Knights of Willow Trivia Quiz

Answer: Jack Hobbs & Len Hutton

Of the two openers, the easiest selection was Sir Jack Berry Hobbs. His appetite for runs was astonishing as was his longevity in the game. Whilst his first class career boasted a staggering 61,760 runs, during which he compiled 199 centuries, he scored 5,410 runs in 61 Tests at an average a fraction below 57. This places him amongst the elite and, to boot, he was also a gifted fieldsman at cover point.

The choice for the second opener, literally, fell to a toss of the coin. It was difficult to separate between Alastair Cook and Leonard Hutton. By the time that he'd retired, Cook had amassed more Test runs than any other Englishman. A composed and patient batsman he would definitely have been a worthy opener in this line-up. Len Hutton revealed his greatness very early. He compiled a century in his second Test match and then, in his sixth Test, scored 364 which became the highest individual Test score until it was overtaken in 1958. Like Hobbs, he retired from Test cricket with an average a shade under 57 and scored 6,971 runs over the course of 79 Tests. What is remarkable about Hutton is that he badly broke his arm during World War II. The damage was so severe that he was forced to re-adjust his technique and use a shorter handled bat upon his return to cricket.

Answer: Master Blaster

Better known as Viv, Richards was also known by the nicknames The Emperor and Smokin' Joe. His list of accolades is enormous. He was named by Wisden as the third greatest Test batsman of all time, behind only Donald Bradman and Sachin Tendulkar. Add to that being listed as one of the five Greatest Cricketers of the 20th Century by a panel of 100 experts. In 121 Test matches, he scored in excess of 8,500 runs at an average of 50.23 but statistics do not do his batting justice. Viv walked to the crease with a swagger that many mistook for arrogance and it is fair to say that every West Indian cricketer felt ten feet taller when Sir Viv graced the field. Richards never wore a helmet during his career despite the fact that the late 1970s and the early 1980s were blessed with a series of extremely quick bowlers. Michael Holding, a highly respected bowler, commentator and teammate of Viv summed up best; "He never looked intimidated. Richard Hadlee in New Zealand, Dennis Lillee in Australia, Abdul Qadir in Pakistan, Bishen Bedi in India. Ian Botham in England. He got runs against anybody and everybody".

Australians Greg Ritchie and Steve Smith were known as Fat Cat and Smudge respectively. England's Andrew Strauss was called Muppet.

Answer: No

Wisden rated him the greatest cricketer to have ever played the game. His captain, Bill Woodfull, described as being worth three batsmen to Australia. That standing is unlikely to change as it would take someone of extraordinary ability to diminish the Don's standing in the game.

He played 52 Tests for Australia, scoring 6,996 runs at a phenomenal average of 99.94. In 234 first class games he accumulated 28,067 runs at a staggering rate of 95.14 per dismissal.

Answer: Sir Pelham Warner

Sir Pelham Warner, affectionately known as "Plum", who, ironically was also born in the West Indies, played 15 Tests for England after debuting in 1899 and was captain of the side in ten of those matches.

The "Three W's" were one of the greatest gifts that the game of cricket received and, remarkably, all three were born in St. Michael's Parish in Barbados, delivered by the same mid-wife, in the space of two years.

The first of the three is Frank Worrell. He doesn't make the final eleven but I have given him the task of being this team's manager. This decision is based purely upon the success he achieved as captain of the West Indies team during the 1960s and respect that he'd earned during that period. Worrell became the first "permanent" black captain of the West Indies cricket team. It should be noted that this elevation came at a time when a "White Australia" policy was still in existence that prevented coloured people immigrating to the land "down under", at a time when the Maori Affairs Amendment Act in New Zealand was still years away from being enacted, at a time when South Africa was still refusing to play Tests against the West Indies because of the coloured players in their line-up and, at a time that Enoch Powell still hadn't delivered his racist "Rivers of Blood" speech. Despite all this Worrell guided his team through the 1960 series against Australia with such aplomb that nearly one quarter of Australia's population lined the streets of Melbourne for a parade to honour them. All future contests since, between these two nations, have been contested for the Sir Frank Worrell Trophy.

Of Everton Weekes, Richie Benaud once said, that when Weekes came out to bat he had but one intention - "to hammer the bowlers". One of the hardest hitters that the game has seen Weekes only ever hit one six out of the ground in his Test career because, he claimed, there was a danger of breaking too many windows. His stats will show two sixes but his recollection was that the second was the result of overthrows. In his 48 Test match career he accumulated in excess of 4,500 runs at the amazing average of 58.61. In that total were 15 Test hundreds, five of which came in successive innings against a powerful Australian bowling attack. Remarkably, he was dismissed for 90 attempting the sixth.

Clyde Walcott (although he was never knighted) is the gloveman for this line-up. Clyde was a wicketkeeper/batsman during his first 15 Tests for his country. In this role he had a Test batting average slightly over 40, which is an indication that he could have, potentially, been ranked amongst the greatest here. However, once he relinquished the gloves and played purely as a specialist batsman, his average rose to a whopping 64. His combination of power and grace once led to respected cricket writer, David Firth, describing his batting as "an unforgettable mix of silk and gently rolling thunder".

Answer: Colin Cowdrey

When I was still a young lad and, as a parochial Australian, I found it difficult to accept the fact that any English (Pommy) cricketer could be any good at all. That was until I saw Colin Cowdrey in action. The style and the elegance of the man left me in awe. He possessed that delicious ability to bisect the area between cover and point with effortless grace. And then there was the heroism when he answered England's distress call during the 1974-75 Ashes series. Into his forties, he put his younger teammates to shame as he faced up to the ferociousness and brutality of the Australian bowling line-up led by Dennis Lillee and Jeff Thomson.

