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Home › Teams › England › Players › Derek Randall

Derek Randall

Full Name
Derek William Randall
Born
24-02-1951 Retford, Nottinghamshire, England
Current Age
70 years old
Major Teams
England
Batting Style
Right-hand bat
Bowling Style
Right-arm medium
Derek Randall

Photos: Derek Randall

  • Happy Birthday, Derek Randall!

    Happy Birthday, Derek Randall!

Derek Randall Biography

The word that characterises Derek Randall is ‘sparkling’. His career progressed like a sequence of brilliantly formed colourful bubbles, a large number of which perhaps remained short-lived, but none of which ever failed to delight.

How do we accurately describe him?

With those incredible cartwheels executed to perfection between deliveries as he stood at cover? Those impish moments of mimicry when the severe authority of the Indian policeman patrolling the boundary finished helpless against the titters of laughter — with the madman from Retford carelessly looking away when the officer turned suspiciously towards him?

Or do we recall the magical innings during the Centenary Test at Melbourne? In front of the hundreds of past Ashes greats and in the presence of the Queen — when he scored 174 in defiance of the supreme Australian bowlers, was struck on the head by a Dennis Lillee bouncer but continued to bat, and doffed his hat when Lillee bounced again?

What about the handspring at Headingley? His way of celebrating the Ashes win of 1977. Standing in the covers, loose-limbed, with a low centre of gravity, blessed with incredible anticipation and penchant for hurling himself around, he was talked of in the same breath as Colin Bland and Neil Harvey. And when the side triumphed, he was prone to celebrate in a way that added an extra item to the day’s entertainment.

Perhaps the career of Randall can be summarised with a description of his feats at Melbourne in January 1979. In the first innings, Randall had perished to a hook essayed off the second ball. England, facing a deficit of 142 runs, started the second innings disastrously. Geoff Boycott fell first ball. David Gower, Bob Willis and Ian Botham were variously ill or injured. And Randall picked up his 2 lb 7 oz bat with its extra layer of rubber on the handle, murmuring, “come on, Rags, England needs you.” He stayed at the wicket for the little short of 10 hours, continuously chattering to himself. “Wake up, Rags, concentrate. Get stuck in. You idiot, Rags. Concentrate, Rags, come on, come on. Come on England.” He batted with a technique of his own, underlined by his famed shuffle, sometimes moving across to hide all three stumps. He hardly played two balls the same way. And he made 150, prevailing over the Australian bowlers and the Sydney temperatures of 105 degrees.

He was mostly a buoyant character on the cricket ground, but when the situation demanded he could sometimes turn hard as nails — nails that were chiselled and crafted with exquisite artistry. Unfortunately, that did not happen too often, but when it did, even the stiffest upper lips would spread into delighted smiles.

Of a slight build, and just about five feet eight inches, Randall prowled in size 11 boots. He was named Arkle after the famous racehorse. He was by far the most gifted athlete among cricketers of his era. He often lost his way while out on a training run before the cricket season, but nevertheless always managed to arrive back before anyone else.

His batting was not copybook, the shuffle a bit too pronounced, the movement at the crease almost distracting. He nibbled a bit too much at the balls outside the off-stump. A nervous starter, he often looked as if he was uncomfortable holding the bat. However, when the ball started hitting the sweet spot, he was one of the most rewarding sights at the crease. He also had the ability to often hit unbelievable shots off deliveries that other batsmen would have be content to defend or leave alone.

Prowling at cover all his life, Randall was known to save at least 20 runs a day with his interceptions. He was seen galloping in as the bowler approached the crease. His long limbs and large hands ensured quick and safe pick-ups and the expertly honed throw rattled the stumps with unerring accuracy.

Arunabha Sengupta

Derek Randall Batting & Fielding Averages

Career M In R NO HS Avg BF SR 100s 50s 4s 6s Ct St
Test 47 79 2470 5 174 33.37 5594 44.15 7 12 256 5 31 0
ODIs 49 45 1067 5 88 26.67 1702 62.69 0 5 82 7 25 0
T20s 0 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
World Cup 5 5 64 1 42* 16.00 91 70.32 0 0 2 1 1 0

Derek Randall Bowling Averages

Career M B R W Avg EC SR 5WI 10WM BBI BBM
Test 47 12 3 0 -- 1.500 -- 0 0 0/1 0/1
ODIs 49 2 2 1 2.000 6.000 2.000 0 0 1/2 1/2
T20s 0 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
World Cup 5 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 1/2

Derek Randall Career statistics

Test Debut

India v England at Eden Gardens, Kolkata, January 1, 1977

Last Test

England v West Indies at Edgbaston, Birmingham, June 14, 1984

ODI Debut

England v West Indies at Lord's Cricket Ground, St John's Wood, August 28, 1976

Last ODI

Australia v England at Sharjah Cricket Association Stadium, Sharjah, March 24, 1985

Features ON Derek Randall

    Ross Taylor’s NZ $181 KFC gift voucher and other per-piece rewards

    Closer to home in time and space, the Town Club management lured Mohammed Shami with an offer that few could say no to: he was rewarded ...

    Derek Randall: Shimmering brilliance with willow and electric fielding

    Derek Randall was attractive when he got going, and was one of the best ever fieldsmen produced by England. He also doffed his cap at ...

    Head and face injuries in cricket — Part 2 of 3

    Everyone is scared of injuries, and the list is too long to be dealt with.

    Centenary Test ends with the result exactly what it was in the first-ever Test match!

    March 17, 1977. The Centenary Test ended in a thrilling finale and a result out of fairy tales. Arunabha Sengupta looks back at the ...

    The return of the Malayali McEnroe!

    Sreesanth is one of the rare characters in modern cricket.

    More Features on Derek Randall


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