International Cricketers - First Innings Quiz

Answer: New Zealand

Sir Richard John Hadlee MBE was born in 1951 in Christchurch and started playing first-class cricket for Canterbury in the 1971/72 season. He carried on playing for them until 1988/89 and also played for the Nottinghamshire county team between 1978 and 1987 and for Tasmania in the 1979/80 season. His international career began in February 1973 when he played first in a Test match and then a week later in a One Day international (ODI), both against Pakistan. He continued to play in both types of international matches until he chose to retire in 1990.

Richard was a right-arm fast bowler but batted left-handed. Although an all-rounder, he was especially strong as a bowler, for instance taking nine wickets in the first innings of a Test match against Australia in 1985 - and he caught the tenth man out. He became the first bowler to take 400 wickets in Test cricket in February 1990 and was also the first to score 1000 runs and take 100 wickets in ODIs. He was awarded the MBE in 1980 and knighted in 1990, both awards being for services to sport.

Answer: New Zealand

Born in India in 1988, Ajaz Yunus Patel moved to New Zealand with his family when he was eight years old. In the 2012-13 season he started playing cricket at senior level for Central Districts and in 2019 played county cricket in England for Yorkshire. He first played for the New Zealand national team in a Twenty20 International (T20I) game against Pakistan in October 2018. A few weeks later in November 2018 he played in his first Test match, also against Pakistan, and was named man of the match. He was included in the squad for the One Day International (ODI) team the same year.

Ajaz is a left-handed batsman but best known as a left-arm slow bowler and, in the December 2021 second Test match against India in Mumbai, he took all ten of India's wickets for 119 runs in the first innings. He became only the third player, after Jim Laker in 1956 and Anil Kumble in 1999, to do this at Test level and he also took another four wickets in India's second innings.

Answer: Pakistan

Imran Ahmed Khan Niazi HI PP was born in 1952 in Lahore, started playing first-class cricket in 1968 and played for Lahore teams until 1971. He then played for Dawood Industries in 1975-76 and for Pakistan International Airlines from the 1975/76 to the 1980-81 seasons. In addition he played for Worcestershire between 1971 and 1976 and for Sussex between 1983 and 1988, as well as playing several games for New South Wales in 1974-/75 and some matches in World Series Cricket between 1977 and 1979.

Imran first played in a Test match in 1971 against England and his first One Day International (ODI) game in 1974 was also against England. Continuing to play in both types of matches, he captained the national teams for much of the time from 1982 and led Pakistan to their first victory in the Cricket World Cup in 1992, in which year he also retired from international cricket. As a right-handed batsman and a right-arm fast bowler, he was an all-rounder who scored 3,807 runs and took 362 wickets in Test cricket and amassed 3709 runs and 182 wickets in ODIs. In 1982 he received the Pride of Performance award and in 1992 the Hilaal-e-Imtiaz for his achievements.

Answer: Pakistan

Born in 1966 in Lahore, Wasim Akram HI had an unusual career in as much as he had no first-class cricket experience before his performance in trials earned him inclusion in Pakistan's national team. His first game for Pakistan was a One Day International (ODI) in 1984 against New Zealand and he first took part in a Test match in early 1985, also against New Zealand.

Wasim played first-class cricket for a number of teams in both Pakistan and England from 1984 to 2003. The sides he played for included Pakistan Automobiles Corporation, Lahore, PIA, Hampshire and Lancashire, the last of whom he captained for some time. He also captained Pakistan from 1993 until he ceased playing in Test matches in 2002 and in ODIs in 2003. Best known for his left-arm fast bowling, Wasim became the first bowler to take 500 wickets in ODIs as well as taking a total of 414 wickets in Test cricket. In 2019 the government of Pakistan awarded him the Hilaal-e-Imtiaz.

Answer: Sri Lanka

Deshabandu (a title awarded for 'meritorious service') Muttiah Muralitharan was born in 1972 in Kandy and started playing first-class cricket for the Tamil Union Cricket and Athletic Club in 1991. He continued playing for them until 2010 and also played for teams in England, India, New Zealand, Bangladesh, Australia and Jamaica between 1999 and 2014.

Muttiah first played for Sri Lanka in a Test match in September 1992 against Australia while his first appearance in a One Day International (ODI) game was in April 1993 against India. His first Twenty20 International (T20I) match was in December 2006 against New Zealand. He is best known as a right-arm off-break/spin bowler and he set new records by being the first to take 800 Test wickets and more than 530 ODI wickets. He retired from playing in Tests and T20I games in 2010 and from ODI matches in 2011.

