Amid the ongoing ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022 in Australia, cricket fans have been highly active on Twitter. Now, they seem to have spotted a mysterious pattern in cricket, one which may be called ‘spec-tacular’.
“Of all cricketers who have played wearing glasses, the majority have been left-arm spinners. Why is this? It’s the important question at this stage of proceedings …,” this tweet by a social media user got fans thinking.
The Twitter user was referring to Tim Pringle, the young left-arm spinner from Netherlands making waves at the T20 World Cup. Pringle has also caught the attention of many due to his nerdy, bespectacled look.
Bespectacled left-arm spinner Tim Pringle bowls Kashif
Of all cricketers who have played wearing glasses, the majority have been left-arm spinners
Why is this? It’s the important question at this stage of proceedings …
— Paul Radley (@PaulRadley) October 16, 2022
Some fans were quick to point out more left-arm orthodox spinners who wore spectacles – New Zealand legend Daniel Vettori (perhaps the most famous), English Test cricketer Jack Leach, famous Indian spinner from early 80s Dilip Doshi, former English cricketer David Steele, Australian domestic player Clive Rose, Bangladesh cricketer Hassan Khalid, UAE U-19 player Nilansh Keswani.
But there are several famous ones out there who wore glasses but did not bowl left-arm spin. Fans pointed out names like Indian leg spin great Anil Kumble who was a right hander and wore spectacles early in his career. One user also highlighted the name of Pringle’s compatriot Vivian Kingma, the ODI fast bowler for Netherlands.
West Indies’ World Cup winning captain Clive Lloyd is perhaps one of the most famous bespectacled names alongside Vettori that would come to one’s mind. But while Lloyd was a left-handed batsman, when occasionally bowling he was a right-arm medium pacer.
Other famous names who wore spectacles at least at some point in their career include
Englishmen MJK Smith and Geoffrey Boycott, former Pakistan great Zaheer Abbas, explosive Indian star Virender Sehwag (who wore specs in later stages of his career) and another Indian right-hand spinner successful on the international stage Narendra Hirwani.
So, the jury appears to be out on this won. Can you think of any other bespectacled left-arm spinner names?
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