SCRABBLE on cricket names

The international players with last names having the highest points on a SCRABBLE board.


1. Pradeep Jeyaprakashdaran = 36 (J = 8, A = 1, Y = 4, A = 1, P = 3, R = 1, A = 1, K = 5, A = 1, S = 1, H = 4, D = 2, A = 1, R = 1, A = 1, N = 1)
One ODI wonder Pradeep Jeyaprakashdaran possibly doesn't know that he owns this record. Pradeep only had once chance to get into the SL line up in 2005. The fast medium bowler failed to take any wickets and didn't got a chance to bat either .He did nothing wrong to get himself dropped from the team. Sadly didn't enter the radar of the selectors again.


2) Kosala Kuruppuarachchi= 33 (K = 5, U = 1, R = 1, U = 1, P = 3, P = 3, U = 1, A = 1, R = 1, A = 1, C = 3, H = 4, C = 3, H = 4, I = 1)
Unsurprisingly the second place is also for Sri Lanka. And also he is the first among test cricketers. As his cricinfo profile states "Kuruppuarachchi proved a difficult proposition for both commentators and batsman alike on his debut" Kuruppuarachchi was vital in Sri Lanka’s first victory over Pakistan taking a five for on debut. Unfortunately he also fell out of radar in no time.



3 Eric Szwarczynski = 32 S = 1, Z = 10, W = 4, A = 1, R = 1, C = 3, Z = 0, Y = 4, N = 1, S = 1, K = 5, I = 1)
Born in South Africa, playing for Netherlands, Szwarcznski is the clear leader of the current lot. The second z wont do much good for him as he has to fill it with a blank tile of 0 points. 



4= ) Michael Kasprowicz = 30 (K = 5, A = 1, S = 1, P = 3, R = 1, O = 1, W = 4, I = 1, C = 3, Z = 10)
A more common name and a more common guess to the leader of the list. Until I found the two earlier names, I thought he was the leader of this list.  Casper is a person I feel sorry for too. He also had a lot of talent and was a promising bowler. Sadly didn’t got enough opportunities

On What Aussie list do you have Kasper on top and Lee at bottom 

4 = ) Kapila Wijegunawardene = 30 (W = 4, I = 1, J = 8, E = 1, G = 2, U = 1, N = 1, A = 1, W = 4, A = 1, R = 1, D = 2, E = 1, N = 1, E = 1)
Another loooong Sri Lankan name and also a medium pacer. Averages 21.00 in 2 matches. Don’t ask me why did he get dropped, you can’t forget such a big name even if you tried.



4 = ) Indika Batuwitarachchi = 30 (B = 3, A = 1, T = 1, U = 1, W = 4, I = 1, T = 1, A = 1, R = 1, A = 1, C = 3, H = 4, C = 3, H = 4, I = 1)
A Sri Lankan batsman not representing Sri Lanka. Batuwitarachchi played 2 ODI's for UAE in 2008. Before that he played for Bloomfield club in Sri Lanka.

7=) Srinivas Venkataraghavan = 29 (V = 4, E = 1, N = 1, K = 5, A = 1, T = 1, A = 1, R = 1, A = 1, G = 2, H = 4, A = 1, V = 4, A = 1, N = 1)

If I extended this to umpires as well, my gut feeling says Venkat will be the winner. 

7 =) Gamini Wickremasinghe = 29 (W = 4, I = 1, C = 3, K = 5, R = 1, E = 1, M = 3, A = 1, S = 1, I = 1, N = 1, G = 2, H = 4, E = 1)

Sri Lankan

7=) Pramodya Wickramasinghe = 29 (W = 4, I = 1, C = 3, K = 5, R = 1, E = 1, M = 3, A = 1, S = 1, I = 1, N = 1, G = 2, H = 4, E = 1)

World cup winner and opening bowler with Vass in 1996 WC.


7=) Shafiqullah = 29 (

S = 1, H = 4, A = 1, F = 4, I = 1, Q = 10, U = 1, L = 1, L = 1, A = 1, H = 4)

22 year old Afganistan wicketkeeper, Shafiqullah played 2 ODI's batted in both of them and failed to score a run. 


11) We have of England, Pochiah Krishnamurthy of India, LaxmanSivaramakrishnan of India, Zulqarnain of Pakistan (his full name is given as Zulqarnain in cricinfo), Everton Matambanadzo of Zimbabwe all have 28 points each.

