John Snow was a prominent cricketer who played for Sussex and England during the 1960s and 1970s.

Snow was born in Worcestershire, and educated at Christ’s Hospital. He began his career as a batsman, but later developed as a bowler. He first played first-class cricket in 1961 and made his Test debut in 1965. The highlight of his test career was the Ashes series of 1970-71, when he did more than any other member of Ray Illingworth’s team to achieve victory in Australia.

Although a quiet man off-field with a deep interest in poetry, he was best known for his formidable and aggressive fast bowling, which got him into several scrapes. In 1971 at Lords, he “barged” Indian batsman Sunil Gavaskar in an attempt at a run-out, the incident getting him temporarily dropped from the England side. Commenting on the incident thirty years later, Gavaskar said, “In 1971, during a Test match, I collided with England fast bowler John Snow and lost my bat. Snow picked it up and handed it to me. But at the time, many papers wrote that Snow had flung the bat at me. It all depends on your point of view, or what you are trying to portray…”

In 49 Tests over 11 years, Snow took 202 wickets at an average of 22.66. His top Test score as a batsman was 71. He was selected as one of Wisden’s cricketers of the year in 1973 and retired from all forms of the game in 1980.

  

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Mike Smith, born on 4 January 1942 in Enfield, England & died on 12 November 2004, was a cricketer, who played most of his cricket as an opening batsman for Middlesex County Cricket Club. Together with Mike Brearley he formed part of a successful opening partnership at the domestic level. He also played five one-day internationals for England in 1973 and 1974.

In first-class cricket Smith made 19,814 runs at an average of 31.65 in a career that lasted from 1959 to 1980, a total that included 40 centuries. His highest score was 181 against Lancashire County Cricket Club at Old Trafford in 1967. Although he batted right handed he took 57 wickets, with a bowling average of 32.73 with slow left-arm deliveries. He also took 218 catches in the field. In 1994 he became the official scorer for Middlesex. In total Smith spent 22 seasons on the staff at Lord’s cricket ground.

Smith had a daughter, Debbie.

Quotations

Mike Brearley, Smith’s fellow opening batsman at Middlesex, in his book The Art of Captaincy wrote about how Smith prepared for his innings: “Mike Smith would be having his last-minute ‘net’ in front of the dressing-room mirror. He clicks his tongue on the roof of his mouth to represent ball on bat as he plays an immaculate forward defensive shot.” He also recalled Smith’s approach to batting off: “You can never trust bowlers: they develop something new each year.”

  

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Kumar Shri Ranjitsinhji (10 September 1872-2 April 1933) was an Indian nobleman and Test cricketer who played for the English cricket team. He also played first-class cricket for Cambridge University, and county cricket for Sussex. His name was very often shortened to Ranjitsinhji or simply Ranji, and he was also known as the “Black Prince of Cricketers”.

Ranji is widely regarded as one of the greatest batsmen of all time, in the same class as Donald Bradman: Neville Cardus described him as “the Midsummer night’s dream of cricket”. He is remembered chiefly for bringing a new style to batting: previously, batsmen played forwards; Ranji played elegant strokes off the back foot, and his invention of the leg glance is perhaps most famous. The most important first-class cricket tournament in India, the Ranji Trophy, was named in his honour and inaugurated in 1935 by the Maharaja Bhupindra Singh of Patiala.

Outside cricket, he became Maharaja Jam Sahib of Nawanagar on in 1907, was Chancellor of the Indian Chamber of Princes, and represented India in the League of Nations. His official title was Colonel H. H. Shri Sir Ranjitsinhji Vibhaji, Jam Sahib of Nawanagar GBE KCSI.

The domestic first-class cricket championship played in India is named the Ranji Trophy in his honour.

Early life

Ranji was born in Sarodar, a small village in the western Indian province of Kathiawar, into a wealthy Indian family of princely status. His clan, the Jadejas, were Rajput warriors who claimed to be descended from Persian ruler, Jamshed, deriving from him their title.

Ranjitsinhji was educated in prestigious Rajkumar College Rajkot.

Ranji had never played an organised game of cricket before he arrived at Cambridge University in 1891 to study at Trinity College. Nevertheless, he won a cricket Blue in his final year.

Cricketer

After graduating, Ranji moved to play county cricket for Sussex. He played his first county match at Lord’s in May 1895. CB Fry became a close friend.