In all Cowdrey played 114 Tests for his country and scored over 7,600 runs and took 120 catches. The icing on the cake came in the summer of 1968 when he became the first cricketer to play in 100 Tests and marked the occasion by scoring a century and taking his 100th catch.

Answer: Garfield Sobers

Bradman proffered that title upon Sobers because he felt that the man excelled in all cricketing skills, though he did not have the opportunity to showcase his wicket-keeping abilities in the Test arena. Sobers, as a bowler, was equally adept at firing his fast medium missiles at the batsmen with the new ball as he was endeavouring to ply them out with his wily chinaman deliveries.

He was a brilliant outfielder and scarily uncanny with his reflexive speed when fielding in close. As a batsman, he was exceptional.

He compiled an unbeaten 365 in a Test against Pakistan in 1958, which remained as the highest individual Test score for almost 36 years and he ended his Test career after scoring in excess of 8,000 runs at an average of almost 58. Not a bad effort for a man who was deemed only good enough to bat at number nine for his side in his first Test.

Answer: Richard Hadlee

I should re-phrase that, he was the first man ever to take 400 wickets in the Test arena. Hadlee possessed a wiry frame into which was embedded extraordinary power. It was little wonder because, for almost all of the 1980s, he carried the weight of a nation on his shoulders.

He bowled with unerring accuracy and his ability to constantly keep the seam of the ball upright allowed him to get great deviation of the pitch. He took five wickets in an innings on a staggering 32 occasions and ended his Test career with a total of 431 wickets.

He was also a more than handy batsman in the lower order, posting two Test centuries and passing fifty on fifteen other occasions.

Answer: Andy Roberts

In his autobiography the great West Indian batsman, Viv Richards, describes a list of batsmen who'd been struck and injured by Andy Roberts. The list is extensive and reads like a brutal piece of war correspondence. Roberts was the first in an assembly line of great fast bowlers that evolved from the Caribbean Islands during the 1970s and 1980s. He loved the efficacy of the short pitched delivery and, while it was, at times, designed to hit the batsman, it wasn't to injure but to hasten their road to the surrender of their wicket.

Whilst Roberts was blessed with raw speed it was his plotting mind that remained his secret weapon on the field. Michael Holding, one of his bowling partners, attested to the fact that Roberts was the master of working out the demise of a batsman and that he (himself) learned so much of his own craft from Roberts' advice. In his armoury Roberts had, what could be defined as, a "lesser" bouncer, which lulled batsmen into a false sense of security. Peter Toohey was one of those who, during the Australian tour of the West Indies in the 1977/78 season took advantage of one of these "lesser" bouncers and pulled it to the boundary for four. In his next over Roberts let fly a similar delivery, only yards quicker. Before Toohey realised what was happening he was struck between his forehead and the bridge of his nose. Newspapers, the following morning, showed photographs of a prone Peter Toohey being cradled by Viv Richards as he made desperate gestures to the change-rooms for assistance.

Answer: True

There were a wealth of fast bowlers that could easily have slotted into this line up but Curtly scores a place in the team because, as illustrated above, he is a match winner. Born in Antigua and standing at six feet seven inches (2.01 metres) Curtly was able to extra greater bounce from fuller lengths. He supplemented this gift by bowling with great accuracy and conceding few runs.

In that 1993 Test, the West Indies were a side that was regrouping after the loss of some of their stars. Australia, on the other hand, was a team on the rise. Inciting memories of the highly regarded 1960-61 series between the countries, this series had been hard fought and was locked at one win apiece when the two sides met in Perth for the final Test. In, what was a winner-take-all scenario, Australia went to lunch on the first day with a respectable scoreline of two wickets down for 85 runs. Extracting steepling bounce from the pitch Ambrose went on a rampage after the break, removing seven Australian batsmen for a single run in the space of 32 deliveries. Australia was dismissed for 119, lost the Test and the series. Ambrose completed the match with nine wickets to his name and 33 wickets for the series. His captain, Richie Richardson, described him as the greatest bowler he had played alongside which, considering the calibre of bowlers he'd played alongside, is praise of the highest order.

Answer: Ian Botham

In the colosseum of English cricket, all of the above gladiators would be recognised as extraordinary all-rounders. Cricket followers would know that he is a cricket commentator, that he makes wine, sits in the House of Lords, conducts charity walks and continually spouts his opinions on Brexit. His personality seems to have relegated his epic feats on the cricket field to a form of irrelevance.

In the first half of his Test career, Botham was a colossus. By the end of his first eleven Tests he had already taken five wickets in a Test innings on eight occasions. By the time he was 23 years old he'd taken 100 Test wickets and, two years later, became the third fastest bowler to take 200 Test wickets. His importance to the side doubles when you add eight (of an eventual fourteen) Test centuries to that total. Botham was a significant weapon and a vital cog in the English cricket machine of the late 1970s and all of the 1980s. At Mumbai, in 1980, he, almost single-handed, saw England home to a ten wicket victory. Initially by ripping through the Indian innings, taking six wickets for 58 runs and then, rescuing his country's own innings by scoring 114 runs out of a total of 296. Only one other English batsman managed to exceed 30 runs that day. He then administered the coup de grace by taking seven wickets for 48 runs in India's second dig.