On one leg

One of the greatest all-rounders of the first half of the 19th century, Alfred Mynn, was hit on the ankle by a ball during a pre-match practice at Leicester in 1836. He sat out the first day (South batted first), walked out on the second morning with a runner, made 21 not out, claimed two wickets after coming on to bowl. Then, in the second innings, he batted for five hours for 125 not out. When he removed his bandage, it became obvious that the leg, “grotesque from inflammation”, needed immediate treatment. All of six foot one and nearly 20 stone, Mynn had to be strapped to the roof of the stagecoach for the 100-mile journey on the primitive roads to get that treatment. He had to be operated upon immediately (amputation was considered for a while). The early leg-guards (we call them “pads” now) were already in use, but the Mynn incident made them popular.

Of course, Mynn batted with a runner, which at least enabled him to stay rooted to the crease while someone else did the work for him. It was not unusual of injured batters to play long innings as long as someone else ran for them. Since the runner was abolished in 2011, coming out to bat with one good leg has become more difficult.

Against Sri Lanka at Pallekele in 2016, Steve O’Keefe came out to bat after already been ruled out of the series with a hamstring injury. Since he could not run, neither could Peter Nevill, and 154 balls went by as both dead-batted Rangana Herath & co. A near-immobilised O’Keefe finally fell for a 98-ball four.

At Sydney in 2020/21, Hanuma Vihari pulled a hamstring early in his innings. Despite being unable to stretch forward for the most basic defensive stoke, he still managed to bat for more than three hours with R Ashwin, who was himself nursing a bad back, to save the Test match.

During the 2023 Ashes, Nathan Lyon – ruled out of the series with a hamstring injury – came out to bat on one leg at Lord’s. He helped Mitchell Starc add 15 for the last wicket.

Bowling with leg injuries is a sterner task, but during their famous win at Melbourne in 1980/81, three Indians rose to the challenge. Despite having his toe broken by Len Pascoe, Shivlal Yadav bowled 32 overs to take 2-100 in the first innings. Dilip Doshi came into the Test with a fractured foot as well, but he bowled 74 overs across innings to take five wickets. Having pulled a thigh muscle, Kapil Dev batted with a runner and, fortified by painkillers, finally took field on the fifth morning. He took 5-28 to bowl out Australia for 83.

With one hand

Perhaps the most astonishing batting display with one hand came from Lionel Tennyson at Headingley in the 1921 Ashes. A shot from Charles Macartney injured Tennyson’s left thumb and forefinger, and he needed three stitches. He picked up the lightest bat he could find, practised for a bit, and became the first known person to bat one-handed in Test cricket. Unlike his successors brave enough to emulate him, Tennyson dug in to make 63 and 36.

Malcolm Marshall had the benefit of television coverage, unlike Tennyson. At the same venue 63 years later, he came out at No.11 with an injured left hand. He swung his right hand, hit a boundary, and helped Larry Gomes reach his hundred. Also unlike Tennyson, he chose to bowl. The white plaster would distract the batters, they said, so he covered it with Elastoplast and took 7-53. 

After Winston Davis broke his left hand in the very next Test match, at Old Trafford, Paul Terry retired hurt – and did a Marshall by coming to bat with a plastered arm and helped Allan Lamb get to his hundred. Terry, however, lasted one ball.

At Faisalabad in 1986, Saleem Malik emerged to bat with a broken wrist. He first attempted a left-handed strike, realised it was no good, before switching stance to complete his innings right-handed. He helped Wasim Akram get to his fifty. The last wicket added 32, setting a base for Abdul Qadir to pull off a famous win.

At Sydney in 2008/09, a blow from Mitchell Johnson broke Graeme Smith’s knuckle in the first innings. Unable to dress himself, Smith waited in the fourth innings until he emerged – amidst a thundering applause – at No.11 with 50 balls left. He took it deep, but Johnson eventually produced a peach (“probably would have got me if I had both arms available”) to get him with 10 balls remaining.