He made his Test debut for England in 1896, becoming the first Indian to play Test cricket. His nephew, KS Duleepsinhji, also played for England later. He scored 62 and 154 not out against Australia at Old Trafford in his first Test, becoming the second batsman after W. G. Grace to score a century on debut for England and also the first batsman to score 100 before lunch (on the third day, moving from 41 not out to 154 not out in just over 2 hours). He scored 175 in the first innings of his first overseas Test, also against Australia in 1897 (then the highest score that had ever been made for England in Test cricket). The feat of scoring hundreds in debut home and away Tests was not emulated by an England player for 107 years, until Andrew Strauss in 2004.

Ranji scored runs very heavily in county and Test cricket between 1895 and 1905, passing 1,000 runs in 10 successive domestic seasons (over 3,000 runs in 1899 and 1900) and captaining Sussex from 1899 to 1903. He returned to India at the end of 1904, but came back to play two further complete English seasons for Sussex (1908 and 1912), again passing 1,000 runs each time. He returned a final time to play in three matches for Sussex in 1920: aged 48, overweight, and blind in one eye after a shooting accident at Crosseliff in Yorkshire, he spectacularly failed to achieve his former standards.

Ranji played 15 Test matches for England between 1896 and 1902, scoring 989 runs with a batting average of 44.95. In all first-class cricket, he scored 24,692 runs in 307 matches, with an average of 56.37, including 72 centuries, with a highest score of 285 not out. He was a Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1897, Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee year; in the same year, he published the classic The Jubilee Book of Cricket.

Statesman

He became Maharaja Jam Sahib of Nawanagar on 10 March 1907, and played an important role in improving the living conditions for the people of his home state. He became Chancellor of the Indian Chamber of Princes and represented India in the League of Nations after the First World War, being awarded the GBE and KCSI. He died in Jamnagar Palace, India aged 60.

  

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Peter Barker Howard May, C.B.E. was born( 31 December 1929 in Reading, Berkshire and died on 27 December 1994) in Liphook, Hampshire from a brain tumour.

He was an English cricketer who played for Surrey, Cambridge University and England. He was educated at Charterhouse and Cambridge University.

P.B.H.May captained England on 41 occasions, winning 20 games, more than any other England captain. He lost 10 and drew 11 games.

May was a Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1952

May has a stand named after him (the ‘Peter May Enclosure’) at The Oval, Surrey, England.

He married Virginia Gilligan, a daughter of the former England captain Harold Gilligan. They had three children.

He served posthumously as President of Surrey CCC in 1995/1996.

  

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Graham Anthony Richard Lock (5 July 1929 – 29 March 1995) was an English cricketer who played primarily as a left-arm spinner.

Born in Limpsfield, Surrey, Tony Lock had the weighty backing of HDG Leveson Gower and made his first-class debut for Surrey County Cricket Club at just 17 in 1946, but did not play regularly for his county until 1949. In 1951 he took 105 wickets, and broke the 100-wicket barrier every year up to and including 1962, on two occasions (1955 and 1957) claiming more than 200 victims.

Lock made his England debut in the third Test against India in 1952, and played the fourth and fifth Tests against Australia the following summer; he had in fact been picked for the first game, but had worn his spinning finger raw after being named in the team and had had to withdraw while it healed. However, England regained the Ashes and for his efforts Lock was named a Wisden Cricketer of the Year in their 1954 edition. However, he also had to deal with accusations (not entirely unfounded) that he was a chucker, being called for throwing on more than one occasion.

In 1956, Lock was famously the bowler who took “the other wicket” when Jim Laker achieved his world-record 19-90 at Old Trafford against Australia, and two years later had an extraordinary summer of success against an admittedly poor New Zealand side, finishing with 34 wickets at an average of a mere 7.47. He was inconsistent abroad, however, failing completely on the 1958/59 tour of Australia but again terrorising the New Zealanders in the same winter with 13 wickets at under nine runs apiece. Dropped for the 1962/63 Ashes tour he played with great success for Western Australia, returning to play for that state each winter for the rest of his career.

