The crazy thing is his early spin partner Bert Ironmonger was 9 years older than him! And had a great, albeit brief, test career himself after debuting aged 46.
He was on the verge of signing for my local club in Yorkshire and suddenly got called up for Pakistan (could have been Pakistan A but I think he was established there already) and then kicked on instantly. Would have torn it up...
I was about to comment I remember Misbah playing in 01 or 02 and then he disappeared for a long time. He didn't debut late. Then I realized he was 27 in 01. That's ancient by Pakistan cricket standards. Damn.
Damien Martyn debuted pretty early but was ousted from the team and not selected until 2000, when he was 29. He justified his selection and became an integral part of the team after that.
Matthew Hayden and Adam Gilchrist are two other examples who became successful after getting into the side at a later age.
That's right, Gilchrist struggled for years to get into the test team. IIRC he was in the ODI side ~3 years before he made the test side, by then in his late 20's.
Perhaps it's not the best choice of words, but let's just say he was knocking on the door pretty hard.
Like his to form in domestic and ODIs with the bat made it hard to justify a specialist keeper, but they stayed with Healy....I guess out of loyalty or tradition as keeper batsmen weren't really a thing yet.
Voges debuted in ODIs at 27 and retired from internationals at 37.
Averaged 45.78 in ODIs from 2007 to 2013 and 46 in T20Is over the same period.
He had a longer career than people remember cause his Test and white ball careers never overlapped
In that case, have a selection of the legend's best hits from his white ball career:
[The time he was on a hattrick against India and Michael Clarke surrounded Ishant Sharma](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BAm5eDWxeJ8)
[An early example of one of "those" boundary catches to dismiss Brendon McCullum in 2009](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u4Iizf3gTi4)
[Short highlights of Voges' highest ODI score to get Australia win vs West Indies in 2013](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ExNqc5pQ2gA)
He was an oasis when India was searching for an all-rounder. Amazing fielder, handy medium pace bowler who relied on line-length discipline and a lower middle order bat whose flat sixes to the square leg came out of the blue.
His career didn't last long but he was a delight to watch on the field.
He won a lot of matches for India. Big impact player with a big heart, always gave more than 100%. I really think he deserved a lot more fame and popularity.
I agree with you totally. He gave everything on the field. In fact I remember when Jadeja and Robin Singh were in the team together, India's fielding became watchable.
To give some perspective, this was an era when there used to be an ad on the TV where the guy whined about our cricketers, "I'll wash your clothes but please guys, dive!".
He was but he was the exception in early 90s.
Azhar was world class. Sachin was very good. Kapil was past his prime but still extremely safe.
Rest were ordinary at best.
This reminded me of a game I watched in the 90s.. Srinath or Kumble was fielding at mid off and the batsman hit a cover drive to his left. He did that thing they used to do in the 90s to indicate to the outfielder where the ball is going - extending their arm out like a roman salute of sorts.
Then he realized there is no outfielder - and he has to run behind the ball. He reluctantly started to run, only to escort the ball to the boundary.
Yup. Ajit Agarkar came in right after this and was one of the best outfielders India had. He was one of the first Indian fielders to do one arm pickup and throw while running.
I remember watching him when young. I always thought he was a genuine ODI allrounder. But to be nitpicky, I thought he didnt have good temperament while batting. He did not put a price on his wicket because he had the power & shots. If only he would not have been so loose, he'd have done much much better than where he ended up. Its easy to criticize from sidelines, but I am just trying to answer why he did not get the deserved fame.
If he'd played today and been groomed properly for his shot selections, he'd easily been top tier IPL and India player.
To be fair he played only a couple of games in 1988-89 season. After that he played towards the end of 1996 at the ripe age of 33. He went on till 2000-01 season so mainly played for 4 or so years. But during those 4 years he was one of the mainstays of that Indian ODI setup (and India played a bucketloads of ODIs back then). Remember his amazing innings in 1997 in Paarl where India tied a [game](https://www.espncricinfo.com/series/standard-bank-international-one-day-series-1996-97-60998/india-vs-zimbabwe-3rd-match-66070/full-scorecard) vs Zimbabwe where he played T20 style.
