John Emburey Career Best Figure 7 for 78 vs Australia at Sydney in 1986-87

John Emburey was born on 20 August 1952. He is a former English first-class cricketer who played for Middlesex, Northamptonshire, Western Province, Berkshire and England. John Emburey was a right-arm spin bowler and a slightly eccentric but useful lower-order batsman with the style of a grafter. In the 5^th Ashes Test at Sydney in 1986-87, John Embury took the career-best figure of 7 for 78 in the 2^nd inning. Unfortunately, his efforts were in vain, as England lost the test by 55 runs. Let's get into the video.

John Emburey was briefly made England Test captain in 1988, the notorious "Summer of four captains". Mike Gatting was sacked after the first Test match against the West Indies and Emburey was appointed for two matches, both of which were lost. Emburey too was fired and was replaced by Chris Cowdrey for the fourth Test. Cowdrey lasted just one match, replaced in turn by Graham Gooch. While not a successful Test captain, Emburey had some successes captaining England in one-day international cricket, leading them to victory (in the absence of Gatting and Botham) in the Sharjah Cup in 1986–7. 

John Emburey was the only cricketer to go on both the England rebel tours to South Africa in 1981/2 and 1989/90; the rebels were banned from Test matches. Emburey was eventually restored to the England test team (respectively in 1985 and 1993). Later in his Test career, Emburey tended to be picked for single Tests in England, as happened in 1993 against Australia, when statistically, he was the leading all rounder in the country, and 1995 against the West Indies.

Alec Stewart and Andy Caddick's Last Wicket Partnership vs Australia at Birmingham in 2001

In the Ist Test in the 2001 Ashes series at Birmingham, Alec Stewart and Andy Caddick rescued England's batting from complete disasters. Both put an incredible batting show on the last wicket, which frustrates Australian bowlers. After lunch Australians picked up the game to get five wickets and it looked like they'd wrap it up pretty quickly after England had them 9/191 just after tea. But Caddick and Stewart got going and smashed all around the park to nearly take the score to 300. Alec Stewart scored 65 off 82 balls including 9 fours and Andy Caddick remains not out on 49 in 59 balls including 7 fours and 1 six. Let's get into the video.

The 103 run-partnership between Alec Stewart and Andrew Caddick was the 15th-century partnership for the tenth wicket in Test cricket. It was the fourth-century partnership for England in all Tests. It was also the best for England against Australia on home soil. Australia won the test match by an innings and 118 runs. It was a pretty clinical performance, professional," "as they put the ball in the right place and took the catches. Australia played aggressive cricket and was backed by the crowd; they had a good time out there.

Andy Roberts Three Brutual Deliveries to Tony Greig in the First Test 1976 at Nottingham

It is difficult to quantify the impact Andy Roberts had when he first emerged in the early 1970s. Watch this video to witness how Andy Roberts' three brutal deliveries against Tony Greg in the first innings of the 1976 First Test at Nottingham left the captain stunned with a beautiful thunderbolt. Andy Roberts was hitting his stride at a very fast pace at this point in his career.

Dennis Lillee called him the most complete fast bowler he had seen at the time. However, the foundation of his game, at least in the early years, was some significant pace. He was part of the West Indies team that won the first two Prudential World Cups in England in 1975 and 1979.

John Snow feels that Roberts saw reduced effectiveness after being over bowled by Hampshire and West Indies in 1974.

Andy Roberts took 28 wickets in five Tests in England in 1976, including ten in the match at Lord's and nine at Old Trafford. During that series, he reached 100 Test wickets in just his 19th match. At that times, only five bowlers have ever got there faster and none of them was a bowler of true pace. He is still 7^th fastest bowler to reach the 100 wickets milestones in Test cricket.

 If the credit for South Africa's success in the modern era could be given to one player, that cricketer would be Allan Donald. He made his test debut on 18 April 1992 at the age of 26 against the West Indies in the one-off test tour to the West Indies at Barbados, a test match which also marked the historic occasion of being South Africa's first test in nearly 22 years since their readmission. The test match also marked South Africa's first-ever test match against a non-white nation as it was also their first test ever against the West Indies. On his debut, he scored a pair including a 21-ball duck in the first innings. However, he shined with the ball on his test debut picking up six wickets (2–67 and 4–77) for the match inclusive of a four-wicket haul in the second innings. He also picked up the prized wicket of Brian Lara. However, West Indies managed to win the one-off test by 52 runs to take the series 1–0.

Let's watch the Allan Donald's spell.

A classical action and top-drawer pace would have won him a place in any side in his prime, and for much of his career, he was the only world-class performer in the South African team, spearing the ball in, shaping it away, and always making things happen. Often nicknamed 'White Lightning' due to his quick bowling, he is considered one of the South African national cricket team's most successful pace bowlers. He was an integral member of the South African team in its resurgence into international cricket since readmission and played an influential role as a frontline genuine seam bowler to boost South Africa to new heights.  During his playing career, he was known for his bowling speed and aggression on the field.

He is also remembered for his infamous runout during South Africa's loss in the 1999 World Cup semi-final match against Australia. Donald is the first South African to take 300 Test wickets. Donald was one of the top fast bowlers in Test cricket, reaching the top of the ICC Test rankings in 1998, peaking with a ranking of 895 points the next year. In One Day Internationals (ODIs), he reached 794 points in 1998, ranked second behind teammate Shaun Pollock. If speed guns had been introduced in the early part of his career, his bowling speed would have been around 95 mph. Allan Donald's speed decreased due to multiple injuries, but his accuracy never let him down.

He shared the new ball with Pollock from the 1996-97 tour of India until his retirement in 2002. Allan Donald is known for his friendship with Pollock especially when they used to be regular bowling partners for South Africa. Donald described Pollock as South Africa's Glenn McGrath. He featured in four World Cup tournaments for South Africa in 1992, 1996, 1999 and 2003. Allan Donald played cricket, soccer, and rugby as a child and completed his primary education at the Technical High School.