Some measure him at 6’8”, others at 6’10’, while some stretch our credibility limit and proclaim he is 7’1”.
But he is tall, very tall.
Selected for Pakistan’s team in Asia Cup in Sri Lanka next month, he has requested the authorities in Sri Lanka to arrange for a special large-sized bed for him.
“I am being told that all arrangements would be in place. I also need special sized bats and pads to play”, Irfan told Indian journalist Bipin Dani from Gadaffi Stadium in Lahore, where he is attending the team camp.
“My father, Mohammad Aslam, a farmer, is 6’10” and my mother is 6’6″, but I am tallest among my five brothers and two sisters”, he added.
“He is a potential bowler and with passage of time he will be a utility bowler”, Intikhab Alam, the former coach said from Islamabad, where he was busy for his son’s wedding.
Before he was given a lucrative break in first-class cricket, Irfan contemplated giving up the game and was working for a plastic pipe company for a salary of Rs 8000 ($180) a month.
The previous tallest international cricketers have been West Indies fast bowler Joel Garner and Australian beanpole quickie Bruce Reid, both standing at 6’8” in their socks.
Garner took full advantage of his height while taking 259 wickets at 20.97 in 58 Tests, while Reid captured 113 wickets at 24.63 in 27.
Who were other tall cricketers?
A former Kent opening bowler, Norman Graham, stood at 6’8”. In his first-class debut in 1964, he took a wicket off his third delivery. Perhaps the batsman was looking up in awe rather than down the line!
Norm played for Kent for 14 seasons. He was at his best in 1967 and 1968, taking 104 wickets at 13.90. He was effective in one-day cricket and his real value can be gauged from his economy rate as much as his wickets.
His fourth one-day match was the 1967 Gillette final where he took 1 for 26 from 12 overs in Kent’s victory. He was a genuine No. 11 and is one of the rare breed who finished with more first-class wickets than runs.
His ground fielding was often entertainingly poor, but at 6’8″ that was understandable.
In the company of Garner, Reid, Graham and now Irfan, Tony Greig at 6’7”, Glenn McGrath over 6’5” and another Australian fast bowler Tony Dale at 6’5” would appear almost short!
If Irfan plays in the Asia Cup, the organisers may have to increase the height of the sightscreen. Garner and Reid had troubled the batsmen at the point of delivery with the ball coming from above the sight screen at many venues.
Roarers are requested to add to my list of tall (6’6” and above) first-class cricketers.
Brett McKay
Guest
Man who walk through airport turnstile sideways......
sheek
Guest
Ah Vinay/Kersi, I can add to Confucious' quotes (seriously!)..... Man run in front of car, he get TYRED... Man run behind car, he get EXHAUSTED... Thank you, thank you, thank you.....
Brendan
Guest
Adlam wasn't that tall boys, was 6ft 3 at best. Tattoo did play cricket for Tasmania in the 1990's as a wicketkeeper.
Vinay Verma
Roar Guru
Kersi,in the interests of levity Confucius says: If short man dance with tall woman he get bust in mouth.
sheek
Guest
Kersi, South African paceman Vincent van der Bijl comes to mind. Along with countryman Clive Rice, probably the best two cricketers never to play official tests. Van Der Bijl was about 6'7'' or 6'8" tall, & with the frame of a rugby lock. Unbelievably good bowler - the white Joel Garner!!!
sheek
Guest
Brett, You really are on fire today, & that's long & short of it..... arrgghhh..... !
Brett McKay
Guest
cheers Kersi, we've covered the ... wait for it ... highs and lows today!! Aaahh, I kill me...
Wylie
Guest
I'm pretty sure Brett Dorey was over 2 metres - useless but damn tall.
Wylie
Guest
Great player. I remember seeing him play for the Australian Indoor team several years after he had retired and he'd bulked up remarkably. Apparently he tried to put on weight while playing and couldn't. I guess it's a common scenario - retire and get fat.
Kersi Meher-Homji
Expert
Brett, Phil Alley is about 6'8" and according to NSW Cricket Association is the tallest cricketer in Australia. He was nicknamed "Barge Arse". Warwick Adlam was also very tall but his height is not mentioned anywhere.
Brett McKay
Guest
Vinay, I thought I was in charge of the dodgy puns today!! The actual answer, according to CricInfo, is that "Tibbly" Taibu is in fact 5'5"... (http://www.cricinfo.com/ci/content/player/55805.html)
Vinay Verma
Roar Guru
Brett,short answer is that Taibu is neither short nor tall.
Brett McKay
Guest
if I may return some seriousness (Sheek, Vinay!) how short/tall is Zimbabwean 'keeper Tatenda Taibu??
Vinay Verma
Roar Guru
sheek,we may as well include Snow White's Seven Dwarfs and the Hunchback of notre Dame! But talking of a tall man looking short it would have to be Gladstone "No NecK" Small.
sheek
Guest
Brett/Kersi/Vinay, Did Tattoo (from Fantasy Island) ever play cricket? If so, give him the gong for shortest cricketer..... ! Pardon my attempt at humour but the poor old actor who played Tattoo actually had a miserable life, eventually committing suicide. No disrespect meant at all. Great show though.....
Brett McKay
Guest
Kersi, if we're coming down from the heights, we certainly can't overlook (!) WI 'keeper David Williams, described on Wiki as "A diminutive man, at 5 foot 4..." (I'm here all week....)
Kersi Meher-Homji
Expert
Vinay, Ramakant Desai was 5'4" tall (short?!). According to Basil Easterbrook, Lancashire's Harry Pilling was the shortest first-class cricketer at 5'3". That means taller than the Indian trio of Sunil Gavaskar, GR Viswanath and Sachin Tendulkar, all nearly 5'5"! To quote Colin Shindler, "Harry Pilling [who played for Lancashire from 1962-80] is remembered because he was 5ft 3in tall, which does him a major injustice because he was a brave, underrated batsman who was desperately unlucky never to play for his country. He was the first man to reach 1,500 runs in the John Player League and at Lord's in 1970 his outstanding unbeaten innings of 70 against Sussex steadied all our nerves and brought Lancashire their first Gillette Cup. Although not a big driver of the ball, he was an expert at nudging and nurdling and was a model of consistency at No. 3. His partnerships with the 6ft 4½in Clive Lloyd gave much pleasure to those who appreciated the comic vision of their mid-wicket conversations, even if the TV cameras struggled to keep them both in the same frame." Ditto for Sunil Gavaskar and Tony Greig for the World XI against Australia in 1971-72. "One is a dot and the other a dash, and they communicate to each other by Morse code", joked commentator Norman May!
Vinay Verma
Roar Guru
Kersi,can't think of any tall ones but the shortest would have to be the pocket rocket Ramakant Desai.
sheek
Guest
Yeah, poor old Bruce Reid. Extraordinary talent in a fragile, stick body. He could've been one of the truly great fast bowlers, as good as if not better than McGrath, & I don't say that lightly. Apparently the constant air travel, especially around the Caribbean in smaller jet aircraft in 1991, stuffed his body some, giving him constant back complaints. If he had managed to remain injury free & fully fit, who knows what kind of stats he might have ended up with..... ?
Brett McKay
Guest
yeah, 6'8" I believe James.. Kersi, what about a couple of NSW quicks, Phil Alley and Warwick Adlam, both reaching similar heights from memory?? And, of course, we can't leave NZ bat "Two Metre Peter" Fulton out either...