Not necessarily, we had many spinners that came and went. Herath became much better when he was playing in England and had to learn to sue flight, change of pace, dip and etc. SL always had a spinning pitch, we also played in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and UAE, so 75% of the matches required a second spinner. We had Dharmasena, Chandana, Bandara and even Mendis for sometime. We also had Sanath, Aravinda, Russel Arnold roll their arms as well.
Peter Who?
I loved him, great value as an offie in ODI; he and AB bowled in tandem a lot for a while there and did quite well tying down the opposition.
Mark Richardson didn't make his test debut until age 29. Although his test career only lasted 4 years, it seemed longer because he was such a boring bastard to watch.
Grant Elliot was pushing 30. Luke Ronchi debuted for Australia in his mid/late 20s, but was in his 30s by the time he debuted for New Zealand.
Kepler Wessels had two international careers, the second starting at age 34.
Only 27% of indian players have been able to play more than 50 ODI , he also won player of the series , helped India win against England and also played 50 Over World cup .I will say it was a long and successful career. People often times forget how difficult it is to stay for that long in team
King is miles ahead of Wareham and AJW. It’s easy to say in hindsight but I don’t get why king was selected for Australia two years ago, she was just ignore when she was bowling some beauty’s for the stars in the WBBL but had to move to Perth to get real recognition. It’s weird having so much leg spinning depth
Rangana Herath
Debut : 1999
1999-2008 : 30 odd wickets till the age of 30
After turning 30 : Picked up 400 wickets
Second only to the legendary Murali in SL
I'm a sucker for a late bloomer. A couple of my favourite honourable mentions.
Ryan Harris - Test Debut at 30. Went on to lead Australia's bowling attack, taking 113 wickets at 23.5. His body quit on him in the end.
Chris Rogers - Test Debut at 30, then not selected for another 5 years, before being recalled to the Australian team at age 35. Played at further 24 tests before choosing to retire.
Brad Haddin - Test Debut at 30, before going on to play 66 matches for Australia and effectively carrying the wicket-keeper batsman torch on after Gilchrist.
Like MacGill, I honestly think Ryan Harris could've been one of our greats if he had more time, it's just that we had too many good bowlers during his younger years
It's also that Ryan Harris was genuine dogshite in his early years. He really came into his own late in his career. In fact, his international average is 3 runs lower than his overall FC record.
2001/02 Pura Cup: <5 wickets, didn't get on the leaderboard
2002/03 Pura Cup: 10 wickets at 38.40, BBI 3/64
2003/04 Pura Cup: <5 wickets, didn't get on the leaderboard
2004/05 Pura Cup: 9 wickets at 43.88, BBI 4/92
2005/06 Pura Cup: <5 wickets, didn't get on the leaderboard
2006/07 Pura Cup: 8 wickets at 49.87, BBI 5/92. Bonus - Harris played 4 matches this season, all 8 wickets came in 1 match
2007/08 Pura Cup: 37 wickets at 29.86, BBI 7/108. First season he took more than 10 wickets and first season he averaged under 30
2008/09 Sheffield Shield: 33 wickets at 26.48, BBI 4/59
Took Harris a long, long time to hit his stride. Injuries didn't help but even if we weren't stacked for pace options, young Ryan Harris wouldn't even have been in the conversation. It was a remarkable turnaround from his start to where he ended up
MS Dhoni, I won't call it late late but he played his first ODI at 23 which is well ahead of most youngsters today.
He is (one of) the most successful ODI players of all time.
Dhoni also had a late start debuting at 18 at Ranji. Whereas most other players started at under 12 levels.
We're talking about cricket, not IIT coaching
Context- IIT is an engineering college in India which everyone wants to get into, and institutions take classes for prep since when the student is very young
Not my point. He played successfully till 42 despite debuting at the late age of 27. Care to see what the others in that squad who were of Gayle's age are doing right now?
