They stopped playing very young

Does the name Khalid Hasan ring any bells? You should be working for us if it does. Hasan, a legspinner, made his Test debut at Trent Bridge in 1954 - scored 17, took two wickets - and never played for Pakistan again. Entirely unremarkable, except that he was not yet 17 when he bowled Denis Compton. Hasan was the youngest Test debutant at the time - ending West Indian Derek Sealy's 24-year record - and eventually became the youngest to never play again.

In this week's column we've dug up lists of players whose careers ended at the earliest age. The tables have different cut-offs for number of matches and exclude anyone who's played in the last 12 months.

Khalid Wazir, the son and nephew of pre-partition India Test cricketers, Syed Wazir Ali and Nazir Ali, was also on Pakistan's 1954 tour of England. An 18-year old student, he made his debut at Lord's and also played at Old Trafford, but scored only 14 runs in three innings. He didn't play any more first-class cricket after returning to Pakistan, though, and never represented his country again.

Elderly New Zealand cricket fans might remember former West Indian batsman Alphonso Roberts better than their Caribbean counterparts. He was part of the touring side that played the Auckland Test in 1956, which was New Zealand's maiden victory after 26 years of draws and defeats. Roberts, born in St Vincent and the first 'small islander' to play for West Indies, made 28 and 0 in that match. He was 18. After that tour, he moved to Trinidad, where he met with opposition from those championing local talent. Roberts then returned to St Vincent, emigrated to Canada in 1962, and never played competitive cricket again.

Players whose careers ended at the youngest age

Player	Span	Mat

Runs HS Bat Av 100 Wkts BBI

Bowl Av 5 Match End Age

Khalid Hasan (Pak) 1954-1954 1 17 10 17.00

0 2 2/116 58.00 0 Jul 5, 1954

16y 356d Nazmul Hossain (Ban) 2004-2004 1 8

8* 8.00 0 2 2/114 57.00

0 Dec 20, 2004 17y 76d CDUS Weerasinghe (SL) 1985-1985

1 3 3 3.00 0 0

- - 0 Sep 11, 1985 17y 194d

Yasir Ali (Pak) 2003-2003 1 1 1*

- 0 2 1/12 27.50 0

Sep 6, 2003 17y 326d Khalid Wazir (Pak) 1954-1954 2

14 9* 7.00 0 0 -

- 0 Jul 27, 1954 18y 91d Ranjan Das (Ban)

2000-2000 1 2 2 1.00 0

1 1/64 72.00 0 Nov 13, 2000 18y 122d

Irfan Fazil (Pak) 2000-2000 1 4 3

4.00 0 2 1/30 32.50 0

Mar 15, 2000 18y 134d AT Roberts (WI) 1956-1956 1

28 28 14.00 0 0 -

- 0 Mar 13, 1956 18y 177d Qaiser Abbas (Pak)

2000-2000 1 2 2 2.00 0

0 - - 0 Nov 19, 2000 18y 196d

DL Freeman (NZ) 1933-1933 2 2 1

1.00 0 1 1/91 169.00 0

Apr 3, 1933 18y 207d AHP Scott (WI) 1953-1953 1

5 5 5.00 0 0 -

- 0 Apr 4, 1953 18y 249d AG Cremer (Zim)

2005-2005 6 29 12 2.63 0

13 3/86 45.76 0 Aug 17, 2005 18y 332d

E Chigumbura (Zim) 2004-2005 6 187 71

15.58 0 9 5/54 55.33 1

Mar 13, 2005 18y 364d Anwar Hossain (Ban) 2002-2002 1

14 12 7.00 0 0 -

- 0 Dec 10, 2002 19y 0d Talha Jubair (Ban)

2002-2004 7 52 31 6.50 0

14 3/135 55.07 0 Dec 20, 2004 19y 10d

AE Ochse (SA) 1889-1889 2 16 8

4.00 0 0 - - 0

Mar 26, 1889 19y 15d DC Parkin (SA) 1892-1892 1

6 6 3.00 0 3 3/82

27.33 0 Mar 22, 1892 19y 31d T Mupariwa (Zim)

