It’s easy to compartmentalize people. They are either cricketers, actors or sportspersons. But not all of them fit into these categories. Some cricketers have acted in movies and some actors were once cricketers. We have compiled a list of 10 such cricketers who acted in movies at various points in their careers:
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Adam Hollioake
Adam Hollioake was a wicketkeeper-batsman who played for Surrey, England and the ICC World XI. He is best known for his role as ‘Cricketer’ in the film The Oval Test (1999). It tells the story of four former England cricketers who are dragged out of retirement to play against an Australian team at Lord’s Ground during their Ashes tour.
The film was written by and starred the comedian Steve Coogan, who also plays the lead role of Paul Barlow. It was directed by Andy Hamilton and Guy Jenkin. The Oval Test is based on real events that took place in 1999 when Australia played England at Lord’s Ground.
Wasim Akram
Wasim Akram was a Pakistani cricketer, who played for the Pakistan national cricket team, and captained the side from 1992 to 1996. He was a right-arm fast bowler and right-handed batsman. He was also known as much for his fielding as he was for his bowling: he held several world records during his career in this regard.
Akram was born on September 17, 1968 in Okara. He made his Test debut for Pakistan against Australia at Karachi in November 1987, taking a wicket with his first delivery. He went on to play 133 Tests and 356 One-Day Internationals (ODIs) for Pakistan between 1987 and 2003. His Test career included 90 five-wicket hauls, including two ten-wicket match hauls, which are both world records. His final tally of 502 Test wickets (the most by any bowler in their career) came at an average of 22.12 runs per wicket
Sir Ian Botham
Sir Ian Botham is a former English cricketer who played for Somerset and Worcestershire. He was a right-handed batsman and a right-arm fast bowler. He was known for his aggressive batting style and his bowling. He holds the record for highest score by an England player in Test cricket (334) against India at the Oval in 1986. Botham held several other records such as most runs scored in Tests, ODIs, T20Is & World Cup Cricket History.
Some of his achievements include winning ICC Player of Year Award 1983/84 & Golden Balls Award 1989/90 for outstanding performance. In 1982 World Cup Final vs West Indies played at Lord’s Ground, London; Botham hit Viv Richards’ fastest delivery out of stadium into crowd. Sir Ian also had successful stints as captaincy which helped him earn Test match victories over Australia (1986), Pakistan (1988) & Australia again (1989).
Kapil Dev
Kapil Dev was a former captain of the Indian cricket team. He is a left-handed batsman and slow left-arm orthodox bowler. He has taken 434 Test wickets which is the highest by any Indian bowler. In the 1983 Cricket World Cup Final against West Indies, Kapil Dev took 5 wickets for 12 runs in just 20 overs. This is still the best bowling performance by any bowler in a World Cup Final. He was awarded Padma Shri, India’s fourth-highest civilian award, in 1988.
In 1982, Kapil Dev played his first film in “Naseeb Apna”. Later, he acted in movies like “Champion”, “Waqt Hamara Hai” etc.
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Merv Hughes
Merv Hughes was an Australian cricketer who played for Australia between 1985 and 1994. He played a role of himself in the comedy film The Big Show, which also features Shane Warne, Brett Lee and Steve Waugh. The movie follows three friends on their way to play in the Ashes series against England but they meet with an accident on their way there.
This is not all though; he also played himself as an umpire in another movie called ‘The Ashes’ which was released back in 1993.
Mike Whitney
Mike Whitney was a cricketer for Australia and Tasmania. He also played in World Series Cricket (WSC). Whitney was a left-handed batsman and played several matches for WSC. He made his debut match against England in 1977 at the Sydney Cricket Ground alongside Dennis Lillee, Rod Marsh and Greg Chappell.
He remained an important member of the team after that series until 1981 when it ended due to financial issues between Kerry Packer and Australian Cricket Board (ACB).
Dirk Wellham
Dirk Wellham. A cricketer who acted in one movie. He was born on 1 January 1960 in South Africa and played for England and South Africa. Dirk played a role in The Mighty Ducks as the coach of Team USA, Gordon Bombay’s team.
Chris Cairns
New Zealand cricketer Chris Cairns, who played for the Auckland Aces team, was born in Auckland, New Zealand. He made his debut as a batsman and bowler in 1991.
Cairns played for the Indian Premier League from 2008 to 2010. In 2013, he was banned from cricket for life by an independent tribunal due to match-fixing allegations against him regarding influencing players through illegal betting rings. In 2018, he won his appeal against this ban after proving that no wrongdoing had been done on his part.
Chris Harris
You may have heard of Chris Harris. He was a cricketer, who played for the Australian and English teams. He was a fast bowler, and he batted left-handed as well.
Chris Harris is also an actor who played in movies like Monty Python’s The Meaning of Life (1983), Cats & Dogs (2001) and more recently Robin Hood (2010).
Chris Martin
Chris Martin is an English cricketer who plays for the Surrey County Cricket Club. He was born on 20th August 1982 in Northampton, England. He is a right-handed batsman and a right-arm medium bowler.
Martin had played cricket since his childhood days with Northants youth team and he also represented his county at various age groups including England Under-19s, ECB National Academy and ECB President’s XI. In 2003, he was selected to play in the One Day International against New Zealand but could not break into the main team due to injury problems.
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Conclusion
We hope you enjoyed this list of cricketers who acted in movies and that it has inspired you to watch some cricket movies. We thought it was a good idea to do a post on this topic because it seems like more and more sports personalities are getting into acting these days.
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