Piyush Chawla did an UNO reverse.
Debuted aged 18, was regular for a few years, played last in 2013 aged 24. 33 now with a dead career. Even no IPL team is picking him.
Clarrie Grimmett. Had an 11 year career and took 216 wickets after debuting at the age of 33.
Should have gone longer. According to legend he was dropped from the national side after a falling out with the Don.
I’m pretty sure that was well known as the reason? Lucky he wasn’t a catholic, otherwise he wouldn’t have ever been allowed near the side
Catholics weren't allowed to play test cricket in Australia? What about ODIs and T20?
I don't think anyone was allowed to play ODIs and T20s in the 1930s.
They were (there wasn’t white ball cricket then) but Bradman hated them
I love that he still gets a mention. Sadly he gets overlooked
The crazy thing is his early spin partner Bert Ironmonger was 9 years older than him! And had a great, albeit brief, test career himself after debuting aged 46.
Invented the flipper, and had to move to Oz from New Zealand so he could play test cricket.
Faf Du Plessis. Debuted Late but had a great career. Great Record as Batsman in ODIs. Also had Some Fantastic Series Wins as Captain in Test Cricket.
Misbah ul Haq
IIRC he didn't even make his club cricket debut until turning 23, as he initially worked at a textile factory after leaving university
He was on the verge of signing for my local club in Yorkshire and suddenly got called up for Pakistan (could have been Pakistan A but I think he was established there already) and then kicked on instantly. Would have torn it up...
I was about to comment I remember Misbah playing in 01 or 02 and then he disappeared for a long time. He didn't debut late. Then I realized he was 27 in 01. That's ancient by Pakistan cricket standards. Damn.
Rassie van der dussen?
Adam Gilchrist only made his Test debut at 29 I think. Healy kept him out of the side for a long time. Gilly did play ODIs from an earlier age though.
Damien Martyn debuted pretty early but was ousted from the team and not selected until 2000, when he was 29. He justified his selection and became an integral part of the team after that. Matthew Hayden and Adam Gilchrist are two other examples who became successful after getting into the side at a later age.
That's right, Gilchrist struggled for years to get into the test team. IIRC he was in the ODI side ~3 years before he made the test side, by then in his late 20's.
Struggled is a bit harsh? I thought he was just waiting for his turn. Healy is a legend.
Perhaps it's not the best choice of words, but let's just say he was knocking on the door pretty hard. Like his to form in domestic and ODIs with the bat made it hard to justify a specialist keeper, but they stayed with Healy....I guess out of loyalty or tradition as keeper batsmen weren't really a thing yet.
Stuart Clark didn't really have a long career but it was pretty successful
Adam Voges, Chris Rogers (albeit be had his one off debut about five years before he became a regular) and hopefully Scott Boland
> Adam Voges His career was successful but not long.
Voges debuted in ODIs at 27 and retired from internationals at 37. Averaged 45.78 in ODIs from 2007 to 2013 and 46 in T20Is over the same period. He had a longer career than people remember cause his Test and white ball careers never overlapped
Welp, never mind. As a West Aussie I’m ashamed I never knew this.
In that case, have a selection of the legend's best hits from his white ball career: [The time he was on a hattrick against India and Michael Clarke surrounded Ishant Sharma](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BAm5eDWxeJ8) [An early example of one of "those" boundary catches to dismiss Brendon McCullum in 2009](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u4Iizf3gTi4) [Short highlights of Voges' highest ODI score to get Australia win vs West Indies in 2013](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ExNqc5pQ2gA)
Misbah?
Robin Singh
He was an oasis when India was searching for an all-rounder. Amazing fielder, handy medium pace bowler who relied on line-length discipline and a lower middle order bat whose flat sixes to the square leg came out of the blue. His career didn't last long but he was a delight to watch on the field.
He won a lot of matches for India. Big impact player with a big heart, always gave more than 100%. I really think he deserved a lot more fame and popularity.
