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June 1998:

Brian Lara: He was to 1994 what Tendulkar is to 1998. If that is so, then this is what we can expect from SRT in June 2002:
21 v Somerset, 16 & 0 v Gloucestershire, 0 (out of 490) v Sussex, 15 in the AXA League v Sussex, and 25 v Lancashire. Yes, Brian Charles the 501 Man scored 77 runs at 12.83 in all matches in June. His captaincy in the Lancashire game cannot be underestimated. In an effort to force a result in a rain-affected match he took the new ball himself in Lancashire's first innings and conceded 0/24 from two overs of declaration bowling, and then forfeited Warwickshire's second innings. Result: Lancashire won by six wickets.

Alex Tudor: One over to Andrew Flintoff on June 21 for Surrey against Lancashire says it all:
(nb) 6, 4, 4, 4, (nb) 4, 6, 6, 0. A total of thirty-eight runs from the over under the 2-run no-ball rule.

Stephen Fleming: For being the best batsman in a three-Test series for which he will be better remembered as the captain who let a 1-0 lead slip to a 2-1 loss.

The Roger Telemachus thanks-for-coming award: Darren Gough Chosen for the First Test for England after a long absence through injury, he broke a finger while batting on the first day and played no further part in the match, getting no chance to bowl. He missed the Second Test later in the month as well.
(Note: The "Roger Telemachus thanks-for-coming award" has been established after Roger returned to South Africa last month at the start of the tour of England after incurring an injury before his first match. This follows on from the "Roger Telemachus thanks-for-not-even-making-it-to-the-plane award" instituted in 1997 when Roger sustained an injury after being selected for the tour of Australia and having to withdraw before the tour even began!)

Number of the month: 39 Number of runs that Alex Tudor's over falls short of the world record for the number of runs given up in an over in a first-class match - 77 by Robert Vance for Wellington in 1990. Tudor's ignominious over was claimed as the record by a proud English media preferring to ignore the fact that Vance's over, however contrived its motives, was a perfectly legal part of the game of cricket and therefore a genuine statistic.

The Baranagar Ramkrishna Mission Under-13's: Generated world-wide publicity for junior cricket in the Calcutta region by failing to score a run in their innings against the Bournvita Cricket Coaching Centre. A mere four overs to achieve, and the entire match was over within half an hour. The Indian media became so excited about this event that the words "unprecedented", "world-record breaking" and "another first for India", even invoking the name of Wisden to back up their arguments. Of course, so much cricket is played all over the world that there are hundreds of instances of teams failing to score a run scattered throughout history...

Maurice Odumbe: From being dumped from the Kenyan team for critical remarks about the Kenyan Cricket Association, to restoration to the team after apologising, to match-winner in Kenya's historic upset win over India.

Ravindu Shah: Scored more runs than Odumbe in the one-day series in India (indeed more than anyone else), and at a faster strike rate.

Malachy Loye: Highest score of the month, 322 not out for Northamptonshire against Glamorgan on May 24. Now there's something else that Tendulkar bloke has yet to achieve...

The good, the bad and the ugly of: 1998 | 1997 | 1996