Wallis Mathias (4 February 1935 – 1 September 1994) was a Pakistani cricketer who played in 21 Test matches from 1955 to 1962. A Catholic, he was the first non-Muslim cricketer to play for Pakistan.[1] He belonged to Karachi's Goan community.[2][3]
The son of a porter at the Karachi Gymkhana Club,[4] Mathias was a stylish right-handed middle-order batsman. He made three half centuries in his Test career, all of them against West Indies. In the Second Test against West Indies in Dacca in 1958-59, he top-scored in each innings with 64 and 45, as Pakistan won a low-scoring match by 41 runs.[5]
He was also a gifted slip fielder with exceptional reflexes, whose "great skill was to make hard chances look simple".[6] According to Imtiaz Ahmed, the Test wicket-keeper at the time, he was Pakistan's first good slip fielder, who "changed the atmosphere in the slip cordon", which previously had been the domain of players "who did not want to run".[7]
He was a prolific run scorer in Pakistani domestic cricket. After he returned from the tour of England in 1962, in the next four years he made 1357 runs in 13 matches at an average of 113.08,[8] including his career-best score of 278 not out for Karachi Blues against Railways Greens in 1965-66.[9] Four years later he joined the newly formed National Bank cricket team and became their first ever captain, playing for them until 1976-77 and later coaching the side. In 146 first-class matches he made 7,520 runs, average 44.49, including 16 centuries. He held 130 catches, 22 in Tests.
wallis, mathias, february, 1935, september, 1994, pakistani, cricketer, played, test, matches, from, 1955, 1962, catholic, first, muslim, cricketer, play, pakistan, belonged, karachi, goan, community, personal, informationborn, 1935, february, 1935karachi, bri. Wallis Mathias 4 February 1935 1 September 1994 was a Pakistani cricketer who played in 21 Test matches from 1955 to 1962 A Catholic he was the first non Muslim cricketer to play for Pakistan 1 He belonged to Karachi s Goan community 2 3 Wallis MathiasPersonal informationBorn 1935 02 04 4 February 1935Karachi British IndiaDied1 July 1994 1994 07 01 aged 59 Karachi PakistanBattingRight handedBowlingRight arm mediumInternational informationNational sidePakistanTest debut cap 23 7 November 1955 v New ZealandLast Test16 August 1962 v EnglandCareer statisticsCompetition Test First classMatches 21 146Runs scored 783 7 520Batting average 23 72 44 49100s 50s 0 3 16 41Top score 77 278 Balls bowled 24 1 090Wickets 0 13Bowling average 40 925 wickets in innings 010 wickets in match 0Best bowling 2 4Catches stumpings 22 130 Source Cricinfo 13 June 2016The son of a porter at the Karachi Gymkhana Club 4 Mathias was a stylish right handed middle order batsman He made three half centuries in his Test career all of them against West Indies In the Second Test against West Indies in Dacca in 1958 59 he top scored in each innings with 64 and 45 as Pakistan won a low scoring match by 41 runs 5 He was also a gifted slip fielder with exceptional reflexes whose great skill was to make hard chances look simple 6 According to Imtiaz Ahmed the Test wicket keeper at the time he was Pakistan s first good slip fielder who changed the atmosphere in the slip cordon which previously had been the domain of players who did not want to run 7 He was a prolific run scorer in Pakistani domestic cricket After he returned from the tour of England in 1962 in the next four years he made 1357 runs in 13 matches at an average of 113 08 8 including his career best score of 278 not out for Karachi Blues against Railways Greens in 1965 66 9 Four years later he joined the newly formed National Bank cricket team and became their first ever captain playing for them until 1976 77 and later coaching the side In 146 first class matches he made 7 520 runs average 44 49 including 16 centuries He held 130 catches 22 in Tests Mathias died of a brain haemorrhage in 1994 aged 59 10 Education editHe was educated at the St Patrick s High School Karachi 11 References edit Wisden Engel Matthew ed Wisden Cricketers Almanack 132nd edition 1995 ed London John Wisden amp Co Ltd p 1388 Pakistan s Goa Connections Times of India 3 November 2016 Retrieved 28 April 2020 Peter Oborne 9 April 2015 Wounded Tiger A History of Cricket in Pakistan Simon and Schuster p 526 ISBN 978 1 84983 248 9 Omar Noman Pride and Passion An Exhilarating Half Century of Cricket in Pakistan OUP Karachi 1998 p 94 The Home of CricketArchive cricketarchive com Wisden 1995 p 1388 Quoted in Omar Noman Pride and Passion p 95 The Home of CricketArchive cricketarchive com The Home of CricketArchive cricketarchive com Non Muslims to play international cricket for Pakistan Sports thenews com pk www thenews com pk Notable Alumni St Patrick s High School Archived from the original on 31 December 2019 Retrieved 26 August 2019 External links editWallis Mathias at ESPNcricinfo nbsp nbsp This biographical article related to a Pakistani cricket person born in the 1930s is a stub You can help Wikipedia by expanding it vte Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Wallis Mathias amp oldid 1182020573, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