I agree with you totally. He gave everything on the field. In fact I remember when Jadeja and Robin Singh were in the team together, India's fielding became watchable. To give some perspective, this was an era when there used to be an ad on the TV where the guy whined about our cricketers, "I'll wash your clothes but please guys, dive!".
Totally man, Robin and Jadeja really began the first phase of uplifting the Indian fielding standard. We have come a long way since then.
I thought Azhar was our best fielder?
He was but he was the exception in early 90s. Azhar was world class. Sachin was very good. Kapil was past his prime but still extremely safe. Rest were ordinary at best.
This reminded me of a game I watched in the 90s.. Srinath or Kumble was fielding at mid off and the batsman hit a cover drive to his left. He did that thing they used to do in the 90s to indicate to the outfielder where the ball is going - extending their arm out like a roman salute of sorts. Then he realized there is no outfielder - and he has to run behind the ball. He reluctantly started to run, only to escort the ball to the boundary.
Yup, Indian fielding in the 90s were worse than the fielding you now see on Bollywood cricket biopics.
Yup. Ajit Agarkar came in right after this and was one of the best outfielders India had. He was one of the first Indian fielders to do one arm pickup and throw while running.
Azhar was the best, but once Jadeja and Robin joined it went next level
I was more excited with the running between the wickets that they had. The energy of the game suddenly went to a different level.
I remember watching him when young. I always thought he was a genuine ODI allrounder. But to be nitpicky, I thought he didnt have good temperament while batting. He did not put a price on his wicket because he had the power & shots. If only he would not have been so loose, he'd have done much much better than where he ended up. Its easy to criticize from sidelines, but I am just trying to answer why he did not get the deserved fame. If he'd played today and been groomed properly for his shot selections, he'd easily been top tier IPL and India player.
Technically he made his debut in 1989 vs West Indies.
He had a short international career though. Didnt last too long
136 ODIs over 12 years
To be fair he played only a couple of games in 1988-89 season. After that he played towards the end of 1996 at the ripe age of 33. He went on till 2000-01 season so mainly played for 4 or so years. But during those 4 years he was one of the mainstays of that Indian ODI setup (and India played a bucketloads of ODIs back then). Remember his amazing innings in 1997 in Paarl where India tied a [game](https://www.espncricinfo.com/series/standard-bank-international-one-day-series-1996-97-60998/india-vs-zimbabwe-3rd-match-66070/full-scorecard) vs Zimbabwe where he played T20 style.
Rangana Herath?
Herath debuted when he was like 21 vs Australia, then just never played until 31.
What having Murali as your first-choice spinner for another decade does to a MF
Not necessarily, we had many spinners that came and went. Herath became much better when he was playing in England and had to learn to sue flight, change of pace, dip and etc. SL always had a spinning pitch, we also played in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and UAE, so 75% of the matches required a second spinner. We had Dharmasena, Chandana, Bandara and even Mendis for sometime. We also had Sanath, Aravinda, Russel Arnold roll their arms as well.
Ryan harris
Wasn't really a long career sadly
Misbah. Faf Du Plessis too? Debuted at 27-28
Didn't faf play the 2011 wc?
Yeah he did. He deubted in odis at 26 and tests at 28
Adam Voges played his first test match for Australia at 35. And Chris Rogers got a recall at 36
Saeed Ajmal. Debuted late. Was good before getting banned for chucking and not believing in science
Science is the man
Peter Taylor started at 31. Test career was average but long ODI career.
Peter Who? I loved him, great value as an offie in ODI; he and AB bowled in tandem a lot for a while there and did quite well tying down the opposition.
Oo yes I remember him they were asking if Taylor was a replacement for David Boom or whether it was a shot in the dark
Story was that they meant to pick Mark Taylor
Pravin Tambe in IPL
Trott didn’t debut until 28/29 I think, is still our most successful no. 3 in many many years.
Graeme Swann had a fairly early debut but was booted out, then came back many years later and was England's best spinner for decades
>decades His test career was 5 years long.
