A Treasury of T's Trivia Quiz

Answer: Mark Taylor

Mark Taylor came to England in 1989 almost unknown, though he had been close to selection at the back end of the 1986-7 Ashes in Australia (there was a suggestion that off spinner Peter Taylor, not even sure of his place in his state side, was called up by mistake when the selectors had actually meant to ask for Mark), and finished as the star of the series, one in which the English weather proved rather stronger opposition than the England team - the former played the decisive role in the two matches not won by Australia.
Later Taylor made headlines in a match against Pakistan by declaring when he himself was on 334 not out, with the Australian test record score standing at 334 by Don Bradman.

None of the other Taylors listed here are famous as cricketers - Graham was a very unsuccessful manager of the England football team, Roger was a multiple Wimbledon tennis semi-finalist in the 1970s and Phil 'the power' Taylor is a 16 time world darts champion.

Answer: Victor Trumper

Victor Trumper was regarded as one of the finest batters the game had seen to that point. The match at Manchester was the fourth test match of a five match series, with Australia one up. Australia emerged victorious by three runs, at the time the narrowest runs margin in test history, and thus secured both The Ashes and the series win. Turnbull was an important figure in Glamorgan's early years as a first class county, Thoms was one of the two umpires in the match that led to the creation of The Ashes, and Thewlis was the first player ever to score a century for Yorkshire.

Answer: Frank Tarrant

Frank Tarrant averaged over 36 with the bat and took his wickets (1,512 of them in FC cricket) at 17.49 a piece. As well as England he spent time in India, and numbered Indian princes among his friends.
Of the wrong answers Chris Tarrant is a TV presenter, probably best known for "Who Wants to be a Millionaire?", George Tarrant was a fiery fast bowler in the mid 19th century and Cyril Turner played for Yorkshire in the 1930s.

Answer: Tendulkar

Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar was a test cricketer by the time he was in his mid-teens, and within a few years was established as one of the very best. Don Bradman, considered the finest batter of them all, paid him what may be the ultimate compliment - he was watching Tendulkar on the TV when he thought he noticed something about him and called his wife through, and she confirmed that yes there were indeed stylistic similarities between them.

Answer: Graham Thorpe

Graham Thorpe scored a century on his test debut, and went on from that start to play 100 test matches, finishing his career with an average of 44.66. His highest score of 222 came at the expense of New Zealand. His career ended in 2005, with Kevin Pietersen and Ian Bell being preferred for that year's Ashes series. Of the wrong answer Ian Thorpe was an Australian swimmer, Dave Thorpe an English motocross champion and Willie Thorne a snooker player and commentator.

Answer: Ross Taylor

Ross Taylor's many career highlights include the highest test score made to date by a visiting batter in Australia, 290 (beating the 287 scored by Reginald Foster on his test debut in 1903). He played 112 test matches to Thorpe's 100, but both ended their careers with averages of 44.66.
Peter Taylor was an off spinner, Maik Taylor a goalkeeper for Northern Ireland and Stafanie Taylor plays for West Indies Women.

Answer: Bob Taylor

Bob Taylor made 1,649 dismissals in his long first class career, 1,473 catches and 176 stumpings. He was also a much better bat than he was often given credit for - his six-hour innings of 97 helped to secure the 1978-9 Ashes for England. His test opportunities were reduced by the fact that England generally preferred Alan Knott, but when the latter decided he didn't want to tour any more (only to then sign for a rebel tour of apartheid South Africa) Taylor became again the keeper of choice for England.

He retired in 1984, but two years later was summoned from a hospitality tent to act as substitute when Bruce French, the chosen keeper, was injured. Tolchard was more batter than keeper, but was selected for that 1978-9 Ashes tour, officially as reserve keeper. Tallon and Taber were both keepers of high calibre, especially the former, but not record setters.

Answer: Hugh Trumble

Hugh Trumble did the double of 1,000 runs and 100 wickets in first class matches on the 1899 tour of England. In the wet season of 1902 he enjoyed his bowling but did not have so much success with the bat, though he did contribute 64 not out to the Australian first innings at The Oval, a match in which he bowled unchanged through both England innings, taking eight wickets in the first and four more in the second, but being denied victory by a legendary innings from Gilbert Jessop plus contributions from George Hirst and the lower order. John Trumble was Hugh's brother, more batter than bowler, and not worth his place in this squad, Charles 'Terror' Turner was the finest test match bowler of the 1880s, but the often rough and ready pitches of that time flattered all bowlers. Fred Titmus was a Middlesex and England off spinner.

Answer: Frank Tyson

Frank Tyson moved south to Northamptonshire after not being picked for his native Lancashire. His subsequent career would prove that the north western county had made an epic mistake. He was picked for the 1954-5 Ashes with not much experience behind him, and proceeded to blow Australia away in their own backyard.

After struggling in the first test he reduced his run up, and was well nigh unstoppable for the rest of the series, with his returns including a 7-27 and a 6-85, both in winning cause. His career was a brief one, but he did enough to earn his place. Mike Tyson was a boxer, whose behaviour in the ring included biting an opponent's ear, while outside the ring he did prison time for rape.

