The popular scoop shot in limited over cricket was played nearly 100 years ago

By K.R. Nayar  

Next time you see the scoop shot being played, remember that it dates back to over 100 years. Though the stroke is popularly called Dilscoop after Sri Lankan batsman Tillakaratne Dilshan, there are many who have played this stroke but did not get the credit for it

Tillakaratne Dilshan plays his scoop shot. Photo: YouTube

Today (April 24) is the day when Sachin Tendulkar, the master of almost all the strokes in cricket, was born. All his strokes were from the coaching manual and he played them to perfection.  This is also the day when Dougie Marillier, a not-so-famous Zimbabwean cricketer was born. Very few may know that he had a stroke named after him called the ‘Marillier shot.’ This was a lap-scoop over the wicketkeeper played against fast bowlers.

Whenever we watch or talk about scoop shots, the cricketer who comes to our mind is Sri Lankan batsman Tillakaratne Dilshan. His scoop shot became so popular that it was named the ‘Dilscoop’ unlike the Marillier shot. Dilscoop got really popular after he played it during the 2009 T20 World Cup in England.

The 'Marillier shot' was played to win a match in March 2oo2 during a Zimbabwe-India One-day match at Faridabad. Coming out to bat at No.10, Marillier scooped the ball over the wicketkeeper’s head many times to pick boundaries. He hit an unbeaten 56 off 24 balls and gave Zimbabwe a stunning one-wicket win. Since cricket writers were not sure what to call this stroke, they referred to it as the ‘Doughie shot.’  Marillier, who was 23 years old then, had stunned the Sourav Ganguly-led Indian team on Indian soil.

Dougie Marillier during his knock against India. Photo: YouTube 

Incidentally, Marillier played this shot for the first time against the legendary pacer Glenn McGrath during a triangular series in 2001 in Australia involving Zimbabwe, Australia, and West Indies.  Chasing Australia's score of 302 for 5, Marillier came out to bat at No. 7 when Zimbabwe needed 14 runs to win the match. Marillier moved across to the first and third deliveries from McGrath and scooped them over his shoulder for boundaries. Unfortunately, he could not take his team to the target as Zimbabwe lost the match by one run and he remained unbeaten on 12.

Marillier was a fighter and was an accurate right-arm off-spinner. He did not get the fame he deserved for his innovative shots and bravery. Once at the Sharjah cricket stadium during the Khaleej Times Trophy, he hit a fighting unbeaten 52 against Sri Lanka in October 2001. I am fortunate to have reported his only One Day International century against Kenya on April 5, 2003, in the Cherry Blossom Sharjah Cup. He had opened the innings in that match.

Brian Langford. Photo: Somerset County 

Coming back to scoop shots, during an interview with Dilshan at Sharjah, he had mentioned to me that he'd invented his scoop shots while playing tennis ball cricket on the streets.  Interestingly, even before Marillier and Dilshan, the scoop shot was played by Somerset captain Brian Langford in an English county match in Glastonbury in 1962. People laughed it off then and it did not catch headlines. Langford was essentially an off-spinner who batted at the No.9 slot. It is also said that an Australian Test batsman Sammy Carter used to play scoop shots nearly 100 years ago between 1878 and 1948.  Those days, his shot was not described as a scoop but as a stroke to hoick balls over his left shoulder.

Sammy Carter

With the Indian Premier League in full swing, one always sees players hitting shots that are not in any coaching manual. So, the next time you see the scoop shot, remember Carter, Langford, and Marillier too along with Dilshan.