Miscellaneous

Warne Races To 200 Test Wickets (13 Dec 1995)

Summarized from an AFP report....

13-Dec-1995
Warne races past 200 Test wicket milestone
Summarized from an AFP report.....
Shane Warne raced past 200 Test wickets on Monday to claim another milestone as Australia claimed an innings and 36 run victory over Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka fast bowler Chaminda Vaas became Warne`s 200th test vicitm.
Warne, who made his debut four years ago, has taken 42 tests to reach the landmark, which will further enhance his reputation as one of the best bowlers of all time. His strike rate is 200 wickets from 12,470 balls (62.35) -- the best on record for a spinner. India`s Bhagwat Chandraseker captured 200 Test wickets at 65.96. But he is only the fifth fastest bowler to make 200 wickets.
Australian leg-spinner Clarrie Grimmett reached 200 wickets in only 36 Tests in 1935. Australian fast bowler Dennis Lillee took 37. Pakistan fast bowler Waqar Younis, who is currently on tour in New Zealand, got 200 wickets in his 38th Test, just concluded. English allrounder Ian Botham 41 Tests. West Indies Malcolm Marshall also took 42 Tests.
There was little indication of Warne`s ability when he made his Test debut against India in Sydney in January, 1992. His 45 overs in India`s first innings earned one wicket at a cost of 150 runs. After his second Test appearance of that series Warne had figures of 1-228. But the Australian selectors persisted and their faith in his potential brought huge dividends as he played a pivotal role in his country`s rise to become probably the most feared nation in Test cricket.
In December 1992, Warne demolished the West Indies with a second innings 7-52 in Melbourne. Since then he has become something of a cult figure and possibly the best paid cricketer in the game. According to some reports he receives more than one million Australian dollar (750,000 US) a year. His magic is wrapped up in his rare ability to serve up a cocktail of viciously fizzing deliveries with uncanny flight and deadly accuracy. Loose deliveries are so few they almost become a major talking point more.
Australian coach Bob Simpson has described Warne as "the greatest thing to happen in international cricket in the past 30 years". And there is an air of expectation when Warne is on the ground.
His strike rate over his last 30 Tests has been prodigious: 61 wickets from 11 Tests against England; 37 in six against Pakistan; 35 from six against New Zealand; 33 from six against South Africa, and 25 from eight against West Indies. Provided he retains his form and fitness, the bleach blond Warne has every chance of threatening the all-time Test wicket record of 434 held by Indian Kapil Dev, who retired last year after a 131-match Test career.
Whatever else happens to him, Warne should certainly escape the unenviable fate of Grimmett, whose strike rate was 67.18. He played in only one more Test after reaching the 200-wicket jackpot in a match in which he captured 13 wickets. Grimmett was in his mid-forties by then, and the legendary Don Bradman, an Australian selector as well as captain, considered the New South Wales player, Frank Ward, also a leg-spinner, a better proposition for the next season. Apart from Grimmett and Warne, only six spin bowlers have wrapped up 200 or more wickets at Test level - West Indies Lance Gibbs took 309, Englishman Derek Underwood 297, India`s Bishen Singh Bedi 266, Australian Richie Benaud 248, Bhagwat Chandrasekhar 242 and Pakistani Abdul Qadir 236.
Source :: Lake House/Lanka Internet Services Ltd