Carry the bat

In cricket, the term carry the bat (or carry one's bat) refers to an opening batsman who is not dismissed ("not out") when the team innings is closed. The term is usually only used when the innings is closed as a result of all other 10 players being dismissed ("out"), not when an opening batsman remains "in" when the team's innings is declared closed, or the game ends when because the batting team wins, or the match is drawn because time runs out.

Carrying one's bat is a relatively rare occurrence. In Test cricket, a batsman has carried his bat only 42 times in over 1,800 Test matches, the first being South African Bernard Tancred in 1889, and the most recent being Indian Virender Sehwag at the Galle in 2008. In One Day International cricket, the feat has been achieved only 8 times when the other 10 batsmen have been dismissed, but a further 60 times when a team has completed its allocation of overs.

In first-class cricket, a batsman has carried his bat twice in the same match, through both of his team's innings, on only 6 occasions. A further 4 batsman have carried the bat in one innings and been last out in the other. None of these instances was in a Test match, but West Indian Desmond Haynes was last out in both innings in a Test, the only such instance in first-class cricket.

References

* [http://www.cricinfo.com/db/STATS/TESTS/BATTING/CARRYING_BAT.html List of Test batsmen who have carried their bat] from Cricinfo
* [http://www.cricinfo.com/db/STATS/ODIS/BATTING/ODI_CARRYING_BAT.html List of ODI batsmen who have carried their bat] from Cricinfo
* [http://web.archive.org/web/20070623145944/http://www.cricinfo.com/db/STATS/FC/BATTING/BAT_CARRY_BAT_TWICE.html List of first-class batsmen who have carried their bat twice in the same match] from Cricinfo