Cricket is a gentlemen's game as they say it. Well, this game holds a very long and deep-rooted history, of course, there are players which we don't even know about but it is worth mentioning them. Time has taken over these rotten records and players but history, my friend can never be forgotten or erased.
Some of the records held by one such legend of the game will surely make your jaws drop. Let's dive into the memory lane of Mr. Wilfred Rhodes the uncrowned king of England Cricket.
Insane numbers and hunger
Rhodes became the first Englishman to complete the double of 1,000 runs and 100 wickets in Test matches. He holds the record for most appearances made in First-Class cricket (1,110 matches) and for most wickets taken (4,204). This blew your mind, right? You might be wondering that James Anderson would have been the veteran but Wilfred played cricket for Yorkshire and England into his fifties as well. Rhodes played his final test in 1930 when we were 52 years old; the oldest player who appeared in a Test Match. Take a break if you want to! There are more statistics coming down from the history lane.
The English legend completed the double 1,000 runs and 100 wickets in an English cricket season a record 16 times. In Test cricket, he took 127 wickets and scored 2,325 runs. In First-Class cricket Wilfred scored 39,969 runs with 58 centuries and 197 half-centuries, his highest score was 267 not out.
Okay, hold on, or have a glass of water by your side because the next set of facts will surely give you a headache. Rhodes has bowled 1,85,742 balls and took 4,204 wickets in First-Class cricket. His best bowling figures in an innings were nine wickets for 24 runs. In Test cricket, he has scored two centuries and 11 half-centuries with his best score at 179 runs. Wilfred's, best bowling figures in Test cricket were eight wickets for 68 runs.
Cricket in blood
Wilfred had cricket in his blood. His father, Alfred Rhodes, was captain of the Kirkheaton cricket team and encouraged his son to play cricket. By the time Rhodes left school, aged 16, he had joined Kirkheaton Cricket Club and started to take cricket seriously: he watched Yorkshire when they played close to his home and began to consider a career as a professional cricketer. By 1895 he had achieved a place in the Kirkheaton first team and was recommended to Gala Cricket Club, of Galashiels, Scotland, as a professional.
Journey to prominent clubs
Rhodes played for Gala Cricket Club in 1896 and 1897, as an all-rounder who opened the batting and bowled medium-paced seam. He took 92 wickets in his first season and realised that bowling slow ball brought him some more success. He decided to change his bowling style to spin, and spent the winter of 1896–97 practices on the farm. Rhodes used his practice sessions to develop control of spin and different types of delivery. Consequently, in his second season at Galashiels, now bowling slow left-arm, he took fewer wickets but at a better average. At the end of the 1897 season, encouraged by a Scottish member of the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), he resigned from Gala to look for work in England.
Rhodes applied to join the ground staff of Warwickshire County Cricket Club, but the club was unable to offer him an engagement for financial reasons. At this time, Yorkshire was looking for a slow left-arm spinner. Rhodes went on to make his First-Class debut for Yorkshire on 12 May 1898 against the MCC, taking six wickets in the match. In his second game, he made his County Championship debut on 16 May 1898 against Somerset, taking 13 wickets for 45 runs.
International cricket
He made his Test debut in the five-match series against Australia, playing in three of the five Tests. Rhodes' most successful seasons in terms of wickets were the three seasons from 1900 to 1902. In these years, Rhodes took 725 wickets at an average of 14.07, taking five or more wickets in an innings 68 times and taking ten or more wickets in a match 21 times, assisting Yorkshire to three consecutive County Championships. In 1903, Rhodes scored over 1,000 runs in the season for the first time, in the process completing his first double of 1,000 runs and 100 wickets.
When the fire burned out
Rhodes continued to play for Yorkshire until 1930 but lost his classy touch. He failed to reach 1,000 runs in a season again, but as a bowler, he took 85 wickets in 1927, 115 in 1928, and 100 in 1929. In 1929–30, Rhodes was selected in an MCC team, containing several veteran players, to tour West Indies. Rhodes described it as an "old crocks" team. Given a heavy workload with the ball, he took 39 First-Class wickets, averaging 24.28, and scored 129 runs at an average of 25.80 with a top score of 36. In the four-Test matches, Rhodes took ten wickets at an average of 45.30.
During the 1930 season, Rhodes announced his intention to retire from cricket at the end of the summer. He was finding it harder to take wickets, and the workload placed on him in the West Indies had decreased his enthusiasm for the game. Rhodes coached at Harrow School until 1936.
Surely, Wilfred Rhodes had a legendary career and some incredible records to his name. His legacy could never be overshadowed in English cricket. Now I truly, believe that 'LEGENDS NEVER DIE' their legacy speaks for them.
