Published: Dec 28, 2016, 08:55 PM (IST)
Edited: Dec 29, 2016, 09:50 PM (IST)
The ongoing first Test between South Africa and Sri Lanka witnessed a milestone in the history of Test cricket, one that perhaps went overlooked by most of the cricket fraternity. When Nuwan Pradeep rapped Hashim Amla on the pads and the finger went up, it came as a respite for Sri Lanka, but more importantly to statisticians, it was the 10,000th leg-before-wicket dismissal in the history of Test cricket. The opportunity was open during the ongoing Australia and Pakistan Boxing Day Test as well. However, Sri Lanka took the crown of achieving this feat, and Pradeep and Amla found a permanent place in the history book. The table below shows the number of dismissals of every kind in the history of Test cricket.
| Dismissed | 68,925 | |
| Caught | 40,460 | 58.7% |
| Bowled | 14,545 | 21.1% |
| LBW | 10,000 | 14.5% |
| Run out | 2,366 | 3.4% |
| Stumped | 1,389 | 2.0% |
| Hit wicket | 155 | 0.2% |
| Handled the ball | 7 | 0.0% |
| Retired out | 2 | 0.0% |
| Obstructing the field | 1 | 0.0% |
There were, of course, the ones that were not dismissed as well…
| Not dismissed | 10,312 | |
| Not out | 10,191 | 98.8% |
| Retired hurt/ill | 121 | 1.2% |
George Ulyett had become the first batsman to be given out LBW, back in the first Test ever, at Melbourne Cricket Ground in 1876-77. The bowler was Nat Thomson. Harry Jupp was given out LBW in the same innings, to Tom Garrett. In the Australian innings, Jack Blackham was trapped by Alfred Shaw; Jupp got out leg-before in his second innings of the match as well, to Bill Midwinter — a quizmaster’s favourite for his tendency to oscillate between Australia and England during the early days of Test cricket.
LIVE Cricket Scorecard, South Africa vs Sri Lanka, 1st Test at Port Elizabeth
For the curious, Doug Walters was the first batsman to be given out leg-before (off Bob Woolmer, at Old Trafford in 1972), while in 2005-06, Herschelle Gibbs became the first LBW victim in T20Is, to Jeetan Patel at New Wanderers.
