Curiosities of cricket

Press, 17 October 1987, Page 22

Curiosities of cricket

Cricket Facta and Feats. By BUI Frindall. Guinness Superlatives, Pacific Publishers, 1987. 240 pp. $49.95. (Reviewed by John Coffey) No sport has more statistics than cricket Nor, surely, has any other competitive pastime provided so many oddball happenings. A good many of those figures, and plenty of unusual occurrences, are to be found in the second edition of “Facts and Feats.”- Bill Frindall is a familiar name in this country after 21 years as the 8.8. C. radio scorer and an occasional member of the Television New Zealand cricket coverage “team.” The mix of serious statistics and curiosities will delight followers of the sport It deals with the evolution of cricket and lists test and first-class records from all countries which participate at international level. Women’s cricket limited-overs and minor cricket also have their chapters. Frindall has delved deep into cricket’s records to come up with all manner of "firsts” or “bests.” By idly flipping open the book the reader can discover that an Australian, Clem Hill, not only became, in 1902, the first player dismissed for 99 in a test but also, by making 98 and 97 in the next match, the first to score three successive nineties. His batting form seemed to be ebbing slowly.

Not fully explained was the distinction earned by William Waterfall, at Derby, 1n_‘1775. It is noted only that he was "thefirst man to be convicted of manslaughter on the field of play.” More detail would have avoided this reviewer’s imagination threatening to run itself out It is no fault of Frindall that a few items have been overtaken by the increasing amount of cricket being played at the higher levels. A second tie has occurred in a test; Martin Crowe last summer exceeded Glenn Turner’s run-scoring record in a New Zealand season. But poor proof reading means that the records of test match venues for New Zealand, West Indies, India and Australia simply do not compute. Lancaster Park, for example, is credited with six tests, instead of 26. And "Facts and Feats” contradicts itself by claiming that David East, an Essex wicket-keeper, caught the first eight Somerset batsmen in a 1985 innings before the ninth man was run out. On the next page it reproduces the scorecard, which shows (and is confirmed by “Wisden”) the ninth victim was bowled. The producers of the book might have been bowled a couple of times, but Frindall and his fellows have amassed several centuries of paragraphs telling of cricket’s and its players’ triumphs and tribulations.