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Home , 2005 ICC Super Series, Ajit Agarkar, Ajit Wadekar, Alan Knott, Angus Fraser, Anil Kumble

151 editions of the world’s most famous sports book WisdenEXTRA No. 12, July 2014 v Test series The Big Three era starts now Given that you can bet on almost anything these most recent book was a lovely biography of Bishan days, it would have been interesting to know the odds Bedi – a stylist who played all his international on the first Test series under N. Srinivasan’s ICC before India’s 1983 World Cup win and the country’s chairmanship running to five matches. (Actually, on wider liberalisation. Since then, the IPL has moved the reflection, let’s steer clear of the betting issue.) But goalposts once again. Menon is in an ideal position to certainly, until this summer, many assumed that – examine what means to Indians across the barring – the five-Test series was extinct. Yet, social spectrum. here we are, embarking on the first since 2004-05 – The has withstood all this to remain when England clung on to win 2–1 in . the breeding ground for Indian Test cricketers. Although Not so long ago, five- or even six-match series it has never commanded quite the same affection as between the leading Test nations were the core of the the , it can still produce its fair calendar. Sometimes, when it rained in England or share of romance. We delve into the Wisden archives someone took an early lead in the subcontinent, the to reproduce Siddhartha Vaidyanathan’s account of cricket could be dreary in the extreme. But, at its best, a Railways’ fairytale to the 2004-05 title. series of five still takes some beating. Rob Smyth selects This is the first England–India five-Test series for his favourites from the pantheon; and this time, England nigh on 30 years, so we thought we’d mark it with a v is not eligible. competition, courtesy of our sponsors, Hardys Wine. Had the famous “grovel” tour of 1976 We’ll announce the winner early next year. Plus, for been lopped off at four Tests, there would have been the first time, we’re running a Wisden news page. no fabulous finale at , where Although Wisden EXTRA has allowed us to bridge the slammed 291 and produced the most annual cycle between Almanacks, and Twitter and beautiful fast . Robert Winder, though, was Facebook keep our online followers informed, some lucky enough to be there, and relives his memories in Wisden-related news has sometimes flown under the My First Test. radar. Hopefully you’ll discover something of interest. Suresh Menon, the editor of Wisden India Almanack, Either way – gem or blooper, please continue to let us notes in our leading article that we may be in line for know what you think about Wisden EXTRA. more encounters between the Big Three, the nations that led the ICC revamp back in January. Menon’s James Coyne

Eagar’s Eye p13

Patrick Eagar, the doyen of cricket photographers, has taken his camera to cricket for more than 45 years. For much of that time, his lens has been trained on the international stage, but in this issue he turns his focus away from the fray and towards the spectators, or the recreational cricketers. And as always, he casts an erudite and entertaining eye on what he sees.

© & Company Limited 2014 Wisden is a trademark of John Wisden & Company Limited WisdenEXTRA • England v India Test series 1 The Big Hit

As England and India prepare to do battle in an intriguing series, Suresh Menon examines India’s complex relationship with Test cricket A five-day wonder

Testing times: despite having his jaw broken earlier in the match, dismissed at , May 2002.

