Have you ever wondered what if West Indies cricketer Ashley Nurse was a Nurse by profession in real life?! Well though it is an idea very far fetched it is actually quite funny.
It is rarely that you come across people whose last names are that of a profession. But in this list, we have put together six cricketers from England and India who fit the criteria. Surprisingly quite a few of them believe it makes them stand out from the rest and so have not changed it.
It is quite interesting to actually think how they would have done had they been in the profession with a connect to their last names.
#1 Alastair Cook
The present England Test captain made his debut against India in 2006 and has gone on to get 10839 runs in the 10 years he has played Test cricket.
He made his debut at the age of 21 and became the youngest batsman to reach 1,500, 2,000, 3,000, 4,000, 5,000 and 10,000 Test runs, scoring hundreds in his first Test matches against India, Pakistan, the West Indies, and Bangladesh.
The 31-year-old, however, hasn’t had such monstrous success in One-Dayers. In this format, he has just 3204 runs from 92 games. He was captain of the ODI side too but was axed just before the 2015 World Cup because of lack of form.
But in Test matches that form has seldom dwindled and he remains one of the most prolific run-getters in the format.
#2 Nari Contractor
He was one of those tragic figures in Indian cricket whose career was cut short by a blow to the skull. It was a game against Barbados in 1962 where a short delivery from Charlie Griffith hit Contractor on the head.
The blow was life threatening and he needed a few emergency operations to be ticked off the danger list. After almost two years he started playing domestic cricket again to make a comeback but despite a brave attempt he never got back into the team.
Contractor was first noticed when he scored 92 against West Indies at Delhi in 1958-59. He went on to play a few more such memorable knocks and because of it, he was made the captain of the side when he was just 26. The next season he inspired India to a memorable series victory over England.
He scored 1611 runs from 31 Tests and 8611 runs from 138 First class games.
#3 Farokh Engineer
Engineer was a fearless and flamboyant batsman. And though well built he was agile as a rabbit behind the stumps. He was one of the best wicket-keeper batsmen during his time and thus played in 46 Tests and five One-Day Internationals for India.
During his time he had one of the toughest jobs in the game that is to keep wickets against legends like Bedi, Prasanna, Chandrasekhar and Venkataraghavan but he did that with aplomb.
Perhaps his finest moment as a batsman came against West Indies in 1966 when he smashed his way to 94 runs before lunch on the very first day of the Test match against the likes of Hall, Griffith, Sobers, and Gibbs.
He scored 2611 runs from 46 Tests at an average of 31.08 and 114 runs from five ODIs. He also amassed a whopping 13456 runs in his First Class career.
#4 Jos Buttler
Jos Buttler has changed the way England have batted over the years. He has brought in the fierceness which is so required in limited overs cricket and thus has had a great impact on the game.
As of now, he holds the record for the three fastest centuries in England colours which include a 46-ball ton against Pakistan in Dubai.
Though he has been quite a prolific player in the shorter versions of the game, he does not find a place in the playing XI in Test matches where Johnny Bairstow has been trusted with keeping responsibilities.
Buttler has 2217 runs from 81 ODIs at a healthy average of 38.39. In T20s too he averages just above 30 with 928 runs from 50 matches.
#5 Ghulam Guard
Guard was born in 1925 and grew up to be a tall, well-built man who could have easily been a policeman. He played two Tests for India and was quite impressive on his debut against the West Indies at Bombay in 1958-59.
The pacy left-arm seamer bagged the wicket of Gary Sobers in the first innings and then accounted for both openers Holt and Hunte in the second.
His second and last game was not that memorable. This match too was held in Bombay and he finished wicketless against Australia.
In his first class career where he featured in 41 games, he picked up 124 wickets.
#6 Mark Butcher
Butcher never played an ODI for England and his Test career consisted of four patchy years, three good ones and one brilliant day.He made his debut for the Three Lions in 1997 as a fluent opener who had a punchy cover-drive. He also had a weakness against spinners.
He repaid the selectors who had put faith in him by scoring crucial centuries against world's two best teams - South Africa at Headingley and Australia at Brisbane in 1998 and even captained his country a year later in a Test against New Zealand. But then the runs dried up and he was dropped from the side.
He again got back into the side in 2001 and continued playing international cricket till 2004 when he retired after a Test against South Africa. In 71 Test Butcher scored 4288 runs but he will be remembered for a take-no-prisoners 173 not out against Australia at Headingley, which was perhaps the best innings of his life.
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