Lock moved to Leicestershire in 1965, and was made captain for the following two seasons, taking the club to second place in the County Championship in 1967. In 1967/68 he was unexpectedly recalled by England because of an injury to Fred Titmus, and played in the last two Tests against West Indies. Though not achieving any great success with the ball, he contributed to the cause in another way, by making his highest first-class score of 89 in the first innings of the final Test at Georgetown, Guyana. England had nine wickets down when the game (played over six days) finished, and claimed the series 1-0.

Lock’s remaining playing career was spent entirely with Western Australia, and fittingly his last first-class wicket was that of an Australian Test player, Paul Sheahan. After retirement he moved into coaching in Perth and London, but late in life faced two separate charges of sexual abuse. He was cleared on both occasions, but the experience affected him badly. He died in his adopted home town of Perth at the age of 65.

Lock took 2,844 first-class wickets, placing him ninth on the all-time list, and is the only player to score more than 10,000 runs without once making a century; despite passing 50 on 27 occasions, his highest score was that 89 in Guyana. His tally of 831 catches is inferior only to WG Grace and Frank Woolley.

  

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Harold Larwood (November 14, 1904 – July 22, 1995) was an English cricket player, an extremely quick and accurate fast bowler best known for his key role as the implementer of leg theory in the infamous “Bodyline” Ashes Test series of 1932-33.

Larwood was born in Nuncargate, Nottinghamshire to working-class parents. As a child, a near-fatal accident prompted his father to make him a primitive bat, and the child reportedly took to cricket with great enthusiasm.

Leaving school at 14 to become a labourer in the local mine, he also began to play for the village cricket team. By 18 he was invited to trial for Nottinghamshire, where he was offered a professional contract and starred with bat and ball.

Larwood was by this stage a fearsome bowler, claimed by many observers to bowl at speeds well in excess of “90 miles per hour” (145 km/h). Such speeds compare quite favourably to the fastest of modern fast bowlers, Shoaib Akhtar and Brett Lee. Larwood, moreover, was also very accurate. Such a combination made Larwood the most dangerous fast bowler of his time.

In 1926, he played his first Test match against Australia in the second Test of the series, at Lord’s. Taking 2/99 and 1/37, he did not secure a permanent place in the team until the 1928 series, where he took 17 wickets, including 6/32 in the first innings of the first Test.

The arrival of Donald Bradman in the Australian team saw the English cricketing hierarchy scratching their heads to devise a plan to defeat the Australian phenomenon and thus retain the Ashes trophy. Douglas Jardine, the English captain (and, like all England captains of the prewar era, a “gentleman amateur” leading a team partly made up of working-class professionals), determined that Bradman was vulnerable to short-pitched bowling, and adopted “fast leg theory”. Larwood was tasked with implementing the plan, and thus the stage was set for the Bodyline Test series.

At the end of the series, Larwood was asked by the English cricketing hierarchy to apologise for his bowling. He refused, on the basis that he, as a professional cricketer, was obligated to follows the directions of his captain, whose responsibility the tactics were. Larwood never played cricket for England again, returning to Nottinghamshire where he played until 1938.

In 1953, Larwood emigrated to Australia, where he largely lived a quiet life. He was awarded an MBE in 1993.

Harold Larwood married Lois Bird, and had five children.

  

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James Charles (Jim) Laker (February 9, 1922, Frizinghall, near Bradford, Yorkshire-April 23, 1986, Putney, London) was a cricketer who played for England in the 1950s.

Known as an elegant off-spin bowler, Laker consistently performed well against Australian cricket teams, and formed a successful partnership with Tony Lock, a left-arm orthodox spinner. He was also part of the Surrey side that dominated the county championship with seven consecutive titles from 1952 to 1958.

Laker was the first to take all 10 wickets in a Test match innings, in the fourth Test against Australia at Old Trafford in 1956 (the only other bowler to take all 10 wickets is Anil Kumble of India). Having also taken 9 wickets in the first innings, he recorded match figures of 19-90: no other bowler has taken more than seventeen wickets in a first-class match.

He was a Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1952. He played 46 Test matches, taking 193 wickets with a bowling average of 21.24; in first-class matches, he took 1,944 wickets at 18.41.

After his retirement from the Surrey team, he played occasionally for Auckland and Essex. In later years Laker was a commentator on BBC television’s cricket coverage.

  

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Alan Philip Eric Knott (born April 9, 1946) was an English cricketer, a wicket-keeper-batsman for the England Test side between 1967 and 1981.