Answer: Sri Lanka

Born in Matale in 1977, Kumar Chokshanada Sangakkara began his career in first-class cricket in 1997 when he started playing for the Nondescripts Cricket Club in Colombo. He played for this team until 2014 as well as playing for other Sri Lankan teams and for teams in England, India, Jamaica, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Australia from 2007 up until 2020.

Kumar first played in a One Day International (ODI) and in a Test match in July 2000 against Pakistan and South Africa respectively then played his first Twenty20 International (T20I) match against England in 2006. He became captain of all three national sides in 2009 but chose to relinquish the captaincy in 2011 and he retired from playing in T20Is in 2014 and from playing in Tests and ODIs in 2015. Kumar was an occasional right-arm off-break bowler but a left-handed batsman who became the fastest player to reach several scoring milestones in international cricket. He scored a total of 28,016 runs in international games and was also a wicketkeeper for Sri Lanka until 2006.

Answer: South Africa

Wessel Johannes Cronje, known as Hansie, was born in 1969 in Bloemfontein and started playing professional cricket for Orange Free State, which later became Free State, in 1988 and continued to play for them until 2000. He also played a season for Leicestershire in 1995 and played for Ireland as an overseas player in 1997 in a competition for county teams. He began playing for the South African national team in 1992 when he played in a One Day International (ODI) against Australia in February and then in a Test match against the West Indies in April.

Hansie was a right-handed batsman and right-arm medium to fast bowler and known for being an all-rounder. He was team captain from late 1994 onwards and South Africa won 27 out of the 38 Test matches and 99 out of the 138 ODI matches they played under his leadership. He carried on playing in international matches until 2000 and by then he had played in 162 consecutive ODIs, which was a South African record. Later Hansie was killed in an aeroplane crash in 2002.

Answer: South Africa

Born in 1969 in Pietermaritzburg, Jonathan Neil Rhodes, known as Jonty, began playing first-class cricket for Natal/KwaZulu-Natal in 1988 and carried on playing for them until 2003. He also played several games for Ireland against an Academy side in 1999 as a guest player and then played one season for Gloucestershire in 2003.

Jonty commenced playing for South Africa in February 1992 in a One Day International (ODI) against Australia and then he played his first Test match against India in November of the same year. He continued to play in internationals until he retired from Tests in 2000 in order to concentrate on ODIs, and then retired from ODIs in 2003. Jonty was not only a right-handed batsman and occasional right-arm medium pace bowler but was also known as an exceptionally good fielder, for instance being the first South African to take over 100 catches in ODIs.

Answer: England

Rachael Heyhoe Flint, Baroness Heyhoe Flint OBE DL was born in Wolverhampton in 1939. From the late 1950s until 1980 she played for a number of women's county teams, including Staffordshire and the West Midlands, as well as for some composite elevens. She played her first Test match for England in 1960 and carried on playing in these international matches until 1979; she was the team captain for much of that time.

Women's One Day International (ODI) games began in 1973 with the Women's World Cup, which was the ODI tournament Rachael helped to initiate. She played in, and captained, England's ODI teams from then until the 1982 Women's World Cup, after which she retired. Mainly known as a right-handed batswoman, she was also an occasional right-arm off spin bowler. Rachael was one of the first women to be admitted to the MCC, was awarded an OBE medal in 2008 and was made a life peer in 2011. She died in 2017 after a short illness.

Answer: England

Born in Preston in 1977, Andrew Flintoff MBE, known as Freddie, played for Lancashire between 1995 and 2009 and also played one season for Chennai Super Kings in 2009. He played in his first Test match against South Africa in 1998 and the next year played in his first One Day International (ODI) game against Pakistan. When he started playing in Twenty20 International (T20I) matches in 2005, the year in which they began, the first match he took part in was against Australia.

Known as an all-rounder, Freddie was a right-handed batsman and a right-arm medium to fast bowler and became the then third-highest English wicket taker in ODIs. He captained the England teams for part of his international career and was awarded the MBE medal in 2006. Freddie stopped playing in T20I games in 2007 and retired from Tests and ODIs in 2009 and from other first-class matches in 2010. However, he returned to play Twenty20 cricket for Lancashire in 2014 and for Brisbane Heat in 2014/15.