Khalid "Billy" Ibadulla (born 20 December 1935) is a

Pakistani New Zealander Pakistani New Zealanders, also known as Pakistani Kiwis, are New Zealanders of Pakistani descent or Pakistan-born people who have immigrated to New Zealand. Demographics According to 2001 statistics, Pakistani Kiwis size around a population of 3,0 ...

cricket coach, commentator, former cricket umpire and

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

er. He has worked as

TVNZ , type = Crown entity , industry = Broadcast television , num_locations = New Zealand , location = Auckland, New Zealand , area_served = Nationally (New Zealand) and some Pacific Island nations such as the Cook Islands, Fiji, and the So ...

cricket commentator. He played in four

Tests Test(s), testing, or TEST may refer to: * Test (assessment), an educational assessment intended to measure the respondents' knowledge or other abilities Arts and entertainment * ''Test'' (2013 film), an American film * ''Test'' (2014 film), ...

for

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

between 1964 and 1967.

First-class career

After a few matches in Pakistan, where he made his first-class debut at the age of 16, Ibadulla played most of his cricket as a professional for

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, and the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Avon an ...

, for whom he appeared between 1954 and 1972, mostly as an opening batsman. He made 1000 runs in a season six times, with a highest tally of 2098 runs in 1962. His top score was 171, against

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

in 1961. On a flat

Oval An oval () is a closed curve in a plane which resembles the outline of an egg. The term is not very specific, but in some areas (projective geometry, technical drawing, etc.) it is given a more precise definition, which may include either one or ...

pitch in 1960 he scored an unbeaten 170 for Warwickshire against Surrey, and put on 377 with

Norman Horner Norman Frederick Horner (10 May 1926 – 24 December 2003) was an English first-class cricketer, who played two games for Yorkshire County Cricket Club in 1950, before moving to Warwickshire County Cricket Club in 1951. A right-handed batsma ...

for the first wicket on the first day, then the highest unbroken opening partnership in cricket history. He was also a useful and economical medium-pace bowler, with a best analysis of 7 for 22 against

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the nor ...

in 1967. He played for

Otago Otago (, ; mi, Ōtākou ) is a region of New Zealand located in the southern half of the South Island administered by the Otago Regional Council. It has an area of approximately , making it the country's second largest local government reg ...

from 1964–65 to 1966–67, and moved to

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

in 1976, living in

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; mi, Ōtepoti) is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from , the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Th ...

and working as a cricket coach.

Test career

Although he had not played domestic first-class cricket in Pakistan for more than 10 years, Ibadulla was selected to play in the single Test against the visiting Australians in Karachi in 1964–65. Opening the batting, he batted throughout the first day's play, dismissed on stumps for 166 in five and a half hours. The opening partnership of 249 with

Abdul Kadir Abd al-Qadir or Abdulkadir ( ar, عبد القادر) is a male Muslim given name. It is formed from the Arabic words '' Abd'', ''al-'' and '' Qadir''. The name means "servant of the powerful", ''Al-Qādir'' being one of the names of God in the ...

(95) is the highest in Test cricket for any wicket to involve two test debutants. He declined an invitation to go on the subsequent tour of Australia and New Zealand, as the Pakistan authorities were unable to offer him the professional rates he was accustomed to, and he spent the time playing for Otago and coaching. He made 43 and 102 not out and took four wickets for Otago when they played the Pakistanis, and was later called up by Pakistan for the Third Test, making 28 and 9. He was also called into the Pakistan side for two Tests during the tour to England in 1967 after dismissing the captain,

Hanif Mohammad Hanif Mohammad PP ( ur, , 21 December 1934 – 11 August 2016) was a Pakistani cricketer. He played for the Pakistani cricket team in 55 Test matches between the 1952–53 season and the 1969–70 season. He averaged 43.98 scoring twelve ...

for a

duck Duck is the common name for numerous species of waterfowl in the family Anatidae. Ducks are generally smaller and shorter-necked than swans and geese, which are members of the same family. Divided among several subfamilies, they are a form t ...

while playing for Warwickshire against the touring Pakistanis. However, he made only 47 runs in four innings and took one wicket in the first two Tests, and was not selected in the Test team again. He holds the record of playing most number of first class games (217) before making a Test debut for Pakistan.

Later career

He has coached some of

's top cricketers, including

Glenn Turner Glenn Maitland Turner (born 26 May 1947) played cricket for New Zealand and was one of the country's best and most prolific batsmen. He is the current head of the New Zealand Cricket selection panel. Early life Glenn Turner was born in Dune ...

, Ken Rutherford and

Chris Cairns Christopher Lance Cairns (born 13 June 1970) is a former New Zealand cricketer and former ODI captain, who played for the New Zealand cricket team as an all-rounder. Cairns finished his Test career with a batting average of 33.53 and a bowling ...

. He also taught briefly at

St Dunstan's College ) , type = Public SchoolIndependent day school , chair_label = Chairman of Governors , chair = Paul Durgan , head_label = Head , head = Nicholas Hewlett , address = Stanstead Road, Catford , city = London B ...

in London, as a Physical Education teacher in the early 1970s. He umpired first-class cricket in England in 1982 and 1983. In the

2004 Queen's Birthday Honours The Birthday Honours 2004 for the Commonwealth realms were announced on 11 June 2004 for the United Kingdom, New Zealand, the Cook IslandsCook Islands list: and elsewhere to celebrate the Queen's Birthday of 2004. The recipients of honours are d ...

, Ibadulla was appointed a

Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit The New Zealand Order of Merit is an order of merit in the New Zealand royal honours system. It was established by royal warrant on 30 May 1996 by Elizabeth II, Queen of New Zealand, "for those persons who in any field of endeavour, have ren ...

, for services to cricket. Ibadulla was the subject of a long-running error in the ''

Wisden ''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack'', or simply ''Wisden'', colloquially the Bible of Cricket, is a cricket reference book published annually in the United Kingdom. The description "bible of cricket" was first used in the 1930s by Alec Waugh in a ...

'' records section. He was out

handled the ball Handled the ball was formerly one of the methods of dismissing a batsman in the sport of cricket, but was integrated into the Law on obstructing the field when the Laws of Cricket were rewritten in 2017. It dictated that either batsman can be g ...

at Courtaulds,

Coventry Coventry ( or ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. It is on the River Sherbourne. Coventry has been a large settlement for centuries, although it was not founded and given its ...

in 1963 when playing for Warwickshire against

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

and not

obstructing the field Obstructing the field is one of the ten methods of dismissing a batsman in the sport of cricket. Either batsman can be given out if he wilfully attempts to obstruct or distract the fielding side by word or action. It is Law 37 of the Laws of cr ...

as reported in the 1964 ''Wisdens report of the game and then repeated in the records section from 1967 until 2010.

Personal life

Ibadulla, a Christian, met his German-born wife, Gertrude, in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

and married circa 1959. They have two daughters and a son, Kassem.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ibadulla, Billy 1935 births Living people New Zealand cricketers New Zealand cricket coaches New Zealand cricket umpires New Zealand cricket commentators New Zealand people of Punjabi descent Otago cricketers Tasmania cricketers Warwickshire cricketers Commonwealth XI cricketers International Cavaliers cricketers Cricketers from Dunedin Pakistani emigrants to New Zealand Pakistani cricketers Pakistan Test cricketers Pakistani cricket coaches Pakistani cricket umpires Pakistani cricket commentators Cricketers who made a century on Test debut Punjab (Pakistan) cricketers Cricketers from Lahore Pakistani expatriates in Australia Pakistani expatriates in England Pakistani Christians New Zealand Christians Members of the New Zealand Order of Merit