5 times opening bowlers bowled 10 overs on the trot

Phil Simmons

Phil Simmons

We often get engaged in debates about records in cricket which are not going to be broken in the future. Bradman's batting average, Muralitharan's 800 wickets in Test cricket, Ricky Ponting's number of wins in Test matches, Jim Laker's 19 for 90 etc are the usual suspects which gets discussed in those debates.

One of the 'tough to beat' records which is often missed is Phil Simmons' miserly bowling in an ODI match against Pakistan in the early 1990s. He opened the bowling, completed his quota of 10 overs, conceded just three runs and picked up four top-order wickets.

The eighth match of the Benson & Hedges World Series in the 1992-93 season was played between Pakistan and West Indies in Sydney. In the first half of the 1990s, both Pakistan and West Indies were superpowers of One-day international cricket. Whenever they met, they usually provided a spectacle worth watching. This match in Sydney didn't disappoint either, although it was one-sided.

West Indies batted first and, barring Desmond Haynes, their batsmen struggled against the likes of Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis. They reached 214 for 9 in their 50 overs which, back in those days, was a very competitive score.

Curtly Ambrose and Phil Simmons opened the bowling for the West Indies. Great things were expected from the likes of Ambrose, Patterson and Benjamin, but it was Simmons who created all sorts of problems for the Pakistani batsmen. He landed the ball just on or about the right spot and got it to lift awkwardly for the batsmen.

He accounted for the wickets of Sohail, Mujtaba, Malik and Miandad. He ended up with unbelievable figures of 10 overs, 8 maidens, 3 runs and 4 wickets!

Pakistan tried to bat out the overs and finished with 81 all out from 48 overs. They may have bored a few people present that day at the SCG but they were fortunate to see the most miserly spell of bowling in 50-over cricket's history.