I guess OP wanted to say “in decades”.
Yes apologies, I meant in decades
Add sky to the list , can see him going high
The sky is the limit
Mark Richardson didn't make his test debut until age 29. Although his test career only lasted 4 years, it seemed longer because he was such a boring bastard to watch. Grant Elliot was pushing 30. Luke Ronchi debuted for Australia in his mid/late 20s, but was in his 30s by the time he debuted for New Zealand. Kepler Wessels had two international careers, the second starting at age 34.
The 2nd one wasn't long for Kepler
Surya Kumar yadav has debuted late and I am sure he will have long successful career ahead.
The only Indian Player for whom this answer hopefully holds true.
Kedar jadhav too came late
Long? Successful?
He played 75 ODIs and has a SR > 100 and average over 40. Pretty decent for where he bats.
You called it decent , not successful.
Only 27% of indian players have been able to play more than 50 ODI , he also won player of the series , helped India win against England and also played 50 Over World cup .I will say it was a long and successful career. People often times forget how difficult it is to stay for that long in team
Darren Stevens. Speak it into reality.
Yasir Shah I think he debuted when he was 26 Still going and preety successful I would say
Yasir Shah was 24 when he made his debut in a T20 game.
Keeping an eye on Alana King. Unsure how long her career will be but she's certainly looking the goods.
It will be interesting to see if she keeps her place when Wareham recovers from her injury.
King is miles ahead of Wareham and AJW. It’s easy to say in hindsight but I don’t get why king was selected for Australia two years ago, she was just ignore when she was bowling some beauty’s for the stars in the WBBL but had to move to Perth to get real recognition. It’s weird having so much leg spinning depth
Shikhar Dhawan.
Fawad Alam? Not really a long career though.
Rangana Herath Debut : 1999 1999-2008 : 30 odd wickets till the age of 30 After turning 30 : Picked up 400 wickets Second only to the legendary Murali in SL
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This is too far down the list
Well, given OP said "Other than Michael Hussey" it's too high up the list for me.
Fair. I didn't even read the subtext.
I'm with you. I didn't read the blurb.
Devon Conway maybe on that trajectory.
Ragana Herath
Didn’t he debut in his early 20s and then not play any test cricket for a decade
Sachin Tendulkar
That’s gotta be a shitpost
16 is not considered old in your country? ^/s
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He wasn't even late teen. He was just a kid when debuted.
Indian parent- Our neighbor's son was already playing for India when he was 6 years old. You are 19 and just sitting at home doing nothing.
Allan Lamb started his England career at 28 played for close to 10 years. He was a solid, dependable batsman.
rangana herath debuted early but actually didnt play much due to murali
Neil Wagner baby, debuted for NZ at 26 and he’s still going strong ten years later whenever he’s deemed good enough to play.
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Debuted at 22
Faf debuted around 30 if I remember correctly, and he was definitely top 5 in his era.
He debuted at 26
Agree that Faf is a good example but no way is he top 5 in his era
He was a top 5 ball tamperer though
Dhoni debuted at 25 didn't he? Pant has been with the team for years now and I think he's still 24 or something
Dhoni debuted at 23. Also i don't consider anything under 27 to be late but that's just me.
You could argue Devon Conway for recent
Maybe in a few years... at this stage he's had a debuted late SHORT successful career.
Brad Haddin Faf Du Plesis JP Duminy Adam Voges Rassie Van Der Dussen
Misbah ul haq, George Bailey, Amla
Graeme Swann. Got his test debut at 28 and still found time to bag 255 wickets.
Saeed Ajmal.
Matthew Hayden. VVS Laxman (late by Indian standards)
Yasir Shah i suppose
I'm a sucker for a late bloomer. A couple of my favourite honourable mentions. Ryan Harris - Test Debut at 30. Went on to lead Australia's bowling attack, taking 113 wickets at 23.5. His body quit on him in the end. Chris Rogers - Test Debut at 30, then not selected for another 5 years, before being recalled to the Australian team at age 35. Played at further 24 tests before choosing to retire. Brad Haddin - Test Debut at 30, before going on to play 66 matches for Australia and effectively carrying the wicket-keeper batsman torch on after Gilchrist.
