West Indies fast bowler Kemar Roach’s ten-wicket haul in last week’s Port-of-Spain Test against Australia is the catalyst behind this examination of the tallest quicks in test cricket history.
He became the first West Indian since Curtly Ambrose to capture 10 wickets in a Test against Australia.
That was in the Adelaide Test of January 1993, when the lethal six-foot-seven Ambrose was at his unplayable best, as he took 6 for 74 and 4 for 46 as the touring West Indians won a thriller by one run on Australia Day.
Will Roach trouble Michael Clarke’s men again in the final Test starting tonight (Australian time) at Roseau, Dominica?
As we await the climax of this engrossing slow-motion series, let me switch from cricket statistics to vital statistics.
Is Ambrose at 6’7” the tallest cricketer ever? Not by a long shot. Not even the tallest West Indian.
Joel Garner, another super quickie, stood at six foot nine and a half in his spiked shoes as he delivered deadly chin music, some of it going over batsmen’s heads.
It was interesting discussing this tall topic with Australia’s former batsman and medium pacer (now TV commentator) Tom Moody and The Roar’s Bayman at the SCG during a one-dayer this February. Moody is six foot seven and a half in his socks.
According to him, Garner is the tallest Test cricketer. “Greigy [Tony Greig] was six foot seven but seems to be shrinking,” he said tongue-in-cheek.
Steven Finn, the current England fast bowler, could be six foot nine (CricInfo gives his height at six-seven).
But the tallest first-class cricketer, mused Moody, is Will RI Jefferson who played for Essex at “a shade over six-ten”.
An article in The Cricketer magazine by HC Scales in June 2004 states that Surrey’s Anthony ATC Allom, the son of the legendary MJC Allom, is six foot nine and a half inches tall.
I did further research. New South Wales fast bowler Phil Alley, nicknamed ‘Barge-arse’, stood six-eight and a half above ground level, while South Africa’s Vincent van der Bijl and Kent’s John Graham were bit shorter at six foot eight.
Warwickshire’s opening bowler Paul Dunkels is six-nine. For an interesting figure curiosity, Dunkels scored three runs at an average of 3.00 and took three wickets in three first-class matches. On retirement he became a QC. Another quickie from Warwickshire, CG Ford, was six-seven.
Among Test players, Australia’s beanpole fast bowler Bruce Reid and England’s quickie David Larter touched the tape at six-six and a half. Chris Fitzgerald, Balmain’s left-arm fast bowler of the 1970s, weighed 267 pounds, stood six foot six and a half above the turf and was nicknamed Moose.
Another burly character was the mighty hitter George Bonnor, who played 17 Tests for Australia in the 1880s. Nicknamed ‘the Colonial Hercules’, he weighed 225 pounds and was six foot six tall. Curiously, he had two taller brothers, and George was called Shorty in his home town Bathurst.
Australia’s Glenn McGrath, Josh Hazelwood, Nathan Bracken and Michael Kasprowicz just touch six-six.
Other Australian quickies Craig McDermott and teenager Pat Cummins are six foot five inches tall, with India’s quickie Ishant Sharma at six-four. But they do not qualify for the tall list as they do not meet my six foot six minimum.
The research is far from complete. Roarers are requested to add to my tall poppy list and make corrections where necessary. This may keep you awake when watching the final Test in the West Indies on TV from midnight to 8 am, especially when it rains!
Also all the six-foot-six giants are quick bowlers. Who is, or was, the tallest spinner?
This story has been narrated before but here it for those who have not heard it. Watching Tony Greig and India’s Sunil Gavaskar,who stood at five foot five, bat together for the World XI against New South Wales at the SCG in November 1971, an elderly woman whispered, “I wonder how they communicate with each other?”
Sitting next to her was ABC commentator Norman May, who quipped, “They do it in Morse code; Gavaskar is a dot and Greig’s a dash.”
It could have been dot com in today’s lingo!
Kingsley Alley
Guest
Hi Kersi: Fact check: My son, Phil Alley is, in fact, 209cm which is 6’10 1/2” and is the tallest Australian First Class cricketer. Cheers..... (This is also recorded in Marc Dawson’s statistical book.)
MichaelJ.
Guest
Alley was 6 feet 11, I thought. Cook, who played for Victoria, was 6 feet 10.
Vilander
Guest
Ishant Sharma is 6' 51/2 " , Pankaj Singh is 6'6" , Manpreet Gony is 6'5" , erstwhile indian bowlers Tinu Yohanan 6'6" Abhay kuruvilla 6'6" Venkatesh prasad was 6'4" Tallest Indian spinner was Nilesh Kulkarni 6'5" M Morkel is same height at Ishant a tad under 6'6". Finn is definitly 6'7" same height as Chris Tremlet. Pak pacer Irfan is around 6'8" looks like having a couple of inches on Ishant in pics.
