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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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