Jim Laker
Encyclopedia : J : JI : JIM : Jim Laker
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Jim Laker England (Eng) | ||
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| Batsman>Batting style | Right-handed batsman (RHB) | |
| Types of bowlers in cricket>Bowling type | Right Arm Off Break (ROS) | |
| Tests | First-class | |
| Matches | 46 | 450 |
| '''Runs scored | 676 | 7304 |
| Batting average | 14.08 | 16.60 |
| 100s/50s | 0/2 | 2/18 |
| Top score | 63 | 113 |
| Balls bowled | 12027 | 101974 |
| Wickets | 193 | 1944 |
| Bowling average | 21.24 | 18.41 |
| 5 Wicket>wickets in innings | 9 | 127 |
| 10 Wicket>wickets in match | 3 | 32 |
| Best bowling | 10-53 | 10-53 |
| Catches/Stump (cricket)#Manner of dismissing a batsman>stumpings | 12/0 | 270/0 |
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Test debut: 21 January, 1948 Last Test: 13 February, 1959 Source: [link] | ||
Born in Frizinghall, near Bradford, Yorkshire, he was known as an elegant off-spin bowler. He consistently performed well against Australian cricket teams, and formed a successful partnership with Tony Lock, a left-arm orthodox spinner. He was also part of the Surrey side that dominated the county championship with seven consecutive titles from 1952 to 1958.
Laker was the first to take all 10 wickets in a Test match innings, ten for 53 in the fourth Test against Australia at Old Trafford in 1956 (the only other bowler to take all 10 wickets is Anil Kumble of India in 1999). Having also taken nine for 37 in the first innings, Laker's match bowling figures were nineteen for 90: no other bowler has taken more than seventeen wickets in a first-class match.Eighteen wickets in a match was achieved by William Lillywhite for eleven Players against sixteen Gentlemen at Lord's in 1837, and by Henry Arkwright for MCC against Kent in a 12-a-side match at Canterbury in 1861, but seventeen is the most otherwise recorded in an eleven-a-side match. Another England cricketer, Sydney Barnes, took seventeen wickets in a Test match against South Africa in December 1913. Laker was married to an Austrian national who did not know much about cricket. On the day of his achievement when he arrived home, his wife asked him, "Jim, did you do something good today?" after she had taken hundreds of congratulatory telephone calls. Remarkably, Laker had also taken all ten wickets in an innings for Surrey against the same Australians earlier in the season.
He was a Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1952. He played 46 Test matches, taking 193 wickets with a bowling average of 21.24; in first-class matches, he took 1,944 wickets at 18.41.
After his retirement from the Surrey team, he played occasionally for Auckland and Essex. In later years Laker was a well-loved commentator on BBC television's cricket coverage. He died in Putney, London.
External links
- [Cricinfo Player Profile : James Charles Laker]
- [Best Test match bowling figures], from Cricinfo
- [Best Test innings bowling figures], from Cricinfo
- [Most wickets in a first-class match], from Cricketarchive
- [List of Best Bowling Figures in a Test Match Innings]
Notes
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