Answer: Fred Trueman

Frederick Sewards Trueman took 307 wickets in 67 appearances for England, paying 21 a piece for them. His best match came against the 1963 West Indies, when he took 12-119 across their two innings.
Les Taylor and Paul Taylor were both picked for England as pace bowlers, but neither fared well in their brief test careers. Tennyson in his career was a batter and captain, though he was supposedly a fast bowler while at Eton.

Answer: Jeff Thomson

Jeffrey Robert Thomson at his peak may have been the fastest bowler of them all. After a phenomenal start in 1974 and 1975 he had injury problems which reduced his effectiveness, but he still ended his test career with 200 wickets at 28 a piece.
Alan 'Froggy' Thomson was an Aussie pacer of similar vintage to Jeff Thomson but not nearly as good, Patterson Thomson was a West Indian pacer, again not of the necessary quality, and Peter Thomson was an Aussie golfer, five times winner of The Open Championship.

Answer: Glenn Turner

Glenn Turner was a thoroughgoing professional at a time when New Zealand cricket was still a largely amateur affair, which meant that his relationship with the New Zealand powers that be was rarely if ever a harmonious one. However he had an excellent test record, averaging 44 at that level.

He was also the first batter ever to score over 150 in a one day international innings, an score of 171 not out during the 1975 world cup. He was a consistent big scorer for Worcestershire in the county championship. Alan Turner was an Australian opener, also of the 1970s, and Stuart Turner was an Essex all rounder, at his peak at the same sort of time.

Answer: Johnny Tyldesley

Johnny Tyldesley's test record looks modest by contemporary standards, but he played all his test cricket before WWI, often on surfaces that favoured the bowlers. He averaged over 40 in first class cricket. Neville Cardus, who as cricket correspondent for the Manchester Guardian (as it then was - it is now just The Guardian) covered a lot of Lancashire matches, likened Tyldesley's bat to a broadsword. Tunnicliffe was a solid opener for Yorkshire but never got the England call up, Harry Trott was an Australian top order batter, but not good enough to make this squad, and Jonathan Trott played for England in the 2010s (and was a genuine candidate for this slot).

Answer: Ernest Tyldesley

Ernest Tyldesley was in his prime at a time when England were very strong, which is one reason he only got 14 test caps. He averaged 55 in those matches, while in all first class cricket he scored over 38,000 runs at an average of over 45.
The three wrong answers were all batters of much lower standard.

Answer: Steve Tikolo

Steve Tikolo's batting in the 1996 world cup, including an innings of 96 against Sri Lanka, who went on to win the tournament, showed the world that cricketing talent could come from unexpected sources. I have included him was a tribute to all those who get overlooked through being in the wrong time or place.
Tom Tikolo is a brother of his, who was much less talented.

Answer: Sarah Taylor

Sarah Taylor's keeping tested credulity at times, with dismissals that she pulled off frequently ging viral on social media. She also scored seven international centuries, with a best of 147. She was behind the stumps when England won both the ODI and T20 world cups in 2009, and also when they won the 2017 ODI world cup on home soil.
Claire Taylor did sometimes keep wicket but was best known as a top order batter, while Clare Taylor was a medium paced bowler.

Answer: Threlkeld

Ellie Threlkeld was first noticed for her wicket keeping, but has massively developed her batting in recent years. She nowadays also captains Lancashire women. The village of Threlkeld is in The Lake District.

Answer: Fred Titmus

Fred Titmus's first class playing career included parts of five decades - he started in 1949 and ended in 1982. In Test Cricket he took 153 wickets at 32.22 and scored 1,449 runs at 22.29, while in all first class cricket his figures were 2,830 wickets at 22.37 and 21,588 runs at 23.11.
Charles Thornton played for Middlesex in the late 19th century, but mainly as a batter.

Answer: Maurice Tate

Maurice Tate took 155 wickets in 39 test matches at a cost of 26.16 a piece, and also scored 1,198 runs at 25.48 with one century and five fifties. In all first class cricket his figures were 2,784 wickets at 18.16 a piece and 21,717 runs at 25.04 with a top score of 203 not out.
Shaun Tait is an Australian fast bowler of recent vintage, Fred Tate was Maurice's father, and Cecil Tate was his brother.

Answer: Trott

Albert Trott played in the 1894-5 Ashes series for his native Australia, scoring 205 runs at 102.50, and having huge success with the ball, including innings figures of 8-43 in the second innings of his debut match. He was left out of the squad for the 1896 trip to England, travelled there anyway and signed for Middlesex.

In 1899 for his adopted county he struck a delivery from Monty Noble of Australia right over the Lord's pavilion. Subsequently he became obsessed with trying to emulate the shot, which led to his batting falling away.

His bowling also declined, though in 1907 he produced an astonishing performance against Somerset, first taking four wickets in four balls, and then ending the innings and the match with another hat trick. Unfortunately it was his benefit match, and this effort brought it to a premature conclusion.