Cricket is a sport that requires players to have an excellent eye for detail to be able to hit the ball at the right time. However, this does not mean that cricketers cannot wear glasses and still play well. There are several international players who are known for their glasses in addition to their batting acumen or bowling skills. Here is a list of some cricketers who wore glasses or contact lenses:
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Clive Lloyd
Clive Lloyd was a West Indian cricketer and former captain who played in the 1970s and 1980s. He was a wicket keeper, a middle order batsman and an occasional medium pace bowler.
Lloyd played for Barbados from 1963 to 1986 before becoming the country’s first-ever national coach from 1988 to 1994. He also coached Bangladesh from 1996 to 1998, leading them to their first Test victory against Zimbabwe.
Anil Kumble
Anil Kumble is a former Indian cricketer and captain. He was the highest wicket-taker in international cricket with 619 wickets, until he was overtaken by Muttiah Muralitharan in January 2007. He is also the second player to take 600 Test wickets Hansie Cronje, Shaun Pollock and Glenn McGrath have all achieved this feat too.
Kumble started his career as a batsman but later switched to bowling leg spin because of his ungainly batting style. He made his debut for Karnataka in 1990–91 and played first class cricket till 2003–04 before moving on to play international cricket for India where he became an integral part of their attack throughout his career which spanned 15 years from 1991 till 2007 when he retired from international Cricket.
Virender Sehwag
Virender Sehwag is a former Indian international cricketer and a former captain of the Indian national team. He was instrumental in India’s victories in the 2003 ODI World Cup and 2007 ICC World Twenty20 tournaments. He is one of only four batsmen to have scored two triple centuries at Test level, and holds the distinction for being one of only three batsmen to have scored two triple centuries within two weeks. Sehwag has been named as one of the Wisden Cricketers of the Year on four occasions: 2004, 2008, 2009 and 2010.
Dilip Doshi
Dilip Doshi is a former Indian cricketer. He was a right-arm medium-fast bowler, who played in 14 Tests and 16 ODIs from 1973 to 1979. He was known for his accuracy and ability to move the ball off the seam.
Doshi made his Test debut against Australia in the second Test of the 1973–74 series. He took 5 wickets in that match and was a part of India’s first ever win over Australia in a Test match.
MJK Smith
MJK Smith, who played for Hampshire, Gloucestershire, Lancashire and Somerset between 1961 and 1977, was a left-handed batsman and a right-arm medium bowler. He was born in South Africa and played for the South African cricket team before moving to England. He made his debut for Hampshire on 14 July 1961 against Worcestershire at Dudley (H). In this match he scored 17 runs in the first innings and 7 in the second. He took 4 wickets including that of Fred Rumsey who was top scorer with 91 runs not out.
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Narendra Hirwani
The Indian cricketer Narendra Hirwani wears glasses. He is a left-arm spin bowler, who has represented India in Test and One Day Internationals. He has also played for Mumbai, Central Zone and India A.
Born on 29th September 1974 in Mumbai, Hirwani’s first-class career began in 1993/94 when he played for Bombay University against Baroda at the age of 19. He soon moved to play for his home state side Maharashtra where he made his Ranji Trophy debut against Bengal at Kolkata in December 1995. In his very first match against Bengal; he took 5/25 from 10 overs with his maiden dismissal being that of Sourav Ganguly himself! In fact, this was one of only three wickets that Ganguly was dismissed by left arm spinners during his entire international career!
David Steele
David Steele was a former English cricketer and played 48 test matches and 9 ODIs for England. He was a right-handed batsman and right-arm medium pace bowler. Steele’s career began in 1973 when he made his first appearance for Durham County Cricket Club as an opening batsman at the age of 19. In 1975 he also joined Yorkshire County Cricket Club as an amateur player but turned professional in 1978, playing for them till 1980 when he moved back to Durham County Cricket Club again.
Daniel Vettori
Daniel Vettori is a former New Zealand cricketer who played all formats of the game. He was born on 4 January 1979 in Napier, New Zealand. His nickname is ‘The Professor’ due to his high cricketing IQ and ability to read match situations well.
He was a left-handed batsman and left arm orthodox bowler. In 2001 he made his Test debut against England at Auckland where he took five wickets in the first innings and scored 57 runs off 70 balls in New Zealand’s second innings when they were down by 24 runs with nine wickets remaining at that stage of the match. After this performance, he became famous as an attacking left arm spinner who could bat too.
He had a superb career which included many records including highest partnership for any wicket with Daniel Vettori (226) against South Africa in 2004; highest score by any player batting at number 8 position or lower against West Indies at Napier in 2008; most catches taken by one fielder while fielding at slip position (20); most catches taken by one fielder while fielding any position other than slip (24).
Zaheer Abbas
Zaheer Abbas is a former Pakistani cricketer who was born on October 16, 1949 in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan. He is a left-handed batsman and slow left-arm orthodox bowler. Zaheer Abbas also holds the record for being highest run scorer for Pakistan with 5557 runs at an average of 53.52 which include 19 hundreds and 38 fifties out of 76 matches played between 1969–1982 before he finally retired from international cricket on March 11th 1982 at age 32 years old.
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Geoff Boycott
A former English cricketer, Geoff Boycott played for Yorkshire and England. He was the first player to reach 10,000 runs in Test cricket. He was also a Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1972.
Boycott had been wearing glasses from an early age and opted for contact lenses only when he stopped playing professionally at the age of 41 after having his glasses knocked off by a fast bowler during an indoor game at Scarborough CC against a team from Nottinghamshire led by Chris Balderstone who dismissed him off the second ball that he faced!
Conclusion
These cricketers have played for various teams and have earned their reputation as a top sportsman. They were able to raise their game to the next level because of their glasses, which helped them focus better on the ball while batting or bowling.
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