13th August – Three cricketers who celebrate their birthday today

Three exceptional cricketers of their time, Shoaib Akhtar, Lisa Sthalekar and Bruce French, celebrate their birthdays on August 13.

Bruce French

Bruce French was born in 1959 and was one of England’s finest wicket-keepers in that era. It is very surprising that he could play only 16 Tests and 13 ODIs for his country. Many believe he would’ve played many more matches had he been born in a different era. He was not renowned for his batting for he scored only 308 Test runs and not much in the ODIs after making his international debut against India in 1985.

But his wicket-keeping skills were unmatched. French effected a total of 55 dismissals behind the wickets over the course of his three-year career at the highest level. No wonder his numbers were beyond exceptional at the domestic level. In 360 FC and 296 List-A matches, French held on to a staggering 817 and 275 catches behind the wickets respectively and also effected 136 stumpings combined.

Lisa Sthalekar

Born in India (Pune, Maharashtra), Lisa Sthalekar turns 41 today. She was one of the best all-rounders ever to play for Australia in Women’s cricket. Having made her international debut in 2001, Lisa played 8 Tests and a whopping 125 ODIs. She scored 416 Test and 2728 ODI runs at an average of 30 and 32.16 respectively. She also played 54 T20 Internationals in the yellow jersey and shone with the bat even in the shortest format.

Apart from the plethora of runs she scored, Sthalekar was more than a decent off-spinner. She scalped 23 Test, 146 ODI and 60 T20I wickets in her illustrious career before hanging her boots from international cricket in February 2013. However, she kept playing the Women’s Big Bash League (BBL) for the Sydney Sixers before calling it quits from the sport in 2017. She has turned commentator and has also done it in the IPL over the last few years.

Shoaib Akhtar

Former Pakistan cricketer Shoaib Akhtar is celebrating his 45th birthday today. Known as Rawalpindi Express for his fiery pace while bowling, Akhtar used to send shivers down the spine of the batsmen. Having impressed Gary Kirsten in the nets in 1994, the fast bowler eventually forayed into international cricket in 1997 in a Test and didn’t look behind.

Akhtar made the headlines after uprooting the stumps of two best batsmen, Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar, in successive deliveries at the Eden Gardens. He then came into his own in the 1999 World Cup in England picking 16 wickets. Shoaib Akhtar played 46 Tests, 163 ODIs and 15 T20Is picking 444 wickets at the highest level. The World Cup 2011 match against New Zealand turned out to be the last international match of his career (apart from the exhibition matches).