One-match wonders, and Shah's second chance
After a two-year break, Owais Shah is close to another Test cap but there have been others who've never played again after an impressive debut
Travis Basevi and George Binoy
16-May-2007
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England have included Owais Shah in the final twelve for the first Test against West Indies at Lord's. Shah has played only one Test to date, against India at Mumbai in 2006, and played a crucial role, scoring 88 and 38, in England's victory. His effort in the first innings is the highest by an English batsman who's played only one Test and it slots in at No 4 on the overall table. After a year's break, Shah is close to another Test cap but there have been others who've never played again after an impressive debut.
Andy Ganteaume's 112 against England in 1948 remains the highest score by a batsman who's played only one Test. Read the Rewind for more about Ganteaume's hundred for the slow pace at which he scored it, which cost him his spot in the team. Coincidentally, Ganteaume played the Trinidad Test only because Jeff Stollmeyer, the regular opener, was injured. And, nearly a decade earlier, Jeff's brother Vic Stollmeyer scored 96 on debut at The Oval. It was West Indies' last Test before the war and Vic never played again.
The only other player to score a hundred in his only Test is New Zealand's Rodney Redmond. Drafted into the team for the final Test against Pakistan in 1973, Redmond made 107 in the first innings and 56 in the second, cementing a spot on the tour on England that followed. However, in England, Redmond struggled to adjust to his new contact lenses and his form suffered. He scored only 483 runs at 28.41 in the first-class matches and did not play in any of the Tests.
Player | Runs | Opposition | Ground | Season | Scorecard |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
AG Ganteaume (WI) | |||||
RE Redmond (NZ) | 107 | v Pakistan | Auckland | 1972/73 | |
VH Stollmeyer (WI) | 96 | v England | The Oval | 1939 | Test 274 |
OA Shah (Eng) | 88 | v India | |||
AEV Hartkopf (Aus) | 80 | ||||
N Oldfield (Eng) | |||||
MN Nawaz (SL) | 78* | v Bangladesh | Colombo (SSC) | 2002 | |
JH King (Eng) | 60 | v Australia | Lord's | 1909 | Test 102 |
Yuvraj of Patiala (India) | 60 | v England | |||
RE Redmond (NZ) | 56 |
Click here for the full tables.
Had Stuart Law been of any nationality other than Australian, he'd have played a lot more Tests than just one. He did his cause no harm on debut against Sri Lanka at Perth, scoring an unbeaten 54, but with David Boon, Mark and Steve Waugh vying for middle-order slots, he never got another chance. Law, in fact, was overshadowed by another debutant; Ricky Ponting announced his arrival with 96 in the same Test and with Steve Waugh returning from injury, one of them had to make way.
Charles Marriott, the English legspinner, is the only bowler to take ten wickets first up and never play another Test. He took 5 for 35 and 6 for 59 against West Indies at The Oval in 1933. His 11 for 96 in the match remains the third best performance by an Englishman on debut.
Player | Figures | Opposition | Ground | Season | Scorecard |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
CS Marriott (Eng) | 6/59 | v West Indies | The Oval | 1933 | |
CA Smith (Eng) | 5/19 | v South Africa | Port Elizabeth | 1888/89 | Test 31 |
CS Marriott (Eng) | 5/37 | v West Indies | |||
A Warren (Eng) | 5/57 | ||||
MF Malone (Aus) | |||||
DW Carr (Eng) | 5/146 | v Australia | The Oval | 1909 | |
JE Benjamin (Eng) | 4/42 | v South Africa | The Oval | 1994 | Test 1266 |
NO Norton (SA) | 4/47 | v England | |||
SN Banerjee (India) | 4/54 |
Click here for the full tables.
Mark Benson, the English umpire, is one of 14 people to represent their country in only one Test and one ODI. He made his Test debut, replacing the injured Wayne Larkins, against India in July 1986 and scored 21 and 30. Later that month, he made his one-day debut, scored 24 against New Zealand, after which he was dumped.
Few have had as torrid an ODI baptism as Michael Vandort, who was entrusted with the responsibility of opening the innings against Australia while chasing 319 in the VB Series opener in 2006. Vandort struggled against Brett Lee's pace and, once Sri Lanka were reduced to 32 for 3, he plodded to 47 off 117 balls. His pace was clearly not suited to the wham-bam one-day game and he was dropped for the rest of the series.
Player | Runs | Opposition | Ground | Season | Scorecard |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
KJ Barnett (Eng) | |||||
AJ Woodcock (Aus) | 53 | v New Zealand | Christchurch | 1973/74 | |
MG Vandort (SL) | 48 | v Australia | Melbourne (Dock) | 2005/06 | ODI 2313 |
AV Mankad (India) | 44 | v England | |||
Anwar Hossain (Ban) | 42 | ||||
Ramveer Rai (UAE) | |||||
Shahid Anwar (Pak) | 37 | v England | Nottingham | 1996 | |
JD Siddons (Aus) | 32 | v Pakistan | Lahore | 1988/89 | ODI 522 |
M Yachad (SA) | 31 | v India | |||
WM Lawry (Aus) | 27 |
Click here for the full tables.
David Lawrence made his ODI debut in the final match of the 1991 Texaco Trophy against West Indies. He managed four wickets but conceded 67 runs off ten overs. Lawrence was given his first overseas Test cap at Wellington in 1993 and in the final stages of a drawn Test; he shattered his knee cap in delivery stride, effectively ending his international career.
Player | Figures | Opposition | Ground | Season | Scorecard |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
DV Lawrence (Eng) | 4/67 | v West Indies | |||
BS Chandrasekhar (India) | 3/36 | ||||
Piyush Chawla (India) | |||||
LW Stott (NZ) | 3/48 | v Sri Lanka | Nottingham | 1979 | |
KADM Fernando (SL) | 2/13 | v England | Dambulla | 2003/04 | ODI 2063 |
GD McKenzie (Aus) | 2/22 | v England | |||
Irfan Bhatti (Pak) | 2/22 | ||||
M Venkataramana (India) | |||||
CM Tuckett (WI) | 2/41 | v England | Port of Spain | 1997/98 | |
Rizwan Latif (UAE) | 2/69 | v India | Dambulla | 2004 | ODI 2144 |
Click here for the full tables.
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Travis Basevi is the man who built Statsguru. George Binoy is an editorial assistant on Cricinfo