Dream Team: Cricketers who also dabbled with Rugby

A dream team of cricketers who have also played rugby at a decent level. Some have even represented their countries while the others have played it at club-level.

The Rugby World Cup is on at the moment and its fever is sweeping the world. The tournament has reached to the semi-final stage with New Zealand, South Africa, Australia and Argentina being the four semi-finalists. Interestingly, three out of those four teams are from cricket playing nations. India, a cricket-mad country, hasn’t stayed far behind in terms of following the game. But being Indians, we are bound to find some sort of connection between our favourite sport cricket and anything that comes our way. So how could rugby have been spared?Chinmay Jawalekar picks a dream team of cricketers who have also played rugby at a decent level. Some have even represented their countries while the others have played it at club-level.

The openers:

1.  Mark Taylor (Australia)

Former Australian opener Mark Taylor has been one of country’s greatest leaders. A 104 Test veteran, Taylor also had a tryst with rugby. His father Tony played First-Grade rugby in Newcastle. Mark too played the game for the combined universities team in the rugby league.

 

2.  Andrew Stoddart (England)

Andrew Stoddart was a county legend, who made his debut for England in 1888. He played 16 Tests overall and scored close to 1000 runs at an average of above 35. His First-Class record was all the more impressive, with over 16,000 runs and 278 wickets. An excellent rugby three-quarter, Stoddart made 10 appearances for the England rugby team. He holds a unique distinction of leading England’s both cricket and rugby teams.

One-down:

3.  Victor Trumper (Australia)

A great batsman under all conditions, Australian cricketer Victor Trumper had the ability to make big scores. He scored more than 3,000 runs for Australia at an average above 39 and is regarded as one of the greatest batsmen of all-times. He scored 42 hundreds in First-Class cricket with a highest score of 300 not out. An accomplished player of rugby as well, Trumper played for South Sydney in rugby union.

The middle-order:

4.  Albert Neilson ‘Monkey’ Hornby (Capt) (England)

‘Monkey’ Hornby is a Lancashire legend, who captained their team for around 20 years and played for them for a record period of 33 years featuring in 437 matches. He played three Tests for England but couldn’t do much in either of them. His First-Class career is the true picture of his class. He was equally good at rugby too and is one of the two players to lead England in both cricket and rugby besides Stoddart. Hornby is also the captain of this side.

5.  Peter Kirsten (South Africa)

World cricket missed out on a special talent when Peter Kirsten lost his prime to South Africa’s omission from international arena. By the time he made his debut, he was already 37 and well past his peak time in cricket. He ended up playing just 12 Tests, scoring 626 runs at an average just above 31. He, however, remains a First-Class cricket legend with his 22,635 runs at 44.46 from 327 games. He also played rugby for the Barbarians against the British Lions.

Lower middle-order:

6.  Reggie Spooner (WK) (England)

Reginald Herbert Spooner played cricket for England and Lancashire. He was a county giant with 237 First-Class matches under his belt. Spooner also tried his hands with rugby, when he played for Liverpool. Spooner would also have the additional responsibility of keeping wickets for this side.

7.  Martin Donnelly (New Zealand)

Martin Donnelly was a stylish left-handed batsman who played for New Zealand between 1937 and 1949. He was unfortunate to play in the era of World War II as he lost his prime to the war. In the limited opportunities that he got for New Zealand, he left an indelible impression on the game. His average after the seven Tests he played was a healthy 52.60. His First-Class average of 47.60 too is impressive and underlines his class. He also represents that rare breed of cricketers who played rugby. He played fly-half for the invincible Oxford rugby team and centre for England.

8.  Chris Cairns (New Zealand)

One of the finest all-rounders to ever play for New Zealand, Chris Cairns served his country for 15 long years. He played 62 Tests and 215 One-Day Internationals (ODIs) for New Zealand and scored more than 8,000 runs and took more than 400 wickets. Not only was he an all-rounder in cricket, Cairns also played rugby for the New Zealand Under-17 team.

Tail:

9.  Gilbert Jessop (England)

A genuine fast bowler, Gibert Jessop doesn’t qualify to be called as a tailender. As a matter of fact, with close to 27,000 runs and 53 hundreds in First-Class cricket, he was much more than an all-rounder. He boasts of a Test average of 21.88 and a First-Class average of 32.63. But he finds a place in this team more for his bowling than his batting. In a First-Class career spanning 20 years and close to 500 games, he picked up 873 wickets with his best effort in an innings being 8 for 29. Jessop also played rugby for Gloucester.

10.  Reggie Schwarz (South Africa)

Reggie Schwarz was capable of bowling both gentle medium pace and off-breaks. He played 20 Tests for South Africa between 1906 and 1912 and picked up 55 wickets. His wickets tally reads 398 wickets at the First-Class level. He was also a handy lower order batsman with a First-Class century to his credit. Before moving to South Africa, Schwarz played three times for England rugby team as a half-back

11.  Ted McDonald (Australia)

Ted McDonald was a lethal fast bowler who played cricket majorly for Australia, Tasmania, Victoria and Lancashire. He picked up 1,395 wickets in 281 First-Class matches between 1909 and 1931. McDonald played for Victoria at both Rugby and Association football.

12th man – Allan Donald (South Africa)

South African speedster Allan Donald is the 12th man of this side. Donald, known as ‘white lightning’ for his fearsome pace bowling, played 72 Tests and 164 ODIs for South Africa and picked up over 600 international wickets. As a youngster, Donald was in two minds on whether to pursue cricket or rugby. Rugby, the No. 1 sport in South Africa, was difficult to resist for him. He used to play fly-half and full-back at club-level and then even played in the army team. But he soon realised cricket was his calling and he switched to the game to become one of its legends.

(A self-confessed cricket freak, Chinmay Jawalekar is a senior writer with Criclife and CricketCountry. When not writing or following cricket, he loves to read, eat and sleep. He can be followed here @CricfreakTweets)

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