6 Cricketers who were born in top football countries
Cricket is known as gentlemen’s game and it is quite difficult for any young cricketer to make it to the international level in this sport. And, it is almost impossible for an individual to pursue his dream born in countries where cricket is not even known to many.
Brazil, Germany, Italy and many others are some of those nations where cricket is not a major sport. Moreover, they are also reckoned as the non-Test-playing nations. All these aforementioned countries are known for producing some big names in football but not in cricket.
However, they still have a real connection with gentlemen’s game and they have produced some players, who played for different countries at international level.
Here we bring you the players who were born in top football countries:
1. Ashok Gandotra – Born in Brazil – Played for India
Ashok Gandotra, the former spin all-rounder is the only cricketer born in Brazil and played in Test format in international cricket. His father was in foreign services, who was posted in Rio de Janeiro when the Junior Gandotra was born. However, after that, his family shifted back to Delhi and it turned out to be a great stroke of luck for Ashok.
He was very good at studies as well as playing cricket. He was known for his submissive hitting and scored bucketloads of runs at school and college level. He got a chance to represent the nation in two Tests (Australia and England) at the age of 21.
Unfortunately, Ashok failed to replicate his form in first-class cricket at the international level and could manage to score 54 runs in his two appearances before getting dropped. At the age of 27, he bid adieu to cricket to pursue his education. Overall, he scored 2121 runs in 54 FC games.
2. Ted Dexter – Born in Italy – Played for England
When the name of Italy is taken, the first thing that comes in the mind of sports fanatics is Formula one, Tennis and Football. They have produced some global superstars in the aforementioned sports. But, what if we say they have also produced an international cricketer, who dominated world cricket with his brilliant batting skills for a long time?
Ted Dexter, a cricketer born in Milan, Italy back in 1935, was a ferocious middle-order batsman, who used to make the mockery of the bowlers on the back of his submissive hitting skills. He is also known by the nickname of Lord Ted. The former player led England in international cricket as well.
Dexter scored 4502 runs in 62 games with the help of nine tons and 27 half-centuries at a brilliant average of 47.89. Overall, he featured in 327 FC and 43 List A matches amassing 21150 runs 1209 runs respectively in the two formats.
3. Donald Carr and Paul Terry – Born in Germany – Played for England
Germany, a country where football is followed quite religiously, has also produced a couple of fine cricketers that played for England in the past. Donald Carr and Paul Terry were the two individuals, who picked cricket as their future instead of sports like football, formula one and others that had a great future in their country.
Donald Carr became the first player from Germany to play in international cricket. He made his debut for England back in 1951 against India as a skipper. He scored 14 and 71 in his maiden game followed by the second game of the series that his side lost against Team India in Madras. In that series, he also became the first England captain to lose a Test match against India. After that tour, he was never picked by the selectors in the national team.
Later on, Paul Terry followed the footsteps of Donald Carr and went onto play for England back in 1984. He also played a couple of games for three lions before getting dropped due to his poor show with the bat. As far as stats are concerned, they were brilliant in first-class cricket. Carr scored 19,257 in the first-class cricket whereas Terry mustered 16,427 runs. However, they failed to justify their talent in international cricket.
4. Dick Westcott- Born in Portugal-Played for South Africa
Portugal is a country that produced a footballer like Cristiano Ronaldo, who is rated as one of the best players in the history of the sport. It is one of the nations that eats, sleeps and follows football since long. The fans will be surprised to know that they have also given a player to cricket as well.
Dick Westcott, the former right-handed batsman was born in Lisbon, Portugal and went onto play for South Africa. He donned the South Africa jersey in five Tests and scored 166 runs with a best score of 66. He made his international debut against New Zealand in Cape Town. Also, he became the first Test cricketer born in Portugal.
He scored his one and only fifty in the second innings of his debut match against BlackCaps. He was a pleasing all-rounder, who died in 2013 at the age of 85.
5. Moises Henriques – Born in Portugal – Playing for Australia
Moises Henriques, the right-handed seaming all-rounder is the only active cricketer in this list and has earned a reputation of being a prolific all-rounder. He was born in a small town of Funchal in Portugal. He is a brilliant all-rounder, who has played in some of the finest T20 cricket leagues across the globe like Big Bash League, Indian Premier League and many more.
The Portugal born cricketer made his debut for Australia in 2009. So far he has played 4 Tests, 11 ODIs and 11 T20Is in which he has mustered 404 runs and grabbed 13 international wickets. It is known that he failed to perform well for Australia at the highest level. But, he has established himself as one of the brilliant seaming all-rounders across the globe in the shorter format.
Earlier this year, he led Sydney Sixers to their second BBL title. Moreover, he played a crucial role with the bat and ball for his team in the high profile tournament.
source https://www.crictracker.com/6-cricketers-who-were-born-in-top-football-countries/
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