Flying first class - Part II

Don Shepherd (right) took 2218 first-class wickets in 668 games but didn't play a single Test, along with Glamorgan team-mate Alan Jones (centre), the highest run-scorer who never played in a Test. Pictured with them is Tony Lewis, who captained England in eight of his nine appearances © Playfair Cricket Monthly

Shane Warne has 1185 first-class wickets, Muttiah Muralitharan 1134, Glenn McGrath 814, and they are the top three wicket-takers in Test cricket. Now consider these numbers, 4204 wickets for Wilfred Rhodes (127 in Tests), 3776 to Alfred Freeman (just 66 in Tests) and 3278 for Charlie Parker (only two Test wickets). Well, at least they won Test caps. Last week's column was about prolific first-class batsmen who never made it in Test cricket, this week it's the bowlers' turn.

Glamorgan have achieved a unique double; in Alan Jones they have the highest first-class runscorer never to play a Test, and in Don Shepherd, they have the highest uncapped wicket-taker. Shepherd, a medium-pacer who later bowled fast offcutters, toured Ceylon with the MCC in 1969-70 and was even one of Wisden's Cricketers of the Year in 1970.

Gloucestershire's George Dennett, the second on the list, had several highlights during his 2151-wicket career but none worthier than his 8 for 9 that helped rout Northamptonshire for 12, the lowest total in first-class cricket. He finished with match-figures of 15 for 21, all taken in a single day.

Most First-class wickets without playing a Test

Player	Span		Mat	Wkts	BBI	Ave	5wi
DJ Shepherd	1950-1972		668	2218	9/47	21.32	123
EG Dennett	1903-1926		401	2151	10/40	19.82	211
JA Newman	1906-1930		541	2054	9/131	25.02	134
GR Cox	1895-1828		634	1843	9/50	22.86	111
TG Wass	1896-1820		312	1666	9/67	20.46	159
J Mercer	1919-1947		457	1591	10/51	23.40	104
FW Lillywhite	1825-1853		237	1576	10/?	10.15*	155
FA Tarrant	1898/99-1936/37		329	1512	10/90	17.49	133
WR Hillyer	1835-1853		230	1482	8/26	11.00*	149
GS Boyes	1921-1939		504	1472	9/57	23.51	74

Vince van der Bijl © The Cricketer

Nineteenth-century Englishmen dominate the list of bowlers with the lowest averages to not play a Test with John Wisden , who finished 186 matches with an average of 6.66, on top. The three players on the list from outside England are Otago's Alexander Downes, South Africa's Vince van der Bijl, who also played for Middlesex, and most intriguingly, Bart King from the United States of America. King, who is USA's premier cricketer by some distance, took 415 wickets in 65 matches and also toured England with the Philadelphians in 1897, 1903 and 1908.

However, if we exclude players before World War I, the result is a mix of players from the subcontinent and England, with van der Bijl right leading the way. van der Bijl, a medium-fast bowler of 6ft 7½ inches, was considered by some to be one of the leading bowlers of his time. He was included in the South African squad for the tour of Australia in 1971-72 that was subsequently cancelled.

Best career First-class bowling average without playing a Test (qualification: 200 First-class wickets, excluding players prior to World War I)

Player	Span		Mat	Wkts	BBI	Ave	5wi
VAP van der Bijl	1967/68-1982/83		156	767	8/35	16.54	46
S Luthra	1965/66-1980/81		67	262	9/70	16.92	14
AM Ismail	1969/70-1977/78		75	244	7/26	18.04	13
BK Bose	1940/41-1963/64		45	210	8/43	18.18	15
AG Ram Singh	1930/31-1946/47		56	265	8/14	18.56	24
R Goel	1958/59-1984/85		157	750	8/55	18.58	59
PNG Ranjith	1997/98-2005/06		69	260	7/37	18.84	18
AB Jackson	1963-1968		149	457	8/18	18.94	17
Ahad Khan	1962/63-1980/81		55	214	9/7	19.29	12
P Sitaram	1952/53-1967/68		69	288	8/29	19.30	19

If you look at Test wickets as a proportion of first-class wickets, most of the bowlers with the highest percentages, with the exception of Ashantha De Mel and Kapil Dev , played in the 21st century. It was a similar case with the batsmen, all of whom made their debuts after 1990, a result of central contracts and packed international schedules that allow national cricketers only the rare domestic appearance.

In fact, Courtney Walsh, ranked 49th with 1807 wickets, is the only bowler from the 1990s among the top 50 bowlers with the most first-class wickets.

Highest proportion of Test wickets as FC wickets (qualification: 50 Test wickets)

Player	Span		FC	Wkts	Ave		Tests	Wkts	Ave		%
Mashrafe Mortaza	2001/02-2005/06		27	69	35.72		20	50	37.42		72.46
GD McGrath	1992/93-2005/06		184	814	20.77		119	542	21.55		66.58
A Flintoff	1995-2005/06		150	266	31.53		59	174	31.45		65.41
SM Pollock	1991/92-2005/06		177	634	23.36		101	394	23.20		62.14
DL Vettori	1996/97-2005/06		114	365	32.52		71	219	34.96		60.00
JH Kallis	1993/94-2005/06		188	334	30.64		102	200	31.71		59.88
M Ntini	1995/96-2005/06		131	458	29.19		67	269	28.09		58.73
SK Warne	1990/91-2006		266	1185	25.63		140	685	25.25		57.80
B Lee	1994/95-2005/06		89	372	27.36		54	211	31.45		56.72
FH Edwards	2001/02-2005/06		37	107	36.12		23	60	43.43		56.07

Biggest difference of a lower First-class average than a Test average (qualification: 50 Test wickets)

Player	Span		FC	Wkts	Ave		Tests	Wkts	Ave		Diff
HDPK Dharmasena	1988/89-2005/06		155	495	20.77		31	69	42.31		21.539
CG Borde	1952/53-1972/73		251	331	27.32		55	52	46.48		19.157
AB Agarkar	1996/97-2005/06		69	207	29.14		26	58	47.32		18.187
PI Pocock	1964-1986		554	1607	26.53		25	67	44.41		17.879
EP Nupen	1920/21-1936/37		74	334	18.19		17	50	35.75		17.565
Mohammad Sami	1999/00-2005/06		70	242	30.68		25	65	47.15		16.467
GRJ Matthews	1982/83-1997/98		190	516	31.80		33	61	48.22		16.421
DVP Wright	1932-1957		497	2056	23.98		34	108	39.11		15.129
AMB Rowan	1939/40-1951		58	273	23.47		15	54	38.59		15.120
DG Phadkar	1942/43-1959/60		133	466	22.04		31	62	36.85		14.811