A Test XI of one-hit wonders

This XI celebrates that: here’s a side of players who perhaps didn’t have sparkling Test careers, but each did have that one match where everything they touched turned to gold.

We’ve avoided those who played just the one Test, focusing on those who were granted a few more opportunities to prove themselves.

Peter Fulton

Standing out because of his height, Two-Metre Peter found little success in his first few years as a New Zealand batsman, hitting just the one half-century in 10 Tests from 2006 to 2009. But a recall to the top of the order at the age of 34 against England in 2013 proved a masterstroke. He celebrated his comeback with a half-century at Dunedin, but it was in Auckland where Fulton pulled off the feat of hitting two centuries in the match, 136 followed by 110. Nevertheless, that was the summit for Fulton; he failed to reach three figures in his subsequent 10 Tests.

Yasir Hameed

Yasir Hameed played some impressive innings for Pakistan – he notably hit two half-centuries at Sydney against a McGrath-Warne era attack – but his two and only Test centuries arrived on debut in Karachi, with Bangladesh the side on the receiving end in a seven-wicket win for Pakistan.

David Lloyd

Now more well-known for his work behind the mic, Bumble could most certainly play too, amassing nine Test caps in 1974 and ’75. He passed fifty just once but made sure to go to a big one, finishing unbeaten on 214 in an innings win over India at Edgbaston.

Umar Akmal

Unfulfilled is the word that comes to mind when thinking of the talents of Umar Akmal, now 30 and serving a ban for failing to report corrupt approaches. As a 19-year-old, though, he had the world at his feet with a startling performance on Test debut against New Zealand at Dunedin. He began with a 160-ball 129 in his maiden innings, and in a fourth-innings chase that ultimately failed, he hit 75. While glimpses were shown in future innings, he never lived up to his promise, his last Test coming in 2011 at the age of 21.

Reginald ‘Tip’ Foster

Considered to be one of the great batsmen of his generation, Reginald ‘Tip’ Foster captained England in both football and cricket, and enjoyed a quite remarkable debut, hitting 287 at Sydney against Australia in 1903. He passed 50 just once more in his eight-Test career but his maiden innings remained the highest score in Test history till Andy Sandham became the first man to breach 300 over a quarter of a century later.

Karun Nair

At 28, Karun Nair still has some time on his side in returning to the Indian set-up, but currently it’s one score that stands out from the six matches he played in 2016 and 2017, an unbeaten 303 against England that takes up most of his run count at Test level. In just his third Test innings, Nair become only the second Indian to notch a Test triple hundred, driving forward a total of 759-7 as India rampaged home to an innings win. Nair has since only batted four times in Test cricket and a score of 26 against Australia remains his second-highest return.

Brendon Kuruppu (wk)

Taking the gloves in this side has to be Brendon Kuruppu who began his Test career with a painstakingly slow unbeaten 201 off 548 balls at the top of the order against New Zealand in 1987, but just three more Tests as a specialist batsman followed, with little to write home about.

Steve O’Keefe

The left-arm tweaker from New South Wales performed admirably across his nine Tests to finish with an impressive bowling average of 29.40, but there is one performance that O’Keefe will be remembered by and that is his 12-wicket haul against India in 2017. Taking figures of 6-35 in both innings, O’Keefe took centre stage ahead of Nathan Lyon in a stunning win at Pune, with Australia defying their woes in the subcontinent to earn victory by 333 runs.

Mohammad Zahid

Shoaib Akhtar has said that Zahid, another Pakistani pace product of the Nineties, was capable of bowling quicker than him, which just seems a terrifying prospect. But 16 international appearances proved the sum of Zahid’s career, though he did have a magnificent Test debut against New Zealand in 1996, with a first-innings four-for followed by figures of 7-66 as Pakistan went to an innings win without Wasim and Waqar.

Jasu Patel

An off-spinner, Patel’s finest Test display came at the age of 35 in 1959, as India recorded their first-ever Test win over Australia. Patel took 9-69 in the first innings before claiming five more in the second as history was made in Kanpur.

Bob Massie

There are impressive debuts, there are great debuts, and then there’s Bob Massie. Picked to play in an Ashes Test against England at Lord’s in 1972, the Western Australia quick took eight wickets in both innings to lead the way in a famous eight-wicket win. Massie would go on to play just five more Tests, adding 15 wickets. It’s the first 16 he’s most fondly remembered for.