The historic Lord's Cricket Ground

10 legends who are not a part of the Lord's Honours Board 

Without a shadow of a doubt, the Lord's Cricket Ground is the dream venue for any player to play Test cricket, thanks to the history and tradition associated with it. One such tradition is the Lord's Honours Board where the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) honours the top performers of every single Test played at the venue.

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Ever since the first match at the venue between arch-rivals Australia and hosts England in 1884, whenever a batsman scores at least 100 in an innings or a bowler takes at least five wickets in an innings or a 10-wicket haul in a match, the player will have his name etched in one of the five the Lord's Honours Board (England batting, England bowling, visitors batting, visitors bowling and neutral honours board for the neutral teams playing at the venue) depending on where he qualifies.

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All the fiv honours board have over 500 names across them and interestingly, it does not feature the names of a few legendary cricketers who have done everything they could in the sport. But then, whose loss is that? The players' or the board's?

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Let us take a look at ten legendary cricketers (both batsmen and bowlers) whose names are not there at the historic board.

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Note: Only the players who have announced their retirement from Test cricket were considered.

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Imran Khan

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Imran Khan was the man who transformed cricket in Pakistan after winning the 1992 World Cup
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Imran Khan is easily the most influential figure in Pakistan as the all-rounder led his team from the front and took them to the 1992 World Cup win and recently, he won the general elections to became the Prime Minister of the country.

Imran, along with his fellow all-rounders from India (Kapil Dev), England (Sir Ian Botham) and New Zealand (Sir Richard Hadlee) formed the Fab Four of that generation as all four were capable of winning matches for their countries with both and ball and will go in the history as four of the greatest all-rounders to have played the sport.

While Kapil, Botham and Hadlee are a part of the Lord's Honours Board, Imran's name is missing from it as the former Pakistan skipper managed to score just 16 runs and take eight wickets with 2/48 being his best in three matches at the venue.

Wasim Akram

The Legendary Pakistan pacer has played just four matches at Lord's
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Former Pakistan pacer Wasim Akram is someone who has run through a lot of batting line-ups in his career. The Master of swing bowling is a dangerous bowler to face and is reliable with the bat too which is very evident from his tally of 414 wickets with 25 five-wicket hauls and 2898 runs with three centuries in 104 matches.

But, the southpaw managed to score just 144 runs and took 12 wickets in the four matches he played at Lord's with an unbeaten 45 and 4/66 being his best with both bat and ball at this venue.

Jacques Kallis

Jacques Kallis is easily the greatest South African to have played Test cricket
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13,289 runs at an average of 55.37 and 45 centuries, the second-most by anyone in Test cricket behind the legendary Sachin Tendulkar and 292 wickets at an average of 32.65 with five five-wicket hauls in 166 matches, without a doubt, former South African international Jacques Kallis is arguably the greatest all-rounder to have played Test cricket.

But, Kallis couldn't replicate his success at Lord's as he has managed to score just over 50 runs (54) with 31 being his innings in the three matches he played and took six wickets with 4/24 being his best at the venue.

Curtly Ambrose

Ambrose is one of the scariest bowlers to face
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With 405 wickets in 95 Tests at an average of just 20.99, Curtly Ambrose has done everything a fast bowler could do in Test cricket except for taking a hat-trick and a five-wicket haul at Lord's. The tall and lanky pacer has given the batsmen nightmares the day before they face him in the match as he is one of the most feared bowlers at his time. If you don't trust me, ask Dean Jones.

The former West Indian pacer has played four matches at the venue and has taken 17 wickets without a five-wicket haul with 4/30 being his best. With the bat, Ambrose's highest Test score is 53.

Anil Kumble

Anil Kumble is one of the two bowlers to take all ten wickets in an innings
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Former India captain and coach Anil Kumble is the leading Test wicket-taker for his country and the third-highest in the world as he has scalped 619 wickets in 132 matches at an average of 29.65. The leggie was very vital for India wherever he played as he had the ability to turn the match on its head irrespective of where the match is being played and the conditions at the venue.

He has registered 35 wicket-hauls in Test cricket out of which one was a ten-wicket haul in an innings. At Lord's, his numbers look average by the standards he had for himself as he has taken 12 wickets in six innings at an average of 41 with 3/84 being his best. Also, his only Test ton came at The Oval, which is a few kilometres away from Lord's.

Ricky Ponting

Ricky Ponting was a champion cricketer for Australia
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Former Australian captain Ricky Ponting, who is the most successful captain in Tests, is considered the second best Aussie batsman in format after the legendary Sir Donald Bradman. Ponting is second behind Sachin Tendulkar in the list of leading run scorers in Tests with 13378 runs in 168 matches at an average of 51.85 with the help of 41 centuries.

Leave out scoring a century, Ponting has not scored even a fifty at Lord's as 42 is his highest score at the venue in four Test matches in which he scored a total of 135 runs.

Shane Warne

The Aussie wizard
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In spite of finishing second in the all-time Tests wickets tally behind Muttiah Muralitharan with 708 wickets, former Australian leg-spinner is considered as the greatest spinner to have played the sport, thanks to the conditions in which he bowled in a majority of his career, Australia and England.

The leggie has snapped up 708 wickets in 145 Test matches at an average of 25.41 with the help of 37 five-wicket hauls. In spite of playing so many matches in England, Warne never managed to take a fifer at Lord's and got into the Lord's Honours Board.

The Aussie wizard was a part of four matches at Lord's and has taken 19 wickets at an average of less than 20. He has taken three four-wicket hauls but failed to convert them into a fifer even on a single occasion.

Brian Lara

Brian Lara is the only batsman to have scored a 400 in Test cricket
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Former West Indian batsman Brian Lara is one of the very few batsmen for whom the fans will pay to watch as he is one of the most elegant players to watch. The prince of Trinidad and Tobago has established himself as one of the greatest batsmen ever to have graced the sport as he has scored 11953 runs in 131 Test matches at an average of nearly 53.

He is also the only batsman to score over 350 twice and score 400 runs in an innings Test cricket. Out of his 34 Test tons, not even a single century came at the Lord's Cricket Ground as he has scored 126 runs in three matches he has played at the venue with 54 being his highest.

Muttiah Muralitharan

Sri Lankan spin bowler Muttiah Muralitharan watches the play from the Lord's pavilion
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Statistically, former Sri Lankan off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan is the greatest ever Test bowler as he has picked up a whopping 800 wickets in 133 matches at an average of 22.72 in the format. Murali could even turn the ball on a glass surface, such has been his ability to turn the ball everywhere irrespective of the conditions.

The batsmen around the world have struggled to pick his stock delivery, the off-spinner, and his variation, the doosra because of bizarre release. In spite of all his achievements, the Sri Lankan ace is not a part of the Lord's Honours Board as he failed to take a fifer at the venue.

To be fair, he played just one match at that ground in 2006 and finished with figures of 3/158 in the only innings he bowled.

Sachin Tendulkar

Sachin Tendulkar didn't score a single fifty at Lord's
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Who is the greatest batsman to have played Cricket? A majority would say Sachin Tendulkar and the others wouldn't have followed the sport globally and just follow their home team's matches.

Sachin Tendulkar owns almost every single batting record in both Tests and ODIs which includes most Test matches (200), most Test runs (15921), most 50+ scores (119), most centuries (51) etc. Unfortunately for him, none of his 51 Test tons has come at the Mecca at Cricket as he has scored just 195 runs in five matches at the ground with a highest score of 37, yes, just 37.

But then, Sachin not being a part of the Lord's Honours Board, whose fault is that? Sachin's or the board's?

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Edited by
Arvind Sriram
 
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