Ilikena Lasarusa Talebulamaineiilikenamainavaleniveivakabulaimainakulalakebalau, born on this day, 1921, is a favourite in quizzes, for his is the longest surname in the history of First-Class cricket.
However, there is more to him than that.
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The gargantuan surname obviously demands some explanation.
Thankfully, @tintin1107 has done that, so I can move on.
The thread also mentions why his name was abbreviated to IL Bula.
Bula was almost certainly the greatest cricketer in the history of Fiji.
Only 9 of his matches were given First-Class status. He scored 702 runs at 41.29 with two hundreds.
Bula was part of the Fiji team that toured New Zealand in 1947-48.
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He scored 1,011 runs at 37.44.
In the five First-Class matches he got 464 runs at 46.40 – splendid numbers by any standards.
He was the fifth-highest scorer in that New Zealand summer (this includes all New Zealanders in all matches, including domestic).
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He got 88 when Fiji famously chased 247 to beat Wellington by 1 wicket.
Against Walter Hadlee's Canterbury, he got 63 and 120 in a 36-run defeat. The 120 came in the fourth innings against a target of 354.
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Hadlee was so impressed that he and Fijian captain Philip Snow, rummaged through the rulebooks and found a loophole.
If no First-Class cricket match had been played in the player’s native country, he would be eligible to play cricket for the nearest Test-playing nation.
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This made all Fijians eligible to play Test cricket for New Zealand.
Now, a very strong New Zealand team was supposed to tour England in 1949.
(This side, the 1949ers, would return from England without losing a Test or against any county).
Hadlee wanted Bula.
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Unfortunately, the idea did not materialise.
Hadlee thought it might not go too well with the other New Zealand cricketers.
Snow, on the other hand, predicted that Bula was too homesick for a six-month-long tour.
Unfortunate.
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However, the fact remains that decades before Papua New Guinea made waves in international cricket, a Fijian was considered good enough to go on an England tour with New Zealand.
A bit now about Bula the person and his tremendous popularity.
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On that New Zealand tour he used to perform South Sea songs on the ground for the fans immediately after the day's play.
Waikato Cricket Association presented him with a ball inscribed in silver for two of the hardest-hit innings (77 and a 20-minute 53*) they had witnessed.
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He often batted in a sulu (a Fijian skirt).
He did not care for footwear.
And he hit massive sixes, often not bothering to stick to the MCC manual.
They loved this man, for his uniqueness as well as his fantastic cricket.
They chased him for autographs throughout that tour.
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Let me finish this with a quote from Snow: "He would flick some dust off his bare feet or peer at his battered bat. With his great stretches forward, his shin-high sulu would float out above the top of his pads.
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"He would tuck it back and prepare to deal wholesomely with the next ball – if possible, over the head and up-stretched hands of the extra boundary fielder just put there."
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He made his Test debut a day before his 18th birthday, and finished as one of the greatest fast bowlers in both formats.
Not as well-known is the term 'Waqared'.
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Simon Hughes described it as "term coined from Waqar Younis's prowess at producing terminal and frequently painful inswinging yorkers. Chris Cowdrey was the first Englishman to suffer this fate (broken toe 1988) and it cost him the England captaincy."
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And then there were the LBWs, often too plumb for the umpire to ponder about.
The bowleds were probably worse, for at least the toes survived.
Of Waqar's 373 Test wickets, 212 were either bowled or LBW. In ODIs the count read 224 out of 416.
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Chances are that you have not heard of Manish Majithia, a left-arm spinner who played for Railways, then Madhya Pradesh, in the Ranji Trophy, mostly in the 1990s.
On this day, 1999, however, Majithia set two First-Class records that still stand.
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Interestingly, he was playing for Madhya Pradesh (his new side) against Railways (his previous side) at Indore.
He had figures of 12.3-9-3-1 in the first innings of 216.
Railways followed on but saved the match, crawling to 86/5 in 109 overs.
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Of these, 83 (in 104 overs) came on the last day.
This was, at that point, the fewest runs in a complete day's cricket.
Majithia returned 20-20-0-1.
In the history of First-Class cricket, this is the most balls bowled by anyone in an innings without conceding a run.
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John Montagu, the 4th Earl of Sandwich, was born on this day, 1718.
Yes, the sandwich is supposedly named after him, though historians do not agree on the reason.
He was appointed 1st Lord of the Admiralty, Secretary of State for Northern Department, and Postmaster General.
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Unfortunately, he was both corrupt and incompetent.
And despite that, he left behind two legacies.
We have already discussed the bread-based food product.
Montagu/Sandwich was also a patron of Captain Cook. He helped fund Cook's second and third expeditions.
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Cook thanked him back by going on a naming spree.
The Sandwich Islands in Hawaii, South Sandwich Islands in the South Atlantic Ocean, and the two Montague Islands, off Australian coast and off Gulf of Alaska, are all named after Sandwich.