12 cricketers whose first scoring shot in Test cricket was a six

Amongst the three formats of a game, test cricket is the most challenging one. It is the dream of every young cricketer is to play Test cricket and represent his/her national team. While one represents his/her national team, nervousness creeps in which leads to the downfall in performances, later on.

The performance of the player, later on, improves as maturity comes in after the player has played a few Tests. For the batsmen, Test cricket is all about patience, and grit. The bowlers lay down a plan to dismiss the batsman but few players have counter-attacked to occupy the crease. This battle is fascinating to watch. 

Usually, the first ball in cricket is a dot ball, as the batsman looks to occupy the crease for a longer period. But, few players have smashed the ball out of the park and have made it to the history book. Till now, twelve of them have been successful. Let’s have a look at them. 

12 cricketers whose first scoring shot in Test cricket was a six

12. Eric Freeman

The first cricketer to open his account with a six is Eric Freeman. He belongs to the late 1960 era as the batting all-rounder made his debut for Australia at Brisbane in 1968 against India. It was in that game that he achieved this rare feat. Off the second ball he faced in Test Cricket, he smoked one delivery out of the ground off Erapalli Prasanna. 

However, the all-rounder could not achieve much success at the international level as he represented Australia in only 11 Tests. He averaged 19.16 with the bat and 33.17 with the ball. This is an average which is a bit below par. Even though he was unsuccessful in the grandest stage, post-retirement, he went on to coach younger players.

Apart from representing Australia and mentoring the aspiring cricketers, Freeman worked as a commentator. Along with working as a commentator, he was the statistician with ABC radio in Adelaide. Eric Freeman, made it to the history books as he was the very first batsman to hit a six off the first ball. Therefore he makes it to this list of cricketers whose first scoring shot in Test cricket was a six.

11. Carlisle Best

The second player to smash a six to open his account in Test cricket is Carlisle Best. The West Indian made his debut in 1986 at Jamaica against England. He managed to get into a squad that was dominating Test cricket. During that era, the West Indies were unbeatable and tasted success against every Test-playing nation.

Best, a 27-year-old was handed his debut cap at Jamaica. His first two deliveries were bouncers from Ian Botham. But, this pumped him and as a result, he hit the third ball off Ian Botham for a six. This was a rare achievement as Best was the only second batsman to open his account in Test.

By achieving this feat, Best also made a name amongst the cricket fans in the West Indies. Later on, he went on to play 8 Tests for the West Indies  team and scored a century against England in Barbados in 1990. 

10. Keith Dabengwa

Even though Zimbabwe’s cricketing future is fighting for its survival, the African nation performed considerably well in the past. For them, Keith Dabengwa made it to the history books as he opened up his account in Test cricket after hitting the very first ball for a six. Also, he is the only Zimbabwean to feature in this list.

 The all-rounder from Zimbabwe made his debut against New Zealand in the year 2005 and after he faced 15 balls, he got off the mark by smashing Daniel Vettori for a six. It was the only Test in Bulawayo and Keith managed to score 17 runs in the first inning and 4 in the second. However, New Zealand thrashed Zimbabwe by an innings and 46 runs. 

Later on, the all-rounder played 2 more Tests for Zimbabwe against India but failed to make a mark on the grandest stage. He played three matches for Zimbabwe and has scored 90 runs at an average of 15. Talking about his bowling, he picked up 5 wickets at an average of 49.80. 

9. Dale Richards

Dale Richards is the next Caribbean to make it to this list. He opened his account in Test cricket by hitting a six. To make it to the international stage, he had to toil hard for over a decade. Finally, after his 10 years of hard work, he made his debut for West Indies. The opposition team was Bangladesh and the venue was St. Vincent. 

His debut was made in unusual circumstances as the West Indies went on a protest regarding the payment issues. He smashed a six off the fourth ball off the Bangladesh skipper Mashrafe Mortaza. This enabled Richards to make it to the history books. He became the second batsman from West Indies to hit a six as his first scoring runs in international cricket. 

Unfortunately, he had a bleak international career. He represented the West Indies for two more games. Because of poor performances on the big stage, he was never considered for selection. This paved the way for his exit from cricket. 

8. Shafiul Islam

Shafiul Islam made it to the history books as the first Bangladeshi to hit a six as his first runs in Test cricket. He smashed the seventh ball he faced, for a maximum. The match was played against India in 2010. The bowler at the receiving end was Amit Mishra. However, his international career has witnessed many ups and downs. 

Islam has been in and out of the Bangladeshi squad in the recent past. He played his last ODI in 2016 and his last Test match in 2017. Talking about wickets, he has picked up 17 Test Wickets and 63 ODI wickets. Shaiful’s efforts have enabled him to make it to this list of cricketers whose first scoring shot in Test cricket was a six.

Injuries haunted his career as he injured his foot before the series against West Indies in November 2011 and he found himself out of the Test team. However, he represented Bangladesh in the shorter formats as he played over 60 ODIs. But, his poor performance in the 2014 Asia Cup ensured that he was overlooked by the selection committee. After a series of ins and outs, he made his comeback in white-ball cricket in the year 2019. 

7. Jahurul Islam

Jahurul Islam had a horrible start to international cricket as he was out for a duck in his first inning. He was trapped leg-before to Swann in his first outing. However, in the second inning, he scored 43 runs and his first runs in Test cricket was a six off Graeme Swann. This made him the second Bangladeshi to hit a six off the first ball. 

 Talking about Jahurul, he was a right-handed wicketkeeper-batsman and was drafted into the Bangladesh Test squad during the home series against England. He topped the run charts in the domestic circuit. Islam had scored 965 runs at an average of 68.92 runs for the Rajshahi Division. This effort enabled the domestic team to clinch the 2009-10 title. 