Pic: Timothy A. Clary, AFP/Getty Images

2 WisdenEXTRA • England v India Test series In 2007, India won the inaugural World . A Cowdrey or Tiger Pataudi bat – to get excited year later the IPL arrived, accompanied by music as the development that the Big Three are keen to funereal as it was vibrant: Test cricket, some believed, play five-Test series against each other. But what was set to die. And the villain – characterised by fake- if the fans aren’t equally enthused? The crucial scary laugh and dollar bills thrown wantonly ones, in this context, are of course the Indian into the air – was India. The IPL was seen as a game- supporters, those who watch television and attract changer fit to rank with . It generated lucrative advertising deals. International cricket its own hyperbole, much of it paid for by the BCCI. – even Srinivasan himself, though he might not Yet, six years on, with India embarking on their acknowledge it – survives on their patronage. World first five-Test series for 12 years, there is a grudging Cups in both 50- and 20-over format have been admission that rumours of Test cricket’s death were successful because they are bankrolled by companies perhaps exaggerated. India haven’t played a five-Test selling products to a largely Indian middle class. series in England since 1959 and, while the calibre of Cricket stopped being a game played over 22 yards their players has undoubtedly improved over 55 years, long ago; the real pitch now is the television screen – the length of the current series is thanks not so much to or the smaller one on the phone. the quality of the national team as to the board. A recent –India one-day series almost The idea of a five-Test series – the most financially went ahead without any live coverage: the $US1m beneficial arrangement for the hosts – was mooted by offered by the Star network to Gazi TV, the rights ECB chairman Giles Clarke and agreed by N. Srinivasan, holders, was apparently deemed too low. As it turned the (currently suspended) president of the BCCI. “Srini out, a last-minute deal was struck, and the matches were felt that we ought to return to the days of the old- telecast, but it was a pointer to what could happen if fashioned five-match series,” said an Indian official. interest waned. An India series isn’t automatically the And if Srini hadn’t felt so, it’s highly unlikely it would hottest buy for television. Not for Indians, anyway. The have happened. Despite accusations that he has brought lack of interest was partly due to the absence of the big the game into disrepute, and with epithets such as names from the Indian side and partly to the country- “nauseating” being used by the wide interest in a different World Cup, being played in to describe him, Srinivasan is nevertheless due some front of vast audiences in . thanks from the cricketing world. Thanks to the live broadcast of English and European In recent years the game has contributed to the leagues in India, viewership for football has been mangling of the English language by its insistence that increasing. According to one estimate, while cricket a two-Test encounter constitutes a “series”. India have drew 209m viewers in 2013, football was not far behind, played eight such “series” – including their last three – with 155m. The 2014 IPL generated a viewership of since May 2008. Yet in that period they have played 60 185m; Sony Six, the official broadcasters of the football Tests, fewer, admittedly, than England (77) or Australia World Cup, suggest the viewership for this event will be (74), but more than the others. And their 42 Twenty20 upwards of 100m. internationals are significantly fewer than those played Key to understanding all this is the youth of the by England (60), Australia (59) and South Africa (57). Indian population. Nearly 65% of Indians are under 35, (, incidentally, have played 72 T20Is.) A high- born no more than a decade before profile domestic tournament played in April and May made his international debut. It is dangerous to jump might have something to do with this. to conclusions about what younger people like – my Two-Test “series” can discourage even the best from 75-year-old mother is a diehard IPL fan while my taking chances (oddly, a one-off Test is preferable since 25-year-old son is a Test match nut – but marketing teams can throw everything into it). Take India’s recent managers are most comfortable dealing in clichés. That tour of South Africa, for example: in the First Test, the is the safe way to do it, the greatest good for the greatest hosts pulled down the shutters with 16 needed from 19 number. The alternative, the greatest good for the game, balls and with three in hand. This negativity was is not a priority. encouraged by India’s tactic of bowling well outside off In November last year, when Tendulkar , 1.7m to quell any last-minute bravado. The two just- tuned in to watch his final Test. Compare that with the concluded England– Tests kept people on the 133m (cumulative) audience for the World T20. Where edge of their seats but, that exception aside, it’s often a the shorter formats score is in their more aggressive case – as George Orwell almost said – of “Two matches marketing, the guarantee of a and in the bad; five matches good.” unambiguous nature of black or white. A six is “great”, But there is promising news: It is proposed that regardless of whether it was struck off the meat of the future India–England and India–Australia series will bat or a flailing edge. Test cricket’s conceit is perhaps be five-Test affairs (after the pre-World Cup series in that it is better to play correctly than to make runs or Australia which will be four). And all lovers of Test take wickets through ugly means, though few play to cricket must welcome that arrangement. that tune so much these days. It is one thing for older cricket buffs – such as those who had the pleasure of seeing Colin continued overleaf

WisdenEXTRA • England v India Test series 3 The greater subtlety, the more nuanced battles have to sell itself better. The IPL, for all its faults, has between ball and bat, the fact that the Tests are had some beneficial effects on the five-day game. individually discrete yet constitute a complete entity “There are more decisions to be made now,” says whose intricacy becomes clear only in retrospect – all former India Anil Kumble, who in an 18- add up to make Test cricket a feast for the soul. And year career played in only one full five-Test series, it is a feast that can be enjoyed by the , the against West Indies in 1996-97. “Teams are no longer stroke, the over, the session, the day, the match, even comfortable about declaring early. They know that at a the series, whose ebb and flow spread over a month pinch a team can get 200 runs in 20–25 overs.” or more. It is an intellectual exercise, with every How India fare in England over the next few incident a part of a larger whole, a piece of a huge weeks might shape the future of the five-Test series, jigsaw that reveals itself sometimes only years later. at least for them. As many have pointed out, Indians The continuing interest in the series (and the are not great fans of cricket so much as great fans of publication of books eight decades after the event) is a cricketers. And in that slightly skewed perspective good example. might lie the fortunes of Test cricket. If the team win Yet, if it is the here-and-now of the shorter game and the heroes shine, then there will be great interest. that is more attractive to fans, then Test cricket will The Kohlis and Pujaras have done well in South

Two and a half hours before the start of play, and MCC members snake round the perimeter of Lord’s to claim their favourite seat. If you’re familiar with the ground, you’ll know they’re queueing as far as the North Gate, and have well over a quarter of a mile before they can get in via the Grace Gate. Members don’t have an allocated seat, and the really eager ones reach the ground before it’s properly light. The same used to apply to photographers, and I’d often pitch up at around seven in the morning to ensure I got the right position near the rope. It’s all changed now, with the big international agencies having first choice. This was the third day of the 2009 Ashes Test, which England won by 115 runs.

