Marshall selection provides interesting historical comparison Francis Payne - 29 October 2000
A regular CricInfo reader has asked whether Hamish Marshall's selection for a Test tour with only 418 first-class runs and two fifties under his belt is something of a record.
Interestingly enough, when New Zealand first went to South Africa in 1953/54, 19-year-old Wellington batsman John Beck was taken on tour without any previous first-class experiences. He went on to score 99 (run out) in the third Test of the series (his second). This was the dramatic Boxing Day test at Ellis Park.
Since that time the following specialist batsmen have been chosen on a Test tour before they had scored a first-class hundred:
Highest Score
1955/56 to Pakistan & India Noel McGregor 84
(had already played two Tests)
Noel Harford 91
(made 93 on Test debut on tour)
1958 to England Jack D'Arcy 85
(made 89 prior to Test debut)
Noel Harford 93
(still hadn't made a century! scored two on tour)
1964/65 to India, Pakistan & England Terry Jarvis 88
Vic Pollard 85
1973/74 to Australia Jeremy Coney* 94
1978 to England Bruce Edgar 93
(scored a century against Scotland prior to Test debut)
2000/01 to South Africa Hamish Marshall 58
* as a replacement
Jarvis, Pollard and Coney made their Test debuts on tour without improving on their previous highest score.
Last week we highlighted the fact that when he made his debut at Benoni, Brooke Walker became the first leg-spinner to be selected in a New Zealand one-day international side (358 games since 1972/73).
Walker was, in fact, the first specialist leggie to bowl for New Zealand in any international since Jack Alabaster way back in March 1972 at Port of Spain. Greg Loveridge, of course, played a Test against Zimbabwe in 1995/96 but had the misfortune to be injured while batting and never got to bowl.
Alabaster, who was taken on the 1955/56 tour to Pakistan and India before he had made his first-class debut, took just one wicket in his final Test, but it was one worth remembering - "GS Sobers b Alabaster 9"
While we concentrate on New Zealand happenings in this column, from time to time there are events elsewhere with a New Zealand connection. As we did not see the following mentioned elsewhere, and as it was a record New Zealand almost broke last season, we thought it worth recording.
England's score of 306-5 to defeat Pakistan in the first One-Day International was the highest total (win or lose) by any team chasing under lights. Last season, New Zealand made 301-9 against Australia at Christchurch, just short of the record then held by Sri Lanka. The highest such totals are:
England 306-5 defeated Pakistan 304-9 Karachi 2000/01
Sri Lanka 303-9 defeated England 302-3 Adelaide 1998/99
Sri Lanka 301 lost to India 307-6 Colombo 1997/98
New Zealand 301-9 lost to Australia 349-6 Christchurch 1999/00
India 300-7 lost to Sri Lanka 302-4 Colombo 1997/98
New Zealand 298-9 lost to South Africa 300-6 Brisbane 1997/98
South Africa 297-5 defeated West Indies 293-8 Lahore 1997/98
India 292 lost to Pakistan 327-5 Chennai 1996/97
Last season, in addition to New Zealand's 301-9 against Australia, West Indies made 282 in reply to New Zealand's 302-6 at Christchurch and New Zealand made 260 chasing Australia's 310-4 at Dunedin.
When he caught Gary Kirsten in the fourth One-Day International at Kimberley, Adam Parore became the first New Zealande wicketkeeper to achieve 100 dismissals in One-Day Internationals.
The keepers with most dismissals in one-dayers are:
Matches Ct St Total
Moin Khan 176 186 64 250
IA Healy 168 195 39 234
PJL Dujon 167 183 21 204
DJ Richardson 122 148 17 165
RS Kaluwitharana 142 102 61 163
NR Mongia 140 110 44 154
AC Gilchrist 94 129 19 148
A Flower 146 103 29 132
AJ Stewart 104 115 11 126
RW Marsh 92 120 4 124
Rashid Latif 101 94 28 122
MV Boucher 76 109 4 113
Salim Yousuf 85 80 22 102
RD Jacobs 62 85 16 101
AC Parore 119 78 22 100
(catches and appearances as a fielder are not included)
New Zealand's total of 287-6 at Kimberley was their highest in a One-Day International this season (12 matches so far). It was also the highest total that New Zealand has failed to defend successfully in their entire one-day history.
Previously, in the 1996 World Cup quarter final at Madras, Australia overtook New Zealand's score of 286-9, while 284-5 was not enough to prevent England winning at Old Trafford in 1986.