2004-2004 1 15 14 15.00 0

0 - - 0 May 17, 2004 19y 31d

P Utseya (Zim) 2004-2004 1 45 45

22.50 0 0 - - 0

May 8, 2004 19y 43d T Panyangara (Zim) 2004-2005 3

128 40* 32.00 0 8 3/28

35.75 0 Jan 18, 2005 19y 89d

Remember Ata-ur-Rehman? That Pakistani fast bowler who promised so much in the time of Wasim, Waqar and Aaqib and might have played a lot more had it not been for match-fixing shenanigans. He made his debut at the age of 17, played 13 Tests and 30 ODIs, but by 21 his career was over. Rehman did not play a game after 1996 and in 2000 he was banned for life. The ICC allowed him back in 2007 and Rehman was last seen playing competitive cricket for Derbyshire second XI that year.

By the time Ian Craig played his 11th and final Test in 1958, at the age of 22, he was the youngest Australian to do several remarkable things. At 16, he made his first-class debut for New South Wales in 1951-52. In the following season, he became the youngest Australian to score a first-class double century. At 17, Craig became Australia's youngest Test cricketer (he still is), making his debut against South Africa at the MCG in 1953. His second match was Jim Laker's Test, and Craig was lbw twice, though he battled more than four hours in the second innings. At 22, he was Australia's youngest captain, leading them to a 3-0 victory in South Africa in 1957-58. He missed the next home season because of hepatitis, though, and could not break back into the Test side after he recovered. He played first-class cricket until he was 26, after which he pursued a career in business.

Players whose careers ended at the youngest age (qualification - minimum of 10 Tests)

Player	Span	Mat	Runs

HS Bat Av 100 Wkts BBI Bowl Av

5 Match End Age BRM Taylor (Zim)

2004-2005 10 422 78 21.10 0

0 - - 0 Sep 22, 2005 19y 228d

Nafees Iqbal (Ban) 2004-2006 11 518 121

23.54 1 0 - - 0

Mar 11, 2006 20y 131d JN Crawford (Eng) 1906-1908 12

469 74 22.33 0 39 5/48

29.48 3 Feb 27, 1908 21y 88d Ata-ur-Rehman (Pak)

1992-1996 13 76 19 8.44 0

31 4/50 34.54 0 Aug 12, 1996 21y 137d

Azeem Hafeez (Pak) 1983-1985 18 134 24

8.37 0 63 6/46 34.98 4

Feb 14, 1985 21y 200d Hannan Sarkar (Ban) 2002-2004 17

662 76 20.06 0 0 -

- 0 Oct 22, 2004 21y 326d H Masakadza (Zim)

2001-2005 15 785 119 27.06 1

2 1/9 19.50 0 Sep 22, 2005 22y 44d

Alok Kapali (Ban) 2002-2006 17 584 85

17.69 0 6 3/3 118.16 0

Mar 3, 2006 22y 61d RP Singh (India) 2006-2008 13

91 30 6.50 0 40 5/59

39.10 1 Apr 5, 2008 22y 121d T Taibu (Zim)

2001-2005 24 1273 153 29.60 1

1 1/27 27.00 0 Sep 22, 2005 22y 131d

CN McCarthy (SA) 1948-1951 15 28 5

3.11 0 36 6/43 41.94 2

Aug 18, 1951 22y 147d Tapash Baisya (Ban) 2002-2005 21

384 66 11.29 0 36 4/72

59.36 0 Jun 5, 2005 22y 172d WM Darling (Aus)

1978-1979 14 697 91 26.80 0

0 - - 0 Nov 7, 1979 22y 190d

Haseeb Ahsan (Pak) 1958-1962 12 61 14

6.77 0 27 6/202 49.25 2

Feb 7, 1962 22y 207d Enamul Haque jnr (Ban) 2003-2009 14

53 13 5.88 0 41 7/95

39.24 3 Jul 20, 2009 22y 227d ID Craig (Aus)

1953-1958 11 358 53 19.88 0

0 - - 0 Mar 4, 1958 22y 265d

Mohammad Wasim (Pak) 1996-2000 18 783 192

30.11 2 0 - - 0

Jun 24, 2000 22y 321d WU Tharanga (SL) 2005-2007 15

713 165 28.52 1 0 -

- 0 Dec 22, 2007 22y 323d Mohammad Ilyas (Pak)

