5 mind-boggling pieces of Cricket trivia

Cricket has a storied history, from its origins in the late 16th-century to the globalized 21st-century sport that it is today. Through the hundreds of years and thousands of players, countless records have been created and broken. This compilation contains some of the most essential but ridiculous cricket facts that are deceptively tricky.

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#1: Which teams played the first international cricket match?

Did you think it was Australia vs England? Think again. The Ashes might be one of the greatest international rivalries across all sports, but it is surprisingly enough not actually the oldest international cricketing contest.

The first ever international cricket match was played between Canada and the United States of America as a two-day game. The match was held in New York at St. George's Cricket Club and took place from 24th - 26th September 1844. The second day was washed out but play resumed and concluded on the third day. There was a large crowd present at the ground as well

Canada batted first, amassing a then-respectable 82 in 32 overs thanks to David Winckworth and George Sharpe, both top scoring with 12 runs, as Sheffield-born USA bowler Sam Wright took a 5 wicket haul. The USA was bowled out by Canada for 64 in their first innings, with Winckworth and Fred French taking 4 scalps apiece, conceding an 18 run first-innings deficit.

Canadian second innings was powered to 63, with Winckworth top scoring yet again with 14, as Henry Groom took a five-for. Set 82 to win, USA was restricted to 58 by the sharp bowling of Sharpe who took 6 wickets. Canada won the match by 23 runs and international cricket evolved into the hotly-contested sport it is today. This match is believed to be amongst the first ever international sporting contests, and the rivalry between the USA and Canada lives on today as the Auty Cup.

#2: How many balls did it take for the fastest hundreds in each format?

AB de Villiers scores the fastest ODI century in 31 balls (South Africa v West Indies - ODI Series)

Test: 54 Balls

Brendon McCullum blitzed a 54 ball century, the fastest ever in Test cricket, coming in to bat at 32/3 with New Zealand in a dangerous position against the Australian attack. The most remarkable aspect of this gem of an innings is that it was McCullum’s final test match. What a way to sign off!

ODI: 31 Balls

The fastest ODI century, also the fastest international century, was hit by AB de Villiers against West Indies, in whirlwind innings of 149 that took just 44 deliveries consisting of 16 sixes and 9 fours.

T20I: 35 Balls

Richard Levi’s 45 ball century record that stood for nearly 6 years, was smashed by David Miller in October 2017, as he notched up a 35 ball century against Bangladesh. Just 2 months later, Rohit Sharma equaled it in his masterclass against Sri Lanka.

#3: Who has the most number of first-class hundreds?

Sir John Berry 'Jack' Hobbs, 1882 – 1963

Sachin Tendulkar has the most test match hundreds (51), but does he have his name against the most first-class centuries? Tendulkar has 81 first-class centuries but the record belongs to the incredible Sir Jack Hobbs. He scored an unbelievable 199 first-class centuries in his career, that spanned from 1905-1934. He played 834 first-class matches, scoring 61,760 runs at an average of 50.70. This record is going to be tough to beat.

#4: Who has taken the most number of wickets across first-class, List A and Twenty20 cricket?

Wilfred Rhodes - England Cricketer

One for the bowlers now. Wilfred Rhodes, an English left-arm orthodox spinner, took a mind-boggling 4204 wickets across his 32-year career from 1898 to 1930. The numbers from his career are as ridiculous as they come. He played 1110 matches, all of which were first-class matches, and bowled 1,85,742 balls. His wickets came at an excellent average of just 16.72. He was more than handy with the bat too, making nearly 40,000 runs at 30.81. Even the modern great, Muttiah Muralitharan, managed ‘only’ 2235 wickets.

#5: Can you list all the ways a batsman can be dismissed?

MS Dhoni completes the stumping of David Miller

With the removal of “Handling the Ball” as a separate mode of dismissal, there are now 10 ways that one can get out:

Bowled

Caught

Leg Before Wicket (LBW)

Run Out

Stumped

Hit Wicket

Hitting the Ball Twice

Obstructing the Field: Obstruction or distraction of fielding side, using words or actions. Now also includes the “Handling the Ball” dismissal method.

Retired: Batsman leaves the field of play without Umpire’s permission for reasons other than injury (not retired hurt).

Timed Out: Incoming batsman not ready to play within 3 minutes of the previous dismissal or retirement.