If you’re wondering the motivation behind this article, it’s as simple as the fact that a good mate of mine shares the same name as me.
In fact, our names are so common, that we once had someone walk into the main common room at uni, say our name, and seven people turned their heads at once in response to that name.
So, that got us thinking. What famous people share our name?
To start with, there’s never been a United States President with our name; neither has there been an Australian Prime Minister – or a United Kingdom Prime Minister for that matter.
No kings have shared our name, but Matt Damon does, and he’s pretty famous.
Most importantly, because we both share a love for cricket, I developed an XI that could rival the best players in the world based on our shared name.
I call it the Matt XI.
The one requirement? These guys had to have played cricket for a substantial amount of time (either FC, Test or ODI), and to be selected in the XI, they needed to have played international cricket for their countries in some form.
So, here’s the best XI that I could come up with based on that criteria:
1. Matt Hayden
2. Matt Elliott
3. Matt Renshaw
4. Mat Sinclair
5. Matt Wade
6. Matt Maynard
7. Matt Prior
8. Matthew Nicholson
9. Matt Henry
10. Matt Hoggard
11. Matt Kuhnemann
Now, I’ve been generous and included Matt’s that only have one ‘t’ in their names as being legitimate Matts, but that was the best way to make the team work.
This side would take some beating as it has a solid mix of decent batsmen (Hayden, Elliott, Maynard) and some good bowlers (Henry, Hoggard) as well as some speculative picks (Renshaw, Kuhnemann) as their careers haven’t finished yet and they are not as dominant as they could be in their respective positions.
The backup players are certainly no slouches either, and some of them may yet make their marks on world cricket.
Some of them also did not have a lot of chances to impose themselves or did not take their opportunities when they presented themselves.
12. Matt Gilkes
13. Matt Short
14. Mat Inness
15. Matt Kelly
16. Matt Potts
17. Matt Horne
18. Matt Fleming
Besides having a few too many Englishmen in the side, the XI players named above are a good representation of the best possible side available with players named “Matt”.
The side could easily make 350 on a good day but could struggle to take 20 wickets in a match.
What are your thoughts? Maybe you can think of a side with a shared first name that could beat this one.
matth
Roar Guru
I guess you could have Bevan as keeper. I couldn’t put him in ahead of any of the batsmen.
Tigerbill44
Roar Guru
Very interesting article. Of course its fairly easy to form Singh, Patel or Sharma XI from subcontinent players. Also, Mendis or De Silva is possible based on SL players. I was wondering whether it's possible to from a Rana XI. I have seen few Ranas around in IPL. Also there was Shafqat Rana from Pak. Surprisingly I can't remember a Ban cricketer with surname Rana. Now Rana is a very popular surname in Ban (eg Jewel Rana, Sohel Rana, Masud Rana etc.) This is because there is a hugely popular fictional action hero Masud Rana in Bangla literature. His stories were and still are very popular.
Gwendolyn
Roar Rookie
Michael Bevan!! Reckon he could keep also and from memory did on the odd occasion.
All day Roseville all day
Roar Guru
Bernard Lance Cairns Graham Anthony Richard Lock Plus lots of Sri Lankans but they may have different naming conventions from Anglicised ones.
All day Roseville all day
Roar Guru
Luteru Ross Poutoa Lote Taylor Robert Neil Harvey Ian Jonathan Leonard Trott Wessel Johannes Cronje Pinnaduwage Aravinda de Silva Balapuwaduge Kusal Gimhan Mendis
Pope Paul VII
Roar Rookie
Ran into trouble with the Not My Name XI. C G Greenidge D B Close M C Cowdrey I V A Richards A P Sheahan K D Walters P J Dujon G B Hogg J B Statham Need a couple of fast men and probs missed some obvious ones and no offence to George, is there a more successful spinner? R G Willis added Dylan to go R G D, I think that is qualification in the absence of better offers.
Pope Paul VII
Roar Rookie
Yeah need a middle name XI
sedz
Roar Rookie
There are lot more Khans, Patels, Sharmas, Mohammad’s playing the cricket today. I think my favorite first name is Mike or Michael. Not many players come to my mind other than Michael Clarke. Having said that Anglo sphere usually addresses a person by last name (except for close circle). At least in India we use first name to address a person.
sedz
Roar Rookie
Mohammad Shami, Mohammad Siraj, Mohammad Kaif, Mohammad Azharuddin Mohammad Asif, Hanif Mohammad, Faisal Mohammad, Wazir Mohammad, Mohammad Amir And Mohammad Yousuf,
sedz
Roar Rookie
Mohammad is the common surname and they’d Trump all the 11 you’d name. Also I think Abdul as well.
sedz
Roar Rookie
Surprise surprise. There is even more common name that you didn’t notice. Any guess? Also you can include Angelo Mathew’s, SL all rounder.
All day Roseville all day
Roar Guru
Cheers matth, looking forward to the next ones. It was your A-Z series in the early-2020 first lockdown that prompted me to start. And the page is looking pretty sparse, could use some content.
Gibbo
Roar Pro
As in the Broncos coach?
matth
Roar Guru
Mine were done for being too long, then just for not being interesting for the site I think. Which is their prerogative. I'm not complaining, I just think the type of articles I wrote weren't what they are looking for. Maybe at some point I'll have another crack when I come up with an idea as good as as your birth month series, but until then I'm still an interested commenter, just not taking the time to research and write.
All day Roseville all day
Roar Guru
Wow. Last year I had one rejected for being too long.
The Knightwatchmen who say Nii
Roar Rookie
Not a good excuse under the Greenidge and (Viv) Richards precedents Matth.
The Knightwatchmen who say Nii
Roar Rookie
Nice work there Matth.
The Knightwatchmen who say Nii
Roar Rookie
And Viv Richards first name is Isaac Papsy, and he has three given names: Isaac Vivian Alexander
matth
Roar Guru
Might have to have them field at deep fine leg and deep mid off, otherwise it could get a bit exciting!
matth
Roar Guru
I've given up writing articles for now. Combination of a busy life and few articles rejected.