Test cricket, just like other forms, is a cricketing format that requires the same no. of players but more effort and resoluteness to make this most extended format effective for the playing teams on the ground.
A tiring format thus makes it more challenging for the players to get into it and accumulate a place for themselves with a test debut cap for the new ones. Here we read about those players who did not have the opportunity to play test matches in their cricketing careers.
Players who never played test cricket:
1. Clive Rice
Clive Rice was a former South African international arena cricketer who played with a right-handed batting style and as a right-arm medium-fast bowler. Born on July 23, 1949, in Johannesburg, Transvaal, Clive was a first-class cricketer. He never played test cricket as his statistics just revealed his appearance in just 3 ODIs at the International level.
Rice represented his team as a captain with all leading capabilities, intelligence and his cunning nature. His skills were astonishing, and if he had gotten a chance to play test cricket, he would indeed be known among the best, but sadly he acquired a brain tumor at the young age of 49 and passed away at the age of 66 in Cape Town, South Africa.
2. Stephen Jefferies
Another South Africa’s isolation, Stephen Jefferies, was born on December 08, 1959, in Cape Town, in the Cape Province. He was a left-handed batsman and a left-arm bowler who has played domestically for the Western Province and with English county at Lancashire, Derbyshire and Hampshire.
Stephen has played 142 matches in first-class cricket and made 3810 runs, and also taken away 478 wickets with the best figure of 10/59 and a decent average of 27.62 with an economy rate of just 2.88. He was also left behind from starting his test career, which is the longest format.
3. Franklyn Stephenson
A fierce personality as a bowler and a hard-hitting batsman, Franklyn DaCosta Stephenson is a 63-year-old born in Saint James, Barbados. He missed out on playing test cricket, the main reason being his tour to South Africa in the early 1980s with the rebel side, due to which he was given a lifetime ban.
Franklyn was an exceptional first-class cricketer with the right-arm genuine pace with the ball, which bought him 792 wickets with an economy of 2.86, an average of 24.26 and the best figure being 8/47 in 219 matches. With the bat, he secured 8622 runs with an average of 27.99, including 43 fifties and 12 centuries.
4. Darren Berry
Darren Shane Berry is a former wicket-keeper batsman of the Australian cricket team. He was known to be one of the best wicket-keepers who ever represented Australia until now with his possession of outstanding behind-the-stump skills. He was thus unlucky to be rid of this test cricket format as with these splendid efforts, no doubt he could make his name there too.
In his first-class cricket life, representing the nation with his batting, he has made over 4273 runs in 153 games, with a high score and average being 166* and 21.58, respectively. Making his debut in 1989/90, Darren played his last match in a Victoria vs Queensland game at Melbourne on March 12-16, 2004.
5. Ryan Ten Doeschete
Another one on this list, but Ryan Ten Doeschete was unable to join in test cricket due to his passport issues. He was an all-rounder in the Dutch-South Africa cricket team who not only played in domestic and first-class games but also appeared in the One Day International arena (ODI) and T20 International games also.
Ryan Ten was a One day specialist who has played 33 matches and made 1541 runs with a good average of 67. Further in T20 Internationals, he has played 13 games and scored over 300 runs with a strike rate of 131. He is the finest cricketer who has also appeared in the Indian Premier League and earned further contracts for Australia, Bangladesh, New Zealand, South Africa and Zimbabwe also.
6. Jamie Siddons
Jamie Darren Siddons is a former Australian cricketer who has played first-class cricket for nearly 16 years representing teams Victoria and South Australia. Further, he has played ODI cricket on an international level, where he accumulated 11587 runs in 160 matches with an average of 44.91, including 35 centuries and 53 fifties.
Jamie was a power-hitting batsman with exceptional skills on the field. He has also been a coach in 2007 to the Bangladesh cricket team, but eventually, he turned down this offer due to a mismatch of his terms and conditions with the Bangladeshi cricket board.
7. Garth Le Roux
Born on September 04, 1955, in Kenilworth, Cape Town, in Cape Province, Garth Stirling Le Roux is another South African player who was banned from test cricket due to its isolation effect. He was a right-arm fast bowler and a lower order powerful hitting batsman who aggressively could turn over the game situation in his own favour.
As a first-class cricketer, he has been superb in both batting and bowling, playing 239 matches and making over 5425 runs with an average of 25.71, including 26 half-centuries. With the ball, he has blown over the wickets 838 times with an economy rate of 2.70 and an average of 21.24. He has played cricket games with the legendary Imran Khan at Sussex during the mid-20s. He was sentenced to 4 years duration due to his involvement in tax fraud.
Also, see: Top 50 T20 International players of all time
8. Ken Mcewan
Ken Mcewan is a South African national who has earned the English team great favours just at the young age of 17 years, including getting them (Essex) titles with three championships of Sunday leagues, the Benson and Hedges Cup and at last for the Natwest Trophy. He further also has some contributions to the home team South Africa.
