Five First-Class Cricketing Giants Who Couldn’t Make Big In Test Cricket

For most aspiring cricketers or upcoming cricketers, playing Test cricket remains their ultimate goal. The journey to receiving their maiden Test cap begins by featuring in first-class cricket or four-day matches aplenty. Only by scoring a truckload of runs consistently or bowling tirelessly with the red-cherry and taking wickets can get the player their first Test cap.

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Playing first-class cricket for their state is relatively easy. There is comparatively less pressure on them to perform, and hence the athletes do end up good. However, there exist, certain men, who sparkle at the domestic level, but fall flat at the international. Such cricketers may not be able to handle the class of batsmen or bowlers of the international level, thereby displaying inconsistency.

On that note, we take a look at five players who didn’t live up to their potential in Test cricket as they did in the first-class cricket:

Steve O’Keefe:

Steve’O Keefe would forever be remembered for playing an integral role in Australia’s crushing Test victory over India in Pune in 2017. His 12-wicket haul in the match helped the Baggy Greens stun Virat Kohli’s men in their backyard. Yet, for the most part, O’Keefe’s career at the international level remained unfulfilled.

Despite averaging 24.66 in 88 first-class fixtures with 301 wickets, he could manage only play nine Tests. The Malaysian-born left-arm spinner yielded merely 35 wickets in nine Tests at 29.70. Post that famous spell of bowling in Pune; the 35-year old picked up only nine scalps in the next four Tests. His final game in whites for Australia was against Bangladesh that year.

Earlier this April, Steve O’Keefe called time on his four-day career after New South Wales denied him a contract. It must also be noted that the left-arm spinner’s misbehaviour in 2017 at the after-party of the Steve Waugh medal presentation may have been a factor for his short career. After announcing his retirement, O’Keefe demanded more exposure for spin-bowlers in the Australian domestic cricket for excelling in the sub-continent.

Mohammad Sami:

Mohammad Sami was one of the pace bowlers, who possessed plenty of promise but faded away due to inconsistencies. Only in his third Test, Sami snapped a hattrick in 2002, dismissing Charitha Buddhika, Nuwan Zoysa, and Muttiah Muralitharan. Yet, as Pakistan expected him to be the spearhead after Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis, it didn’t turn out as such.

The 39-year-old’s most productive series in whites for Pakistan was against Sri Lanka in 2004-05, wherein he picked up four scalps in a single game. The four wickets came at an average of 29.75. As the inconsistencies crept up, the likes of Rana Naved-Ul-Hasan, Umar Gul, Mohammad Asif, Mohammad Amir replaced him.

Sami’s last of 36 Tests came against Sri Lanka back in 2012. The speedster’s first-class cricket yielded 610 wickets across 179 fixtures at 27.35. On the other hand, he could manage only 85 Test victims at a woeful average of 52.74.

Faisal Iqbal:

The nephew of pioneer cricketer, Javed Miandad, Faisal Iqbal enjoyed an impressive debut scoring 42 and 52 in a winning effort against New Zealand in Auckland. Iqbal’s was particularly splendid against the prodigy Shane Warne in Colombo in 2002, using his feet expertly. He struck a stroke-filled and a counter-attacking 85-ball 83 at number six, consisting of 16 fours.

The Karachi-born batsman’s first and the only century came against India in Karachi in 2006. He was selected ahead of the injured Inzamam Ul-Haq and proved his mettle by scoring a hundred in the second innings. Iqbal’s knock of 139 gave the tourists an imposing target of 607, which they lost by 341 runs.

And yet, even after playing such knocks of substance and then some, he couldn’t become a permanent fixture. The right-hander’s failure in those limited opportunities couldn’t help his cause. In retrospect, Pakistan’s horror tour of Australia in 2010, pushed the selectors to trigger a complete overhaul of the side. The 38-year old was part of that three-Test match series, scoring 97 runs in four innings. Faisal Iqbal’s first-class average, which stood at 39.64 with over 12000 runs, was reduced to 26.76 in his 26-Test career.

Mark Ramprakash:

Mark Ramprakash was a genuine giant when it came to first-class cricket, featuring in a staggering 461 fixtures and averaging 53 with the bat. Yet, he could never come anywhere close in replicating the same for England. But of all the opponents, Australia was his favourite, against whom Mark averaged 42 in 12 games with 933 runs.

Ramprakash’s knock of 133 against them at The Oval in 2001 felt like a turning point. That turned out to be his one amongst two centuries of his 52-Test career after which there were no monumental innings. The Hertfordshire-born faced an axe after an inconsistent tour of India and New Zealand in 2001 and 2002 respectively.

But the veteran continued to pile on the runs in the domestic circuit. In the 20th county season in 2006 for Surrey, the 50-year old finished with 2278 runs at a whopping average of over 100. In 2012, Ramprakash announced his retirement from professional cricket after scoring 2350 runs at 27.32 for the Three Lions. He is widely considered as the biggest unfulfilled talent.

Wasim Jaffer:

Wasim Jaffer shot into the limelight after scoring a triple hundred in his only second first-class fixture. After three years in 2000, he was on his Test debut against South Africa in Mumbai. Due to a lean series, Jaffer had to wait for two more years for his next chance. It was in 2006 that the Mumbai-born scored his first century. He reached the three-figure mark against England in Nagpur.

In June 2006, the right-handed batsman scored an away double hundred against West Indies and one more against Pakistan in 2007. It looked as if he had solidified his spot in the Indian team. But the selectors saw Jaffer as too slow and old. Also, the pair of Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir were having a prolific run, which further made things difficult for him.

At the same time, an average of only 34.10 in 31 Tests hardly did justice to the record he held in the first-class career. Across 260 four-day matches, the 42-year old accumulated 19410 runs at 50.67. This year in March, the prolific batsman retired from first-class cricket.

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