The A to Z of Tests at Perth

A for Amarnath Jimmy proved what a valuable member of the 197778 Indian team he could be with knocks of 90 and 100 in the second Test at Perth And what a venue to get your maiden Test tonB for Bedi The 197778 captain of India became the first Indian to claim 10 wickets in a Test on Australian soil The batsmen he dismissed in both innings were John Dyson David Ogilvie Peter Toohey and Tony MannC for Curtly The great Antiguan claimed more wickets than any other nonAussie bowler 24 in 3 Tests in Perth His 725 in 199293 included a spell of 7 for 1D for Doug Dashing Walters hit the last ball of the day off Bob Willis for a six to reach his century in Perth 197475 His teammates tried to prank him by hiding in the showers when he came in but Doug didnrsquot react and fooled them insteadE for Edwards The Western Australian played only one Test innings at Perth in 197475 and scored a hundred against England in the same innings as Walters He retired the following yearF for Fredericks the WI opener who smashed 169 off 145 balls against Greg Chappellrsquos team in 197576 His 100 came off only 71 balls When Ian Chappell asked his brother Greg whether he had seen the scoreboard which showed how fast Fredericks was scoring Greg refused saying ldquoitrsquos ok for you yoursquore not the captainrdquoG for Gavaskar The little masterrsquos hundred in the second Test at Perth in 197778 was his Ton No 2 of the series The second innings 127 put him on par with Polly Umrigarrsquos tally of 12 Test centuriesH for Hughes one of the seven Western Australians in the playing XI in the 198182 Perth Test v PakmdashKim Bruce Laird Graeme Wood Rod Marsh Dennis Lillee Bruce Yardley Terry AldermanI for Irfan The man of the match in Indiarsquos sterling win in the 200708 Perth Test after losing the Melbourne and Sydney Tests He claimed five wickets in the game and played useful knocks of 28 and 46J for Jeff Thommo loved bowling in Perth and he famously injured England opener David Lloyd in the groin in the 197475 Test in which Lloydrsquos abdomen guard among other things were crushedK for Kapil The Haryana Hurricane became the first Indian to claim 400 Test wickets during the fifth Test of the 199192 series at Perth When he returned to the WACA dressing room he was given a congratulatory message from Richard Hadlee the first 400wkts manL for Lillee who kicked Pakistan captain Javed Miandad in the 198182 Perth Test Miandad in response threatened to hit Dennis with his bat before umpire Tony Crafter averted a worse situationM for McKenzie the pace bowler who delivered the first ball of a Perth Test in 1971 Interestingly Garth his nickname a Western Australian claimed four wickets in the innings but he didnrsquot impress the pundits ldquoHe loped mechanically in for each deliveryrdquo wrote journalist Eric BeecherN for Nathan He was player of the match when Aus beat India in the 201819 Perth Stadium Test Lyon claimed eight in the game In four Tests here he has 27 wickets O for Ogilvie An adhesive No 3 batsman blooded in the 197778 series against India David took three and a half hours to score 47 to help Australia chase down 339P for Phillips Two players bearing the same first and surname made their Test debuts at Perth Phillips Sr a wicketkeeperopening batsman was called for the 198384 Perth Test v Pakistan while the other Wayne played v India in 199192Q for Quirky The India v England Test at Chennai and the Australia v SA one at Perth was held in December 2008 While India won by six wickets the Proteas triumphed by the same margin as pointed out by Kersi MeherHomji in his book Cricket Quirky CricketR for Richards After unrewarding visits to the crease in 197576 and 198485 Viv finally got a century in the 198889 TestS for Sachin As if to prove again what a special talent he was Tendulkar came up with an outstanding hundred at Perth in 199192 following his ton in SydneyT for Tony A real thorn in Indiarsquos side in the 197778 Perth Test Local hero Mann became the first Australian to score a ton as a Test nightwatchmanU for Umesh the last Indian after BS Bedi and Manoj Prabhakar to bag a fifer at the WACA Yadav bagged 593 in Australiarsquos first innings of the 201112 TestV for Virat A splendid hundred as captain in the 201819 Test went in vain as Australia got back with a win at Perth after a loss in the opening Test at Adelaide Indian fans will be hoping for a ton this time too but it should eventuate in a winW for WACA The bounce this track offered thrilled bowlers and ensured the batsmen never relaxed even when set Pace bounce and carry were all part of the Perth pitchX for X factor Who will be that for India My prediction is Dhruv Jurel who should put his familiarity to Australian conditions through the India lsquoArsquo tour to good useY for Yardley The late offspinner from Perth who made his debut v India in 197778 claimed 684 in his sidersquos win in the 198182 Perth Test against PakistanZ for Zoehrer the perky Perthbased wicketkeeper who India encountered during the 1986 Tied Test Tim who could also bowl leg spin was known to drive a taximiddayrsquos 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