Run out without facing – is there a worse way to go?

Reports that this Covid-19 crisis may revitalise the unseemly push to jettison day five of Tests makes for pretty depressing reading. Not to mention two-Test series being favoured over three.

Ian Chappell’s call for the lbw Law to be amended would certainly suit that development. “Forget where the ball pitches and whether it strikes the pad outside the line or not; if it’s going to hit the stumps, it’s out,” says the great Chappelli… and he has a point I guess.

I wonder if we’ll see more run-outs in truncated Tests if the money-men get their wish (those that hate paying people to work on a fifth day that might not happen).

Being run out in a Test match has always been a criminal act frankly… unless a batsman is holding things up – think second Test at Christchurch, New Zealand in 1977/78; but I guess four days instead of five would afford a bit more of an excuse.

Is there a worse way to get out than run out without facing?

For a bit of fun I asked the good people at Cricket Archive how many times this has happened.

A tricky one, I was told, because they do not have details of balls faced for all cricket, “particularly before around 1996”, but they have a record of 30 such dismissals.

It is an interesting list.

Poor Chris Martin of New Zealand, already the butt of so many jokes about his batting, is on it twice!

Simon Katich was also a notable one – Jonathan Trott ran him out four balls into the 2010/11 Ashes Test at Adelaide. Australia never recovered, losing by an innings and 71 runs.

^{Jonathan Trott ran out Simon Katich at Adelaide without facing a ball}

Here is the list – how many do you remember?

Lahiru Kumara (Sri Lanka, v West Indies, Bridgetown 2018)

Nathan Lyon (Australia, v South Africa, Cape Town, 2017/18)

Jubair Hossain (Bangladesh, v India, Fatullah, 2015)

Chris Martin (New Zealand, v South Africa, Cape Town 2012/13)

Nuwan Fernando (Sri Lanka, v Pakistan, Abu Dhabi, 2011/12)

Simon Katich (Australia, v England, Adelaide, 2010/11)

Monty Panesar (England, v South Africa, The Oval, 2008)

Harbhajan Singh (India, v Australia, the MCG, 2007/08)

Mohammad Asif (Pakistan, v Sri Lanka, Kandy 2005/06)

Craig Wishart (Zimbabwe, v New Zealand, Bulawayo, 2005/06)

Chris Martin (New Zealand, v England, Leeds, 2004)

Rahul Dravid (India v Pakistan, Lahore, 2003/04)

Younis Khan (Pakistan, v Bangladesh, Multan, 2003/04)

Umar Gul (Pakistan, v Bangladesh, Karachi, 2003/04)

Taufeeq Umar (Pakistan, v Australia, Sharjah 2002/03

Merv Dillon (West Indies, v Australia, Port of Spain, 1998/99)

Trevor Madondo (Zimbabwe v Pakistan, Harare, 1997/98)

Rajesh Chauhan (India v Sri Lanka, Mumbai, 1997/98)

Kumar Dharmasena (Sri Lanka, v Pakistan, Faisalabad, 1995/96)

Courtney Walsh (West Indies, v England, Edgbaston, 1995)

Ken Rutherford (New Zealand, v West Indies, Port of Spain, 1984/85)

Wayne Phillips (Australia, v West Indies, Port of Spain, 1983/84)

Anshuman Gaekwad (India, v West Indies, Port of Spain, 1982/83)

Rodney Hogg (Australia, v England, Edgbaston, 1981)

Bishan Bedi (India, v England, Kolkata, 1972/73)

Bill Lawry (Australia, v South Africa, Port Elizabeth, 1966/67)

Wazir Mohammad (Pakistan, v England, The Oval, 1954)

Alan Kippax (Australia, v South Africa, Adelaide, 1931/32)

Albert Rose-Innes (South Africa, v England, Cape Town, 1888/89)

Actually, I can think of one unluckier way.

In January 2019 Gloucestershire favourite Michael Klinger, facing Ben Dwarshuis in the second over of Perth Scorchers' chase against Sydney Sixers, fell to the seventh legal delivery of the over.

Surely he demanded a recount!

I am indebted to Paul Spencer, a keen The Cricketer reader, who sends me fab videos on YouTube from time to time.

Maintaining the run-out theme, check out this beaut from Australia v Pakistan, first Test, 1978/79, at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

You’d have to say Hogg was just as unlucky as those in the list above: run-out off a no-ball!

No excuse for what he did, however. Let’s hope he was roasted in the changing rooms.

Football looks as if it will pip cricket in its return to our TV screens.

Here’s another gem, from YouTube, showing the worlds of football and cricket colliding (well, sort of).

Sky football anchorman Martin Tyler interviews Mike Atherton at Old Trafford (the cricket version) in 1990 – and Clive Tyldesley and John Helm were on comms.

A fortnight ago we discussed how Crystal Palace footballers are using Kent CCC’s facilities at Beckenham to prepare.

And a friend sent me this, on the CPFC website, about the football team’s roots: “In Victorian England serious cricketers played football in winter to keep fit and Crystal Palace cricketers set up their own football team in 1861.”

I believe quite a few football clubs were formed by cricketers.

I had reason to look up the history of St Johnstone FC for reasons not worth going into here, and bizarrely a similar thing happened there, in central Scotland.

According to the Saints’ Wikipedia page: “The club was formed by members of the local cricket team seeking to occupy their time once the cricket season had finished. The cricketers were kicking a football around the South Inch, a large public park beside the River Tay during the autumn of 1884. This is widely acknowledged to be the date of the formation of St Johnstone FC, although it was not until early in the following year that a group of footballers, led by John Colborn, held an official meeting that led to the formation of the club as a separate entity rather than a 'spin-off' of the cricket club.”

You couldn’t see it happening these days…

^{Chris Martin scored 123 Test runs at an average of 2.36}

So we look as if we are finally going to get some cricket soon… albeit international matches behind closed doors.

It’s not been established yet if journalists like me can attend, or if we’ll be reporting on them off the telly.

If I don’t go, it will deprive me of one of the most amusing sights of the year…

Departure time at the Kia Oval: ‘tired and emotional’ fans being escorted/carried out, looking as if they have gone 12 rounds with Mike Tyson.

It came as scant surprise to me when I was sent this story, therefore, by journalist Laura Scott.

“It’s no secret that most sports fans will enjoy an alcoholic beverage while watching their favourite game – but which sport is the booziest?” she asks.

“Eager to find out which sports fans consume the most alcohol, GolfSupport.com sought to investigate by surveying more than 2,250 sports fans from around the UK. The survey asked participants which sports they watch in person (live), whether they consume alcohol and if so, how many drinks they would have in an hour. These are some of the key findings:

• Dart fans consume the most alcohol averaging five drinks an hour

• 82 per cent of rugby fans will consume alcohol during a match

• The majority of golf fans drink whisky during a game

• Cricket fans consume an average of 12 drinks per match, however.”

Decent innings, that.

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