There is no age to debut and make an international appearance, you should never give up on your passion and always try to fight for it, even if it takes you 50 years, giving up on your dream will not satisfy you in life, cricketers we are going to talk about played 20 years of first class cricketer before landing an international match.
1. James Southerton
James Southerton was England's right-hand batter and slow-arm bowler, who is the oldest cricketer to make a test debut at the age of 49 years and 119 days in 1877, this record can barely be broken again. He scored 7 runs and took 7 wickets in 2 matches he played for England, his first-class career was excellent where he took 1682 wickets and scored 3159 runs.
2. Miran Bakhsh
Miran Bakhsh was a Pakistan all-rounder, who is the second oldest cricketer to make a test debut in history, he debuted against India in Lahore in 1954 in his last season in first class when he got the chance to play for his national team but it was just short lived, he just played 2 matches and scored a single run and took 2 wickets for his side.
3. Nolan Clarke
Nolan Clarke was a Netherlands opening batter who got his first chance in international cricket at 47 years of age, he got this chance in the 1996 World Cup to shine but could not do much about it and just played five matches in tests and 26 matches in ODI for his side.
4. Don Blackie
Don Blackie was an Australia right-arm bowler who was known for his variations to spin the bowl and the accuracy he used to bowl with, he could not get enough chances with the first one coming at 46 years of age against England in 1928, he just played three matches and took 14 wickets.
5. Bert Ironmonger
Bert Ironmonger was also an Australian slow left-arm unorthodox bowler known for his remarkable performance for Australia when he played against South Africa where he took 31 wickets in the series, but he got his chance much before this when he was 45 years of age against England in 1928, he couldn’t do much in his career after that due to his age but he ended his career with 74 wickets in 14 matches he played.
6. Norman Gifford
Norman Gifford was an England slow left-arm bowler who made his ODI debut at 45 against England when he captained them in a tri-series with England, Australia, and Pakistan. He did well in the two ODIs he played where he took four wickets for his team.
7. Rustom Jamshedji
Rustom Jamshedji was an Indian slow left-arm bowler, he was the oldest test debutant for India at 41 years of age when he played England in 1933 in Mumbai and took three wickets in his first innings, but he could not get any more chance to display his talents.
8. Lennie Louw
Lennis Louw was a Namibian left-arm bowler who could bowl both fast and spin, he played 27 years of first-class before landing an opportunity in international cricket, and he got the chance to play for Nambia in the only ODI he played in the 2003 World Cup where he took a wicket for 60 runs.
9. Flavian Aponso
Flavian Aponso was a Sri- Lanks born Netherlands player who had just five matches for the Netherlands before retiring from international cricket, he got his first chance in the 1996 world cup and retired after participating. He took two wickets and scored 120 runs for his side.
10. Rockley Wilson
Rockley Wilson was an England right-arm bowler, who made his debut against Australia in 1921 when he was 41. He took three wickets and scored ten runs in his only match for his side, but he was incredibly successful in domestic cricket where he took 467 wickets in 136 matches.