His first runs as six off Swann has enabled him to become one of the few players who have hit a six as their first run. Later on, he represented Bangladesh in 7 matches and has scored 347 runs. His highest score is 48 runs with an average of 26.69.

6. Al- Amin Hossain

Looks like the Bangladeshi players like to hit a maximum to get off the mark! Hossain is the third Bangladeshi on this list. Hossain failed to score on his Test debut against the Kiwis at Dhaka in 2013. However, he opened his account in Test Cricket by hitting the Sri Lankan great Rangana Herath for a six in 2014. 

 He has represented Bangladesh seven times in Test cricket. He has a run tally of 90 runs with an average of 22.5. Although he had a quiet series at home against Sri Lanka, he played only two games in Asia Cup, 2014. In the ODI series against the West Indies, he was the highest wicket-taker for his team. A decent bowler, Hossain was unlucky that he was unable to get enough chances. 

He found himself in trouble because of his disciplinary actions. The BCB investigated an incident where he was sent home during the 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup because he broke the team curfew. In recent years, he was in and out of his side because of his mediocre performances and poor off-field behavior. 

5. Mark Craig

Mark Craig is the only batsman to hit a six of the first ball he faced. He achieved this feat against a tall Suleiman Benn at Kingston in 2014. Craig is a right-arm off-break bowler, who was picked up as the backup option for Ish Sodhi during that tour. During that match, he took eight wickets and was awarded as the Man-of-the-match because of his performance. 

Over the next two years, he proved to be a handy cricketer as he averaged 40+ with the bat. This grabbed the attention of the national selectors as he was seen as a genuine all- rounder. When it comes to his main role in the side, he could not perform consistently. Apart from a 10-fer against Pakistan, his performance was mediocre. 

The downfall in performances started when New Zealand was playing against India in 2016. An indifferent tour meant that his future in international cricket was bleak. Therefore, he finds it difficult to make it to the test squad, which is one of the finest in the world at this moment. Because of his first ball six, he makes it to this list of cricketers whose first scoring shot in Test cricket was a six. 

4. Dhananjaya de Silva

 

De Silva is a technically sound batsman who rose through the ranks through age-division cricket. He followed up his domestic performance with staggering numbers in the Super T20 Provincial Tournament across six innings. He made history by starring in Tamil Union’s first First class title in 55 years by amassing 868 runs at an average of 54.20. This was followed up by a national call. 

In his debut series against the mighty Australians, he ended up being the top scorer for his side. Apart from that, he makes it to this list of cricketers whose first scoring shot in Test cricket was a six. He hit a six off the fifth ball he faced, he dispatched a ball for a six and was off the mark in Test cricket. This was a strong statement as he performed exceptionally well in that series. 

Since then, he has played 32 test matches at an average of 35.31. His highest score in Test cricket is 173 and has hit over six centuries in Test cricket. While Sri Lanka is suffering because of some mediocre performances, de Silva has been one of their best players. Therefore, he makes it to this list of cricketers whose first scoring shot in Test cricket was a six. 

3. Kamrul Islam Rabi

Islam Rabi is the son of a sub-inspector from Patuakhali and a Bangladesh cricketer who came into the limelight after performing exceptionally well in the Under 19 arena. He took four-wicket hauls against Pakistan and Sri Lanka. This enabled him for a call-up to the national side. In the 2010 Under 19 World Cup, he took a hat-trick against Ireland which helped Bangladesh to win the Plate Championship. 

After 47 first-class games, Rabbi made his Test debut against England team in October 2016. He managed to pick only a single wicket in a series that was spin dominant. However, he was unable to make a mark on the international stage and has been warming the benches for some time now. Talking about his batting, he averages just 5.67 with a bat with the highest score of 51.

However, he makes it to this list as he smoked a six to open his account in test cricket. He could not open his account in the first three innings of Test Cricket. It was only his 20th ball he faced that he smashed Moeen Ali for a six to open his account. 

2. Sunil Ambris

The 24-year-old West Indies player made his debut against New Zealand in Wellington in the Test series in December 2017. Unfortunately, he has the distinction of being the first cricketer to be out hit-wicket on the first ball he faced in Test cricket. To his dismay, he was again dismissed by a hit wicket in his third inning. This enabled him to become the first batsman in the history of Test cricket to be hit wicket twice in his first two Tests. 

However, he has another distinction to his name. He hit Trent Boult for a six to open his account in Test cricket. But, a fracture on the left arm and two hit wicket dismissals marked Ambris’s debut as it was a bit painful for the batsman. The West Indian batsman has played in six Test matches and has scored at an average of 13.83.

Of the six matches he played, he has scored only 166 runs. A poor run in Test cricket meant that he could not cement his place in the Test squad. Talking about his ODI cricket, he has a pretty good average of 44.7. 

1. Rishabh Pant

Rishabh Pant has seen every type of highs and lows in his career. Because of his fitness issues, he was not included in the limited-overs squad. But, his performances overseas has been outstanding. He has scored centuries in difficult circumstances like England and Australia.

In his test career, he has scored 976 runs at an average of 40.67. His highest score in Test cricket is 159 where his performance helped India to win a Test series for the first time in Australia. Apart from that, he is well known to perform outstandingly in the Indian Premier League. 

But, one record that makes Pant different from the rest is his first runs in Test cricket. He is the only Indian to feature in this list. As he made his debut against England, he smashed the second ball he faced in Test cricket off Adil Rashid. This enables him to make it to this list of cricketers whose first scoring shot in Test cricket was a six.