When I first heard that Chris Gayle was the first West Indies opener to ever carry his bat through a Test Inning I found it hard to believe.
Surely greats like Gordan Greenidge or Desmond Haynes had achieved this! But after a little thought it occurred to me that Greenidge and Haynes had fairly little hope of outlasting the plethora of talent that followed their partner's dismissal.
Should Hayne fall first, Greenidge could go on to make 280, and find he was just the second or third wicket to fall, as Richards, Lloyd and co. smoked their way to their own massive scores.
Great effort though - carrying the bat. Well done to Chris Gayle. I suspect though, seeing the singles he was taking early in overs, as the tail fell around him, that it just might have been on his mind!
==============
Update: Ha! Minor over sight on my part. (I was at work and not really reading things too closely, never let the truth get in the way right!) - I left out the word West Indies "captain"!
Kinda renders that stat a little useless really. How many West Indies captains have even opened the batting...care to look that up for me anyone ;-)
4 comments so far...:
I don't know how that stat got started, but there are quite a few West Indian batsmen who have carried their bat: Frank Worrell, Conrad Hunte and Dezzy Haynes three times.
http://stats.cricinfo.com/ci/content/records/283149.html
Ooops = didn't read properly. Make that West Indies Captain! So that narrows it down just a tad :-|
And, right on cue, Imran Farhat carries his bat. (Sounds like a poem.) Everyone is doing it.
Post a Comment