31:
803:
604:, sealed his fate as a Test cricketer. He resumed his domestic cricket career after the war, and enjoyed a fine 1945/46 season when he took 47 wickets at 15.95, but after a couple of matches the following year he hung up his bat for good. Balaskas has the third-lowest Test Match batting average of any player who has made a century, with 14.50.
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bowling. He was the first test cricketer as well as the first international cricketer whose name started with the
English alphabetical letter "X". He was also fondly nicknamed as the "Saxophone" by his teammates. He played a pivotal role in South Africa's historic first ever test win in English soil.
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of 32–8–49–5 and 27–8–54–4 to help his country to their first Test victory on
English soil. His record match winning spell of 9/103 propelled South Africa to register a convincing victory over England by a huge margin of 157 runs. He bowled a marathon spell consisting of 59 overs for the match
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tirelessly and with great accuracy from the
Pavilion End at iconic Lord's Stadium, although the pitch offered assistance to bowlers due to the pitch conditions being ravaged by the
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with South Africa, but he only managed to get into the Test side only for the second leg of the tour, repaying the selectors with his only Test century, 122 not out at
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It was considered a remarkable upset victory according to critics, and the victory is still regarded as one of the most shocking test match results to this date.
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by taking 39 wickets at 21.20, including five five-wicket hauls, and scoring 644 runs at over 80, including a career-best 206 against
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in 1926/27, but did not really break through until 1929/30. In that year he topped both the runs and wickets lists in the
549:'s Old Wanderers ground, but made no impact, scoring 7 and 3 and bowling just two overs in the match. The second Test at
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immigrant parents. His parents also apparently owned the first restaurant in the diamond town of
Kimberley. He died in
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576:(his only appearance of the series) that he produced the best bowling performance of his career, recording splendid
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699:"ENG vs SA, South Africa tour of England 1935, 2nd Test at London, June 29 – July 02, 1935 – Full Scorecard"
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649:"Xen Balaskas: The leg-spinner of Greek origins who bowled South Africa to their first Test win in England"
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Balaskas took nine wickets in three Tests against
Australia the following winter, and playing for
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623:"International cricketers: First to have names starting with I, O, Q, U, X, Z and other letters"
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in 1937/38, but there was to be only one further international appearance, against
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674:"Xen Balaskas Profile – Cricket Player South Africa | Stats, Records, Video"
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at Cape Town in 1938/39, and a return of 0–115, together with the coming of
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777:. Reading, England: Keith Walmsley Publishing Pty Ltd. p. 457.
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came in
England in 1935 with the touring South African team
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proved only slightly better: South Africa recorded an
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878:Cricketers from Kimberley, Northern Cape
526:Balaskas made his first-class debut for
621:Mukherjee, Abhishek (15 October 2016).
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647:Sengupta, Arunabha (15 October 2016).
873:South African people of Greek descent
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560:In 1931/32, he toured Australia and
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541:The following season he made his
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485:and went onto take 276 wickets
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775:Mosts Without in Test Cricket
749:"England v South Africa 1935"
463:Xenophon Constantine Balaskas
185:31 December 1938 v
174:24 December 1930 v
50:Xenophon Constantine Balaskas
858:South Africa Test cricketers
568:. His next Test appearances
868:Western Province cricketers
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853:Griqualand West cricketers
477:who went onto score 2,696
197:Domestic team information
146:International information
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167:Test debut (cap
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863:South African cricketers
773:Walmsley, Keith (2003).
256:North Eastern Transvaal
16:South African cricketer
572:, and it was there at
35:Balaskas in about 1935
810:at Wikimedia Commons
724:"Surprise, surprise"
391:5 wickets in innings
41:Personal information
479:first-class cricket
403:10 wickets in match
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848:Gauteng cricketers
592:took 8–60 against
518:at the age of 83.
843:Border cricketers
806:Media related to
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266:Career statistics
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555:innings victory
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378:Bowling average
313:Batting average
242:1936/37–1946/47
232:1934/35–1935/36
216:Griqualand West
211:1926/27–1932/33
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818:ESPNcricinfo
814:Xen Balaskas
808:Xen Balaskas
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756:. Retrieved
753:ESPNcricinfo
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706:. Retrieved
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678:ESPNcricinfo
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602:World War II
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547:Johannesburg
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516:Johannesburg
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414:Best bowling
158:South Africa
116:Right-handed
97:Johannesburg
87:(1994-05-12)
23:Xen Balaskas
18:
838:1994 deaths
833:1910 births
758:13 December
733:13 December
708:13 December
683:13 December
658:13 December
632:13 December
562:New Zealand
475:all-rounder
301:Runs scored
284:First-class
275:Competition
140:All-rounder
85:12 May 1994
827:Categories
784:0947540067
608:References
566:Wellington
543:Test match
532:Currie Cup
124:Right-arm
62:1910-10-15
816: at
590:Transvaal
551:Cape Town
545:debut at
512:Hyde Park
504:Kimberley
498:Biography
427:stumpings
336:Top score
246:Transvaal
182:Last Test
126:leg break
93:Hyde Park
70:Kimberley
578:analyses
536:Rhodesia
491:leg-spin
487:at 24.11
483:at 28.68
448:Source:
425:Catches/
325:100s/50s
105:Nickname
598:England
365:Wickets
290:Matches
252:1938/39
222:1933/34
187:England
176:England
121:Bowling
113:Batting
781:
574:Lord's
522:Career
359:12,557
353:bowled
226:Border
130:googly
508:Greek
481:runs
471:Bally
385:24.11
382:36.63
351:Balls
320:28.86
317:14.50
307:2,696
202:Years
108:Bally
779:ISBN
760:2023
735:2023
710:2023
685:2023
660:2023
634:2023
434:47/–
420:8/60
417:5/49
356:1572
331:6/12
279:Test
205:Team
136:Role
82:Died
56:Born
506:to
469:or
467:Xen
431:5/–
372:276
345:206
339:122
328:1/0
304:174
169:132
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Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
