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As a weak Test-playing cricket nation, Zimbabwe did not have a vast pool of talent at its disposal. This could explain how an underachiever like Andrew (Andy) Whittall managed to play 73 international matches for Zimbabwe. So unremarkable were Andy’s contributions- particularly at Test level- that he was best known as the cousin of Guy Whittall. Indeed, his relatively more illustrious relative usually overshadowed Andy’s contributions to Zimbabwe cricket as an off-break bowler.

Andy Whittall was born in Manicaland, Zimbabwe, on March 28th, 1973. He earned the nickname ‘Structure’ because of his tall, imposing frame. Andy also had the distinction of representing his country before he had even played a First-class match in his native Zimbabwe. However, his figures reveal that he could have used any extra match practice available.

Although Andy scored two First class half centuries, his batting statistics at international level were what could only be described as “cricket poverty”. As an off-spinner who could bat a bit, Andy’s figures belied his role as a lower-order batsman. His low batting strike rates in international cricket suggest that he accumulated his meagre runs total in a pedestrian fashion that was often painful to the cricket spectator.

Andy Whittall was primarily an off-spinner, although you would not guess that after reviewing his statistics. At Test level, Andy Whittall’s bowling was fodder for batsmen and extremely charitable to world-class batsman. Ironically, he played most of his 10 Test matches against teams from the Asian subcontinent; teams that are renowned for playing spin with aplomb. That could explain why Andy went wicket-less in 75% of the Test innings in which he bowled.

As a bowler in One-day internationals, Andy was far more useful but still not effective. From 63 ODIs, he took only 45 wickets at a generous average of 50.02. However, he was not picked to take wickets in ODIs, but to restrict the scoring at one end. Andy did this somewhat effectively, as his parsimonious ODI bowling economy rate of 4.37 runs per over suggests. In fact, Andy only conceded more than 5 runs per over in 18 out of a total of 62 ODI innings in which he bowled.

The emergence of other talented players curtailed Andy Whittall’s somewhat unpromising international cricket career. He played his last Test match in 1999 and his last ODI in 2000- when he was only 27 years old. Although his batting was hardly useful and his bowling uncomplicated, Andy’s economical slow bowling allowed him to make a contribution to Zimbabwe’s ODI fortunes. After his playing days were over, he pursued a successful career in sports marketing.

Darrell Victor is a freelance writer and cricket enthusiast from the West Indies. For articles on West Indies cricket, read: Reasons for the decline of West Indies cricket: http://www.helium.com/items/1264594-west-indies-cricket. A West Indian Perspective on Test cricket: http://www.helium.com/items/1258936-test-cricket

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Headingley collapse is the latest installment in a sorry English tale

Watching the sorry procession of English batsman heading back to the pavilion yesterday at Headingley after yet another injudicious shot reminded me that being an England cricket fan can be tough.

In fact, with alarming regularity, England’s batting has a tendency to brittleness and being prone to collapse like a house of cards in a force nine gale. On far too many occasions in 30 years of following England expectation and anticipation can quickly turn into crushing disappointment, misery and despair.

Here are ten of England’s worst batting performances over this time. Unfortunately, it is not an exhaustive list but merely one compiled of those disasters freshest in the mind.

1.    51 all out, 2nd innings, vs West Indies, 1st Test, Kingston, 4-7 February 2009

We only have to go back six months to the day to remember the last shambolic batting performance. In what proved to be the definitive day of a turgid series, England started their 2nd innings 74 runs behind. Just 33.2 overs later England were all out for 51, losing by an innings. Coincidentally, this was a role reversal of what had happened at the same ground five years before when Steve Harmison, with 7 for 12 had bowled the West Indies out for 47.

2.    46 all out, 2nd innings, vs West Indies, 3rd Test, Port of Spain, 25-30 March 1994

Having played well throughout the match, England had been set 194 to win and were confident even though they needed to get the better of Curtly Ambrose and Courtney Walsh to reach their target. Nineteen overs of hostile fast bowling later, England were dismissed for a paltry 46, Ambrose with 6 for 24 and Walsh 3 for 16.

