Biography

Dennis Amiss’ claim to fame could very well have been the fact that he scored the first ever century in ODIs, and also the first ever in World Cup cricket. However, it was not only his ODI centuries – incidentally he played in only 18 of them – but also his Test record that is worth the mention.

Amiss’ favourite scoring shots were the drives through covers and mid-wicket. Once he got set, Amiss was a very difficult batsman to dislodge, and as a proof, he has 11 Test fifties and 11 Test hundreds, an amazing conversion rate. In fact, seven of his 100s were scores above 150 and he also had two double centuries to boot. In ODIs, he continued this trend, scoring four 100s and only one fifty. However, a nervous starter against the Aussie team, he scored a miserable seven ducks in twenty one innings that he played against them, causing a lot of heart ache to his fans. This was also the reason behind him not playing more than the 50 Tests that he played in.

He played in his last Test in 1977, when he was removed to accommodate the great Geoff Boycott, and then was never picked again. He continued first class cricket till 1987 for his side Warwickshire before announcing his retirement.