S is for Success Trivia Quiz

Answer: Andrew Strauss

Andrew Strauss scored 112 on debut v New Zealand in 2004 and was on 83 in the second innings when a misjudgement from then captain Nasser Hussain cost him his wicket. He went on to establish an excellent record at the top of the order and to be a shrewd captain.

The three wrong answers are all openers who tasted success at the highest level, though only the New Zealander Bert Sutcliffe batted left-handed. Simpson's finest hour was a match winning 156 not out in the final match of the 1950-51 Ashes series, while Sandham, a member of the 100 first class hundreds club, was test cricket's first ever triple centurion, with a 325 against West Indies at the end of the 1929-30 series.

Answer: Herbert Sutcliffe

Herbert Sutcliffe, whose first class career was bookended by the First and Second World Wars, scored over 50,000 first class runs at an average of 52.02. In test cricket he had 4,555 at 60.73, and in the cauldron of The Ashes he amassed 2,741 at 66.85. Bob Simpson was gritty Australian who once batted almost thirteen hours in a single innings, at Old Trafford in 1964, when Australia needed only to avoid defeat to retain The Ashes, an outcome Simpson assured quite literally off his own bat.

Answer: Graeme Smith

Graeme Smith in addition to his tall scoring became captain of his country at a remarkably young age (22 in 2003). MJK Smith was a fine opener in the 1960s, but he was also English through and through. Chris Smith was South African by birth but played most of his cricket in England, and though he had a very solid record as a county opener he could hardly be considered a great batter. David Smith who played for Surrey, Worcestershire and Sussex over the years was once selected for a tour of the Caribbean because of his relish for facing fast bowlers but achieved little out there.

Answer: Steven Smith

Steven Smith, who made his debut for Australia in 2010, is possibly his country's second best test match batter ever (Bradman is indisputably no. 1), and is indeed our number four. Paul Smith was an all-rounder who bowled fast medium, and sometimes batted as high as number four for Warwickshire. Jamie Smith is a batter/wicketkeeper who has habitually batted at number four for Surrey. Daniel Sams specializes in short form cricket, as a finisher.

Answer: Kumar Sangakkara

Kumar Sangakkara, whose share of that mammoth partnership of 624 with Mahela Jayawardene was 287, is our number five. Sathasivam, in his prime long before Sri Lanka was taken seriously, got rave reviews from those who saw him bat, but a lack of concrete evidence about him (though he did score one first class double century) would make it difficult to justify giving him a place.

Answer: Garry Sobers

Yes, it is Sir Garfield St Auburn Sobers, picked initially as a left-arm orthodox spinner before becoming the complete cricketer. His international career spanned the 1950s to the 1970s and he was often known as either Gary or Garry. Collie Smith was a massively talented cricketer who died in a road accident at the age of 26. Among the achievements he had recorded by then was a triple century in a Lancashire League match (the Lancashire League was tough in those days - this was a serious achievement).

Answer: Stokes

In 2022 Ben Stokes took over the captaincy of an England side that had won only one of its previous 17 matches, and breathed new life into it. While it is unquestionable that the emphasis on attack was overdone it is also the case that there were some magnificent moments. As a player he was neither the greatest of batters nor the greatest of bowlers, but he was a great matchwinner.

Answer: Greville Stevens

Stevens' achievements include a county championship winning moment (1920, when he took the last Surrey wicket in the last match of the season to seal the deal and enable his skipper Warner to retire on a high). He scored just over 10,000 runs in first class cricket and claimed 648 wickets. Paul Strang, a Zimbabwean, was also a leg spinning all-rounder but his best moments came in limited overs cricket, and unless I state otherwise I select with long form cricket in mind.

Answer: Mitchell Starc

Mitchell Starc it is. His wife is Alyssa Healy, for many years wicketkeeper/ batter for the Australian women's team. Starc was one of a group of four fast bowlers who all emerged in Australia around the same sort of time in the early 2010s, along with Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood and James Pattinson.

The other two Mitchells listed are both spinners, and one, Santner, is a New Zealander. Mike Smith is an Englishman, a former medium-fast bowler who was once selected for a test match at Headingley because of his ability to swing the ball and took not many for plenty and was never heard from again.

Answer: Brian Statham

Brian Statham it is. The George part of 'Gentleman George' came about because of a Lancashire superstition dating back to the days of George Duckworth that they could only do well with a George in the side. Statham's career began in 1950 when he came into a side with no one actually named George, and as the new boy he was dubbed 'George' to accommodate the superstition. Snow was a great fast bowler, but does not have an end named in his honour, Schultz was an obscure cricketer who played in the third-ever test match and did little of note. Frederick Sewards are the first two names of Fred Trueman, taker of 307 test wickets.

Answer: Steyn

Dale Steyn was the best fast bowler in the world in his day. His international career with South Africa lasted from 2004 to 2020. The hint refers obliquely to a stein, which is a kind of German beer glass and only one letter removed from the actual name. Those 439 test wickets came at an average cost of 22.95 a piece. Among takers of 400+ test wickets only Curtly Ambrose of the West Indies, who paid just under 21 each for his wickets, has a significantly cheaper average.

Answer: Bert Sutcliffe

Bert Sutcliffe is the answer. That great innings, in 1952, was a score of 385 for Otago v Canterbury in a total of 500 all out (77% of the runs), while Canterbury managed 382 off the bat in their two innings combined, three fewer than Sutcliffe had scored on his own in one innings. Will Smeed is a very attacking batter, but is English and played in a very different era.

Answer: Herbert Strudwick

Herbert Strudwick had a career that spanned 25 years across either side of the First World War, in the course of which he accomplished 1,493 dismissals, 1,235 catches and 258 stumpings. He was in the England side that secured the 1926 Ashes at The Oval, his home ground. Ernest 'Tiger' Smith of Warwickshire was also a very fine keeper but an awkward personality - he was wont to say that he would bat at number one or number eleven but nowhere in between! Alan Smith, also of Warwickshire but of later vintage, was a competent keeper but not outstanding.

He once took the new ball in an emergency and did the hat trick in the course of a spell in which at one point he had four wickets without cost in six overs. Ron Saggers, an Australian keeper whose career was disrupted by WWII, was also a fine practitioner.

Answer: Molly Strano

Molly Strano, who made her domestic debut in the 2011/12 season, has a magnificent record in Australian domestic cricket, which makes her a superb bowler on any reckoning. Linsey Smith, the England slow left-armer, is also a very high quality practitioner, but I opted for Strano.

Answer: Spedegue

The action of "The Story of Spedegue's Dropper" begins with Walter Scougall, a formerly notable cricketer, coming across the hero practising his new delivery in a clearing in the New Forest, and ends with the test match, with one of the selectors who disagreed with the move having a cab waiting in case it backfires. The story was published in "The Strand Magazine" in 1928.