3.    79 all out, 2nd innings, vs Australia, 1st Test, Brisbane, 7-10 November 2003

After Nasser Hussain’s bizarre decision to insert Australia after winning the toss, England were always chasing this game especially with Matthew Hayden scoring a century in each innings. Set an unlikely 463 to win and needing to bat out a draw on a decent batting wicket, England were demolished for 79. And Mark Butcher scored 40 of this dismal total!

4.    175 all out, 2nd innings, vs Pakistan, 1st Test, Multan, 12-16 November 2005

After dominating this match, with the still sorely missed Marcus Trescothick scoring 193 in England’s 1st innings and Andrew Flintoff taking match figures of 8 for 156, England were set 198 to win on the last day of the 1st Test. However, they fell 22 runs short to the express pace of Shoaib Akhtar and the wily spin of Danish Kaneira. The balloon of optimism from the 2005 Ashes success had been burst after only one match.

5.    129 all out, 2nd innings, vs Australia, 2nd Test, Adelaide, 1-5 December 2006

On the flattest of flat pitches England had scored 551 for 6 in their 1st innings, with Paul Collingwood scoring a double century. Although Australia had responded with 513 all out, surely England couldn’t lose from here?  Even the Australians, Shane Warne excepted, expected the game to meander to a draw. However, after a shocking and timid display England were bowled out for 129 in 73 overs. Australia won by six wickets, and England, with Flintoff crying as he bowled, never recovered and lost the series 5-0.

6.    82 all out, 1st innings & 93 all out, 2nd innings, vs New Zealand, 2nd Test, Christchurch, 3-5 February 1983

Not one but two dismal batting performances in the same match. The nadir of a shambolic tour to the land of the long white cloud in 1983 was the 2nd Test at Christchurch, where after New Zealand made 307 in their 1st innings, England were shot for 82 and 93, following on, to lose by an innings. Richard Hadlee had match figures of 8 for 44.

7.    162 all out, 2nd innings, vs New Zealand, 4th Test, The Oval, August 19-22 1999

In this fourth and deciding Test of the series, England suffered the ignominy of defeat against a New Zealand side that had previously been ranked the worst team in Test cricket. Chasing 245 to win, England slumped from 123 for 2 to 162 all out to replace the Kiwis at the bottom of the rankings. Fortunately, Nasser Hussain recovered from this inauspicious start to his captaincy to help forge a more resilient England side in tandem with Duncan Fletcher.

8.    203 all out, 1st innings, vs South Africa, 2nd Test, Headingley, 18-21 July 2008

Only one year ago at the same venue as yesterday’s sorry performance, England were shot out for 203 by a South African side that had just had to save the 1st Test at Lords. England, who had brought the hitherto unknown Darren Pattinson in for Paul Collingwood, were blown away in 52.3 overs. South Africa responded with 522 and England eventually lost by ten wickets. This defeat and another one in the following Test at Edgbaston led to the resignation of Ashes hero Michael Vaughan as skipper.

9.    155 all out, 1st innings, vs Australia, 1st Test, Lords, 21-24 July 2005

After bowling the Aussies out for 190, with Stephen Harmison taking 5 for 43, England collapsed to 21 for 5 thanks to their nemesis Glenn McGrath. Although the Aussies went on to win this battle by 239 runs, England won the war, the adulation, the Trafalgar Square celebrations and their MBEs. So, despite the humiliation yesterday and the defeat that is likely to ensue, can England repeat their recovery of 2005 and regain the Ashes at The Oval?

10.    102 all out, 1st innings, vs Australia, 4th Test, 7 August 2009

Or could this be the day that England lost the chance to regain the Ashes? Fears that in the absence of Kevin Pietersen, the England batting was totally reliant on Andrew Strauss came to pass. With Stuart Broad batting too high at number seven in the absence of Andrew Flintoff, and the selectors continuing to rely on an out of depth Ravi Bopara, at number three, Australia roared back into the series. The end of this story waits to be written.