4 WisdenEXTRA • England v India Test series Africa and , and have already replaced spot might well be made easier by playing more Tests Tendulkar and Dravid in the collective consciousness. at home than abroad. Yet what would be the ideal scoreline? The Their fans, meanwhile, are blessed with the kind of seemingly best result, 5–0 to India, might actually turn short memory that hastens forgiveness: bad tours (such the T20 generation off, despite any talk of “revenge” as the disasters in England and Australia starting in for the 4–0 clean sweep in 2011. Perhaps the perfect 2011) are easily forgotten by a good showing at home, outcome would be a 3–2 win for India, though both even against lesser teams. A five-Test series is a novelty scenarios assume that the British weather also enjoys a for the majority of Indian fans. decent run of form. India are roughly in the position Australia were in India’s last five-Test series was in the West Indies back in 1977-78 when they had lost their stars to Kerry 12 years ago. No Indian survives from that tour Packer’s series, and hosted a full-strength India. That (, the Keith Richards of series ended 3–2 to Australia, and helped reconnect cricket, had already racked up more than 50 Tests their fans to traditional cricket. Now is a good time for for the hosts, however, and a young was history to do what it is good at: repeat itself. finding his feet). England may prove a good start for the new-look team, though the route back to the No. 1 Suresh Menon is editor of Wisden India Almanack

Eagar’s Eye 1

WisdenEXTRA • England v India Test series 5 2

Ah, Arundel! Like Wormsley, it’s an amazing ground created by a fabulously wealthy man driven to achieve an ambitious design. Here in Sussex, the dream was dreamed by the Duke of – why don’t aristocrats ever choose to live in the county whose name they bear? – at the end of the Eagar’s Eye Eye Eagar’s 19th , and over the years the castle ground has seen some magnificent cricket. The teams here have just contested the 2013 National Schools Twenty20 final, and if you think you can see more of a spring in the step of the lads in yellow, you’re right: Shrewsbury have just beaten Bede’s.

6 WisdenEXTRA England v India Test series WisdenEXTRA • England v India Test series 7 For ten years, the Ashes stood as the last redoubt of the five-Test series. But, before the boards were seduced by cricket in pyjamas, there were countless classics from outside the England–Australia duopoly. Rob Smyth chooses five of the best

The magic number

This summer, Test cricket’s disciples have an unexpected There were other heart-stopping finishes as well. reward: the BCCI, of all bodies, have agreed for India to Australia’s last pair of Slasher Mackay and Lindsay play their first five-Test series since 2001-02. (That West Kline held on for nearly two hours in the Fourth Test Indies won 2–1 tells you it was a long time ago.) If Test at Adelaide, and Australia sneaked over the line by two cricket is the ultimate sporting format – and a vaguely wickets in the decider at . persuasively case to the contrary has yet to be presented After a phenomenal series – one that made a drum- – then a five-Test series must be the ultimate ultimate. and-bass track of even the most relaxed ticker – came a It’s not just bowlers who have a natural length: pop ticker-tape farewell, with over 100,000 Australians saying songs are right at three minutes and films at 90, while a goodbye to the West Indians. Truly, the game was the Test series – it just has to be five. thing. For once it was not trite to say there were no real It’s like a fusion of the best of cinema and television. losers. It started with a and, in a sense, ended Five feature-length episodes which tell wonderfully with a tied series. engaging stories in isolation, yet which are also interwoven to reveal twists, subplots, rivalries and West Indies 2 Pakistan 1, 1976-77 character arcs, with each episode more dramatic and This might be Test cricket’s best-kept secret. The stories significant than the last. It defines careers – lives, even of two West Indies series in the mid-1970s – away to – and inspires men to do things of which they did not Australia and England – are regularly taught on the know themselves capable. cricket history curriculum, yet this Pakistan encounter remains largely untold. All that most people know are Australia 2 West Indies 1, 1960-61 the more memorable details, such as ’s eight “Never,” said Wisden, “has it been more apparent that the for 29 or West Indies conceding a then-record 68 Extras game is greater than the result.” This was a series bathed in an . in goodwill from the moment the captains West Indies’ eventual victory was significant in their and decided to buckle their swash. The rise to world domination, as it cemented their belief five matches gave the kiss of life to Test cricket after a dull in the tyranny of . They found the last two end to the 1950s – and the kiss of hope that sustained the parts of their first great pace quartet, with Croft and romantic through an even duller 1960s. sharing 58 wickets in their debut series. The Tied Test, as close to perfection as a cricket Pakistan’s star was , a fearless counter- match will ever be, overshadows all. But there is so attacker who walloped 14 sixes, still unsurpassed in any much more to recall: two swaggering hundreds apiece Test series. from Garry Sobers and ; a hat-trick from The First Test see-sawed violently and ultimately ; and particularly the superheroism of Alan came down to the last- pairs. Pakistan’s added Davidson, who took 33 wickets and scored 212 runs in 133 in the second innings, aided by many of those just four Tests. record-breaking Extras, before West Indies’ held

