There’s no better thing to play your favourite sport with your beloved father in front of the world. There are several instances in the history of this fantastic game of cricket when father-son duo not only played along each other but also plundered records to name!
When this combination of the ‘Able Apprentice’ and ‘The Life’s-Teacher’ himself gathers on the green-turf, there’s bound to be an enigmatic display of skill, composure and ofcourse some hilarious cricketing shots to watch!
Following are some of the father-son duos in cricket.
Also Read: Virat Kohli, the successful run chaser: Kohli’s top five ODI innings while chasing
1. William Lillywhite, John Lillywhite and James Lillywhite (1851-1853)
This was the very first incident that Father-Son relation was provoked on the cricket field. Back in the late -1850’s, The famous Lillywhite Family got its renowned fame & attention, as Father (William Lillywhite) and his sons (John Lillywhite & James Lillywhite) played for alongside each other for the county club Middlesex against Surrey. This illustrious tri-clan were seen again; but this time playing for Sussex against England in 1853.
2. William Clarke and Arthur Clarke. (1855)
William Clarke and Arthur Clarke both played for the famous club of Nottinghamshire. Father William was a slow-bowler who scalped a mind-boggling tally of 797 First-Class wickets. William also captained Nottinghamshire against England at the age 57! – An age in which many won’t take up cricket for sure!
Arthur played as a Top-order batsman, securing the opening spot for the Notts. Though he played as many as 55 times, he managed just a half-century under his belt.
3. WG Grace and WG Grace Jr. (1893-1900)
WG Grace Father-Son duo played a respectable tally of around 46 occasions. Comparatively, WG Grace Junior was not up to the mark of his father. Hence, it forced Jr’s career to finish before his Father’s- which is one of the rarest occasions of cricket history till date. WG Jr played his last match in the 1900’s; while WG Sr. went on to play until the late 1908.
4. WG Grace and CB Grace (1900-1906)
CB Grace was the 2nd son of WG Grace Sr. and inherited the illustrious benchmark of his father this time. Convincingly, CB Grace played four First-Class matches alongside his spectacular Father.
There was also two of these matches in which the ‘Grace-Trio’ featured which included CB, WG Jr and WG Sr altogether).
5. Richard Daft and Harry Daft (1891)
In this Golden era of Cricket, Richard Daft was one of the finest and premier batsman playing for his country. Richard at his aging tenure of 59 still earned a recall for his team of Nottinghamshire. Harry Daft- the stylish and fluent cricketer had already established his concrete place in his side. Daft-Duo played together thrice for Nottinghamshire.
6. AWF Somerset and APFC Somerset (1911-1913)
Somerset duo played around 13 matches together for MCC on two different tours to the West Indies, in 1911 and 1913 respectively.
7. Walter Mead and Harold Mead (1913)
Walter Mead was regarded one of the finest and got hailed as a Wisden Cricketer for the year of 1904.Son Harold might had a longer career comparatively for Essex; if he had not injured his finger critically in the World War 1st fighting as a private. Nevertheless, they both played alongside each other twice, batting at No 10 and 11 respectively.
8. Thomas Reese and Daniel Reese (1918)
Amidst the rising torment of World War 1st, the New-Zealanders Thomas and Daniel Reese appeared together for Canterbury against Otago. Father Reese played around 24 matches; comparatively more than his son’s 11.
9. Lebrun Constantine and Learie Constantine (1922)
Sir Lebrun Constantine was the 1st West Indian to score a ton on English soil. Significantly, Constantine Jr. was the first superstar of Caribbean Cricket. This fantastic duo appeared together in a match for Trinidad against Barbados in the Inter-Colonial Tournament’s Final.
10. Willie Quaife and Bernard Quaife (1920-1928)
Willie Quaife is honorably regarded as the most stylist batsman of England had ever seen. He played just 7 Tests hence ending his rather short career in England. His son Bernard was pretty successful in concreting his place in the team’s side- he went on to play 319 First-Class matches. Quaife Duo played played alongside each other on 20 occasions.
11. Shivnarine and Tagenarine Chanderpaul
The Caribbean South-Paw who played with an ‘unconventional’ batting stance kept on plundering outstanding records in all three formats of the game for his country. We all know this legend by the name of ‘Shivnarine Chanderpaul’.
On September 2012, Father Chanderpaul compiled a double-century stand with his son Tagenarine Chanderpaul for ‘Gandhi Youth Organisation’ against Transport Sports Club in a 40-over match held at Unity Ground of East Coast Demerara.
Father Shiv amassed 143 and Jr. Chanderpaul scored 112. Their contribution proved vital and instrumental as GOY went on to win this match by 125 runs thereby emerging victorious!
INDIAN FATHER-SON PAIRS
1. Maharaja of Patiala and Yuvraj of Patiala (1932 to 1938)
Yuvraj of Patiala was a handy cricketer who scored 24 and 60, respectively in the only test match he played. Father- Maharaja of Patiala was a renowned patron of the game. This Royal pair played for six instances together.
2. Bhagwant Singh and Arvind Singh (1961 to 1962)
The Maharana of Mewar- Bhagwant Singh played for Rajputana and later for Rajasthan enjoying Limited success with him. His son Arvind Singh made his test debut in the chilly winter of 1961. This Royal and extremely popular father-son pair played for 25 matches altogether managing around four half-century partnerships between them.
3. Lala Amarnath and Surinder Amarnath (1963)
There were five defence-fund matches organised in the raging time of the Sino- Indian War. Its showcased some of the finest and brightest cricketing talents of India. In the 4th of these matches, father- Lala Amarnath played for Maharashtra Governor’s XI and son Surinder turned out to be in the opposition Team of Maharashtra Chief Minister's XI. This epic match was played at Poona.
HONORABLE MENTIONS
• The only Indian Father-son ‘Umpiring Pair’ in cricket history is MG Vijaysarathy and his son MV Nagendra who stood umpires for the match between Andhra and Mysore in 1960-61 at Bangalore.
• A Father-Son pair who played as a player and an umpire in the same match is the only instance in the international cricket. Hitesh Modi (Son) played and Subhash Modi (Father) umpired for the Kenya-Bangladesh encounter at Nairobi in August 06.
• Hitesh was given LBW on the delivery of Bangladesh’s Captain Mashrafe Mortaza by Subhash Modi.
• Frank Tarrant and Son Louis Tarrant did the umpiring job in a match between Southern Punjab and MCC at Amritsar in the 1933’s November.
• Dennis Lillee bowled for the Australian Cricket Board Chairman’s XI against the visiting Pakistanis in the October of 1999. He finished with his all-familiar figures of 8-4-8-3. His Son Adam Lillee opened the bowling alongside him, finishing with expensive yet successful figures of 6-0-29-3.
