The obscure cricketers' thread

[harishankar]

Just think of the most obscure or unknown cricketer to have played International cricket for your country or any other country and post it here. (in other words, one-time wonders or people who played a couple of tests and disappeared from the scene without a trace)

I can think of a couple of names from the distant past:

Subroto Bannerjee. (Med-fast bowler. I think he played ODI or test cricket for India some time in the mid 90s. The only thing I seem to remember about him is strangely that he was a pathetic fielder)

Salil Ankola (Another med-fast bowler who was pretty obscure and disappeared quite quickly from international cricket)

Tinu Yohannan (More recent but still as obscure. I remember him playing in the West Indies some years ago. Still another one who bit the dust fairly early in his career as a med-fast bowler for India)

I'll try to think of some more cricketers to add to this list

 

[aditya123]

I remember of another med-fast bowler called Siddhiqui who played in the 2001 India England series (hit the winning runs at Mohali).
Laxmi Ratan Shukla, the all-rounder.
A Tamil Nadu paceman named T.Kumaran who last played in 2000.

 

[surendar]

Another Indian medium fast bowler David Johnson....He played few tests in South Africa...When W.V.Raman and Vikram Rathore opened for India in Tests!!!!!

Australian Fast bowler Adam Dale...He even got a hattrick!!!!!

Indian left arm spinner Raghul Sanghavi plyed few matches only!!!!

Indian batsmen Amay Khurashia who made 55 in his debut also played few

Indian legspinner NOEL DAVID played few matches and he even impressed few matches!!!!

Indian alrounder VIJAY BHARADHWAJ played few matches!!!!

Indian alrounder G.Pande (made debut along with Sehwag) played very very few!!!

Indian batsmen Sridharan Sriram!!!

 

[sohum]

Salil Ankola soon gave up cricket and took up acting.

How about some guy called 'Gandhi'. I forgot his first name, maybe it was Dinesh? I remember the crowd in India booing him because he was batting so slowly in an ODI match.

Then there's the long list of wicket-keepers who'll probably be forged out by MS Dhoni: Samir Dighe, MSK Prasad, Vijay Dahiya. Can't remember anyone else for now.

 

[ZoraxDoom]

Indian legspinner NOEL DAVID played few matches and he even impressed few matches!!!!

Off spinner actually.
And it was Devang Ghandi sohum.
M.Bisla did well in the series in Abu Dhabi, as a batter and keeper. Wonder what will happen to him?
How about Abay Khurasiya?

Indian batsmen Amay Khurashia who made 55 in his debut also played few

 

[James219]

Dewald Pretorius I've read about, a South African bowler who was fairly quick but all over the place and not consistent enough to stay in the side. I think he disappeared from the international stage around 2002/03 as he didn't live up to expectations.

 

[cricket_lover]

It was Devang Gandhi, he scored 80 or 90 on debut and then dissappeared.
How many wicket keepers? Ratra, Dighe, MSK Prasad, and few more..

 

[surendar]

Have u people heard abt Pankhaj Dharmani,an Indian player...I think he hardly played 2-5 matches!!!!

Then I remember a bowler caled Mambrey(I dnt knw th full name),An Indian Bowler who just played single match!!!!

What abt Abey Kuruvilla,Harvinder Singh,D.Mohanty(All Indians)!!!!

Even reetinder Singh Sodhi and Sarandeep Singh(Indians) played a few matches!!!!

So many Indians.....

Wht about Lanka de Silva, SriLankan player(prbly a wicket keeper)!!!!

I.Austin,An England player found only in 1999 World Cup!!!!

Brendon Julien,An Australian Player!!!!

 

[Sureshot]

I remember of another med-fast bowler called Siddhiqui who played in the 2001 India England series (hit the winning runs at Mohali).
Laxmi Ratan Shukla, the all-rounder.
A Tamil Nadu paceman named T.Kumaran who last played in 2000.

Kumaran was dynamite on ICC 2002.

 

[harishankar]

Some familiar names there... I don't know about including Debasis Mohanty in such a list. He played in the World Cup 99 and performed quite well, so whether he can be described as "obscure" I don't know.