8 WisdenEXTRA • England v India Test series on grimly for a draw. Croft brutalised Pakistan to not quite there and West Indies were on the way down; win the Second. The tourists overcame a huge first- they met in the middle with immense results. innings deficit to draw the Third and won the Fourth There were famous moments from future giants. at a canter after one of the great all-round captain’s Brian Lara’s 277, one of the great maiden centuries, performances from , who went turned a bore draw into a cherished memory, while into the game in dreadful form but scored a century ’s of the century to Richie and took eight wickets. Richardson was a big moment in his career, part one of The momentum was seemingly with Pakistan, a match-winning seven-for on his home ground. but West Indies ignored that to win the deciding Test The prospect of West Indies losing a series for the comfortably, with scoring 100 and first time in 13 years did not impress . 82. A formidable team were coming together, and it Few men have ever raged with such furious pride would be more than a decade before they were against the potential dying of a light. At Adelaide, he properly tested on their own patch – again by Pakistan, took ten wickets in one of the most amazing chapters in the one team who consistently stood up to them during Test cricket: Australia’s tailenders took them to the brink their world domination. of a series win before Craig McDermott was given out to . Australia had to adjust to the most England 1 Pakistan 2, 1992 alien, troubling of concepts, glorious failure, and on Reverse-swing’s greatest summer was shiny on one side, Australia Day too. thanks to the blinding brilliance of and The deciding Test at was over almost before , and seriously abrasive on the other. The it started. Ambrose spread-eagled Australia with an enmity between England and Pakistan has never been outrageous spell of seven for one. West Indies retained greater. Wisden said it was “as eventful as any tour of their unofficial world title, and Australia were left to England there has been”. When the Pakistanis returned wonder if they would ever know such riches. in 1996, “no tour – save perhaps the Australians’ first after Bodyline – can have needed more delicate handling”. England 2 South Africa 1, 1998 The prequel of the 1992 World Cup final sparked a This was cricket as noir: rugged, hard-boiled and with mutual mistrust, adding enormously to a contest already a devastating twist when South Africa, the unwitting a compelling study in contrasts: England’s honest patsies, ended up losing a series they might conceivably endeavour against Pakistan’s naked talent. have won 4–0. The contest meant an abnormal amount Opposites infract. England thought Pakistan were to both sides. England wanted their first win in a five- ball-tampering; Pakistan thought England’s umpires Test series for nearly 12 years, South Africa their first were cheating. Aqib Javed got shirty over a jumper series win in England for 33. at Old Trafford. And when was South Africa were a borderline lbw decision away appallingly reprieved despite being clearly at from going 2–0 up – “That’ll do!” thought Allan , the offending image reportedly appeared Donald as the ball thudded into ’s pad – on buses in Pakistan. and then lost the last two Tests. The first of those, at A limited England, aided by a horse called Mallender, , was famous for the duel between Mike did well to hang in the series for so long, but it was right Atherton and Donald – a window into the soul of two and proper that Pakistan should win. Stumps, toes and outstanding competitors and authentic tough guys. front will never be under as much threat as they There was an unspoken agreement that the match and were that summer. Wasim and Waqar’s new-fangled old- probably the series would be decided by that clash. ball threat was like nothing anyone had seen. “Donald,” said Wisden, “hurled himself at Atherton The pair were Kryptonite when the ball was like a man who had taken 24 wickets in the series and reversing, not only for tailenders but also middle-order had just worked out that he could still finish on the batsmen new to the crease. In five different collapses losing side” – and both went to places they had never across the series, England lost 31 wickets for 133 been before. runs. Some of the batsmen cried foul. Thankfully the If Atherton was justly the star, his old mate Fraser abiding memory of the summer is of the shiny side: the deserved enormous credit: he took 18 wickets in the unprecedented genius of two men who made sure the two England victories. That included eight in the final old ball would not shut up. Test, a low-scoring dogfight at Headingley. It was an unturnoffable mishmash of collapses, over-my-dead- Australia 1 West Indies 2, 1992-93 body defiance, downright nastiness and umpiring One of the joys of success is that once-painful memories howlers, primarily from Javed Akhtar. Indeed the whole become warmly remembered rites of passage. This series might be used to convert DRS sceptics. Then series, so traumatic at the time for Australia, can now be again, perhaps not: had DRS been in place, we would viewed as an essential part of their rise to greatness. By not have had Atherton v Donald, the thing above all else 1994-95, when they dethroned West Indies, they were that elevated this series. too good, so this is the closest Test cricket has come to a contest between two all-time great sides. Australia were Rob Smyth is a freelance journalist

WisdenEXTRA • England v India Test series 9 3 Eagar’s Eye

Three years ago, Hampshire’s Rose Bowl staged its first Test, and the weather ruined the party. Britain, of course, is full of stiff upper lips, and they don’t come much stiffer than this stoic couple, resolutely staying put while all around have fled. At least, I think they’re under there somewhere! The blue and yellow, plus the geometric pattern of modern seating, make this rather pleasing – more so than the game, which dribbled away to a dreich draw.

10 WisdenEXTRA • England v India Test series From the Archive Wisden 1987

On successive days in June 1986, England were knocked out of the football World Cup by , and lost a Test series to India with a game to spare. Derek Hodgson took a dim view of it all – not least the Western Terrace’s attempts to adopt the Mexican wave

The hand of Roger

Scorecard: click here At , June 19, 20, 21, 23, 1986. India won by 279 runs. Test debuts: B. N. French; C. S. Pandit.

Hammonds Sauce Works Band, playing in front of the India, resuming at 235 for eight, batted for Football Stand, was the indisputable success for England 11.2 overs on the second morning, the late-order during a match which India won by a resounding batsmen frustrating England’s bowlers while adding margin in under three and a half days. This victory, 37 more runs. England’s batsmen were similarly their first in England outside , gave them a inconvenienced, falling immediately into trouble. decisive 2–0 lead in the three-match series. Summing up With injured, India had sent for England’s performance, the chairman of selectors Peter , the professional for Ashton in the Central May said: “We were outplayed in every department.” Lancashire League, and the veteran of 38 Tests quickly It could be argued that there were extenuating demonstrated his mastery and experience of English circumstances. For the first time since 1978, England conditions, providing support for and took the field without either Botham, who was inspiration for . Slack was second suspended [for three months, after admitting he had ball, Gooch was at gully off a ball from Kapil smoked marijuana], or Gower [sacked as captain after that kicked and Chris Smith groped ineffectively at the First Test] who, after practising on the Wednesday, one that came back considerably. Either side of lunch withdrew to nurse a shoulder injury. Furthermore, (41 for four), Gatting and Lamb were the first victims Gooch, England’s third player with pretensions to in a spell by Binny that brought him four wickets for world-class, had an unlucky but poor match. Whatever 17 in 37 balls. When Athey, surprisingly low at No. 6, the reason, England, a summer tapestry in 1985, were turned Binny for two the crowd cheered an England ragged around the edges and coming apart at the seams score of 74 for eight, relieved that the follow-on figure one year later. It was an unhappy start to Gatting’s term had been passed. as captain. India’s first-innings lead of 170 looked unbeatable First use of a quickly deteriorating pitch was to until England’s bowlers learned to enlist the prove vital, and India won the toss. , recalled unpredictable surface. India’s first three fell for 29 and at the age of 37 as the swing and seam expert to take they were 70 for five at the close as the seam attack advantage of Headingley’s known idiosyncrasies, made revelled, Lever having figures of three for nine in 28 a surprisingly nervous start, conceding 18 runs in his balls. Already, however, Vengsarkar had demonstrated, first two overs, and then 31 in seven. Pringle’s steadying on the ground that nurtured Sutcliffe, Hutton and influence was needed somewhat sooner than his captain Boycott, the art of on a bad pitch. He returned might have anticipated. By the time Srikkanth paid his on the Saturday to progress from 33 to 102 usual tax on impetuosity, India were 64 off twenty overs. and prompt his tailenders into a caning of a dispirited To dismiss Gavaskar, who entered the match with a attack. As at Lord’s he reached his hundred in the Test average of 51, was a bonus. Shastri and Vengsarkar company of Maninder Singh, the No. 11. Gatting added 53 in nineteen overs, and the latter went on to almost certainly must have wished that he could have demonstrate his dominance of this series. Fifth out at exchanged one of his six batsmen for Edmonds, who 203, for 61, he batted for seven minutes over three hours while each partner in turn struggled at the other end. continued overleaf

WisdenEXTRA • England v India Test series 11 WisdenEXTRA • England v India Test series had been omitted from England’s squad along with wicketkeeper, , who was playing as a Ellison. batsman in place of the injured . Needing to score 408 to win, more than any side The same, regretfully, could not be said of those had achieved in Test cricket, England sought only spectators who tried to recreate the human wave effect survival. But with half the remaining when by synchronised waving of the arms when Mohammad the innings began, even that hope grew forlorn as six Azharuddin was batting on Friday afternoon. Their wickets fell for 90 runs in the 41.1 overs before the close mindless imitation of the football crowds at the World on Saturday evening. The Indian spinners found that Cup in did not help the batsman’s concentration the pitch was adding turn to its erratic bounce, and and left Headingley’s reputation as a ground for cricket on Monday morning, only another 75 minutes were lovers as much in tatters as the reputation of the required for England’s humiliation to be completed, England team. all out in 63.3 overs for a total of 128. In an innings of The attendance on the first day was disappointingly characteristic defiance, Gatting remained 31 not out. small and for the match amounted to 33,850 with The respective wicketkeepers, Bruce French, in takings of £229,004. his first Test and in his second, made an excellent impression; as indeed did India’s other Man of the Match: D. B. Vengsarkar.

The cause of this commotion was KP, as it so often is… It’s always worth trying to follow the ball into the crowd, as you can get some great reaction shots, though it can be tricky to refocus in time. For the First Ashes Test of 2005, I was sitting at the Nursery End – that way the Lord’s Pavilion can form a wonderful backdrop – when KP drove Glenn McGrath for a straight six. The MCC members in the back row don’t seem too worried, but I reckon the terrified fellow leaping into his neighbour’s lap has been caught reading the paper! The next frame shows that the ball did indeed hit some Eagar’s Eye 4

WisdenEXTRA • England v India Test series 13 Back in 1973, London was the target of an IRA terror campaign, and in August the Lord’s Test was disrupted when a caller claimed a bomb had been planted in the ground. The police took the warning seriously, and evacuated the stands. Some of the 28,000 spectators had to traipse on to the outfield, and I have a photograph of shooing them off the square. Not that everyone left their seat willingly: one MCC member had hoped to stay in the Tavern Stand, but I don’t think he was given much choice. The police – the ground didn’t use private security firms in those days – allowed me to follow them, so I’m glad it was a hoax. In all, almost an hour and a half of the Saturday afternoon was lost, but West Indies still ran away with the game, breezing home by an innings and Eagar’s 226 runs. Eye 5

14 WisdenEXTRA • England v India Test series From the Archive Wisden 2006

There is another face to Indian elite cricket, a world away from IPL glitz and grandstanding. Siddhartha Vaidyanathan tells the story of the 2004-05 Railways team who had to sleep in a leaky dormitory at their ground and prepare the pitch themselves, yet still pulled off one of the greatest comebacks in Ranji Trophy history

The runaway train

For a 17-year-old boy from Orissa, 1994 was a very players worry that they won’t get as much exposure to tough year. His daily routine involved waking before the national spotlight. When Railways faced relegation, sunrise and travelling 15 kilometres by bus from they had worries of another sort – no promotions in to work on the railway at the small town of their jobs, no salary increments, and no improvement Kandarpur. Hardly any trains stop in this forgotten in their quality of life. At times like these, other teams corner of eastern India, but someone still had to are rocked by internal strife. But this bunch weren’t just walk six kilometres along the line, oil the tracks, any side; they were bonded by glue most cricketers can check for faults and climb dangerous heights to barely imagine. check the wiring. Most had been together for nearly a decade, spending The boy would return home limp and sapped. But much of their time all sleeping in a dormitory at the nothing could stop him from spending the rest of the Karnail Singh Stadium in . They slept on creaky day trying to master the routine he loved best – picking beds, with open electrical sockets staring down at them, up a , hopping in from an angular run-up wires and cobwebs hanging from the ceiling, water and ripping off-breaks. These were Kulamani Parida’s seeping through the walls. They had suffered through struggles as a Class IV employee in his first two years of power cuts at the height of summer, and couldn’t even working for the . dream of air conditioning. They had stayed away from Across the vast reaches of the world’s most complex home for long stretches, eating together in a small cafe railway system, other young men were doing much the every evening and holding chirpy get-togethers at the same. For them, there was no elite support system, no Sareen tea stall every morning. pre-season tour, no sponsors’ car. The reward was a Whenever he was picked for India, Bangar had a place in the Railways team that competes with India’s room booked at one of Delhi’s smartest hotels. “But state sides in the Ranji Trophy. Not many successful instead of staying there, he would come and stay with first-class cricketers face as severe an initiation as the rest of the boys at Karnail,” said Vinod Sharma, their Parida. And surely no successful first-class team has coach. It had always been all for one and one for all. as frail a support system as Railways. From a purely Now, at Anantapur, they just couldn’t afford to . cricketing angle, Railways’ journey from the brink They did better than that. With 20 overs left, Andhra of relegation to the national championship makes a still had six wickets standing and a draw looked certain, fantastic tale. Bearing in mind the background, it is the but the all-rounder conjured up a stuff of legend. spell of four for 21 on a dead pitch, helping Railways In December 2004, they took on Andhra at escape to victory. The team had rediscovered their zest Anantapur, with just four points from five league games, and they would now travel to – second-class and their key players, including captain , as usual – with hope. There, their collective efficiency out of form. Everyone had given up hope of a semi-final reached its peak against a side bolstered by spot, and many were resigned to being downgraded to the Plate Group. When relegation threatens other teams, continued overleaf

WisdenEXTRA • England v India Test series 15 . The other results fell their way too. The Singh Stadium is like comparing a Mercedes to a cycle players huddled round a mobile phone for ball-by-ball rickshaw. Mohali is all affluence – a swanky gym, updates from Gujarat’s match. A draw in that put them world-class practice pitches, a bowling machine, and a into the semi-finals. state-of-the-art health club with sauna, steam room and This would not have been considered a surprise at jacuzzi. You can add to that a groundsman who is up to the start of the season: they had been in three semi- date with scientific methods of pitch preparation, and finals out of four after 40 largely barren years. They won an administration that has built perhaps the best junior their first-ever title, at the 44th attempt, in 2001-02. cricket system in India. Now they could prove that was no fluke. The multi-sport Karnail Singh Stadium is a The Railways Sports Control Board had acquired a throwback to the 1960s. It has an eerie gym containing first-class team in 1958. Like Services, representing the a stepper on the brink of collapse, two dumbbells, five armed forces, the sheer size of the organisation meant rusty wrought-iron plates for weights, and a dilapidated they had a pool of sportsmen big enough to make exer-cycle. The groundsmen, employed by the them competitive. With a staff of about one and a half government, have no clue about pitch preparation, and million, Indian Railways are said to rank behind the the Railways players and coach take it upon themselves Chinese Army and ahead of the British National Health to tug rollers, water the pitch, and tend the grass. Service in the list of the world’s largest employers. Practice balls and kit? You must be joking. Speaking of , the former Indian captain, worked jokes, consider that the Railways board sent two non- for the Railways (though no one asked him to oil the cricket officials as representatives to the meeting where tracks), and he played a major role in building the side, the Central Zone team for the was being recruiting well-known names like Dattu Phadkar, Budhi picked. Players like Jai Prakash Yadav have been around Kunderan and Mushtaq Ali. But at first, Railways were long enough to know that it is futile to complain. “No regularly thwarted by Delhi and Services in the North point saying they have this and we have that,” he said. Zone league. Things improved when they transferred to “We made the choice to play for Railways and we have the weaker Central Zone in 1975, but still they struggled to ultimately win.” to be contenders. Yadav and his namesake, the left-arm spinner Part of the problem was always money. In contrast to Madan Yadav, did the damage in Mohali that gained the airlines and banks who have run well-funded teams Railways first-innings lead; in a drawn game, that in Pakistani domestic cricket for many years, Indian was enough to secure the title. Parida, the poor boy Railways could not easily divert funds from oiling the from Orissa, was also an established member of the tracks at Kandarpur to running a prestige cricket team. side. But Madan had to spend 2004 undergoing the But in the 1990s the side threw up a nucleus of talented experience Parida had ten years earlier. For most of young players like Bangar and . And once the year he was in Bhopal repairing train wheels with Railways began doing well, players who were struggling massive pliers and monitoring electrical connections to find a place in rival first teams – and were also – and, between whiles, working on his flight, spin and looking for jobs – began to make themselves available. angle of delivery. When asked about the importance They gained men like Amit Pagnis, who moved from of the title, Jai P. Yadav said, “Class IV employees like in 2000. “I wasn’t making it to the Mumbai XI Madan will get a promotion and his quality of life will too often,” he explained. “It’s better to play every game improve. If we win, it will be like our gift for those for a slightly weaker side than carry the drinks for a players and their families.” strong team.” Pagnis’s 98 sealed Railways’ victory over And they did win. Madan Yadav’s days with the pliers Hyderabad in the 2005 semi-final. should now be behind him. He was said to be earning The next day Punjab stunned Mumbai in the other just 5,000 rupees a month (about £60), nowhere near semi-final. The Punjab Cricket Association showered enough to support a family properly. That should be their team with 1.5 million rupees (about £19,000), tripled now, which will at least be enough to supply the and , their coach, was awarded the same necessities, if not luxuries like a car or a computer. amount. In Delhi, the Railways coach, Sharma, waited These are the champions of India. Yet for them, the for his salary, 11 months overdue, before the team lifestyle of Sachin Tendulkar and is just travelled to Mohali for the final. a rumour. The rumour now is a little less distant than it Comparing the facilities at Mohali to those at Karnail once was.

16 WisdenEXTRA • England v India Test series spectators huddlingelsewhere. spectators scoreboard. And theemptybenchsuggests aboutthesoggysunhatofthatched forlorn Getty. rain, Inthepouring there’s something groundcreatedby SirPaulidyllic Chilterns shots,intriguing suchashere, at Wormsley, the down thecamera, but sometimesyou get call offplay would bethemoment toput stage. You mightthink theinstantumpires atsome willoftenintervene summer andrain intheGreatBritish Do anything outdoors WisdenEXTRA •England vIndia Test series

Eagar’s Eye 6 17 Oh this really is the classic English scene isn’t it? Back in 1971 Test matches were the exclusive preserve of agencies such as Central Press and Sport & General, but the upside was I’d have the time to see some recreational cricket in beautiful countryside, such as here at Tilford in . It’s barely changed in 40 years or more, but the cars have! If the colours look pretty fresh, that’s maybe because I spent a couple of hours on my computer improving the original. Kodak colour film could be quite variable, and to try to ensure I got a good batch I’d reserve 101 rolls at the Kodak shop in Holborn, pay for one and then ask them to put the other 100 by for me. I’d quickly take the 36 shots and drive up to the Kodak HQ in Hemel Hempstead, which was the only place in the UK where the film could be developed. As long as I got it in by 4pm, I could pick it up the same time the next day. If the colour was good, I’d motor back down to Holborn and pay for the balance. But if it wasn’t, I’d have to go through the whole rigmarole again. Digital certainly has its advantages.

18 WisdenEXTRA •England v India Test series Eagar’s Eye 7

WisdenEXTRA • England v India Test series 19 Benedict Bermange picks out some of the quirkier titbits from England and India’s long Test history

Dot-ball doldrums

At home, England have won more than half their Tests • In England’s second innings at The Oval in 1990, against India. But it’s a different story in India, where bowled 59 consecutive overs – the they have lost more than they have won: longest bowling spell in Test history. He ended with one for 137. Played England India Drawn • When Geoff Pullar was dismissed by Kripal Singh for 89 In England 52 27 5 20 at Delhi in 1961-62, he became Kripal’s first Test victim, In India 55 13 15 27 from his 651st ball – the longest wait for a maiden Test wicket. Since the start of 2009 India have been almost unbeatable on their own soil, but rather less convincing • In the Golden Jubilee Test at Bombay in 1979-80, Ian on their travels: Botham took six for 58 and hit 114 to give England a first-innings lead. He then bowled unchanged India Played Won Lost Drawn throughout the second innings, claiming seven for 48 from 26 overs. Expecting a turning track, England had Home 25 17 3 5 played two spinners, but bowled Away 26 6 12 8 seven overs, and none.

