“Height doesn’t matter.” This would probably be the best example of the line most of us use on a daily basis. There were cricketers unbelievably short and tall. But they did play effortlessly to bring in victory for their respective teams.
Sachin who made it to the big lists and fields was often considered as short by the Indians, however, it turns out he was pretty tall if he was compared to the list of the short cricketers worldwide.
Here’s the list of cricketers who were as tall or even taller than Hagrid from Harry Potter:
5. Bruce Reid – 2.03 m
The retired cricketer Reid has a height of 2.03 m and he did play terrific matches for Australia. His match scores include 27 Test matches, 113 scalps, and his ODI reads 63 wickets from just 61 games.
Back in 2003-04, he was selected to be the bowling coach of India. With that, he did provide the Indian team with a lot of valuable tips and tricks to excel against the competitive Aussie cricketers.
4. Joel Garner – 2.03 m
Joel is a player for the West Indies, he is one of the fastest bowlers the team has ever gotten. He was also known as the “Big Birl” just because he held the capability to confuse the batters for some time with his bowling skills.
His match score hails up to 259 Test wickets from 58 tests and 146 ODI wickets from 98 games.
3. Peter George – 2.03 m
George wasn’t successful in making big names for himself. Though he was a good player and very talented, his height did add to his performance, in a good way of course.
His match score stands at about 163 wickets and he did clean 10 wickets in a single inning.
2. Boyd Rankin – 2.04 m
Boyd Rankin is another fearless moniker in the echelons of Irish and English cricket and his colossal statue.
Though he’s not that intimidating when it comes to his gaming skills, he does kinda play aggressively at times, which makes him stand out apart from his height. From the 46 ODI’s that he has been a part of, Rankin has struck 56 times and his rise to the pinnacle of the game is something very noteworthy.
1. Mohammad Irfan – 2.16 m
Irfan is currently the tallest cricketer ever, who appeared for games internationally. His figure is really fearful and intimidating to few. I mean, who wouldn’t be scared to play against someone so tall anyway?
Currently, his numbers read 78 wickets from 57 ODI’s and 10 wickets from 4 Tests.
Here’s the list of the 5 very short cricketers-
5. Gundappa Viswanath – 1.6 m
Though he was short and sturdy, he was one of the finest cricketers. His actions spoke more than his height or whatsoever. His match score sums up to 6080 runs from 91 test matches and 439 runs from ODI.
4. Parthiv Patel – 1.6 m
He had a very promising start to his career. But luck wasn’t on his side for too long. He just couldn’t retain himself when it came down to international matches.
Parthiv started well despite his physical hindrance that also includes a lost finger in his hand. However, his wicket-keeping skills were questioned shortly thereafter as he started miffing chances at crucial junctures of the game which could have changed the complexion of the match completely.
3. Alfred Freeman – 1.57 m
Though his career wasn’t of a long one and he failed to have a good name. His gaming and bowling skills did certainly surprise everyone. Because no one really expected such a terrific performance from him.
He scored 154 runs from 12 Test matches but registered 66 wickets from the handful number of games. This is also inclusive of five 5-wicket hauls in an innings and three 10-wicket hauls in a match.
2. Tich Cornford – 1.52 m
Failed at making it for too long in the international fields, but that didn’t him from scoring a good notable run during the matches he did appear for. He played 4 tests for England out of which he could only manage 36 runs. He also affected 5 catches and 3 stumpings in international colors. He scored a staggering 6554 runs from 496 matches.
1. Kruger van Wyk – 1.19 m
The shortest cricketer to be known who played in international matches. His scorecard stands up 341 runs from 9 tests and 877 runs from 80 T20 internationals.
