The World Cup's least memorable moments
In part one, we remember an inconsequential eighth-wicket stand of 23
Andy Zaltzman
28-Jan-2015
Trevor Chappell: more than just an underarm hero • Getty Images
In the build-up to the World Cup, you will no doubt have read many fond recollections and hastily compiled lists detailing the most memorable moments and matches that have shaped and defined the ten-tournament history of ODI cricket's global showpiece.
The Confectionery Stall has long gloried in the mundane as much as the spectacular - every Botham has its Tavare, every Sehwag has its Bangar, and every tournament, as well as its highlights and lowlights, has had its no-lights, its mundane moments, when nothing of interest was happening and no one was paying much attention. This week, therefore, in tribute to those periods of unremarkable, unnoticed ordinariness, I present for you a festival of the forgettable, a pantheon of the prosaic, a rundown of the unremarkable, in the exclusive CONFECTIONERY STALL CRICKET WORLD CUP'S LEAST MEMORABLE MOMENTS. Part 1: 1975-1992.
1975: Sri Lanka's eighth-wicket pair add 23 against Pakistan, Trent Bridge
Elimination was already assured for winless Sri Lanka as they chased 331 in their final group match, against Pakistan. They struggled to 90 for 7, and victory seemed beyond the realms of even the most fantastical possibility when Somachandra de Silva joined Mevan Pieris. Or was it?
Elimination was already assured for winless Sri Lanka as they chased 331 in their final group match, against Pakistan. They struggled to 90 for 7, and victory seemed beyond the realms of even the most fantastical possibility when Somachandra de Silva joined Mevan Pieris. Or was it?
Yes. It was. Pieris and de Silva took the score to 113 before the former was lbw to Pervez Mir - the second of the Pakistani seamer's three career ODI wickets, and Pieris's final act as an ODI cricketer. The partnership made absolutely no difference to the outcome of the match, but remained Sri Lanka's highest eighth-wicket stand in a World Cup match until their opening match of the 1983 tournament (albeit that, in the intervening eight years, they had only one eighth-wicket stand in a World Cup. The 23 runs that no one remembers Pieris and de Silva making is Sri Lanka's equal-107th highest eighth-wicket partnership in all ODIs.
1979: Kapil Dev takes 0 for 38 in 11 overs against New Zealand, Headingley
Few would have expected major heroics from the 20-year-old Kapil when he marked out his run-up as India's third-change bowler, with his team attempting to defend a disappointing score of 182 against New Zealand. Openers John Wright and Bruce Edgar had already made a solid start, and Kapil had taken just five wickets at 30 in his previous four ODIs (as well as 24 at 41 in a moderate start to his Test career). Was this the day for the promising young allrounder to make his mark on world cricket? No. It was not. He failed to make the crucial breakthrough, and went on to deliver a reasonably tidy but wicket-less performance that few commented on as being either particularly good or bad, as New Zealand cruised to a comfortable eight-wicket victory.
Few would have expected major heroics from the 20-year-old Kapil when he marked out his run-up as India's third-change bowler, with his team attempting to defend a disappointing score of 182 against New Zealand. Openers John Wright and Bruce Edgar had already made a solid start, and Kapil had taken just five wickets at 30 in his previous four ODIs (as well as 24 at 41 in a moderate start to his Test career). Was this the day for the promising young allrounder to make his mark on world cricket? No. It was not. He failed to make the crucial breakthrough, and went on to deliver a reasonably tidy but wicket-less performance that few commented on as being either particularly good or bad, as New Zealand cruised to a comfortable eight-wicket victory.
1983: Australia's Trevor Chappell scores 5 off 14 balls, then takes 1 for 51, against West Indies, Lord's
Undisputed bronze-medal winner in the Chappell brothers' "Who Is The Greatest Cricketer?" competition, Trevor had scored a brilliant century against India two matches previously (his first ODI score over 20 at the tenth attempt), and inexplicably picked up three wickets with his medium-paced plobblers in both of his previous ODI innings. In the group match against West Indies, however, he was dismissed early by Malcolm Marshall, then trundled through almost his full allocation as Australia's fifth bowler, picking up the wicket of Larry Gomes but failing to prevent West Indies reaching their target with ease on a placid pitch. His contribution to the match is still unremembered to this day.
