Derek Randall

Firstclass career

Randall first came to note as a cover fielder, as one day cricket forced fielding standards upwards. His run out of Gordon Greenidge in the 1979 Cricket World Cup final highlighted this, and his partnership with David Gower was a feature of the successful England team of the immediate post-Packer era. Known for his eccentric movement at the crease, Randall was a determined batsman, specialising in hooks, pulls, cuts and cover drives, the former being used most memorably against Dennis Lillee in the Centenary Test in Melbourne in 1977 when he made 174, the highest Test score by any Nottinghamshire batsman in the history of Test cricket.

After learning his cricket at Retford Cricket Club, Randall made his Nottinghamshire second XI debut in 1969, and his first-class debut against Essex at the end of May 1972, scoring 78 from number eight in the batting order with the next highest score being Garry Sobers 32. He won plaudits for his talent in the covers, won his Nottinghamshire cap in 1973 and went on to score 28,456 runs in all first-class cricket. Randall batted for the successful Nottinghamshire team of the early 1980s, winning the County Championship.

With his team needing eighteen to win from the final over of the 1985 NatWest Trophy final, he hit sixteen from the first five balls, only to be caught in the outfield from the final delivery.

He compiled fifty two hundreds in all, and made 209 and 146 in the same game against Middlesex in 1979, a feat unequalled at Trent Bridge. He scored 1,000 runs in a season eight times, took 361 catches and 13 wickets at 31.00. His first-class bowling strike rate of 37 balls per wicket, compared well to Richard Hadlees 45. He was popular with the crowds, who found his enthusiastic fielding and comic antics entertaining. He was famous for running, rather than walking, towards the batsman in the covers as the bowler delivered the ball and was responsible for many run outs.

International career

During the Centenary Test, Randall scored 174 at Melbourne, against an Australian attack led by Dennis Lillee. He famously doffed his cap to Lillee, after narrowly evading a savage bouncer, stating "No point in hitting me there mate, Theres nothing in it". When finally dismissed he left the ground by the wrong gate, and found himself climbing up towards the Royal enclosure where Queen Elizabeth II was watching the days play. "She was very nice about it," he told the BBC. "She smiled. Someone else quickly put me right."

He took the catch which clinched the Ashes in 1977 at Headingley, turning a cartwheel in celebration. Randall performed well against Australia, with the next tour in 1978/79 bringing a 5–1 Ashes win and two man of the match performances for Randall. His knock of 150 in a series dominated by fast bowlers being the highlight. Randall scored centuries against New Zealand and India, and one from the position of opener against Pakistan, but he struggled against the West Indian attack of 1984, when he was asked to bat at number three in the first Test match of the summer, never to return.