Knott was born in Belvedere, Kent, and played for the Kent county side throughout his professional career. He gained his first Test cap at the age of 21, having been named Cricket Writers’ Club Young Cricketer of the Year in 1965. In 1970 he was a Wisden Cricketer of the Year. He was particularly known for his habit of conducting limbering-up exercises at any inactive moment during a match. His major strengths were the sweep and the cut.

When he made his debut, it was against the Pakistani tourists in 1967. Batting at number 8, he made a duck in his first Test, at Trent Bridge, but didn’t concede a single bye in the match. He made 28 in the second match, but didn’t make the starting eleven for the 1967-68 tour of the West Indies, as Jim Parks was initially preferred. However, for the fourth and fifth matches of the series, he was picked again. In the first of those, he made his first Test half-century, a score of 69 not out, and he once again excelled at wicket-keeping.

In the 1969 Ashes series against Australia, pressure was beginning to build on his batting, though his keeping was still exemplary on difficult pitches. He conceded just twenty byes in the five games, effecting eleven dismissals.

In the winter of 1968, again against Pakistan, he confirmed his position as England’s premier wicketkeeper-batsman. He made two fifties in the series, including a score of 96 not out at Karachi when the match was prematurely ended by a pitch invasion by Pakistani fans, denying him a well-deserved hundred.

It was two years later that he finally did make that maiden Test century, 110 at Auckland against New Zealand. He had missed the first match of that 1970-71 series, Bob Taylor taking the gloves solely as a reward for patience. Knott did not miss another Test until 1977, making a sum of five centuries and twenty-eight fifties in that time.

It was at that point that Knott was persuaded by England colleague Tony Greig to join Kerry Packer’s World Series Cricket. This effectively put his England career on hold. However, when he returned to Tests after the end of World Series Cricket in 1980, he had very little success against a mighty West Indian side, averaging 5.14 in the series. He did not play in the tour of the West Indies that immediately followed, but was picked for the final two Tests of the famous 1981 Ashes series. Fittingly for one of England’s greatest players, he ended his last Test with a score of 70 not out and an England series win.

  

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John Barton King (October 19, 1873 – October 17, 1965) was an American cricketer, and the most prominent player in the US during cricket’s brief North American ‘Golden Age’.

King played club cricket for the Tioga and Belmont clubs in Philadelphia, and also played a number of international games between 1892 and 1912, including three tours to England. His achievements in touring matches against English county teams demonstrated that he was able to play against the best in the world at that time, indeed his bowling average of 11.01 for the Philadelphians tour of England in 1908 stood for many years as the single season English record. He was also a good batsman, and his record innings of 344 still stands as the North American record.

In addition to a fine first-class record, King was highly rated by prominent English cricketers of the time. He died, aged 91 years, in 1965 in his native Philadelphia.

  

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Robert William Trevor Key (born East Dulwich, London on 12 May 1979) is an English cricketer who plays for the England cricket team and Kent County Cricket Club.

Key played in the England side that won the Under-19 World Cup in South Africa in 1998, but Key only played his first Test match in 2002 against India after Marcus Trescothick broke a thumb and Graham Thorpe withdrew from Test cricket as a result of personal problems. Key toured in Australia in 2002/3 and played at home against Zimbabwe in 2003, but he did not play Test cricket for England again until July 2004, after Key scored 1,000 first-class runs by 2 June and Mark Butcher sustained a whiplash injury.

On 22 July 2004, playing against the West Indies at Lord’s in his ninth Test, Key scored his maiden Test century, which became his maiden Test and first-class double century the following day. He was eventually out for 221.

In 2005, he was named as one of the five Wisden Cricketers of the Year by Wisden Cricketer’s Almanack.

  

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Simon Philip Jones, born on 25 December 1978 in Swansea, Glamorgan, is an Welsh cricketer who plays for Glamorgan County Cricket Club and England.

A right-arm fast bowler and left handed tail end batsman, Jones made his Test match debut against India in 2002 and, after impressing in that one Test, was then selected for the 2002/2003 Ashes tour. However, on the first morning of the First Test he suffered a severe injury, rupturing an anterior cruciate ligament while sliding to field a ball. After a lengthy recovery period, he was fit in time to tour the Caribbean in 2004. Jones made his One-Day International debut on the 2004/05 tour of Zimbabwe.

