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Wallis Mathias

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Wallis Mathias
Personal information
Born(1935-02-04)4 February 1935
Karachi, British India
Died1 July 1994(1994-07-01) (aged 59)
Karachi, Pakistan
BattingRight-handed
BowlingRight-arm medium
International information
National side
Test debut (cap 23)7 November 1955 v New Zealand
Last Test16 August 1962 v England
Career statistics
Competition Test First-class
Matches 21 146
Runs scored 783 7,520
Batting average 23.72 44.49
100s/50s 0/3 16/41
Top score 77 278*
Balls bowled 24 1,090
Wickets 0 13
Bowling average – 40.92
5 wickets in innings – 0
10 wickets in match – 0
Best bowling – 2/4
Catches/stumpings 22/– 130/–
Source: Cricinfo, 13 June 2016

Wallis Mathias (4 February 1935 – 1 September 1994) was a Pakistani cricketer who played in 21 Test matches from 1955 to 1962. A Catholic, he was the first non-Muslim cricketer to play for Pakistan.[1] He belonged to Karachi's Goan community.[2][3]

The son of a porter at the Karachi Gymkhana Club,[4] Mathias was a stylish right-handed middle-order batsman. He made three half centuries in his Test career, all of them against West Indies. In the Second Test against West Indies in Dacca in 1958-59, he top-scored in each innings with 64 and 45, as Pakistan won a low-scoring match by 41 runs.[5]

He was also a gifted slip fielder with exceptional reflexes, whose "great skill was to make hard chances look simple".[6] According to Imtiaz Ahmed, the Test wicket-keeper at the time, he was Pakistan's first good slip fielder, who "changed the atmosphere in the slip cordon", which previously had been the domain of players "who did not want to run".[7]

He was a prolific run scorer in Pakistani domestic cricket. After he returned from the tour of England in 1962, in the next four years he made 1357 runs in 13 matches at an average of 113.08,[8] including his career-best score of 278 not out for Karachi Blues against Railways Greens in 1965-66.[9] Four years later he joined the newly formed National Bank cricket team and became their first ever captain, playing for them until 1976-77 and later coaching the side. In 146 first-class matches he made 7,520 runs, average 44.49, including 16 centuries. He held 130 catches, 22 in Tests.

Mathias died of a brain haemorrhage in 1994, aged 59.[10]

Education

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He was educated at the St. Patrick's High School, Karachi.[11]

References

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  1. ^ Wisden. Engel, Matthew (ed.). Wisden Cricketers' Almanack, 132nd edition (1995 ed.). London: John Wisden & Co Ltd. p. 1388.
  2. ^ "Pakistan's Goa Connections". Times of India. 3 November 2016. Retrieved 28 April 2020.
  3. ^ Peter Oborne (9 April 2015). Wounded Tiger: A History of Cricket in Pakistan. Simon and Schuster. p. 526. ISBN 978-1-84983-248-9.
  4. ^ Omar Noman, Pride and Passion: An Exhilarating Half Century of Cricket in Pakistan, OUP, Karachi, 1998, p. 94.
  5. ^ "The Home of CricketArchive". cricketarchive.com.
  6. ^ Wisden 1995, p. 1388.
  7. ^ Quoted in Omar Noman, Pride and Passion, p. 95.
  8. ^ "The Home of CricketArchive". cricketarchive.com.
  9. ^ "The Home of CricketArchive". cricketarchive.com.
  10. ^ "Non-Muslims to play international cricket for Pakistan | Sports | thenews.com.pk". www.thenews.com.pk.
  11. ^ "Notable Alumni – St. Patrick's High School". Archived from the original on 31 December 2019. Retrieved 26 August 2019.
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