Undisputed bronze-medal winner in the Chappell brothers' "Who Is The Greatest Cricketer?" competition, Trevor had scored a brilliant century against India two matches previously (his first ODI score over 20 at the tenth attempt), and inexplicably picked up three wickets with his medium-paced plobblers in both of his previous ODI innings. In the group match against West Indies, however, he was dismissed early by Malcolm Marshall, then trundled through almost his full allocation as Australia's fifth bowler, picking up the wicket of Larry Gomes but failing to prevent West Indies reaching their target with ease on a placid pitch. His contribution to the match is still unremembered to this day.
1987: West Indies become the first team in ODI history to record multiples of four for all four categories of extras, versus Sri Lanka, Karachi
West Indies annihilated the Sri Lankan bowlers on a record-breaking day, scoring an ODI record team score of 360, the unquestionable highlight of which was Viv Richards hammering 181 off 125 to break Kapil's record highest World Cup innings. What was little commented upon at the time, or since, was the fact that West Indies' total was augmented by four no-balls, four wides, four byes and eight leg-byes - the first time in any international match that all four extras categories had finished on a multiple of four.
West Indies annihilated the Sri Lankan bowlers on a record-breaking day, scoring an ODI record team score of 360, the unquestionable highlight of which was Viv Richards hammering 181 off 125 to break Kapil's record highest World Cup innings. What was little commented upon at the time, or since, was the fact that West Indies' total was augmented by four no-balls, four wides, four byes and eight leg-byes - the first time in any international match that all four extras categories had finished on a multiple of four.
Was this an auspicious sign of four from the numerical heavens that West Indies were on the way to reaching their fourth consecutive World Cup final? No. It was not. They lost their next match on the final ball to Pakistan, then to England, crashed out at the group stage, and have only once even come close to glory ever since - a knife-edge semi-final loss to Australia in 1996. But the extras-in-multiples-of-four floodgates were open - it has happened on five further occasions in ODIs (most recently when Netherlands' 28 extras versus Afghanistan in 2009 unforgettably consisted of 12 wides, four no-balls, eight leg byes, and four byes), and twice in Tests, having never occurred previously in the five-day game.
1992: Zimbabwe smash the all-time ODI record for most batsmen dismissed for between 15 and 20 inclusive in a single innings, versus South Africa, Canberra
When Andy Flower was dismissed for 19 in the first ever all-African World Cup tie, four of Zimbabwe's top six had been dismissed for either 15 or 19, and the record for most batsmen out between 15 and 20 inclusive in an ODI had already been tied. Four wickets remained - history was in the baking, and the oven was turned up to "11". Mark Burmester fell for a disappointing 1, but shortly afterwards, the Manuka Oval failed to erupt in appreciation of a unique but irrelevant occurrence when Eddo Brandes fell for 20.
When Andy Flower was dismissed for 19 in the first ever all-African World Cup tie, four of Zimbabwe's top six had been dismissed for either 15 or 19, and the record for most batsmen out between 15 and 20 inclusive in an ODI had already been tied. Four wickets remained - history was in the baking, and the oven was turned up to "11". Mark Burmester fell for a disappointing 1, but shortly afterwards, the Manuka Oval failed to erupt in appreciation of a unique but irrelevant occurrence when Eddo Brandes fell for 20.
The record-breaking action was not over yet. The No. 10 Malcolm Jarvis went for 17, before, amidst scenes of no tension whatsoever, No. 9 John Traicos also edged into the high-teens during a not particularly exciting tenth-wicket stand of 12 with Kevin Duers. Traicos, however, was left stranded on 16 not out when Duers was bowled by history-spoiler Allan Donald. Never before in 737 ODIs had even five players been out for between 15 and 20 inclusive. Only once in more than 2850 ODIs since has this happened (when five Bangladesh batsmen threw away useful starts against New Zealand in a 1999 World Cup match). The 1992 Zimbabwean's record of six 15-20 dismissals (and seven 15-20 innings, including the "not out") remains gloriously untouched and unnoticed. Zimbabwe were dismissed for 163, and lost a dull match of no particular interest by seven wickets with almost five overs to spare.
Next time in CRICKET WORLD CUP'S LEAST MEMORABLE MOMENTS: England's entire tournament as hosts in 1999, the vast majority of the 2007 edition, and little, little more. If it ever gets written.
Andy Zaltzman is a stand-up comedian, a regular on BBC Radio 4, and a writer