His father, Jeff Jones, played cricket for England in the 1960s.

Player Profile: Simon Jones (cricketer) from Cricinfo

  

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Geraint Jones (b. July 14, 1976, Kundiawa, Papua New Guinea) is an English cricketer. He is the first-choice wicketkeeper for England in both Test and One-day cricket, and plays county cricket for Kent.

He replaced Chris Read as England wicketkeeper during the 2004 tour of the West Indies. Later that year, he hit a fine Test match century against New Zealand, cracking fifteen fours and one six.

In the 2004/5 Winter tour of South Africa he took part in all of England’s Test and One-day matches. Notably he scored a quick fire 73 in the drawn Test match at Durban and impressively stumped Andrew Hall from the last delivery of the tied One-day match in Bloemfontein.

  

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Douglas Robert Jardine (23 October 1900, Bombay – 18 June 1958, Montreux) was a British cricketer and captain of the controversial 1932-33 Bodyline tour of Australia. He captained the England side from 1931 to 1933-34.

Jardine was born in India of Scottish descent. His parents were Malcolm Robert Jardine, who himself played first-class cricket for Oxford University and Middlesex, and Alison Moir. Douglas Jardine was educated at Horris Hill School, Newbury, Berkshire, Winchester College and Oxford University, and habitually wore the Oxford Harlequin cap on the cricket field, which some saw as a symbol of pretension. He made his Test debut for England against the West Indies at Lord’s in 1928. A skilled right-handed batsman, he was arguably England’s best amateur batsman of his time – an age when cricketers were still divided between upper class amateurs and working class professionals.

He toured Australia with the English team in 1928-29. He played in all five Test matches, scoring 341 runs at the commendable average of 42.63. His skills displayed throughout the year led Wisden to name Jardine a Wisden Cricketer of the Year for 1928.

During the tour of Australia, Jardine appeared to develop an intense dislike for the country and its people. Australians claim that this was provoked by his own pretentious behaviour, as cricket fans took exception to his Harlequin cap and upper-class attitude. It is recorded that during a tour match Australian player Hunter Hendry expressed his sympathies to Jardine for the jeers the crowd was giving him, and Jardine responded, “All Australians are uneducated, and an unruly mob.”

Later, at the second Test in Sydney where the crowd was again hurling abuse at Jardine, fellow English player Patsy Hendren observed that “They don’t seem to like you very much over here, Mr Jardine.” Jardine replied, “It’s f***ing mutual.”

Jardine did not play in the 1930 English Test series against the touring Australian team because he preferred to attend to business appointments that summer. Nevertheless, he took a great interest in the extraordinary batting skills of Australia’s Don Bradman, who finished the tour with a record (unbeaten to this day) aggregate of 974 Test runs at an average of 139.14.

Following this tour, Jardine met with Nottinghamshire captain Arthur Carr and his two fast bowlers Harold Larwood and Bill Voce. Together they devised a plan of attack to counter Bradman’s skills. This became known as Bodyline. Jardine never referred to this kind of short-pitched bowling as “bodyline”, preferring to call it “Fast Leg Theory”.

Jardine was appointed captain of the English touring team to Australia in 1932-33, and used the Bodyline tactics ruthlessly and effectively against his opposition. On the sea voyage to Australia, he instructed his team to hate the Australian players, and to refer to Don Bradman exclusively as “the little bastard”.

In Australia, Larwood and Voce repeatedly hit Australian batsmen with fast balls, causing outrage amongst Australian fans. In the third Test at Adelaide, Larwood struck Australian captain Bill Woodfull over the heart, resulting in serious injury. Jardine’s reaction was to call audibly to Larwood, “Well bowled, Harold!” Later in the same game, Australian wicket-keeper Bert Oldfield was struck on the head by another Larwood delivery, which fractured his skull (although Oldfield admitted that this was his fault as the injury was caused by the ball deflecting off the bat into his head).

Despite the uproar by the Australian public and the Australian Board of Control for Cricket, Jardine insisted his tactic was not designed to cause injury and that he was leading his team in a sportsmanlike and gentlemanly manner. It seems he did genuinely regret the injuries caused by Bodyline, as he sent a telegram of sympathy to Bert Oldfield’s wife and arranged for dolls to be given to his young daughters.