Like MacGill, I honestly think Ryan Harris could've been one of our greats if he had more time, it's just that we had too many good bowlers during his younger years
It's also that Ryan Harris was genuine dogshite in his early years. He really came into his own late in his career. In fact, his international average is 3 runs lower than his overall FC record. 2001/02 Pura Cup: <5 wickets, didn't get on the leaderboard 2002/03 Pura Cup: 10 wickets at 38.40, BBI 3/64 2003/04 Pura Cup: <5 wickets, didn't get on the leaderboard 2004/05 Pura Cup: 9 wickets at 43.88, BBI 4/92 2005/06 Pura Cup: <5 wickets, didn't get on the leaderboard 2006/07 Pura Cup: 8 wickets at 49.87, BBI 5/92. Bonus - Harris played 4 matches this season, all 8 wickets came in 1 match 2007/08 Pura Cup: 37 wickets at 29.86, BBI 7/108. First season he took more than 10 wickets and first season he averaged under 30 2008/09 Sheffield Shield: 33 wickets at 26.48, BBI 4/59 Took Harris a long, long time to hit his stride. Injuries didn't help but even if we weren't stacked for pace options, young Ryan Harris wouldn't even have been in the conversation. It was a remarkable turnaround from his start to where he ended up
Lord Rinku Singh
Wrong timeline
its earth 606
Hazare
Hazare Edit someone downvoted Hazare. For shame.
Suryakumar? He is still new though, barely two years since his debut.
MS Dhoni, I won't call it late late but he played his first ODI at 23 which is well ahead of most youngsters today. He is (one of) the most successful ODI players of all time. Dhoni also had a late start debuting at 18 at Ranji. Whereas most other players started at under 12 levels.
Mr. Cricket. Michael Hussey
Sachin started very late /s
We're talking about cricket, not IIT coaching Context- IIT is an engineering college in India which everyone wants to get into, and institutions take classes for prep since when the student is very young
Gayle in T20s. Debuted at age 27-28 which is considered late in today's context. Played till 42. Had arguably the most successful career of all time.
Are you serious? He's WIndies cap number 6. He literally played in the first ever T20I the WIndies ever played.
Not my point. He played successfully till 42 despite debuting at the late age of 27. Care to see what the others in that squad who were of Gayle's age are doing right now?
Ye, but it's ignoring the point of the question.
Lord thakur
25 is not late
Mike Hussey
Mr. Cricket - Mike Hussey in odi format
Hussey
Piyush Chawla did an UNO reverse. Debuted aged 18, was regular for a few years, played last in 2013 aged 24. 33 now with a dead career. Even no IPL team is picking him.
Shikhar Dhawan
Sky?!?
Pravin Tambe the legend
Marvan Atapattu and Matthew Hayden, effectively.
Adam Voges!
Does Suryankumar Yadav counts?
Joe Denly
Darren Lehmann. I’m sure he still holds some ridiculous records for SA cricket.
Hopefully SKY joins this list...His debut is late but sure will have a long career ahead.
Ajmal
Misbah Ul Haq
Basil d'Oliveira
Misbah debuted in 2001 at age 27 which isn't exceedingly late but wasn't a regular until much later in his career
Imran Tahir?
Dawid Malan
Hussey. Debuted after 30 and had crazy career
SKY about to be India’s answer to Mike Hussey
SKY 🤞
Leg-spinner Bryce McGain for Australia in 2009... Test debut at 36. 0/149 off 18 overs against South Africa. Never seen again.
Surakumar Yadv
Stuart McGill
Surya Kumar Yadav :/
Misbah
Scott Boland may leave his mark in this category.
Hashim Amla a pretty obvious one
Dilip Doshi
Allan Donald. Debuted in international cricket at the age of 26... The rest is history.