Published: Aug 21, 2015, 07:12 PM (IST)
Edited: Aug 21, 2015, 07:12 PM (IST)
Chris Tremlett retired from all forms of cricket on Friday, bringing curtains to a career marred with injuries that probably restricted him from achieving his full potential. Tremlett was an excellent player for Hampshire and Surrey over years. England often used him as a third bowler, like what Mark Wood of the current side and Tim Bresnan a few years back. Pramod Ananth looks back at Tremlett’s career.
Tremlett made his debut against India at Lord’s in 2007 as a foil to Ryan Sidebottom and James Anderson. He was particularly impressive in the second innings, picking up three wickets, but India just about managed to force a draw. That kick-started his career, and he grew from strength to strength. He was a bowler who never had great pace but bowled in areas batsmen found it hard to get easy run off. His debut series was successful despite England losing the Pataudi Trophy, but England knew they had found a bowler who they can rely on when they needed to keep things tight. READ: Chris Tremlett announces retirement from all forms of cricket
Tremlett’s big break came in Ashes 2010-11, when he replaced Stuart Broad for three Tests and picked up 17 wickets, finishing just behind Anderson who picked up 24 wickets from five.
Shane Warne once said that Tremlett was the No.1 bowler in nets, but he doubted Tremlett’s abilities to perform on the big stage considering his injury concerns. The big fast bowler has gone under the knife eight times, which probably restricted his chances of turning into a successful bowler in the long run. He could have probably challenged Anderson and Broad as lead seamer if he could have maintained fitness. But the career never blossomed, and faded away much sooner than he or England expected.
Tremlett did not get a lot of overseas exposure barring The Ashes and against Pakistan in UAE. It seemed like his career had come to a full circle as his final Test was an Ashes Test as well, in 2013-14 at The Gabba. England went on to lose the series 0-5 and are a completely a different team than was tit was back then.
Chris Tremlett’s record in Tests:
| M | W | BBI | BBM | Ave | Econ | SR | 5W |
| 12 | 53 | 6 for 48 | 8 for 150 | 27 | 2.95 | 54.7 | 2 |
He never got going in One-Day Internationals (ODI), picking up 15 wickets in as many matches, playing mostly as a back-up option. He had made his intentions clear of making a comeback during Ashes 2015. Being an integral part of Hampshire in the early stages, he finished his career at Surrey.
Chris Tremlett is ODIs :
| M | W | BBI | Ave | Econ | SR |
| 15 | 15 | 4 for 32 | 47 | 5.39 | 52.2 |
Tremlett is a sort of bowler any team would want in their side. Sadly for him injuries played spoilsport and cut short a blossoming career. England could have been a dominant force had Tremlett managed to keep himself fit, but unfortunately for him and England, it turned out differently.
Trivia:
Maurice and Chris Tremlett were one of the few grandfather-grandson pairs to play Test cricket. The others were Jahangir and Bazid Khan, George and Dean Headley, Denis and Nick Compton, and Vic Richardson and Ian, Greg and Trevor Chappell.
(Pramod Ananth is a reporter at CricketCountry. He has represented Karnataka table tennis under-15, and is a hardcore supporter of Liverpool FC. His Twitter handle is @pramz)