But his popularity with the Australian public never recovered. In a famous incident recorded by the press, Jardine was on the field and trying to brush a persistent fly away from his face when a spectator yelled across the ground, “Leave our flies alone, Jardine! They’re the only flamin’ friends you’ve got here!”

Jardine returned to Britain having won back The Ashes 4-1. He was invited by MCC to captain England again for the Tests against India before deciding that he had no wish to captain England again and resigned before the 1934 Ashes tour. In effect, he retired from first class cricket in 1934 aged 33.

Jardine married in 1934, Irene Margaret Peat (1914-1998) daughter of Sir Harry Peat. They had 4 children, Fianach, Marion, Iona & Euan.

During the war, he was commissioned into the Royal Berkshire Regiment, serving in France and India.

Jardine died from cancer at age 57, in Montreux, Switzerland. His ashes were returned to Scotland to be scattered at Loch Rannoch.

To the present day, Jardine is remembered throughout the cricket world as the architect of what some consider the most vicious and unsporting premeditated behaviour seen on a cricket field; but the tactic of intimidating batsmen with bouncers (without a supporting Bodyline field) later became commonplace. His reputation remains particularly low in Australia, where respected cricket commentator Alan McGilvray once described Jardine as “the most notorious Englishman since Jack the Ripper”. Conversely, Sir Pelham Warner commented “If ever there was a cricket match between England and the rest of the world, and the fate of England depended upon the result, I would pick Jardine as England Captain every time”.

Jardine is also remembered as the originator of what many consider one of the most eloquent descriptions of the sport of cricket:
Cricket is battle and service and sport and art.

Jardine played in 22 Test matches for England, scoring 1,296 runs at an average of 48.00. In his first-class cricket career, he played 262 matches, scoring 14,848 runs at an average of 46.83. He also bowled leg spin at first-class level, taking 48 wickets at an average of 31.10. A stand is named in his honour at Surrey’s home ground, The Oval, London, England.

  

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Leonard Hutton (June 23, 1916 – September 6, 1990) was an English cricketer.

He was born at Fulneck near Pudsey in Yorkshire into a keen cricketing family. From an early age the young Leonard immersed himself in cricket and became an avid student of the art of batting. George Hirst, the Yorkshire and England all-rounder, said he could not teach him anything about batting when Hutton was fourteen. Hutton learned from players such as Wilfred Rhodes, Herbert Sutcliffe, Bill Bowes, Hedley Verity and Brian Sellars.

He made his first class debut for Yorkshire in 1934 at the age on 17; in 14 championship matches that season he scored five fifties and his maiden first class century. From an early age his batting was skilful and showed ability to deal with all types of pitches – these were the days of uncovered wickets.

Hutton made his Test match debut against New Zealand in 1937 and hit his first Test century at Old Trafford in only his second Test. A year later he was to break Don Bradman’s record for the highest individual score in test matches with 364. This innings was at the Oval in 1938 and took over 13 hours, a stupendous feat of concentration for a 22 year old. The following year he thrilled the crowds with his attacking play as the West Indian attack was taken apart as he scored 196 in the Lord’s test (the last 96 runs coming in 95 minutes). He finished the series on a high with 165 not out at the Oval.

Wartime saw Hutton become an Army PT instructor where he badly broke his left arm in a gymnasium accident, he had to have bone grafts to repair the damage and after eight months in hospital was left with his left arm two inches shorter than his right.

Although this injury seemed not to affect his subsequent career (his Test average was higher after the war than before) it must have played on his mind, knowing a blow on his left forearm could have ended his career. Perhaps this injury increased his innate sense of caution, Hutton could be a wonderful attacking batsman when in the mood and could play every stroke in the book. But more often than not the burden of carrying England’s batting saw him adopt a much more circumspect approach, he was a hard headed, practical man who described himself as being a “Round head” as opposed to Compton’s Cavalier. But all are agreed that when he let himself go he could be a glorious batsman, his innings of 37 out of 49 at the Sydney Test of 1946/47 was scintillating and had elder members of the crowd recalling the Legendary Victor Trumper.

The first post-war series against Australia in 1946/47 was a difficult one for England, perhaps it came too soon after the war and English cricket had not returned to its pre war standard. The squad was too old and the younger players such as Evans and Bedser were not yet established. Hutton, however, showed he could still do the business with a century in the last Test.

