 |
| Advertisement |
England have afforded several players just one cap in Test cricket. A few of them, including Josh Hull and Sam Cook, should have the opportunity to add to their only Test appearance in the future.
Others, though, won’t get the chance. For them, it ended as soon as it started. Take a trip down memory lane as we recall England’s one-Test wonders.
‘Wonders’ in the sense that we can wonder why they played at all, not necessarily that their performances were wonderous.
1. Darren Pattinson
- Only Test: v South Africa, Headingley, 2008
- Performance: 2/95 and 0/1
Billed as a ‘horses for courses’ selection, Pattinson was thrust into the XI in the absence of the injured Ryan Sidebottom and ahead of more plausible choices in Steve Harmison, Matthew Hoggard and Chris Tremlett.
“I know that my next chance might not come straight away. But I’d like to think that I can be involved again further down the track,” said Pattinson at the time.
That next chance never came. He is the brother of former Australian Test cricketer James Pattinson.
2. Joey Benjamin
- Only Test: v South Africa, The Oval, 1994
- Performance: 4/42 and 0/48
Benjamin debuted in a match headlined by fellow West Indies-born England star Devon Malcom’s second-innings nine-for.
Benjamin shone in the first innings, snaring the key wickets of key batters Hansie Cronje and Kepler Wessels en route to a four-for.
But he very much took a backseat to Malcolm’s nine-for in the second. He played a couple of ODIs later that year and in early 2025, but never got another chance at Test level – and sadly passed away at 60 years old in 2021.
3. Alan Wells
- Only Test: v West Indies, The Oval, 1995
- Performance: 0 and 3 not out
Wells’ first-class career totalled 21,000-plus runs, but only three of those were scored in Test cricket.
Trying to hold his own in an England order lined with the experienced Michael Atherton, Graham Thorpe and Graeme Hick, Wells couldn’t quite hack it at the highest level.
The great Curtley Ambrose undid him for a first-ball duck, then a consolation three not out followed shortly before the end of a dull stalemate.
4. Kabir Ali
- Only Test: v South Africa, Headingley, 2003
- Performance: 3/80 and 2/56
England had lost far too many Ashes series consecutively and were seeking fresh seam talent when they trialled Ali against South Africa in Leeds, which five years later was the scene of Pattinson’s failed debut as well.
He ended centurion Gary Kirsten and half-centurion Jacques Rudolph’s stays in the first innings and accounted for Kirsten’s end in the second, too. Ali’s Test career, indeed, might have lasted longer were it not for a relatively severe ankle injury.
5. Ian Blackwell
- Only Test: v India, Nagpur, 2006
- Performance: 0/28 and 0/43
England wanted as second spinner to partner the first-choice Monty Panesar in turning conditions in Nagpur. Blackwell was the popular choice at the time, but that popularity had a short lifespan.
He was proven out of his depth and, anything he had to offer with the bat as well, was also shown up. An ODI or two followed for Blackwell, but that lone bow at Test level was largely the beginning of the end of his international career.
6. Matt Parkinson
- Only Test: v New Zealand, Lord’s, 2022
- Performance: 1/47
Like Hull, Cook and others, Parkinson might get a chance to add to his only Test cap. But they’re in-demand seamers, while he’s a leg-spinner in a regime hellbent on blooding left-arm and finger spinners.
Parkinson wasn’t used at all in the first innings of his debut, while is 15-odd overs in the second seemed out of place. Granted, conditions were ripe for the seamers. New Zealand also had a solitary spinner in Ajaz Patel, who delivered a mere two overs in the entire match.
7. Jon Lewis
- Only Test: v Sri Lanka, Trent Bridge, 2006
- Performance: 3/68 and 0/54
Lewis had been included in a few Test squads previously, but didn’t debut. He finally graduated from perennial 12th man to Test debutant against the Sri Lankans in Nottingham.
While he did claim the prized scalp of the hard-hitting Tillakaratne Dilshan, there wasn’t much other substance to Lewis’ performance. He later became more of a renowned name in coaching across both men’s and women’s cricket.
8. Gavin Hamilton
- Only Test: v South Africa, Wanderers, 1999
- Performance: 0 and 0 and 0/63
Hamilton played ODI cricket for Scotland before becoming an England Test cricket, albeit for just one appearance. He lives with the ignominy of a pair on debut, removed for two ducks by the great Allan Donald.
Hamilton was not alone in his struggles against Donald. The Proteas pace ace put in a record-breaking performance of 11 wickets in the match.
9. Ajmal Shahzad
- Only Test: v Bangladesh, Old Trafford, 2010
- Performance: 3/45
England rested the overburdened Stuart Broad for this series, which was their cue to debut the promising Shahzad, who had shown some promise in ODI cricket earlier that year.
“He looks like an impressive, young man and how well he does will be determined by himself,” said England coach Andy Flower at the time. Three wickets in an innings victory, evidently, wasn’t good enough for England to look at him again for Test cricket.
10. Simon Kerrigan
- Only Test: v Australia, The Oval, 2013
- Performance: 0/53
Kerrigan was an outright flop on debut in the Ashes. He was all but put to the sword by centurions Shane Watson and Steven Smith. Kerrigan was only 24 years old at the time – and perhaps his selection was premature for a role that required more maturity.
“The shame is that a lot of people will not have seen Simon bowl before and they may judge him on that performance,” England coach Peter Moores told ESPNcricinfo at the time.
11. Amjad Khan
- Only Test: v West Indies, Trinidad, 2009
- Performance: 1/111 and 0/11
Khan, like Hamilton, is a dual international. He played T20I cricket for Denmark after making his Test debut for England. Khan’s Test career started and finished with the wicket of West Indian Ramnaresh Sarwan.
When his professional career in the United Kingdom was over, he headed home to Copenhagen. By then, the International Cricket Council had awarded T20I status to almost all cricketing nations.
Read next: Did Chris Gayle get named in this West Indies’ best Test XI of the past 40 years?
The post One-cap wonder England Test XI: 11 forgotten names you’ll struggle to remember appeared first on Cricket365.
from Cricket365 https://ift.tt/Vz1RqwF
0 comments: