I. L. Bula
Ilikena Lasarusa Talebulamainavaleniveivakabulaimainakulalakebalau (born 15 November 1921, date of death unknown) was a Fijian cricketer who played nine first-class matches for Fiji between 1947–48 and 1953–54. He was more commonly known by the shortened version of his name, I. L. Bula, derived from his initials and the third and fourth syllable of his name – his official surname is, however, the longest of any man who has played first-class cricket. His name literally means "returned alive from Nankula hospital at Lakeba island in the Lau group".
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Born | 15 November 1921 Tubou, Fiji | ||||||||||||||
| Batting | Right-handed | ||||||||||||||
| Role | Batsman | ||||||||||||||
| Domestic team information | |||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | ||||||||||||||
| 1947/48–1953/54 | Fiji | ||||||||||||||
| First-class debut | 13 February 1948 Fiji v Auckland | ||||||||||||||
| Last First-class | 12 January 1956 Fiji v West Indians | ||||||||||||||
| Career statistics | |||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||
Source: Cricinfo, 21 March 2019 | |||||||||||||||
As Fiji was not a Test nation during his time, his first-class matches were limited to two tours of New Zealand. Bula was a hard hitter of the ball, and was said to have scored a century in an hour against Canterbury on his second tour in 1953–54. He also hit 22 sixes in a club match at Suva in 1958 in which he scored 246, the highest total in domestic Fijian cricket. In 2005, Bula became the first cricketer inducted into Fiji's Hall of Fame.