Ken was a right-handed wicket-keeper batsman who has played 428 games in first-class cricket and scored a total of 26628 runs with an average of 41.73, where he also made a record of making the most first-class centuries (74) except for test cricket than any other batsman on this list. He turned out to be a rise for the Essex squad.
9. John Langridge
An English cricketer, John George Langridge was a right-handed batsman who, at the age of 89 years, passed away on June 27, 1999, in Eastbourne, Sussex. He was the best batsman and cricketer known during the 20th century, but due to his unluckiness, he was always been out of the playing squad despite his marvellous skills.
Being second on this list to make a record for most centuries in first-class cricket, John has played 574 matches and made up 34378 runs with an average of 37.44, with his best score being 250 not out. Without playing for his own country, he has made over 76 centuries, but after he retired from cricket, he took over the role of an umpire and got attention there too.
10. Alan Jones
Born on November 04, 1938, in Velindre, Glamorgan, Wales, Alan Jones is a former player of the England cricket team. Playing the central role of being a left-handed batsman for the Glamorgan’s, serving them for 20 years, he is yet another one on this list who did not play test cricket.
Scoring 1000 runs in a single season, Alan Jones has made a record of being the country’s rare player to overcome this. He has made 36049 runs in first-class cricket for Australia and South Africa in 645 matches with a high score of 204* and an average of 32.89. It, thus, instead, seems unfair to not deliver him a test series cap.
11. Steve Tikolo
Mentioning Steve Tikolo, who is a former Kenyan cricketer and a captain on this list, seems inequitable as he is from a test-playing nation that they should have given him a chance to showcase his captaining and all-rounding skills in this longest format. Still, he did not get his test cap which leaves his test status empty.
Steve has played many ODIs and T20 International cricket with exceptional performance with his batting and bowling average being 29.05 and 34.02 in ODI,s respectively. He has gathered 3428 runs and 98 wickets in this format and took his team into the World Cup semi-finals in 2003 which made a massive difference for the playing eleven as the best all-rounder.
12. Michael Di Venuto
Michael Di Venuto is a former first-class cricketer and a coach who has played for both Australia and Italy, and more cricket of it was for the Tasmanian Tigers in FC cricket life. He has played only a handful of ODI cricket as an opening batsman and is known among the hugely talented cricketers who never played test cricket.
Di Venuto was a dreadful batsman who contributed 25200 runs at an average of 45.90, including double centuries in his career during the early days. As a left-handed batsman, he was very impressed with his own style. He ended his cricket life and career after playing a T20 game for Italy and becoming an Australian coach in 2013.
13. Jamie Cox
Another Australian national on this list who not only did not get a chance to play test games but also could not represent his own country in cricket matches. As a right-handed batsman, he has played 264 games in first-class cricket and scored 18614 runs, with 250 as the high score with an average of 42.69.
He was very successful with his respectable average and a particular order batsman who nearly qualified to play tests- the longest format in cricket but still could not get his test cap and was left out. Before completely retiring from cricket, he had been making selections for the Australian team and was also engaged in commentating in the box.
14. Glen Chapple
Born on January 23, 1974, in Skipton, Yorkshire, Glen Chapple is a former cricketer and a coach of the England cricket team who has played for the home team in ODI cricket in just 1 match and Lancashire for many years (20) as a right-arm medium-fast bowler and a right-handed batsman.
In first-class cricket, Glen Chapple has played 315 matches and made 8725 runs with a batting average of 24.16, including 37 fifties and six centuries. With the ball, he managed to cover up 985 wickets with the best figure of 7/53 and an economy rate of 2.89, but sadly he did not receive much recognition from the teams he played for.
Also, read: Top 25 highest wicket-takers in world t20s
15. Emrys Davies
Emrys Davies was a very popular cricketer of the Glamorgan team who was born on June 27, 1904, in Sandy, Wales and died at the age of 71 years on November 10, 1975, in Wales. As an all-rounder, he showcased his skills both in batting and bowling in an exceptional style. His batting career stats reveal his presence in 621 first-class games making 26564 runs.
Davies’s batting average is 27.90, while on the other hand, his bowling average is 29.30 with 903 wickets and best figures of 6/24 in the bowling unit. He was one of the greatest batsman representing this big stage but could not be a test player.
16. Vince Van Der Bijl
One of the greatest bowlers known in South Africa, Vince Van Der Bijl, is a fast-medium bowler who never played test cricket in his career. As a retired first-class cricketer of West Province and South Africa, he has played 156 matches and made over 2269 runs with a batting average of 16.20.
