InMobi

Debutant looking to overcome English curse

Toby Roland-Jones out to prove he's more than a one-Test wonder after taking five on Test debut

Toby Roland-Jones will be looking to overcome a recent trend after he became the sixth England cricketer this century to take five or more wickets in his debut Test.

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The Middlesex seamer completed figures of 5-57 on the third day of the third Test at The Oval as South Africa were dismissed for 175 in reply to England's first innings of 353, a deficit of 178 runs.

Roland-Jones is the 51st Englishman to take a five-wicket haul in his first Test and the 32nd to do so in his first innings.

Debutant bags four in searing opening spell

But the 29-year-old will be hoping to overcome a recent curse of sorts on Englishman who shine with the ball in their maiden Test.

It's a case of feast or famine when looking back at the previous 10 England bowlers to have taken a bag of five in their debut Test; the nation's leading Test wicket-takers - Jimmy Anderson and Ian Botham - both feature, but the other eight players were unable to reach anywhere near those heights.

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Of that group of eight - Nick Cook, Neil Mallender, Peter Such, Dominic Cork, Richard Johnson, James Kirtley, Graham Onions and Adil Rashid - only Cork pushed on to play more than 15 Tests.

Cork added 123 wickets in 36 Tests to the eight he took on debut in 1995 while the other seven players added a combined total of just 153 wickets following their respective debuts and played an average of just seven more Tests each.

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By comparison, six of the past 10 Australians to take a five-wicket haul on debut - including the likes of Brett Lee, Nathan Lyon and Josh Hazlewood - either played more than 20 Tests or are still playing today.

But Anderson says his new teammate has already shown signs that he can be much more than just a one-Test wonder.

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"It's not often you see a debutant settle as quickly as he did," Anderson said. "He looked very comfortable and very confident.

"He's had a good career with Middlesex; he knows his action and he knows his game very well, so that's helped him. And it's a perfect pitch for him, which also helped.

"To see him settle as he did was brilliant.

"He's a very intelligent cricketer, he's very good to talk to about bowling and the game and he thoroughly deserved his five wickets."

FIVE-WICKET HAUL ON TEST DEBUT FOR ENGLAND (previous 10)


Adil Rashid*


Debut: 5-64 v Pakistan, 2015 (5-228 for the match)
After debut: 32 wickets in nine Tests

Graham Onions

Debut: 5-38 v West Indies, 2009 (7-102 for the match)
After debut: 25 wickets in eight Tests

James Kirtley

Debut: 6-34 v South Africa, 2003 (8-114 for the match)
After debut: 11 wickets in three Tests

Image Id: 9464F11C86B340C9BCBD2CB2A8264695

Richard Johnson

Debut: 6-33 v Zimbabwe, 2003 (6-100 for the match)
After debut: 10 wickets in two Tests

James Anderson*

Debut: 7-73 v Zimbabwe, 2003 (5-138 for the match)
After debut: 475 wickets in 124 Tests

Dominic Cork

Debut: 7-43 v West Indies 1995 (8-115 for the match)
After debut: 123 wickets in 36 Tests

Image Id: DA757E4E345B460D9A6B34C2BD3A601D

Peter Such


Debut: 6-67 v Australia, 1993 (8-145 for the match)
After debut: 29 wickets in 10 Tests

Neil Mallender

Debut: 5-50 v Pakistan, 1992 (8-122 for the match)
After debut: 2 wickets in 1 Test


Nick Cook


Debut: 5-25 v New Zealand, 1983 (8-125 for the match)
After debut: 44 wickets in 14 Tests

Image Id: FAA0088924B54DF5BC34BDD9197BAED2

Ian Botham


Debut: 5-74 v Australia, 1977 (5-134 for the match)
After debut: 378 wickets in 101 Tests

*current international player