Dominic Cork rekindles Lord’s memories, 25 years after sensational debut

It has been exactly 25 years to the day (June 22, 1995) when a bustling young all-rounder Dominic Cork burst on to the Test arena. There could be none more an ideal place than Lord’s to be handed a first Test cap as Dominic Cork ended a three-year wait since his ODI debut to make a mark in the longest format of the game.

The Lord’s Test against West Indies turned out to be fascinating fairytale as Dominic Cork picked up 7/43 in the second innings of the game to bowl England to a 72-run win over Richie Richardson’s side.

“I have just great memories of my Test debut at Lord’s and it’s exactly 25 years to this day. I took three years to break into the Test side after my ODI debut in 1992. It was a wonderful occasion against a team like the West Indies and there’s no bigger Test venue than Lord’s,” Dominic Cork told Sportskeeda during an exclusive interview on Monday (June 22).

“Of course, I would have loved to play more of Test cricket but 37 Tests is also not bad. Making my debut against the West Indies and all the success that I got against them was the ultimate accolade but I loved playing against other teams too like South Africa, India, Pakistan and Australia,” Dominic Cork, who played his final Test against India at the Oval in 2002, said.

Just a year later, Dominic Cork was part of another memorable game at the Lord’s and this time it was against India. Two gentleman – Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid – made memorable debuts and became part of cricketing folklore.

“Both Ganguly and Dravid were seriously talented batsmen and up there with the best that have played the game. Even before the Lord’s game, I had in fact bowled to them when they were part of the India ‘A’ side and I was touring with the England ‘A’ team. Ganguly and Dravid batted wonderfully during the ‘A’ games as well,” Dominic Cork said.

“Both of them were superb timers of the ball. Dravid, who was later known as the ‘Wall’ was just tight and compact, in the Michael Atherton mould. Ganguly was all flourish and timing as well elegant in the middle,” the 48-year-old said about the memorable Lord’s Test in 1996.

Test cricket though will return in England in a very different avatar caused due to the Coronavirus pandemic. England will face West Indies in a three-Test series beginning in July at ‘bio-secure’ venues at Ageas Bowl in Hampshire and Old Trafford in Lancashire – both of which have on-site hotels.

The Tests matches will be held without any crowd, which has become increasingly necessary in the current environment. Top tennis stars Borna Coric and Grigor Dimitrov are the biggest names to test positive for Covid-19 after both had appeared in exhibition tour called Adria Tour was organized by Novak Djokovic.