Meet cricketers with nicknames like Monkey, Big Dog, Python and Skull

By K.R. Nayar

Nicknames of cricketers are fascinating. After a few students once asked me about other names given to cricketers, I decided to keep track of them and was shocked to learn that some of them were are also known by their nicknames as Monkey, Big Dog, Tadpole, and a few scary ones like Python, Skull, and Bomber.

Monkey A.N. Hornby

I was once invited to judge a quiz competition organised by a school in Dubai. Since cricket is popular among students, there were many questions related to cricket. After the quiz, a few youngsters decided to test my knowledge, especially on nicknames of cricketers. Frankly, I was nervous whether I would be able to respond correctly to all their questions. Fortunately, most of the ones they asked were of popular cricketers like Ricky Ponting who is nicknamed Punter, Anil Kumble (Jumbo), Brian Lara (Prince), Sourav Ganguly (Dada and Prince of Kolkata), Ian Botham (Beefy) and Virat Kohli (Chikku).

After that day, I decided to keep a track of all nicknames of cricketers and actually make a note of them. I enjoyed doing that because some of them were really funny and creative, and required brilliant imagination to create them.

Whenever I’ve reported a breezy innings from South African hard-hitter David Miller, I made sure to mention his nickname Killer ... in a way that Killer Miller was in a mercilessly murderous mood. Most of Shahid Afridi’s sixers went along with his nickname ‘Boom Boom.’ 

 Many cricketers had names of animals as their nicknames. At times I felt that some of them could be humiliating as well. Of course there were the big names like former Indian captain Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi who loved being called Tiger and Clive Lloyd who was proud to be called  Super Cat. 

 Now imagine a cricketer who was referred to as Monkey. England and Lancashire player Albert Neilsen Hornby, who played between 1867 and 1906, was popularly known as Monkey Hornby. He was named so because of the excess of energy he displayed as a cricketer while batting. bowling and fielding despite being small in stature.  He was also a good rugby player, and captained England in both rugby and cricket. He was a fine athlete, played soccer, excelled in boxing and was an outstanding horseman.

Once while playing for Lancashire in 1873, he ran ten runs off a single ball.  He is also one of the three bowlers who have a Test cricket bowling average of zero because in the seven overs he bowled against Australia in 1879, he never gave away a single run but took one wicket. 

Hornby's grave at St Mary's churchyard at Acton

Hornby captained Lancashire for 20 years and the players in his team did not dare address him Monkey; instead they called him “the Boss”. Then that too became his nickname. Despite being known as Monkey, he married a wealthy lady, Ada Sarah Ingram, daughter of Herbert Ingram who founded “The Illustrated London News”. In Nantwich, there’s a road called Hornby Drive.  He died in 1925 at the age of 78 and his grave at St. Mary’s churchyard at Acton has cricket stumps, a bat, and a ball engraved on it.

 The great South African brothers Peter Pollock and Graeme Pollock are called Big Dog and Little Dog respectively. Peter once explained how he was given the nickname. He was only 17 years old when he played for Eastern Province. Since his voice hadn’t broken yet, his appeal sounded like a dog barking. A cricketer named Atholl McKinnon gave him the nickname Dog. Then when his brother Graeme too became a cricketer, Peter's nickname changed to Big Dog. Graeme was then called Little Dog.  Peter Pollock titled his autobiography God's Fast Bowler.

Peter Pollock's autobiography 

Dave Mohammad, a left-arm spinner, who played for West Indies between 2004 and 2008 was name Tadpole, which is the tailed aquatic larva of a frog, toad, newt, or salamander. Mohammad himself has revealed that as a child he enjoyed catching fish and would play with tadpoles for long hours. That’s how the name ‘Tadpole’ stuck to him. 

Then there are cricketers with nicknames that can scare you. England spinner Monty Panesar is called Python. He landed up with that name when commentator Henry Blofeld accidentally referred to him as Monty Python.  Australian cricketer Kerry O’Keeffe is often referred to as Skull when someone named him after the 1960’s Canadian wrestler Skull Murphy. He accepted that name and even named his autobiography “According to Skull.”

Kerry O'Keeffe's autobiography  

Australian Mike Hussey is popularly called Mr Cricket, but then he was also called Bomber when he excelled in Twenty20 cricket. This was because he would hit his shots into the crowd and get spectators ducking. Imagine if a cricket fan decides to call out to Hussey by his nickname Bomber at the airport!