But what about Dodda Ganesh? Another obscure cricketer. I hardly remember what he did in the Indian team except bowl medium/medium fast.

Another name from the Pakistani side is Wajahatullah Wasti. He quickly disappeared from the international scene.

As far as Australia are concerned, I remember Shane Lee, the brother of Brett Lee. You hardly remember how he performed and we only remember him because he was the brother of Brett. He too quickly disappeared from the scene.

There are also a couple of South African pacemen I seem to remember, but whose names I forget.

How about we come up with a list of Obscure World XI? That might throw up some interesting names from other countries which might be missed?

 

[sohum]

Aahh, old Wajahutullah Wasti. I loved his name. Pakistan have had their share of obscure cricketers because of their impulsive selectors over the years.

South African pacemen--the only one I remember is Nantie Hayward, and I think he injured himself. There was one Roger Telemachus, too. Not sure how many matches he played.

India probably have a long list of such players. It is so tough to get your national cap and even when you get it, you need to perform or be thrown out.

 

[cricket_lover]

It was Paras Mambhrey, and then you have JP Yadav (he might get a chance..sometime). Dodda Ganesh, Sujith Somasundar are some players from Tamil Nadu.

 

[Bala]

I remember a Pakistani opener called Ali Naqvi. He hit a century on debut. against South Africa, I think. Haven't heard of him since then.

The only memory I have of Dodda Ganesh is him blocking Paul Adams as Sachin Tendulkar went berserk hitting the Saffers all over the park and in the end being caught magnificiently in the midwicket boundary by Adam Bacher.

Some more names that pop up...

1. Jacob Martin - Took a stunner of catch in the deep cover boundary to dismiss a rampant Ricardo Powell.

2. Chris Schoefield - Heard quite a bit in the county scenes. Also my pick for an English spinner in ICC2002.

3. Peter Such: If I recall, he layed only one test, against New Zealand scoring a duck of 40 odd balls. Me thinks, he made his debut at 41.

4. Ed Giddins: Harassed the Zimbabweans and was hit out by the Saffers in the following series. I remember him batting with his glasses. Recently heard he was arrested or tried for some offense. Dunno quite well.

5. Nilesh Kulkarni - 2 tests, 1 oneday. Wicket first ball in test. Had to wait nearly 100 overs before the next.

 

[harishankar]

There was a time when South Africa actively experimented with fast bowlers. There was another player I saw on an old match in 2000 which they showed on ESPN... A quite decent medium fast bowler (an African origin player). It was not Telemachus.

Another South African player from a long while back to remember is Meyrick Pringle. He played about 4 tests and 17 ODIs according to Wikipedia.

On a slightly tangential note, this guy Neil Johnson (all rounder for Zim) was one of the most talented all rounders to emerge and his fairly early disappearance from the international scene due to political reasons in Zimbabwe was a loss to International cricket. Not an obscure player by any means, but just a promising allrounder who should have been around a lot longer than he was.

 

[puddleduck]

2. Chris Schoefield - Heard quite a bit in the county scenes. Also my pick for an English spinner in ICC2002.


4. Ed Giddins: Harassed the Zimbabweans and was hit out by the Saffers in the following series. I remember him batting with his glasses. Recently heard he was arrested or tried for some offense. Dunno quite well.

Two good English ones there. Schofield was yet another in the line of supposedly answering English spin problems. He was a legspinner, who got taken on an England tour, and then seemed to think he had made it, fell away after that, and was recently released all together by Lancashire, ended up going to court to try and get some money out of it.

Ed Giddens was a little like a poor mans Mullaly Recently got in trouble for taking cocaine I believe.

During the early to mid 90's there were a ton of England players who were called up and then dropped immediately never to be heard of again, it has mostly died out since central contracts were introduced and they decided to give players extended runs instead of chopping and changing.

I expect to see Shaun Udal on the list, he should never play a test match for England again, especially now that Panesar looks like he has a future, and Giles will be fit again soon. So for Udal, he is likely to end his career with 3 tests, 3 wickets at around 100

Peter Such was actually not that bad an off-spinner, but his batting was dreadful and meant he probably played less than he should have.