Flashback: The first twins to play together in a Test

Playing with your sibling while representing your country is a special feeling. In any sport, it’s a proud feeling for the parents to see their children sharing the dressing room for the same team. And when the twins play for a country, the feeling gets even sweeter. Sisters Liz and Rose Signal from New Zealand were the first twins to appear in the same match.

The sisters from New Zealand became the first twin siblings to feature in the same Test match when they achieved this remarkable feat against England at Headingley in Leeds in the year 1984. Both made their debut in the first of the three-match Test series for New Zealand Women against England Women, however, they failed to make a mark in the drawn Test. That aside, they set a record which will never be broken.

Born on May 04, 1962, at Feilding, Manawatu, both were competent all-rounders. Liz played six Test matches and 19 One-day internationals while Rose appeared in just a solitary match and six ODIs. Liz made her limited-overs debut against England in the same year 1984 while her last match in the format came against Australia at Wellington in 1988.

In March 1985, Rose played her sixth and final ODI against India in Patna. Both sisters beat Australia’s Mark and Steve Waugh by a few years and New Zealand’s James and Hamish Marshall by two decades. Many still think that it was the Waugh brothers who were the first to play cricket together, but it is to be noted that they were the first to do so in men’s cricket. To go by the numbers, Rose was the better of the two sisters. She was a fast bowler, while Liz was more of a medium seamer.