Kersi Meher-Homji
Guest
Thank you all for your valuable additions. Cricketinfo gives Mohammad Irfan's height at 7 foot one inch. Jason, that is 216 cms. To convert the British measurement into metric (cms), multiply the inches (for Irfan it is 85 inches) by 2.54. Joel Garner at 6 feet 9.5 inches (81.5 inches) is 207cms tall. As a cricketing philosopher once said, "You can bowl line and length, and be lenghthy too!" Well, not bad for a made-up quote on a Tuesday morning!
Bayman
Guest
Kersi, On the spinners. I seem to recall that Tony Greig once took ten for the match (or was it 13?) bowling offies against the Windies - and I think it was on their turf. Roger Harper was the tallest "regular" spinner that I can remember. Pope Paul mentioned Alf Valentine. I remember meeting him when I was about ten years old but I don't recall him being super tall. Certainly he was taller than Sonny Ramadhin but my memory of Valentine was about 5' 11" or 6 foot.
Swampy
Guest
Peter Clough was pretty lengthy. -- Comment left via The Roar's iPhone app. Download The Roar's iPhone App in the App Store here.
sheek
Guest
Kersi, Pat Symcox wasn't that tall - about 6' 2, give or take an inch. BTW, the giant Natal fast bowler Vintcent van der Bijl, who would most definitely have played test cricket but for sporting isolation, was about 6' 8.
AndyMack
Guest
Good article KM-H. Think the guy who used his height the best was Joel Garner. I grew up watching him bowl, dont think he bowled a half volley in his life. Always just short of a length and with his bounce, was impossible to drive. His economy rate in ODI's was amazing. Ah good memories!!!!
Johnno
Guest
Big Bird. And John Snow was a big lad.
Mighty Horua
Guest
What about Mitchell Starc?
jameswm
Guest
I thought Phil Alley was about 6 foot 10 - 1st class only, not tests.
The Barry
Roar Guru
I've thought for a while that wherever possible a test lineup should contain a bowler > 6'5". This is a more important differentiator than left arm v right arm, in swing v leg cutter. Guys like Garner, Ambrose and McGrath were the bowlers they were not because they were express pace or moved the ball yards off the pitch or could swing it both ways but because they operated in the length of uncertainty. They can land a delivery that a batsman would normally come forward to but from them it's up around the shoulder of the bat and encourages late adjsutment from the batsman. Once a batsman is unsure whether to go forward or back it's only a matter of time.
Jason
Guest
For those of us born in the 70s or later, what are all these numbers in centimetres...
Pope Paul VII
Guest
Tremlett 6'7" Kemar is in that lethal club of fired up normal folk at around 5'8". Larwood was 5'9", Marshall 5'10". Eddie Gilbert reputed to be 5'5". On Tall spinners Roge Harper was about 6'7" wasn't he?. Alf Valentine was another tally but no idea how tall.
Luke Boncompagni
Roar Rookie
Former WA quick Brett Dorey is listed at 2.03m or 6 feet 8 inches in the old money is up there. He played a few ODIs for Australia in early 2006 without much success - I think Aussie cricket fans were a bit dissapointed when he didn't bowl at 145 km/h plus with his height instead it was more about using his height to create bounce as well.
Kersi Meher-Homji
Guest
gormon, At 6 ft 7 in, West Indian Sulieman Benn is perhaps the tallest spinner ever? I have not been able to find out South African Pat Symcox's height.
Rhys
Guest
England's Steve Finn would probably be the tallest going around at the moment, or maybe Morne Morkel for South Africa.
Kersi Meher-Homji
Guest
Thanks, gormon Kinchley, to nudge my memory about the tall Pakistani bowler. Pakistan’s 28 year-old new left-arm fast bowler Mohammad Irfan stands at 6’9” (6 feet, 9 inches)! Like age, dimensions are not Pakistanis’ strong points. Some measure him at 6’8”, others at 6’10’ while some stretch our credibility limit and proclaim he is 6'11". Selected for Pakistan’s team in Asia Cup in Sri Lanka a few years ago, he requested the authorities in Sri Lanka to arrange for a special large-sized bed for him. "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.
gormon Kinchley
Guest
Suliman Benn is pretty tall for a spinner, as was Pat Symcox. Also, wasn't there a Pakistani bowler listed at 6'11 in the last few years? I forget his name.