In his bowling statistics, he has taken nearly 767 wickets with a bowling average of 16.54 with 46 five-wicket hauls. He has made many records, including most wickets for the Natal team, most wickets in a single season, and the last most wickets in one-day matches. After his retirement, he became the headmaster of the Diocesan College Preparatory School.
17. Amol Muzumdar
Born on November 11, 1974, in Bombay, Maharashtra, Amol Muzumdar is a former domestic cricketer of India who has played for Mumbai and Assam as a right-handed batsman. He has played 171 first-class games and made a total of 11167 runs at a good average of 48.13.
He has made a record of making the most no. of runs in the Ranji Trophy, India’s domestic FC competition, leaving behind the record made by Amarjit Kaypee. He was very unlucky as he did not receive a single offer to play on the International side or in test cricket.
18. Padmaker Sivalkar
Padmaker Sivalkar is a former Indian FC cricketer who has played for the Bombay domestic team for nearly 20 years as a great left-arm spinner. He has played a total of 124 matches and has taken 589 wickets with the best figure of 8/16, an average rate of 19.69 and at the last economy, the rate being 2.04.
He was undoubtedly one of the best players in this format, but his career overlapped due to the legendary Bishan Bedi, which also affected his joining in the test match.
19. Peter Sainsbury
Peter James Sainsbury was born on June 13, 1934, in Chandlers Ford, in Hampshire and was a former first-class cricketer who had played for Hampshire during the years 1954-1976 and then for the Marylebone Cricket Club from 1955- 1960. He was another successful left-arm spinner who, in total, served for 22 years in FC cricket.
As an all-rounder, he has played a total of 618 games in which he made 20176 runs with a batting average of 26.86, including seven hundred and 97 fifties. With the ball, he was also outstanding, taking 1316 wickets with an economy rate of 2.12 and an average of 24.14. If he had a chance to open up his test career, he would just be stunning.
20. Jack Newman
Aged 94 years old, Jack Alfred Newman died in Nelson on September 23, 1996. He was a former Fc player of the New Zealand cricket team and played for Hampshire domestically. As an all-rounder, he batted right-handedly and held the ball in a left-arm medium-pace style.
He has been exceptional with both bat and ball, making 15364 runs in 541 matches with an average rate of 21.57 and a high score of 166*. His bowling statistics reveal that Jack has taken over 2054 wickets which is a huge no. in those innings with the best figure of 9/131 and economy rate of 3.00.
21. Bart King
A player from the late 19th and early 20th century, Bart King was a professional American cricketer who played for team Philadelphia during the World war I breakout. He played both the roles of a batsman and a bowler startlingly in 65 matches, making 2134 runs with a high score of 113* and batting average of 20.51.
With the ball as the greatest bowler, Bart took 415 wickets with best figures of 10/53 and an average of 15.66. He had an excellent talent for swinging the ball producing variations and taking wickets accordingly. No doubt, he was America’s incredible talent.
22. David Hussey
David Hussey is an Australian cricket coach and a former player. He has represented the home team in ODIs, T20 Internationals, a limited-overs cricket game, and domestic competitions. In his cricket career as an all-rounder, he has shown staggering performance in all the played formats except tests as he, despite his efforts, received appreciation very late.
After scoring 14280 no. of runs in first-class cricket in 192 matches with an average rate of 52.50, David became the time’s most remarkable player who seemed very talented and had full potential. He has also played Big Bash League (BBL) for a well-known franchise.
23. Thomas Wass
Born on December 26, 1873, Sutton-in-Ash field, in Nottinghamshire, Thomas Wass was a right-handed batsman and a right-arm fast-medium, leg-break bowler from England who played for Nottinghamshire and won them the memorable Country Championship in 1907.
He is known to be the highest wicket-taker for the team, with 1666 wickets in 312 matches with an economy of 2.86. He has also scored 2138 runs in those innings. He was a great player but didn’t get a chance to play test cricket for long periods and died at the age of 79 on October 27, 1953.
24. Charles Kortright
Charles Jesse Kortright was the fastest bowler known for an extended period of time. This English cricketer had played for Essex and Free Foresters, and in 1953, he had been regarded as the fastest bowler in the history of cricket due to his overthrow, which caused six bye runs.
He had played 170 F-class games and had taken over 489 wickets with an economy rate of 3.38 and an average of 21.05. Another bowler who had not played tests, but if this rapid fast one would have got a chance into it, he would surely not have disappointed.
25. Don Shepherd
Another England cricketer who had not played test cricket, Don Shepherd, was a player from the Welsh who played for Glamorgan. He was a perplexing bowler who had taken 2218 wickets in 668 matches with a bowling average of 21.32 and an economy rate of 2.14.
With the bat in a right-handed batting style, he scored 5696 runs in the mentioned innings and is known to have a bewildering batting style. He died at the age of 90 on the 18th of August, 2017.
