Allan Robert Border the former Australian cricket captain who also once held the record of scoring maximum runs in test cricket was nicknamed as “A.B.”. He played 156 Test matches for Australian side, a record that was passed by fellow Australian Steve Waugh. This left hand batsman also achieved sporadic success as a part time left arm orthodox spinner and had amassed 11,174 Test runs including 27 centuries.

Born in Cremorne, a North Shore suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Border Border

became part of the under-age cricket teams and also played for Mosman Baseball Club, where he developed his fielding and horizontal bat shots. Border made hisTest debut by scoring 29 and was run out for a duck in the second innings while attempting a single.

His first Ashes tour was in 1981 where Border established his position in the squad. Sir Leonard Hutton called him the best left-handed batsman in the world and resulted in his selection as one of the Wisden Cricketers of the Year in 1982.

Allan Border became the captain of the Australian team in 1984-85 season against West Indies in Adelaide, which Australia lost the match, which was followed by draw. The tide turned somewhat when draw, and then a win in the last two Tests.

The victory in the 1987 World Cup proved to be a turning point and heralded the start of more prosperous times for Border. In 1987–88, under his captaincy, Kangaroos defeated New Zealand for its first Test series victory in four years.

Border’s first Ashes win as captain came in 1989. Australia won 4–0, its first victory in a Test series abroad since 1977. Australia reinforced its superiority over England with a convincing 3–0 win in the 1990–91 Ashes series.Border finished his long lasting career by leading the first Australian team to play a Test series against South Africa after their return to international cricket.

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Philip Veraint Simmons, popularly known as Phil Simmons was an important part of the West Indies cricket team for a long time. Born on April 18, 1963 in Trinidad, this skilled all-rounder played as an opening batsman a useful bowler and a talented slip fielder for the Carrebean side. He played cricket for a number of First-class sides in the West Indies and England as well as international cricket for the West Indian cricket team and was voted a Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1997.

Simmons had an outstanding career in First-class cricket with an average of 35.61 with the bat and 28.68 with the ball. In the 1996

season, he accumulated 1244 runs and took 56 wickets and 35 catches with Leicestershire, helping his side to win the County Championship of the year for only the second time in their history. But like many cricketers before him, Simmons found the transition to Test level difficult, even though he proved more adept to at the international one day game.

His international career failed to get off to the most auspicious start. Simmons in his debut match against Gloucestershire in 1988 was struck on the head by a fast ball from David Lawrence in bad light at Bristol. His heart stopped functioning and had to undergo emergency surgery at Frenchay hospital, from which he recovered fully.

Simmons retired from international cricket in 2002 but continued to be involved in the sport as a coach. His was appointed as the head coach to the Zimbabwe cricket team in 2004. But this was a hard job due to the mass dismissal of most of the senior players. He found himself having to defend the Test status of his country after an appalling losing streak, including a loss to Bangladesh who were widely seen as the worst Test side in the world. Simmons was sacked under farcical conditions in August 2005. Simmons succeeded Adrian Birrell as coach of the Ireland National Cricket Team after the 2007 ICC Cricket World Cup.

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