1964-1969 10 441 126 23.21 1

0 - - 0 Mar 3, 1969 22y 349d

DR Smith (WI) 2004-2006 10 320 105*

24.61 1 7 3/71 49.14 0

Mar 29, 2006 22y 351d

"Collie was a greater allrounder than I," said Garry Sobers of O'Neill Gordon Smith, who played only 26 Tests for West Indies and died because of injuries sustained in a car crash in Staffordshire in September 1959. In his third first-class game, Smith scored a century for Jamaica against the visiting Australians in 1955 and a week later repeated the feat on Test debut at Sabina Park. On the 1957 tour of England, Smith scored 161 at Edgbaston, becoming the first batsman to make centuries on first appearance against both Australia and England. He was also a promising offspinner, taking 48 wickets at 33.85, but West Indies were deprived of his skills when he was only 26.

Players whose careers ended at the youngest age (qualification - minimum of 20 Tests)

Player Span Mat Runs HS Bat Av

100 Wkts BBI Bowl Av 5 Match End

Age T Taibu (Zim) 2001-2005 24

1273 153 29.60 1 1 1/27

27.00 0 Sep 22, 2005 22y 131d Tapash Baisya (Ban)

2002-2005 21 384 66 11.29 0

36 4/72 59.36 0 Jun 5, 2005 22y 172d

MF Maharoof (SL) 2004-2007 20 538 72

19.92 0 24 4/52 60.75 0

Nov 20, 2007 23y 74d C Sharma (India) 1984-1989 23

396 54 22.00 0 61 6/58

35.45 4 May 3, 1989 23y 120d PA Patel (India)

2002-2008 20 683 69 29.69 0

0 - - 0 Aug 11, 2008 23y 155d

IK Pathan (India) 2003-2008 29 1105 102

31.57 1 100 7/59 32.26 7

Apr 5, 2008 23y 161d SS Das (India) 2000-2002 23

1326 110 34.89 2 0 -

- 0 May 22, 2002 24y 198d KD Karthik (India)

2004-2010 23 1000 129 27.77 1

0 - - 0 Jan 21, 2010 24y 234d

Rajin Saleh (Ban) 2003-2008 24 1141 89

25.93 0 2 1/9 134.00 0

Oct 29, 2008 24y 344d BP Patel (India) 1974-1977 21

972 115* 29.45 1 0 -

- 0 Dec 21, 1977 25y 27d DD Ebrahim (Zim)

2001-2005 29 1225 94 22.68 0

0 - - 0 Sep 22, 2005 25y 46d

JA Rudolph (SA) 2003-2006 35 2028 222*

36.21 5 4 1/1 108.00 0

Aug 8, 2006 25y 96d Sikander Bakht (Pak) 1976-1983 26

146 22* 6.34 0 67 8/69

36.00 3 Jan 8, 1983 25y 136d JE Taylor (WI)

2003-2009 29 629 106 15.72 1

82 5/11 35.64 3 Nov 28, 2009 25y 159d

Mashrafe Mortaza (Ban) 2001-2009 36 797 79

12.85 0 78 4/60 41.52 0

Jul 13, 2009 25y 281d OG Smith (WI) 1955-1959 26

1331 168 31.69 4 48 5/90

33.85 1 Mar 31, 1959 25y 330d RG Pollock (SA)

1963-1970 23 2256 274 60.97 7

4 2/50 51.00 0 Mar 10, 1970 26y 11d

GJ Rennie (Zim) 1997-2002 23 1023 93

22.73 0 1 1/40 84.00 0

Feb 25, 2002 26y 44d KR Pushpakumara (SL) 1994-2001 23

166 44 8.73 0 58 7/116

38.65 4 Sep 8, 2001 26y 49d DNT Zoysa (SL)

1997-2004 30 288 28* 8.47 0

64 5/20 33.70 1 Jul 13, 2004 26y 61d

Waqar Younis appears in the table of players with a minimum of 50 matches to have finished his career the earliest. He was 31 when he played his 87th Test in 2003. Six years earlier, though, there appeared an interesting anecdote regarding Waqar's age in the 1997 Wisden.

