A first for Lord's, and Atapattu's terrible start

Before the first Test of this series between England and India, 188 cricketers had made their debuts at Lord's. Chris Tremlett was the 189th and he was the first to be dismissed for a pair on debut at Lord's. He lasted three balls in the first innings before Sreesanth trapped him lbw, and was bowled first ball by Zaheer Khan in the second. This week we focus on players with two ducks on debut.

South Africa's Tommy Ward was dismissed for a king pair (first ball dismissal in both innings) on debut against Australia at Old Trafford in 1912. It is the only recorded instance of a batsman bagging a king pair on debut. Statistics for balls faced, however, are sketchy for older Tests so if you know of those who've shared Ward's fate, do let us know. Ward's pair is part of another record as well. He was the third wicket of Jimmy Matthews' hat-trick in each innings, the only instance of a bowler taking a hat-trick in each innings of a Test.

Least balls faced by a batsman for a pair on debut (where known)

Player	Balls		Opposition	Ground	Season	Scorecard
TA Ward (SA)	2		v Australia	Manchester	1912	Test 121
Maninder Singh (India)	3		v Pakistan	Karachi	1982/83	Test 942
GF Grace (Eng)	4		v Australia	The Oval	1880	Test 4
CM Kuggeleijn (NZ)	4		v India	Bangalore	1988/89	Test 1107
CT Tremlett (Eng)	4		v India	Lord's	2007	Test 1840

Mike Whitney's pair spanned 49 balls against England at Old Trafford in 1981. He batted seven balls in the first innings before he was bowled by Paul Allott. In the second, Australia were reduced for 378 for 9 chasing 506 on the fifth day. Whitney batted 42 balls in the company of Allan Border before he was dismissed with 85 minutes remaining in the day.

Fred Grace, the youngest of the Grace brothers to play Tests, was the first batsman to bag a pair in what turned out to be his only Test appearance. Two weeks later he died of pneumonia at the age of 30. Since then, Clarence Wimble, Percy Twentyman-Jones, Plum Lewis, Cec Dixon, Len Butterfield, Gordon Rowe, Rashid Patel and, most recently, Gavin Hamilton were also dismissed for pairs in their only Tests.

Graham Gooch began his illustrious Test career with a pair against Australia at Edgbaston in 1975. After scoring 6 and 31 in his second Test at Lord's, Gooch had to wait nearly three years for his next Test appearance, against Pakistan at Lord's in 1978.

Highest Test batting averages for players with a pair on debut

Player	Span	Mat	Inns	Runs	HS	Ave	100	Ducks	Pairs
Saeed Anwar (Pak)	1990-2001	55	91	4052	188*	45.52	11	8	1
LPC Silva (SL)	2006-2007	5	7	272	152*	45.33	1	2	1
GA Gooch (Eng)	1975-1995	118	215	8900	333	42.58	20	13	1
MS Atapattu (SL)	1990-2005	88	152	5330	249	38.90	16	22	4
KR Rutherford (NZ)	1985-1995	56	99	2465	107*	27.08	3	16	1
GS Ramchand (India)	1952-1960	33	53	1180	109	24.58	2	6	1
JEC Franklin (NZ)	2001-2006	21	28	505	122*	21.95	1	4	1
FT Badcock (NZ)	1930-1933	7	9	137	64	19.57	0	3	1
SG Peall (Zim)	1993-1994	4	6	60	30	15.00	0	2	1
DP Viljoen (Zim)	1998-2000	2	4	57	38	14.25	0	2	1

Sri Lanka's Chamara Silva bounced back superbly by scoring 61 and 152 not out in his second Test at Wellington after he was dismissed for ducks on debut by James Franklin and Shane Bond at Christchurch in 2006. Not only is he the only batsman to score a century in his second Test after a pair in his first, he is also the only one to score a fifty.

Before Tremlett, the last batsman India sent packing with two ducks on debut was Marvan Atapattu at Mohali in 1990. Atapattu played his second Test in 1992 and very nearly bagged another pair, scoring 0 and 1 against Australia in Colombo. He then spent 18 months on the sidelines, and when he got his third chance, he was dismissed for yet another pair against India at Ahmedabad in 1994. Atapattu went on to play another 85 Tests and managed to score two more pairs. He and several notorious No. 11s hold the record for the most pairs. Atapattu also belongs to another exclusive, and far more enviable, club. He is among one of six batsmen to score six double-centuries in Tests.

Most pairs in a Test career

Player	Span	Mat	Inns	Runs	HS	Ave	100	Ducks	Pairs
BS Chandrasekhar (India)	1964-1979	58	80	167	22	4.07	0	23	4
CA Walsh (WI)	1984-2001	132	185	936	30*	7.54	0	43	4
MS Atapattu (SL)	1990-2005	88	152	5330	249	38.90	16	22	4
M Dillon (WI)	1997-2004	38	68	549	43	8.44	0	26	4
CS Martin (NZ)	2000-2006	33	44	52	7	2.26	0	17	4
R Peel (Eng)	1884-1896	20	33	427	83	14.72	0	8	3
RW Blair (NZ)	1953-1964	19	34	189	64*	6.75	0	12	3
BS Bedi (India)	1966-1979	67	101	656	50*	8.98	0	20	3
DL Underwood (Eng)	1966-1982	86	116	937	45*	11.56	0	19	3
AG Hurst (Aus)	1974-1979	12	20	102	26	6.00	0	10	3
DK Morrison (NZ)	1987-1997	48	71	379	42	8.42	0	24	3
CEL Ambrose (WI)	1988-2000	98	145	1439	53	12.40	0	26	3
DE Malcolm (Eng)	1989-1997	40	58	236	29	6.05	0	16	3
M Muralitharan (ICC/SL)	1992-2007	113	144	1117	67	11.75	0	30	3
GD McGrath (Aus)	1993-2007	124	138	641	61	7.36	0	35	3
AB Agarkar (India)	1998-2006	26	39	571	109*	16.79	1	9	3
A Nehra (India)	1999-2004	17	25	77	19	5.50	0	10	3
Z Khan (India)	2000-2007	48	64	587	75	11.97	0	17	3
Manjural Islam (Ban)	2001-2004	17	33	81	21	3.68	0	10	3

The majority of the players dismissed for pairs on debut have been bowlers. Alf Valentine, however, made up for his pair by taking 11 for 204 against England at Old Trafford in 1950. He is the only bowler to bag ten wickets and a pair on debut.

Best bowling while getting a pair on debut

Player	Bowl		Opposition	Ground	Season	Scorecard
AL Valentine (WI)	11/204		v England	Manchester	1950	Test 323
CN McCarthy (SA)	6/63		v England	Durban	1948/49	Test 306
SL Malinga (SL)	6/92		v Australia	Darwin	2004	Test 1705
AA Donald (SA)	6/144		v West Indies	Bridgetown	1991/92	Test 1188
CIJ Smith (Eng)	5/24		v West Indies	Bridgetown	1934/35	Test 238
CT Tremlett (Eng)	4/104		v India	Lord's	2007	Test 1840
JT Willoughby (SA)	4/122		v England	Port Elizabeth	1895/96	Test 47
MR Whitney (Aus)	4/124		v England	Manchester	1981	Test 907
JJ Kotze (SA)	4/135		v Australia	Johannesburg	1902/03	Test 76
KHRK Fernando (SL)	3/63		v South Africa	Johannesburg	2002/03	Test 1624