you are right. The marvelous A.C Gilchrist is right handed in everything else except batting. Even plays golf right handed.

Also being a research scientist (now retired) helps. A Virologist, I have done research on polio, small-pox, HIV and hepatitis viruses in Mumbai and Sydney.

So in a way I am an ambi (ambivalent) too, a Virologist and a cricket writer / statistician. Wish I was a good cricketer! I tried.

I learnt to write left-handed and after breaking my arm while I was still learning I changed to write right-handed and I do so quite well.

I consider myself a right-hander, I bowl and throw right handed but can bat with either hand, a particularly useful skill in baseball I found as once you start playing at a higher level and coaching begins to take over from individual talent this is something they love having at their disposal.

I can kick a footy (footy should only ever be used for AFL btw, it’s the only code where you score with your feet) with both feet quite well but a football (now we’re talking soccer if that wasn’t clear) only right-footed.

Further I shoot left handed, play golf-right handed but putt left-handed and write text messages with my left hand.

Sheek,
I remember reading in a book that Graeme Pollock’s mother would teach little boy Graeme how to hold the bat right-handed. But before she would go back to the bowling crease, Graeme would revert back to his left-handed stance.

What a pity, his country’s apartheid policy robbed Graeme Pollock of breaking all Test records. He was a marvellous batsman. I saw him score a magnificent century on TV in the Adelaide International for World XI against Australia in early 1972.

He bowled right-arm, wrote with his right hand, played golf right handed, etc.

Spare a though for Rafael Nadal – he is naturally right handed in everything (including tennis) but his uncle forced him to play left handed to develop his forehand. He now plays left handed professionally.

Freud, I’ll start researching on your idea of Double internationals. Test cricketers who represented their countries in other sports, viz. Brian Booth represented Australia in the 1956 Olympic hockey.

Watch this space next week for Dual internationals.

This a great piece by the way, thoroughly enjoyable read…

If you’re starting a list of ambidextrous Roarers, then you can stick “B.McKay” at the top of your list. Like Mark Taylor, I am right-handed for everything in life expect batting, putting on the golf course, and swinging an axe. I can only put my left-handed batting down to possibly having my left-handed uncle standing behind me holding the bat when I was first learning the game.

Funnily enough, a long term club team-mate of mine, who has done a lot of junior rep coaching is actually of the opinion that I’m going about it the right way, and that naturally right-handed people batting right-handed are wrong. His theory is that by being naturally right-handed batting left-handed, my dominant hand (my right) is the top hand in my grip, and therefore I “should” have more control than would someone whose dominant hand is their bottom hand. It’s a very sound theory, but I debunk the theory with a love of using the bottom hand. I’ve also fallen into the typical leftie trap of enjoying the sight of the ball disappearing over midwicket, and so perhaps my bottom hand is having a little too much say..

As for golf, well my first round as a 15yo comprised playing the front nine left handed, and the back nine right handed. The back nine was two shots better, so I play golf right handed. However, just to confuse people, I’ve stuck with putting left handed, because it’s very similar to my batting grip and stroke.

And for some reason, I swing an axe left-handed. I have no idea why…

Ian Harvey, former Australian all-rounder who possessed that wicked slower ball. He batted right handed and bowled his medium pacers right handed too but he is fully “ambie”.

I was at a game at the MCG and remember he had to chase a ball, the batsmen thought with the ball on his left side they’d get one on the arm and he picked it up and ripped it in with his left hand, all in one fluid motion affecting the runout from the boundary. Now THAT is ambidextrous, they didn’t call him “The Freak” for nothing.

And if you ever run out of ideas Kersi I have a request if I might. Most people know that Warne played AFL for St Kilda as a junior, the Waugh brothers were pretty handy footballers and from memory, Ponting plays his golf off a pretty impressive handicap but I’m sure you could find some more interesting talents away from the sport than that, I’d love to see what you could come up with.