Country	Players with Most Points	Players with Least Points
Australia	Kasprowicz = 30 Krejza = 26 Chipperfield = 25 McKenzie = 25 Hazlewood = 25 Khawaja = 24	Lee = 3 Tait = 4
England	Duleepsinhji = 25 Christopherson = 24 Shahzad = 23 Borthwick = 23	Ali = 3  Lee = 3
South Africa	McKenzie = 25 Schwarz = 24 Blanckenberg = 23	Nel = 3
West Indies	Jaggernauth = 23 Kallicharran = 21	Rae = 3 Ali = 3 Lara = 4 Rose = 4
New Zealand	Colquhoun = 23 Kuggeleijn = 23	Su'a = 3 Tait = 4 Lees = 4
Inida	Venkataraghavan = 29 Krishnamurthy = 28 Sivaramakrishnan = 28 Meherhomji = 27 Vizianagram = 26 Chandrasekhar = 26	Sen = 3 Arun = 4 Das = 4 Raul = 4
Pakistan	Zulqarnain = 28 Ehteshamuddin = 23 Razzaq = 23 Shehzad = 23	Ali = 3 Gul = 4 Rana = 4
Sri Lanka	Jayaprakashdaran = 36 Kuruppuarachchi = 33 Wijegunawardene = 30 Wickremasinghe = 29 Jurangpathy = 27 Lokuarachchi = 26	Dias = 5
Zimbabwe	Matambanadzo = 28 Kamungozi = 25 Masakadza = 25 Chakabva = 22	Sims = 6 Duers = 6 Arnott = 6 Rennie = 6
Bangladesh	Moniruzzaman = 24 Nazimuddin = 23 Mahmudullah = 22	Das = 4 Rasel = 5 Gani = 5
Afghanistan	Shafiqullah = 29 Ahmadzai = 23 Ahmadzai = 23	Gul = 4 Dad = 5 Noori = 5
Bermuda	Crockwell = 20 Mukuddem = 18	Trott = 5
Canada	Qazi = 22 Kandappah = 21 Shamshudeen = 20	Ali = 3
USA	Alexander = 17  Johnson = 17  Johnson = 17	Ali = 3 Reid = 5
East Africa	Quaraishy = 24 Walusimbi = 16	Ali = 3
Netherlands	Szwarczynski = 32 Kervezee = 24 Westdijk = 23 Kloppenburg = 22	Mol = 5 Loots = 5
Hong Kong	Cheruparambil = 24 French = 14	Dar = 4 Ali = 3
Ireland	Johnston = 18 Porterfield = 17 Joyce = 17	West = 7 Hall = 7
Kenya	Chudasama = 17  Iqbal = 16  Sheikh = 16  Odhiambo = 16	Ali = 3 Aga = 4
Namibia	Kotze = 18  Kotze = 18  Murgatroyd = 17	Louw = 7
Scotland	Hoffmann = 19 Coetzer = 18	Butt = 6 Nel = 3
UAE	Batuwitarachchi = 30 Mylvaganam = 21 Zarawani = 20	Ali = 3 Rai = 3

Thanks. And welcome ur suggestions always :)


END NOTES :

• Qazi has 22 points which is 5.5 points per letter. that is the highest average.
• All hyphened names (Fleetwood-Smith, Twentyman-Jones) are omitted
• The first name of Jeyaprakashdaran has 16 letters which makes it impossible to make on a scrabble board. (Thanks to MJ for pointing the error)

Andrew Hilditch's comment on each Australian spinner (republished)

This article reflects about how Aussie management (Hilditch and co.) responded at each change of the spin cycle In Blue it shows the comment when he was choosen. In red it shows the comment when he was dropped

Is it over???????

Beau Casson

"We have taken the opportunity to take a young spinner and by far the best performed of these during the Australian summer has been Beau Casson,"

"I don't think there was an X factor,""Finger spinners have had some success over there and that's what they've decided to do."

Brad Hogg

"Brad deserves the opportunity to once again represent Australia in Test cricket,""Test cricket is generally better with a make-up of a quality spinner, particularly going into a third, fourth or fifth day,"  Brad Hogg will do an excellent job if he is chosen."
    

Cameron White

"We feel that Cameron's right-arm legspin and experience in Indian conditions, where he has just returned after captaining the Australia A one-day team to a tournament victory, is the correct option and will provide a good balance to our slow bowling attack"Cameron's bowling has continued to improve over the past year at inter-state level and his powerful batting adds extra depth and versatility to the squad."Cameron has performed well in Australian colours since his return to the one-day international squad earlier this year and he has now been rewarded with inclusion in the Test squad.

Jason Krezja

"He has been excellent. He is a good part of the group and has worked hard to learn about the Indian conditions. He will be obviously the front runner for the Test series. It's a brilliant position for him to be.

Unfortunately Jason did not bowl as well as we, or I am sure he, would have liked during this tour and therefore he has not been rewarded with selection."

Bryce McGain

"[Bryce] is the premier legspin bowler in Australia, there's absolutely no question about that.  He's 36 years of age and the reality is he's still fairly young in cricketing terms and we think he'll do a really good job."  

Nathan Hauritz

"We'll keep our fingers crossed and hope he comes up, but at the moment we think that it's likely that Hauritz will play ahead of him

"Nathan Hauritz is one of these players omitted and he can consider himself unlucky as his Australian record has been very good over the past 12 months,"

Xavier Doherty

"However the panel believes the left-arm orthodox variety Xavier Doherty provides against a predominantly right-handed English middle order is the better option in this game."

Steven Smith

"The big thing with him is his willingness to continually throw the ball up there and get them to drive. If he gets smacked back over his head for six, he's not frightened to try and land it in the rough again. That's a skill or a confidence that doesn't come along easily whether you're 30 or 20.

"We really think the best thing for him, and Australian cricket, is that he [first] cements his position in the short forms of the game and plays some more Shield cricket, and gets better at both those skills. I think it's important that people realise that we're hardly moving away from him."

Michael Beer

"Michael is a left-arm orthodox spinner who has been very impressive at domestic level this year. He took wickets against England in the tour match earlier this summer and we expect he will bowl very well against the English on his home ground."

Nathan Lyon

"But from our perspective we're very confident that he's ready. He's a very talented spin-bowler, he's had a meteoric rise. It was one of the great parts of my job to call him this morning and tell him he's got the opportunity to play for Australia.

"I've done most of my time voluntarily and I enjoyed that process. It's wonderful to be able to do those sort of things. If it continues that's great, because I'm very fortunate - Andrew Hilditch