Stats of the matter!

Every cricket enthusiast has a favourite autobiography Mine is still Fred Truemanrsquos Ball of Fire released in 1976 long after the England fast bowling great played his last TestWell before audio books became common Ball of Fire was released in a twocassette set as well This contributed to the success of the Trueman story package lapped up with great interest by not only fans but also his teammates friends and foes Yes Trueman didnrsquot hold back from showing appreciation to those who backed him despite his controversial ways The book was also a tool to get back at people who were hellbent on putting this angry fast bowler in his placeHis captains were not spared Len Hutton was a master tactician but Trueman said he wouldnrsquot forgive his fellow Yorkshireman and the MCC for not having him in the team for the 195455 Ashes in AustraliaTed Dexter another captain who Trueman played under was a beautiful batsman to watch but he didnrsquot score marks for captaincy in Truemanrsquos book He provided an example of it in Ball of Fire through a gem of a story which I was reminded of the other day when Rohit Sharma revealed to fast bowlerturnedcommentator Irfan Pathan how the bowlers hound him to give the ball to themAlso Read Will Oz come first this time tooIn a lighter vein Rohit remarked after the massive win over Australia in Nagpur ldquoEvery one of them is near a milestone Therersquos like a milestone every day Someone is taking five wickets someone takes 250 wickets someone takes 450 wickets So every day someone or the other is getting to a milestonerdquoRewind to the English summer of 1964 Trueman is on the verge of becoming the first man to take 300 Test wickets He is back in the side after missing the fourth Test at Manchester and is determined to prove he still has something left to give for England for whom he debuted way back in 1952 against Vijay Hazarersquos IndiansTrueman came into The Oval Test three short of the 300wicket markJust before lunch on Day Three when Australia had already taken the first innings lead after England were dismissed for a mere 182 Trueman noticed his captain wondering who he should introduce in the attack Typical of Trueman he asked Dexter about his next move When Dexter said he was thinking of putting Peter Parfitt on Trueman exclaimed ldquono yoursquore notrdquo and grabbed the ball from his skipperDexter gave in and on the fifth ball of that over Trueman wrote that he knocked back Ian Redpathrsquos middle stump and had Graham McKenzie caught at slip off the last ballTrueman went to lunch with a hattrick possibility But that would be too much of a fairy tale to ask for In the end the new ball gave him his best chance and Trueman grabbed it getting Neil Hawke to edge one to Colin Cowdrey at slip By the way the South Australian told Trueman that he didnrsquot mind being his 300th scalp History was made and it took another 11 years for another bowler to reach 300 Test wicketsmdashWest Indiesrsquo Lance Gibbs during the 197576 series in AustraliaLike Trueman 307 and Gibbs 309 Ian Botham was once a record holder There is nothing to suggest that Botham grabbed the ball from his captain Mike Gatting at The Oval in 1986 when he was on the cusp of going past Australiarsquos Dennis Lillee 355 as the man with the most wickets in Test cricket But Botham recalled to the side after ending his drug ban had to wait on the opening day of the third Test against the New Zealanders Gatting opened the bowling with Graham Dilley and Gladstone Small With the scoreboard reading 170 Gatting threw the ball to Botham who sent back opener Bruce Edgar caught by Graham Gooch at slip In his next over Botham trapped Jeff Crowe plumb in front for Wicket No 356Botham did not beg his captain to bring him on but he did indicate his desire to bowl when Allan Border and Jeff Thomson were taking Australia to a narrow win at Melbourne in the 198283 Ashes When Botham was called on to bowl ninedown Australia needed four runs for a win But Thomson slashed at one to Chris Tavare in the slips only to see the edge ricochet to Geoff Miller who held on to it for a famous England triumphBotham was overjoyed no doubt but he wondered why Willis had not given him a bowl earlier In the documentary Rookies Rebels and Renaissance which is about Australian cricket in the 1980s Botham revealed how he had to remind Willis that his bowling arm was not broken Willis on his part said that throwing the ball to Botham was the last throw of the diceBack to Rohitrsquos chat with Pathan about bowlers coming up to him for a bowl It proves that many cricketers are statsconscious and even those who arenrsquot get apprised by the ones who keep track of figuresNew Zealand great Sir Richard Hadlee was not coy to admit how statistics motivated him He wrote in Rhythm and Swing ldquoMy hunger for cricket figures started at primary school and ultimately this stats mania became important to me in terms of my overall record my contribution to my teamrsquos performance and as a source of motivation What used to be a hobby evolved to become an integral part of my cricketing careerrdquoTomorrowrsquos Test match at New Delhi has a big landmark written all over itmdashCheteshwar Pujararsquos 100th Test The champion batsman from Saurashtra wonrsquot need a reminder for sure but his achievement is a reminder of how fortunate India are to have a batsman like him who we viewed as the next Rahul Dravidmiddayrsquos group sports editor Clayton Murzello is a purist with an open stance He tweets ClaytonMurzelloSend your feedback to mailbagmiddaycomThe views expressed in this column are the individualrsquos and donrsquot represent those of the paper