"During the Pakistan tour last summer, the fast bowler Waqar Younis was quoted in The Sun as confirming what many people in cricket had long suspected, that he was not born on November 16, 1971, as recorded in Wisden and in every other reference book. He said he was two years older than that," Matthew Engel, the editor, wrote. "I then approached Waqar for confirmation of The Sun story. He did not deny it, but said the date should be left alone, and demanded to know why it mattered. There was no ready answer to that. After all, there is no age limit in Test cricket. He is not cheating anyone; why should it matter? When Waqar signed for Glamorgan, he stuck to the 1971 date on his registration form, so there it must rest."

We too have followed suit with other cricket references and used the 1971 date. If we were to use 1969, he would be well short of the following table, finishing at the age of 33, and that would perhaps be more realistic for the champion fast bowler that he was.

Players whose careers ended at the youngest age (qualification - minimum of 50 Tests)

Player	Span

Mat Runs HS Bat Av 100 Wkts

BBI Bowl Av 5 Match End Age

CD McMillan (NZ) 1997-2005 55 3116 142

38.46 6 28 3/48 44.89 0

Mar 22, 2005 28y 190d KR Rutherford (NZ) 1985-1995 56

2465 107* 27.08 3 1 1/38

161.00 0 Mar 22, 1995 29y 147d RR Sarwan (WI)

2000-2009 83 5759 291 41.73 15

23 4/37 50.56 0 Dec 20, 2009 29y 180d

GD McKenzie (Aus) 1961-1971 60 945 76

12.27 0 246 8/71 29.78 16

Jan 14, 1971 29y 204d ADR Campbell (Zim) 1992-2002 60

2858 103 27.21 2 0 -

- 0 Nov 19, 2002 30y 57d WJ Cronje (SA)

1992-2000 68 3714 135 36.41 6

43 3/14 29.95 0 Mar 6, 2000 30y 163d

RJ Shastri (India) 1981-1992 80 3830 206

35.79 11 151 5/75 40.96 2

Dec 29, 1992 30y 216d ME Trescothick (Eng) 2000-2006 76

5825 219 43.79 14 1 1/34

155.00 0 Aug 21, 2006 30y 239d CJ McDermott (Aus)

1984-1996 71 940 42* 12.20 0

291 8/97 28.63 14 Jan 29, 1996 30y 290d

AL Logie (WI) 1983-1991 52 2470 130

35.79 2 0 - - 0

Jul 28, 1991 30y 303d SJ Harmison (Eng/ICC) 2002-2009 63

743 49* 11.79 0 226 7/12

31.82 8 Aug 23, 2009 30y 304d AW Greig (Eng)

1972-1977 58 3599 148 40.43 8

141 8/86 32.20 6 Aug 30, 1977 30y 328d

KJ Hughes (Aus) 1977-1984 70 4415 213

37.41 9 0 - - 0

Dec 27, 1984 30y 336d JN Gillespie (Aus) 1996-2006 71

1218 201* 18.73 1 259 7/37

26.13 8 Apr 20, 2006 31y 1d JN Rhodes (SA)

1992-2000 52 2532 117 35.66 3

0 - - 0 Aug 10, 2000 31y 14d

Waqar Younis (Pak) 1989-2003 87 1010 45

10.20 0 373 7/76 23.56 22

Jan 5, 2003 31y 50d MJ Hoggard (Eng) 2000-2008 67

473 38 7.27 0 248 7/61

30.50 7 Mar 9, 2008 31y 69d AC Parore (NZ)

1990-2002 78 2865 110 26.28 2

0 - - 0 Apr 3, 2002 31y 70d

SL Campbell (WI) 1995-2002 52 2882 208

32.38 4 0 - - 0

Feb 4, 2002 31y 95d DM Jones (Aus) 1984-1992 52

3631 216 46.55 11 1 1/5

64.00 0 Sep 13, 1992 31y 173d

Bibliography
World Cricketers - Christopher Martin-Jenkins (Oxford University Press, 1996)