At Cape Town in 2013/14, Morne Morkel rammed Michael Clarke’s right thumb against the bat and, five balls later, hit Clarke on the jaw. The next ball hit Clarke on the thumb again. The X-rays revealed that his jaw was fine, but his shoulder had been fractured: the ball had brushed there en route. Chris Rogers lent him an arm guard – Clarke rarely wore one – before the next day. Clarke braved the pain to make 161 not out. 

In the 2022/23 Ranji Trophy quarter-final against Madhya Pradesh, Andhra captain Vihari had his elbow fractured by a snorter from Avesh Khan. Batting one-handed, he played some spectacular shots to make 27 and 15. 

Of course, when England needed six in two balls with one wicket in hand, Colin Cowdrey did walk out to bat with a fracture in his left hand in the Lord’s Test of 1963 against the West Indies. However, David Allen played out both deliveries. 

Above the shoulder

At Ellis Park in 1953, Bert Sutcliffe “went out like a light” when Neil Adcock hit him on the head. There was no fracture in that “fist-sized lump”, but he passed out again when a doctor tried to poke at it. Once he regained consciousness, he fortified himself with “a generous helping of Scotland’s chief product,” dismissed captain Geoff Rabone’s words of caution, and hit 80 with seven sixes. While that innings is part of cricketing folklore, Lawrie Miller’s heroics are not as well-documented: after Adcock hit him on the chest, Miller coughed blood, retired with “rattled ribs” – and returned to bat. 

As with the other sections, there are numerous instances. At Dunedin in 1967/68, Dick Motz broke Ramakant Desai’s jaw with a bouncer, but Desai stayed put, making 32 not out and adding 57 for the last wicket to help India lead by nine runs and – eventually win their first Test match away from home.

Rick McCosker’s injury took place on a bigger stage, at the Centenary Test of 1976/77. After being hit by a Bob Willis bouncer, McCosker returned in the second innings with his jaw wired and face bandaged – resulting in one of cricket’s most iconic photographs. He made 28, helping Australia win by 45 runs.

At Bridgetown in 1982/83, Mohinder Amarnath missed a hook off Marshall, was hit on the face, lost a couple of teeth, and left the ground with a bloodied shirt. He returned later – some sources insist that he washed the shirt himself in the dressing room – and made 80. The hosts won by 10 wickets, but Amarnath was named Player of the Match.

At St John’s in 2002, Mervyn Dillon broke Anil Kumble’s jaw. Ruled out of the series, Kumble was determined to bowl before he left for home that evening. He bowled 14 overs with a bandaged jaw, and had the wicket of Brian Lara – clean bowled, too – to show for it.

Sore back

Two of the most famous innings in India cricket history were played with bad backs. At Chennai in 1998/99, Sachin Tendulkar made 136 against Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, and Saqlain Mushtaq – an innings sometimes regarded as the finest of his career. Like many other Tendulkar gems, this one went in vain as well.

VVS Laxman had a history of back problems. He was not fully fit when he took field for the Kolkata Test match of 2000/01, where he famously made 59 and 281 to stage an astonishing comeback. But the back was worse for the Mohali Test of 2010, where he emerged at 76-5 after Australia set India 216. They soon slipped to 124-8, but Laxman saw them through.

How did they even play cricket?

‘Buster’ Nupen, the first Norwegian to play Test cricket, had lost an eye at four. That did not stop him from taking 334 wickets, of which 50 came in 17 Test matches for South Africa between 1921 and 1936. More famously, ‘Tiger’ Pataudi, too, lost an eye in an accident but made 2,793 runs in 46 Test matches, leading India in 40 of them. Not as successful was Colin Milburn’s return to cricket after he lost an eye.

Len Hutton fractured his left forearm and dislocated his ulna during the Second World War. After several surgeries, his left arm was left two inches shorter than his right arm. He overcame that to become one of the greatest opening batters of all time (if not the greatest) and the first professional to lead England.

A bomb explosion during the Second World War left Athol Rowan of South Africa with a damaged knee, but he merely switched from medium pace to off-breaks. When the pain became unbearable, he bowled with his leg in an iron brace. He could never land his left foot properly again, but he continued, but he still played 15 Tests between 1947 and 1951 and got 54 wickets. He quit only when his knees could not handle the load of the long spells anymore.

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