The Reverse Sweep

Vernon Philander, Vinod Kambli and hitting the ground running

Vernon Philander would be forgiven for thinking Test cricket isn't that difficult after all having snared 24 wickets at a George Lohmann-esque average of 12 in his first three Tests.

Included in his swag bag are four five wicket hauls, which is already one more than Andrew Flintoff managed in his entire Test career. The equivalent for a batsman would be four centuries in his first six Test innings, which is certainly mightily impressive.

However, a number of cricketers have made lightning starts to their Test careers only to fade into oblivion soon after.

For instance Philander would do well to heed the story of Vinod Kambli, who burst onto the Test scene with two double hundred, two further hundreds and an average of 113 from his first seven Tests. But Kambli's fast start proved to be the falsest of false dawn and his career ebbed away as quickly as it started. 

Philander looks a good bet to sustain his excellent start and appears to be the final cog in a potent looking South African bowling attack. With Somerset giving him a leg-up to prepare for the series with England later next summer, the name Vernon Philander could soon be on the lips of every England batsman.

Where next?

Vinod Kambli - An unfulfilled career

An XI of Test one cap wonders

No bowlers, no chance for Sri Lanka

Australia - The Great Entertainers

Check out all our Reverse Sweep cricket heroes and zeroes 

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Zeroes: Vinod Kambli

In February 1988, two schoolboys amassed a world-record 664 run partnership. One was a 16 year old Sachin Tendulkar, the other was Vinod Kambli, who one year older actually outscored the Little Master with 349 not out to Sachin's unbeaten 326.

It seems incredible now, but at the time many observers believed that Kambli was the most talented of the two. And it is the reckless abandonment of talent and serial indiscipline that makes Kambli a Reverse Sweep zero - if only because if we had even half of that talent we could have allied hard work to it and had a decent test career.

Kambli followed his fellow world-beater into the Indian side in 1993 at the age of 21 and proceeded to start his test career like a new Don Bradman. In his first seven tests he hit two double hundreds and two other hundreds and had an average of 113. It was all downhill from there though.

He was to feature in only another ten test matches, playing his last at the age of 23 and by then his average had slipped to a still creditable but now mortal 54.20. Kambli also featured in the one day side, from which he was dropped and recalled nine times before playing his last ODI in 2000.

Hilariously, he retired from international cricket nine years later. Has there ever been a clearer case of the horse having already bolted before the stable door was closed?

Kambli carried on playing first-class cricket until 2005 and finished with an average of a tick under 60. As we said, an extremely talented cricketer.

We wonder how he feels every time he watches Tendulkar score another test or one day hundred? Does he have regrets and just how many times has he kicked himself? 

Kambli's love of 'bling' extended into a failed Bollywood career and he has since tried to become a politician, but failed to win the seat he was contesting in 2009.

Vinod Kambli, the batsman who could have had everything but threw it all away and having failed in showbusiness and politics too is a deserving Reverse Sweep zero.

Where next?

Zeroes: Shoaib Malik

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The IPL XI of the 2010 Tournament