Khalid "Billy" Ibadulla (20 December 1935 – 12 July 2024) was a Pakistani-New Zealander

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

er, cricket coach and

umpire An umpire is an official in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The term derives from the Old French , , and , : (as evidenced in cricke ...

who later worked as a cricket commentator for

TVNZ Television New Zealand (, "Te Reo Tātaki" meaning "The Leading Voice"), more commonly referred to as TVNZ, is a New Zealand state-owned media company and Crown entity. The company operates a television network, streaming service, and news se ...

. He represented

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

four times at Test match level between 1964 and 1967, and was the first Pakistani to play in the

County Championship The County Championship, currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Rothesay County Championship, is the only domestic first-class cricket competition in England and Wales. Established in 1890, it is organised by the England and Wales Cri ...

. Khalid Ibadulla was born in

Lahore Lahore ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, second-largest city in Pakistan, after Karachi, and ...

, the youngest of six children. His father, Masood, had been a noted hockey player. He was introduced to cricket at the

Lahore Gymkhana Club The Lahore Gymkhana Club is a gentleman's and sports club, founded in 1878 in Lahore, Pakistan. It offers sports facilities, including golf, swimming, cricket, squash, tennis, billiards, and a gymnasium, and organizes family concerts, lectur ...

by his elder brother, and was attracted by the aesthetic beauty of the game. At Mozang High School, he was coached by former first-class

wicket-keeper In cricket, the wicket-keeper is the Cricket player, player on the fielding (cricket), fielding side who stands behind the wicket, ready to stop Delivery (cricket), deliveries that pass the batsman, and take a Caught, catch, Stumped, stump the ...

Nissar Ahmed.

First-class career

After a few matches in Pakistan, where he made his first-class debut at the age of 16, Ibadulla played most of his cricket as a professional for

Warwickshire County Cricket Club Warwickshire County Cricket Club is one of eighteen first-class cricket, first-class county cricket, county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the Historic counties of England, historic county of ...

in England. He played for the side "with much distinction and no little charm" between 1954 and 1972, mostly as an opening batsman, and made over 400 top-level appearances for the county. He made 1,000 runs in a

season six times, with a highest tally of 2,098 runs in 1962. His top score of 171 was made against

Oxford University The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...

in 1961.Billy Ibadulla
CricketArchive. Retrieved 14 July 2024. He was also a useful and economical medium-pace change bowler, with best figures of 7 for 22 against

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It borders Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, and South Yorkshire to the north, Nottinghamshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south-east, Staffordshire to the south a ...

at Chesterfield in 1967. In the first four seasons of the Gillette Cup, he took more wickets than any other Warwickshire bowler, and had the best

economy rate In cricket, a bowler's economy rate is the average number of runs they have conceded per over bowled. In most circumstances, the lower the economy rate is, the better the bowler is performing. It is one of a number of statistics used to compar ...

. On a flat

Oval An oval () is a closed curve in a plane which resembles the outline of an egg. The term is not very specific, but in some areas of mathematics (projective geometry, technical drawing, etc.), it is given a more precise definition, which may inc ...

pitch in 1960 Ibadulla scored an unbeaten 170 for Warwickshire against

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

, and put on 377 with

Norman Horner Norman Frederick Horner (10 May 1926 – 24 December 2003) was an English first-class cricketer, who played two games for Yorkshire County Cricket Club in 1950, before moving to Warwickshire County Cricket Club in 1951. A right-handed batsman, ...

for the first wicket on the first day, then the highest unbroken opening partnership in cricket history. He played for

Otago Otago (, ; ) is a regions of New Zealand, region of New Zealand located in the southern half of the South Island and administered by the Otago Regional Council. It has an area of approximately , making it the country's second largest local go ...

from 1964–65 to 1966–67, and moved to New Zealand in 1976, living in

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; ) is the second-most populous city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from ("fort of Edin"), the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of S ...

and working as a cricket coach.

Test career

Although he had not played domestic first-class cricket in Pakistan for more than 10 years, Ibadulla was selected to play in the single Test against the visiting

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Aus ...

s in

Karachi Karachi is the capital city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Sindh, Pakistan. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, largest city in Pakistan and 12th List of largest cities, largest in the world, with a popul ...

in October 1964. Opening the batting, he became the first Pakistan player to score a century on debut, before being dismissed at

stumps In cricket, the stumps are the three vertical posts that support the bails and form the wicket. '' Stumping'' or ''being stumped'' is a method of dismissing a batsman. The umpire ''calling stumps'' means the play is over for the day. Part of ...

for 166 after five and a half hours.Pakistan v Australia, ''

Wisden Cricketers' Almanack ''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack'', or simply ''Wisden'', colloquially the Bible of Cricket, is a cricket reference book published annually in the United Kingdom. The description "Bible of cricket" (or variations thereof) has been applied to ''Wi ...

'', 1965.
Available online
at

CricInfo ESPNcricinfo (formerly known as Cricinfo or CricInfo) is a Sports journalism, sports news website exclusively for the game of cricket. The site features news, articles, live coverage of cricket matches (including Liveblogging, liveblogs and sco ...

. Retrieved 14 July 2024.) The opening partnership of 249 with

Abdul Kadir Abd al-Qadir or Abdulkadir () is a male Muslim given name. It is formed from the Arabic words '' Abd'', ''al-'' and '' Qadir''. The name means 'servant of who can do everything'. ''Al-Qādir'' is one of the names of Allah in the Qur'an, which ...

