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Nick Knight: 11 interesting facts about the English cricketer turned commentator
Knight was a live-wire on the field and has contributed massively with his athleticism.
27 November 2017 • 8:59 PM
Born November 28, 1969, Nick Verity Knight is a former English cricketer, a left-handed elegant batsman and a fantastic fielder. His batting was based on the sound technique and timing and was well capable to caress the ball. Knight was a live-wire on the field and has contributed massively with his athleticism. On his birthday, Suraj Choudhari lists down 11 lesser-known facts about the crafty English batsman.
1. Legendary name
Hedley Verity was a former English Test bowler who was killed during the World War II. He was a family relative of Knight. To honour him, Knight’s middle name was given as Verity.
2. Retired after World Cup
Knight called it a day from international cricket right after the 2003 World Cup. This turned out to be his first and the last tournament as he wasn’t selected for the 1999 World Cup.
3. Century in ODIs
Knight featured in exactly 100 One-Day Internationals (ODIs) for England after making his debut against Pakistan in July 1995 at Manchester. His last game was against Australia which was also the 37th game of the 2003 World Cup.
4. Daily Telegraph award
Knight won the Daily Telegraph Young Cricketer of the Year award for his prolific run in 1989.
5. Led Warwickshire
Knight started his domestic career with Essex in the English County League. Later moved on to Warwickshire where he was the leader of the pack from 2003 to 2005.
6. Not a Test material
Knight was the Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde of English cricket team. In ODIs, his confidence was unmatched as he took on the field restrictions and cleared the boundaries at will. But as soon as he donned the whites, his confidence and skills went for a toss. This was the only reason behind his handful of appearances in Test cricket.
7. Terrific batting against Pakistan
In his second and third ODI outing of the Texaco Trophy against Pakistan in 1996, Knight slammed two back-to-back centuries against a bowling attack which included Waqar Younis and Wasim Akram.
8. At the receiving end
Knight faced the fastest delivery in the history of ODI cricket from none other than Shoaib Akhtar during a World Cup match between England and Pakistan at Cape Town in 2003. Akhtar steamed in and bowled at an intimidating speed of 100.23mph.
9. Commentator
Like many other cricketers, Knight too remained intact with the cricket fraternity through cricket commentary. He is a pundit and a commentator at Sky Sports.
10. Banter with Kevin Pietersen
Knight once suggested to drop Pietersen from the One-Day side and on the former’s inclusion in the Sky Sports commentary team, Pietersen tweeted saying, “Can somebody PLEASE tell me how Nick Knight has worked his way into the commentary box for Home Tests? RIDICULOUS!”.
11. Healthy records
Knight holds some outstanding records in ODIs and First-Class cricket. In 100 ODIs, he amassed 3,637 runs at an average of 40.41 with five centuries to his name. His First-Class average was further too impressive. In 240 First-Class games, he averaged 44.18 with a highest score of an unbeaten 303.
(Suraj Choudhari is a reporter with Criclife and CricketCountry. He is an avid follower of the game, and plays the sport at club level. He has a radical understanding about the subtle nuances and intricacies of cricket, and tries to express it through paper and pen.)