Unsung Hero
Somewhere between cricketing tragedy and obscure pub quiz trivia question, Yorkshire’s Chris Old entered Edgbaston folklorein 1978 for taking four wickets in five balls without claiming a hat-trick. On his hat trick ball, Old was ruled to have delivered a no ball, after which he took two more wickets in consecutive balls.
It was the first Test of the 1978 series vs Pakistan and the visitors were in trouble early doors as Botham and Willis claimed early scalps. However it was Chris Old who stole the show and ended up taking 7-50 in the first innings.
After Old took the wicket Wasim Raja the fun really started. To see Old’s incredible spell skip to 9 minutes in on the video below.
These are the magic moments of our game and sadly we doubt the video does this feat the justice it deserves. We can only imagine what must have been like to see a truly incredible spell like this in person and we’re hoping that our next Pakistan Test will produce more iconic Edgbaston moments.