(95) is the highest in Test cricket for any wicket to involve two Test debutants and set a new record for Pakistan's highest Test match opening wicket partnership. He declined an invitation to go on the subsequent tours of Australia and

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

, as the Pakistan authorities were unable to offer him the professional rates he was accustomed to, and he and coaching. He made 43 and 102 not out and took four wickets for Otago when they played the Pakistanis, and was later called up by Pakistan for the . He was also called into the Pakistan side for two Tests during their 1967 tour of England after dismissing the captain,

Hanif Mohammad Hanif Mohammad PP (21 December 1934 – 11 August 2016) was a Pakistani cricketer. He played for the Pakistani cricket team in 55 Test matches between the 1952–53 season and the 1969–70 season. He averaged 43.98, scoring twelve centu ...

, for a

duck Duck is the common name for numerous species of waterfowl in the family (biology), family Anatidae. Ducks are generally smaller and shorter-necked than swans and goose, geese, which are members of the same family. Divided among several subfam ...

while playing for Warwickshire against the touring side. He made only 47 runs in four innings and took one wicket in the first two Tests, and was not selected in the Test team again. Ibadulla holds the record of playing most first-class games (217) before making a Test debut for Pakistan.

Later career

Ibadulla coached some of

's top cricketers, including

Glenn Turner Glenn Maitland Turner (born 26 May 1947) played cricket for New Zealand and was one of the country's most prolific batsmen. He played domestically for Otago for most of his career and played in England for Worcestershire County Cricket Club ...

, Ken Rutherford and

Chris Cairns Christopher Lance Cairns (born 13 June 1970) is a former New Zealand cricketer and former ODI captain, who played for the New Zealand cricket team as an all-rounder. Cairns finished his Test career with a batting average of 33.53 and a bowling ...

. He also taught briefly at

St Dunstan's College St Dunstan's College is a coeducation, co-educational Private schools in the United Kingdom, private day school in Catford, south-east London, England. It is a registered charity, and a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference ...

in London, as a Physical Education teacher in the early 1970s. He was member of the

BBC Radio BBC Radio is an operational business division and service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a royal charter since 1927. The service provides national radio stations cove ...

commentary team for ''

Test Match Special ''Test Match Special'' (also known as ''TMS'') is a British sports radio programme, originally, as its name implies, dealing exclusively with Test cricket matches, but currently covering any professional cricket. The programme is available on BB ...

'' when Pakistan toured England in 1974. He umpired first-class cricket in England in 1982 and 1983. In the 2004 Queen's Birthday Honours, Ibadulla was appointed a

Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit The New Zealand Order of Merit () is an order of merit in the New Zealand royal honours system. It was established by royal warrant on 30 May 1996 by Elizabeth II, Queen of New Zealand, "for those persons who in any field of endeavour, have ...

, for services to cricket. Ibadulla was the subject of a long-running error in the ''

Wisden ''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack'', or simply ''Wisden'', colloquially the Bible of Cricket, is a cricket reference book published annually in the United Kingdom. The description "Bible of cricket" (or variations thereof) has been applied to ''Wi ...

'' records section. He was out

handled the ball Handled the ball was formerly one of the methods of dismissing a batter in the sport of cricket, but was integrated into the Law on obstructing the field when the Laws of Cricket were rewritten in 2017. It dictated that either batter can be gi ...

at Courtaulds,

Coventry Coventry ( or rarely ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands county, in England, on the River Sherbourne. Coventry had been a large settlement for centurie ...

in 1963 when playing for Warwickshire against

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...

and not

obstructing the field Obstructing the field is one of the ten methods of dismissing a batsman in the sport of cricket. Either batsman can be given out if he wilfully attempts to obstruct or distract the fielding side by word or action. It is Law 37 of the Laws of ...

as reported in the 1964 ''Wisdens report of the game .

Personal life

Ibadulla, a Christian, met his German-born wife, Gertrud Delfs, in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

, where they married 1959. They had two daughters and a son, Kassem. In the 1993 general election, he stood in the

Dunedin West Dunedin West was a New Zealand parliamentary electorate, in the city of Dunedin. It existed for three periods between 1881 and 1996 and was represented by seven Members of Parliament. Population centres The previous electoral redistribution was ...

electorate for the

New Zealand First New Zealand First (), commonly abbreviated to NZ First or NZF, is a political party in New Zealand, founded and led by Winston Peters, who has served three times as Deputy Prime Minister of New Zealand, deputy prime minister. The party has form ...

party, and came fourth out of six candidates. He died in Dunedin on 12 July 2024, at the age of 88.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ibadulla, Billy 1935 births 2024 deaths New Zealand cricketers New Zealand cricket coaches New Zealand cricket umpires New Zealand cricket commentators New Zealand people of Punjabi descent Otago cricketers Tasmania cricketers Warwickshire cricketers Pakistani expatriate cricketers in England Commonwealth XI cricketers International Cavaliers cricketers Cricketers from Dunedin Pakistani emigrants to New Zealand Pakistani cricketers Pakistan Test cricketers Pakistani cricket coaches Pakistani cricket umpires Pakistani cricket commentators Cricketers who made a century on Test debut Punjab (Pakistan) cricketers Cricketers from Lahore Pakistani expatriates in Australia Pakistani expatriates in England Pakistani Christians New Zealand Christians Members of the New Zealand Order of Merit Unsuccessful candidates in the 1993 New Zealand general election