On this day: Birth of a clingy West Indian and more
Four eminent names of the cricket fraternity– Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Jeff Thomson, Marcus Stoinis and Lord Hawke– share their birthdays on 16th August.
The accumulator
Former West Indies skipper Shivnarine Chanderpaul, with his unusual and unorthodox ‘crab-like’ stance, was certainly an eye-catcher whenever he took guard. Born in Guyana, Chanderpaul is regarded as one of the best West Indies batsmen. He was even awarded the Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy by the ICC in 2008.
Scoring over 20,000 runs the left-hander represented West Indies in 164 Tests and 268 ODIs. Proving his worth in red-ball cricket, Chanderpaul scored 30 Test centuries, including two double centuries. In the ODI format, he registered 11 tons and 59 fifties to his name.
Chanderpaul, only the third player with the international career span over three decades, had a rather disappointing end to his career. He was dropped from the West Indies squad in 2015 and then he eventually bid adieu to the game without a farewell in 2016.
The handy all-rounder
Australia all-rounder and Melbourne Stars’ stalwart Marcus Stoinis also celebrates his birthday on 16th August. Having represented the national side in 41 ODIs and 19 T20Is, Stoinis has amassed 1050 and 136 runs respectively. He also had 33 ODI scalps and 9 T20I wickets to his name.
Stoinis is yet to don the Test jersey for Australia. In March 2017, he was added in the Australia Test squad for the third and fourth Tests against India as a replacement for the injured Mitchell Marsh.
However, the all-rounder didn’t brace the field in either match. Stoinis had an exemplary BBL 2019-20 for Melbourne Stars and was even named Player of the Tournament. Stoinis aced the batting charts, scoring 612 runs in 15 games, including one hundred and five half-centuries.
The pace sensation
The third name in the list is Australian great Jeff Thomson, fondly known as ‘Thommo’. Due to his scintillating pace, Thomson was regarded as one of the fastest pacers of his generation. Representing England in 51 Tests and 50 ODIs, the right-arm quick scalped 200 and 55 wickets respectively.
He, along with Dennis Lillee, hogged the headlines after decimating the England side during the 1974-75 season. The Lillee-Thomson duo was probably the most lethal fast bowling unit in that era. Thomson, with his slinging action and sheer pace, made life difficult for batsmen in those times. The veteran was also inducted into the Hall of Fame by Cricket Australia in 2016.
The Father of Yorkshire Cricket
The final player in the list is someone from the history books. England’s Lord Hawke was also born on August 16th in Gainsborough, UK. Martin Bladen Hawke donned the England jersey only in five Tests but it was his illustrious association with Yorkshire which earned him the glory. He is rightly considered the father of Yorkshire Cricket.
He captained Yorkshire for 28 seasons during which they won eight Championships and was also the county side’s president for 40 years. Hawke’s life was nothing but cricket for almost half a decade. He appeared in 633 First-class ma
