Derek Randall

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Derek Randall

England
Personal information
Batting style Right-hand bat
Bowling style Right-arm medium
Career statistics
Tests ODIs
Matches 47 49
Runs scored 2470 1067
Batting average 33.37 26.67
100s/50s 7/12 -/5
Top score 174 88
Balls bowled 16 2
Wickets - 1
Bowling average - 2.00
5 wickets in innings - -
10 wickets in match - n/a
Best bowling - 1/2
Catches/stumpings 31/- 25/-

As of 1 January 2006
Source: [1]

Derek William Randall (b. 24 February 1951, Retford, Nottinghamshire) is a former cricketer who played first-class cricket for Nottinghamshire and England in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Known to cricket fans as Arkle after the famous racehorse, but always Rags to himself, his impact as a batsman went far beyond what his career figures might suggest. He was a Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1980.

Contents

[edit] The 'Clown Prince' of Cricket

A player with a boyish sense of joy in an age of dull professionalism, Randall first came to note as an outstanding cover fielder. As one day cricket forced fielding standards ever upwards, Randall led the way in redefining outfielding, as Jack Hobbs and Colin Bland had done before him. His run out of Gordon Greenidge in the Cricket World Cup final of 1979 is but one highlight and his partnership with a youthful David Gower was a feature of the successful England team of the immediate post-Packer era. Known for his eccentric movement at the crease, Randall was actually a determined batsman, the flashing cover drives, pulls and square cuts masking a steely desire to succeed.

[edit] Randall for England

His finest hour was the Centenary Test of 1977, and his innings of 174 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, in the teeth of an Australian attack led by Dennis Lillee, thrilled and enchanted all who saw him pull England from an impossible position to the brink of victory. It was the manner of his innings, as much as its epic scale, which enchanted the array of former Test stars who had been invited to the ground. He famously doffed his cap to Lillee, after narrowly evading a savage bouncer, quipping "No good hitting me there mate, nothing to damage." When finally dismissed he left the ground by the wrong gate and found himself climbing up towards the royal enclosure where the Queen was watching the day's play. "She was very nice about it," he told the BBC "She smiled. Someone else quickly put me right."

He took the catch which clinched the Ashes in 1977 at Headingley, turning a cartwheel in celebration in typically exuberant style. Randall often saved his best for matches against Australia, with the next tour in 1978/79 bringing a 5-1 England Ashes win and two man of the match performances for Randall, an intensely dogged 150 in a series dominated by fast bowlers being the highlight. Randall scored centuries against New Zealand and India, even one from the unlikely position of opener against Pakistan, but he was finally blown away by the awesome West Indian attack of 1984 (when he was asked to bat at number three in the first two Test matches of the summer, a position at which the odds were stacked against his strokeplaying style in the face of aggressive fast bowling) never to return. He played 47 Test matches in all, scoring 2,470 runs with 7 centuries and took 31 catches. He appeared for England in 49 One Day Internationals, in an era where far fewer matches were played than today, an action-packed 88 in his debut against the mighty West Indians of 1976 being his best.

Derek Randall's Test Centuries

  • 174 v Australia at Melbourne in 1977.
  • 150 v Australia at Sydney in 1979.
  • 126 v India at Lord's in 1982.
  • 105 v Pakistan at Edgbaston in 1982.
  • 115 v Australia at Perth in 1982.
  • 164 v New Zealand at Wellington in 1984.
  • 104 v New Zealand at Auckland in 1984.

[edit] Randall in First-Class Cricket

After learning his cricket at Retford Cricket Club, Randall made his second-team debut in 1969 and his first-class debut against Essex at the end of May 1972, scoring 78 from number 8 in the order with the next highest score being Garry Sobers' 32. He won plaudits for his quicksilver talent in the covers, won his Nottinghamshire Cap in 1973 and went on to score 28,456 runs in all first-class cricket. Randall batted brilliantly for the successful Notts team of the early eighties, winning the County Championship in a team which boasted the great Sir Richard Hadlee and Clive Rice. With his team needing eighteen to win from the final over of the 1985 NatWest Trophy final, he hit sixteen from the first five balls, only to be caught in the outfield from the final delivery. He compiled 52 hundreds in all and made 209 and 146 in the same game against Middlesex in 1979. He scored 1,000 runs in a season eight times, took 361 catches and a rather more surprising 13 wickets at just over 31. His first-class bowling strike rate of 37 balls per wicket compares well to Sir Richard Hadlee's 45. He was universally popular with the crowds who found his enthusiastic fielding and comic antics as entertaining as his puckish batting. He was famous for running, rather than walking, towards the batsman in the covers as the bowler delivered the ball and was responsible for many run outs in his prime.

He retired from first-class cricket with Notts in 1993, but later turned out in Minor Counties cricket for Suffolk, playing in the NatWest Trophy at the age of 49 and a match for 'old Suffolk' in 2004. He appeared for the final time in 2003 to cap a career which saw this embodiment of eternal youth play in an amazing five decades.

[edit] Retirement

In retirement he has coached numerous school and university sides, among many other projects, and is remembered still with great affection in the game. He coached Cambridge University and was coach at Bedford School when Alastair Cook came through the First XI, recommending the youngster was picked up for the ECB National Academy. The "Derek Randall Suite" at Trent Bridge cricket ground, home of Nottinghamshire CCC, is named in his honour.

His books include The young person's guide to Cricket and his autobiography The sun has got his hat on [2].

[edit] External links and sources

v • d • e
England squad - 1979 Cricket World Cup (runners-up)
1 Brearley (c) • 2 Botham • 3 Boycott • 4 Edmonds • 5 Gooch • 6 Gower • 7 Hendrick • 8 Larkins • 9 Miller • 10 Old • 11 Randall • 12 Taylor (wk) • 13 Willis
 Flag of England

Derek Randall is now a player with Matlock CC