1948 saw him dropped for the only time in his Test career, this was against Bradman’s legendary team. His being dropped was controversial and provoked much debate, promptly restored to the side the following test he scored steadily over the rest of the series with three half centuries and a score of 30 that was the top score out of 52 at The Oval.

The early 1950’s saw Hutton establish himself as England’s batting rock, he alone mastered the West Indian spin duo of Ramadhin and Valentine, scoring 202 not out in the 1950 Oval test. He was playing better than ever, and was awarded the England Captaincy in 1952. This was very significant for English cricket as the captain had always been an amateur not a professional like Hutton, some in cricket’s establishment were against this break with tradition but Hutton simply got on with the job. Victory against India in 1952 was followed by regaining the Ashes in 1953 against Lindsay Hassett’s Australians.

Perhaps his greatest achievement came in the 1953/54 series in the West Indies; England were 2-0 down in the Test series amid rancour and disputes. Hutton however showed his customary determination and resolve to lead England to victory in two Tests to draw the series 2-2.

1954/55 saw Hutton lead England to Australia, after being badly beaten in the first Test at Brisbane, (after Hutton put the home side into bat) he stuck to his guns and England fought back. Frank Tyson came to the fore with some of the fastest bowling ever seen (staunchly supported by Brian Statham), young batsmen like Peter May and Colin Cowdrey emerged and Hutton’s side came out victorious three Tests to one. Hutton deserved much credit for once again showing resolve and determination to come back from a setback to fight back and win.

This triumph was to be his crowning moment as he had to withdraw from the following home series with ill health. He subsequently retired in 1956 succumbing to a bad back that had been bent over a cricket bat since childhood. He retired after playing 79 Test matches, scoring 6971 runs at an average of 56.67 with 19 hundreds. In all first class cricket he scored 40140 runs at an average of 55.51 with 129 hundreds. In short he was a true great of the game and must rank alongside Jack Hobbs and Hammond as the finest of English batsmen. He was knighted in 1956 for his services to cricket.

He married Dorothy Dennis on 3 September 1939 and they had two sons Richard and John. Their elder son R.A.Hutton became a successful cricketer for Repton, Cambridge University. Yorkshire and England. Richard’s elder son B.L.Hutton is currently the county captain of Middlesex.

  

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Nasser Hussain (born March 28, 1968, Madras), Essex and England cricketer. Hussain was the captain of the England team for 45 Test matches, from 1999 to 2003, more than any other player other than Michael Atherton.

Hussain is also third in the list of Test victories for England captains, with 17, behind only Peter May (20) and Mike Brearley (18). His percentage of Tests won was higher than any of the previous five captains, since David Gower.

A stylish batsman and an outstanding fielder, Hussain was also known for a tendency to injure his fingers and an unfortunate ability to lose the toss. His best Test performances came when he was when under pressure: 9 of his 14 Test centuries came in innings where England had lost early wickets. In first-class cricket, he scored 20,698 runs in 334 matches at an average of 42.06.

Hussain became Test captain at a low point in the England cricket history, and his first series in charge saw England lose to New Zealand at home, after which he was booed by the England fans. However, in 2000 he lead England to a 3-1 victory of the West Indies at home, and that winter the England team beat both Pakistan and Sri Lanka, confirming Hussain’s position as captain.

Hussain was captain of both the Test and One Day International England teams until after the Cricket World Cup in 2003, when England failed to make the second round after boycotting the match against Zimbabwe in Harare, citing security concerns.

In 2003, Hussain announced his retirement as Test captain after England had narrowly clung on for a draw in the first Test against South Africa, being replaced as captain by Michael Vaughan. Hussain continued as a batsman in the England Test team until May 2004, when, after scoring a century and the winning runs in the first Test against New Zealand at Lord’s, Hussain announced his immediate retirement from international and first-class cricket on May 27, 2004.

His father, Jawad ‘Joe’ Hussain, and brother, Mehriyar Hussain, have both played first-class cricket, for Madras and Worcestershire respectively.

  

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Eric Hollies was an English cricketer who is mainly remembered for taking the wicket of Donald Bradman for a duck in Bradman’s final Test match innings.

