Numbers on cricket shirts

[rock1873]

what are the numbers on the front of cricket test shirts ???

[paddywak]

I've seen it answered some where that an England player wears the number denoting his selection number i.e if a player wears the number 789 he is the seven hundred and eighty ninth player selected for to Play for England If I remember correctly the example given was that W.G.Grace would have worn No 2 on his shirt

[rock1873]

Thanks Paddy
I thought it might have been that.

Just watching the Ashes, having to hold my Aussie wife down !!!!!

[Admarlow.]

rock, give you wife my commiserations

[paddywak]

no problems rock, if I'd not seen it previously I wouldn't have known. I too would like to add mycommiserations to your wife, they tried hard----but not hard enough

[Philtaz]

Just to add my two pennorth worth, they also have the number on their official caps if you look closely.

[Buzzie]

I have a feeling that the number on the cap is not the players number, it is the number of games they have played. Don't think they get a different one for EVERY game but each 10 or something.

I'm prepared to be shouted down on this but I have a vague recollection of Nasser Hussein explaining this on TV a while back

[toonmilo]

Buzzie, you are wrong, the others are right. Its the order in which caps were given out. If more than one person made their debut in the same game, then the earlier number would be issued to the players surname thats comes first in the alphabet.

11 players made their debut in the first ever match in the 1800's

[toonmilo]

http://www.ecb.co.uk/news/england/england-play er-numbers,321,BP.html is where you can find the link. Click on it and it will give you tabs in excel form to jump between test, ODI and Twenty20.

Wg Grace is No.24 by the way :o)

[Philtaz]

To be fair, Buzzie is correct to a certain degree. I also recall Nasser Hussain giving an explanation about the numbers on the caps. The player's selection number was on the side or back. The other number (under the ECB badge at the front if I remember correctly) denoted the number of caps for that player, however it was only the significant numbers i.e. if you'd played for England 50 times you had 50 on your cap.
If you had currently played 74, you kept the number 50 on your cap until the next milestone of 100, were you lucky/good enough to have been selected that many times.
Hope that clears things up a little!