It’s not all doom and gloom though, England have recovered from inept batting displays before. It may be clutching at straws, but solace can be found if we go back to the Boxing Day Test in Durban of 2004. England were shot out for 139 and South Africa replied with 332, a 1st innings lead of 193. In their 2nd innings, England scored 570 for 7 declared, with Marcus Trescothick (132) and Andrew Strauss (136) putting on 273 for the 1st wicket. This turnaround nearly resulted in an England win with South Africa struggling to 290 for 8, chasing 378, when the game ended.

Alternatively, we can always hope that the English weather could play a part. In 1997, with McGrath taking 8 for 38, England were shot out for 77 in their 1st innings in the 2nd Test at Lords. Luckily, for the home side, the weather then played a decisive part and the game meandered to a draw.

After yesterday, it may seem unlikely, but we can only hope for shades of Headingley 1981 and reincarnations of Botham and Willis!

For the best articles on the web for the Ashes Cricket 2009
Click http://www.worldcricketwatch.com

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A non-profit organization aimed at the promotion and development of cricket in the United States, the Cricket Hall of Fame inducts both local and international athletes for both their contribution to the game and also to contribute to the community through charities.

In February 1981, the Sportsmen’s Athletic Club, located in Hartford, Connecticut, envisioned the launch of the first Cricket Hall of Fame in the world. After a number of failed attempts, the Cricket Hall of Fame became a reality through an in-house development from the Sportsmen’s Athletic Club.

In October 1981, the first annual Cricket Hall of Fame induction dinner was held at the Hartford Holiday Inn Hotel. The event was popular and possessed an air of festivity. The inaugural inductees were James Gabriel, John Law, Lloyd Walford, Alfred valentine, Lance Gibbs and Wesley Hall.

Through the years, the Cricket Hall of Fame has earned the respect of both players and fans. A decision to move the induction ceremony to New York resulted in a loss of interest, which ultimately led to complete inactivity of the Hall of Fame. After five years, a bold effort was launched by Linford Miller in 1997, which restructured the leadership and regained the respect that the Hall had once lost.

Since it’s revamping, the Cricket Hall of Fame is now a leader in aiding a number of deserving charities. Among them, a contribution of more than 400,000 surgical gloves for healthcare workers who were treating AIDS patients in Jamaica. In 2000, the Humanitarian awards ceremony raised funds for the Boys’ Town project and Boy Scouts movement in Jamaica, as well as a youth Hotline in Barbados, a Children’s Home in St. Lucia and Alvin Kallicharan Foundation in Guyana.

Today, the Cricket Hall of Fame is getting closer to realizing a longtime dream of becoming a museum. This is expected to significantly add to the many tourist attractions, which are already present in the city of Hartford. Thanks to the focused direction of new management, the Cricket Hall of Fame is now housed in more spacious quarters, but still in the same location, and is presently under further renovation.

Area individuals who are members of the cricketing community or athletics, who may have special or rare books, photographs, cricket memorabilia, artifacts, films or other collectibles of historic significance are asked to consider donating their items to the Cricket Hall of Fame. For additional information on the process of making donations or for questions regarding ticket purchases for upcoming induction ceremonies, individuals are urged to contact the Cricket Hall of Fame directly or stop by their headquarters at 3000 Main Street in Hartford, Connecticut.

Hartford’s Cricket Hall of Fame is a division of the Sportsmen’s Athletic Club. After years of continued support from both the community, athletes and cricket fans worldwide, the Hall of Fame continues to thrive and will offer fans the opportunity to view rare collectibles in person or attend an induction ceremony. If you are a cricket fan, the Cricket Hall of Fame is a must-see.

By: Aurel Radulescu

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Read the latest Indian cricket news, Bangladesh cricket news or Pakistan cricket news on www.sportsnews24h.com/Cricket/Pakistan/

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