William Eric Hollies was born on June 5, 1912 in Old Hill, Staffordshire, England and died on April 16, 1981, Chinley, Derbyshire, England. A leg spin bowler, Hollies made his English county debut for Warwickshire in 1932 and debuted for England in 1934, after showing his skill on the generally very easy Edgbaston wickets.

He took over 100 wickets for Warwickshire every year between 1935 and 1957 with the exceptions of 1936 (dreadful weather that reduced his normally prodiguous output of overs), 1953 (injury) and 1956 (poor form, probably due to him captaining the side). At his peak, he was one of the best bowlers in England and it is believed by many that the MCC erred in not taking him to Australia after he was the leading wicket-taker in the country for a struggling Warwickshire side in 1946. That year, on one of the relatively few hard pitches, he took, without the direct assistance of a fielder, all ten wickets in an innings against Nottinghamshire.

After a poor season in 1947, Hollies returned to form in 1948 and was the one bowler who looked threatening against the Australian batsmen. In addition to his performance in the Oval Test, he too eight for 107 against a remarkably strong batting side for his county. In 1949, he played in all four Tests but the pitches blunted his effectiveness completely (though he was always steady) and from 1951, when English bowling recovered some of its pre-World War II strength, he was never in the running for Test honours despite playing a major role in Warwickshire’s County Championship success in 1951. He was named as a Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1955 after taking 100 wickets for the tenth time.

After Hollies retired from county cricket, he played for Staffordshire a few times in 1958 and continued to bowl in league cricket until the 1970s.

By the time of his retirement in 1957, he had taken more wickets for Warwickshire than any other player. He was, however, remarkable for his incompetence as a batsman; his total of runs (1673) was 650 fewer than his haul of wickets, and only once (in 1954) did he reach 30 in an innings. In fact, he did not reach 20 in any innings between 1946 and 1953.

  

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Dean Warren Headley (born 27 January 1970 in Stourbridge, then Worcestershire) is an English cricketer.

He comes from a famous cricketing family, being the son of Ron Headley and grandson of George Headley. He was educated at Royal Grammar School Worcester where he excelled at rugby and cricket.

He played for Worcestershire’s second team in 1989, but his senior debut was in 1991 after he had moved to Middlesex. In 1993 he moved counties again, this time to Kent. Whilst at Kent he was selected for the England cricket team, for which he played between 1997 and 1999.

One of his greatest moments was when he won the Man of the Match award for his performance in the Cricket World Cup in 1998 at Melbourne. Due to injury in 2001 he retired from cricket.

  

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Walter Reginald Hammond (June 19, 1903 – July 1, 1965), often known as Wally Hammond, was an English cricketer, who played for Gloucestershire and England, primarily as a batsman, in a career that straddled (and was disrupted by) the Second World War.

His Test batting average of 58.45 presently stands tenth in the all-time list. Hammond is regarded as one of the best batsmen in the history of cricket: his Wisden obituary put him in a class with W. G. Grace, Jack Hobbs and Sir Donald Bradman, and on the centenary of his birth the Wisden Cricinfo website’s editor ranked him second only to Bradman. The Don was five years his junior, and the comparisons apparently rankled with Hammond for years. Apart from his batting talents, he was one of the best slip fielders in the game and also a useful right-arm medium-fast bowler.

Hammond started his career as a professional but became an amateur in 1938, allowing him to captain England, a position to which professionals were not then appointed. He also captained both Gentlemen and Players. He retired from the captaincy, and from cricket, after a disappointing tour of Australia in 1946-7, in which he was comprehensively outshone by Bradman.

After 1946-7 Hammond only played two more first-class games, for MCC in 1950 and Gloucestershire in 1951. He emigrated to South Africa, where he died in 1965.

  

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Thomas William Graveney (born June 16, 1927) is a former English cricketer and the president of the Marylebone Cricket Club for 2004/5. Graveney played for Gloucestershire County Cricket Club, Worcestershire County Cricket Club, Queensland and England.

Graveney was a Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1953. Graveney captained England on one occasion, standing in for Colin Cowdrey in drawn fourth test match against the Australians in 1968. Coincidentally, the opposing captain, Barry Jarman, who stood in for the injured Bill Lawry, also only captained his country in only this one test.

Graveney is the uncle of England chairman of selectors, David Graveney.