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Next year will mark 40 years since the start of World Series Cricket, a two-year breakaway cricket competition run by Kerry Packer that featured most of the world’s best players at the time.
The cricket was arguably some of the fiercest ever played, with Supertests featuring Australia, the West Indies and a Rest of the World XI. However, because the Supertests weren’t sanctioned by the International Cricket Council (ICC), the runs, wickets and catches taken aren’t included in official Test records.
Last year, Cricket Australia officially recognised World Series Cricket records by creating a separate category for them. However, retrospectively incorporating these statistics in official Test records is a decision that could only be made by the ICC, and they have never shown any real inclination to do this.
Standout performers in World Series Cricket included Greg Chappell (1415 runs at 56.6), Viv Richards (1281 runs at 55.7), Barry Richards (554 runs at 79.14), Dennis Lillee (67 wickets at 26.87) and Andy Roberts (50 wickets at 24.14).
If WSC records were included in official records, the historical standing of some players would alter significantly.
Greg Chappell would currently be sixth on Australia’s list of all-time Test run scorers, instead of tenth. He would also have scored 29 Test centuries, rather than 24, placing him alongside Don Bradman at equal fourth on Australia’s all-time list (he is currently seventh). His Test average (53.86) would also improve slightly.
Dennis Lillee would join the ‘400 club’, the select group of players who have taken more than 400 Test wickets. Currently, only 13 players have done it in the official Test records.
Lillee would also be ninth on the all-time list if his 355 wicket tally rose to 422 by including WSC Supertest records, and three of the players that would still be above him are spinners (Murali, Shane Warne and Anil Kumble). He is currently equal 20th on the official all-time Test wicket-takers list.
Rod Marsh would have 407 wicket-keeping dismissals instead of 355, taking him past Ian Healy on Australia’s all-time list, but still trailing Adam Gilchrist’s 416.
For many years, I’ve thought that WSC records should be included in player’s Test records. But I can now see an argument for keeping them separate, as a standalone reflection of the toughness, quality and uniqueness of World Series Cricket.
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