Allan Robert Border (born July 27, 1955), nicknamed “A.B.”, is an Australian retired cricketer that represented Australia and had record-breaking scores for Tests and One-Day Internationals, a record that was later broken by West Indian Brian Lara. He was the captain of the Australian team. Border was primarily a left hand batsman but then accomplished an erratic victory as a part-time left arm orthodox bowling, including one ten-wicket haul and two five-wicket hauls on the way to picking up 39 Ticket wickets combined with 73 ODI scalps. A.B. played for Queensland (1980-1996), Essex (1986-1988), New South Wales (1976-1980) and Gloucestershire (1977).
Greatest Sporting Achievements
Allan Border represented Australia in 156 Tests and 273 One-Day Internationals, accumulating a total of 11,174 runs in Tests. His record for Test Match runs stood for 15 years before the Third Ashes Test in 2009 where Ricky Ponting overtook him. When he retired, he still held the record for the best Test match bowling for an Australian captain, 11-96 (7-46 and 4-50), where he took it against the West Indies in 1989.
A.B. was also one of the 55 first inductees of the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame.
Why Was He So Good?
Allan Border is known for his stubbornness at the crease and the price he attached to his wicket. He distressed their opponents for years. Later, he became the captain of the Australian team right after Kim Hughes resigned. He led the country to the World Cup title in 1987.
What You May Not Know
- He played for cricket teams that are slightly older than him during his childhood and teenage years. He was one of the youngest. Border also played for Mosman Baseball Club in which he developed his fielding and horizontal bat-shots. He made his debut for Mosman in Sydney Grade Cricket as a left-arm orthodox spinner and batted at number nine when he was only sixteen years old.
- Allan Border was the first batsman in test cricket history to cross the 11,000-run mark. He was the second to pass the 10,000 barrier just next to Sun Gavaskar who was first.
- He was the first test cricketer to score more than 150 in both innings of a match. He scored 150 and 153 during a test match against Pakistan.
Related Pages
- More cricket players
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