• Graham Gooch scored 517 runs from the 960 • In the three-Test series in 1992-93, was deliveries he faced from Kapil Dev. This is the most comfortably England’s leading all-rounder, having in Test history by any one batsman against any most runs (315), highest score (178), highest batting one bowler. average (52.50), most wickets (eight), best (25.25), best match bowling (five for 28), and • At Mohali in the First Test of the 2001-02 series, most catches (five). India won 3–0. debutant Iqbal Siddiqui hit the winning run for India as a makeshift opener. He never played for them again. • During the 1974 series, Bishan Bedi endured a sequence in which he was dismissed three times • On the second day of the 1936 Test at Old Trafford, in three balls. Chris Old enjoyed bowling to him, England took their overnight score of 173 for two to claiming his wicket with three successive deliveries – at 571 for eight declared. and Mushtaq Old Trafford and Lord’s in 1974, then Delhi in 1976-77. Ali then replied with 190 without loss before the close. The aggregate of 588 runs remains the most scored in • At Madras in 1981-82, Graham Gooch reached three one day of Test cricket. figures with England on 126 for none. His 101* constituted 80.1% of the total. His partner Chris • In the Fifth Test at in 1984-85, India (with Tavaré hit (if that is the right word) 35 in six hours 32 three spinners in their side) did not take the new ball minutes. until 166 overs of England’s first innings had elapsed. • In the same Test, and Yashpal •  recorded the extraordinary analysis Sharma batted throughout the second day. Their third- of 32–27–5–0 in England’s first innings at Madras in wicket stand of 316 remains India’s highest 1963-64. That included 131 balls in a row without against England. The population of India was said to conceding a run – the second-longest sequence in have risen by 75,000 while they were at the crease. Tests. At one stage, and failed to score for 79 deliveries. Benedict Bermange is the cricket statistician for .

20 WisdenEXTRA • England v India Test series Now this is one of the laziest photos I’ve taken as it’s taken only a few yards from my front door in Richmond, where Surrey meets London. I was walking past the green one day, and saw a group engrossed in what was happening in the middle, so I made the most of the opportunity. The standard of the cricket is probably as variable as the pitch, but the proximity of The Cricketers ensures a good time is had by all. It doesn’t matter a jot that there’s no pavilion or that the scoreboard is a touch rudimentary. Eagar’s Eye 8

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22 WisdenEXTRA • England v India Test series There was a time when Indian batsmen had a reputation for getting bullied by fast bowlers. Ian Gray recalls the day he watched a 17-year-old rubbish the stereotype

Little Big Man

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On July 16, 1990 I was straining to convince landlocked The scoreboard told us the county had made 235 pupils in north-east Derbyshire of the usefulness for six from their 55 overs, mainly through 115 from of having a smattering of a foreign lingo. But the captain Kim Barnett. But I was there for the Indians, academic year was drawing to a close. A celebratory, soon to be reduced to an unpromising 81 for four holiday feeling was abroad. My wife and I had just by a strong Derbyshire attack led by the fearsome toasted our 20-year-old marriage. Ah yes… 1970 – the Trinidadian, . Indian batsmen had improved year of Arthur Penn’s Little Big Man, with its fresh take their technique against fast bowling since the debacle on the “injuns”. (The following year, ’s of blowing them away in the 1950s, team would make us reappraise the subcontinental but would the present crop be able to withstand the Indians too.) distinctly unsaintly Bishop? Five minutes to the bell and my mind was wandering. Well, one of them could. This was my first sight of Should I, or shouldn’t I? Senior staff and local parents young Sachin Tendulkar, and one shot in particular were known to keep eyes peeled for teachers zooming marked him out as someone rather special: a hook for first out of the car park. The nine till four merchants. six off Bishop that sailed over the trees at square leg. He The mark of dishonour. But, just this once? And for hit the winning run to finish with 105, but it was the what better cause? sheer class and audacity of that one stroke that made me I’d had a soft spot for the Indians ever since 1959, an instant and hugely expectant fan. when, despite being outplayed, they had given a West I saw Sachin once more that summer, in the Indians’ Riding street-cricket urchin a whiff of the exotic and final fixture, against ’s World XI at the brought a full hot dry Indian summer with them. And . I watched the Indian team emerge now they were but ten miles away, in action this very from their coach one morning and half-expected the minute, warming up against Derbyshire at picturesque curly-haired lad to rush into a corner shop for a stick of Queen’s Park, Chesterfield, prior to the first Texaco rock instead of entering the ground with the adults. The Trophy match at Headingley. match was eventually saved by Little Big Man’s 108. “Right. Pack away! I want you out sharpish. I’ve an In his review of the tour for Wisden, R. Mohan wrote important appointment. Anyone blocking the car park that “there should be many more Test hundreds for exit is dead meat!” No second telling was required. At Tendulkar”. The evidence was there in one stroke at the first ding we were off like a shot, with me in pole Queen’s Park. position. Fortunately in those days there were no speed cameras, and I was soon parked up and installed on a Ian Gray came third in Wisden 2014’s writing bench in the temporary stand. competition. To enter this year, click here.

WisdenEXTRA • England v India Test series 23 Eagar’s Eye 9

Talk about a yard of ale – there must have been hundreds here! You might not be too surprised to learn the scene is a Saturday afternoon on Headingley’s Western Terraces, where attention has wandered from the entertainment in the middle. (It was the 2008 Test against South Africa, who won by ten wickets.) I don’t think the English are alone in constructing these snakes, but the fancy dress element – there are ten or so WGs sporting the bushiest of beards and yellow-and-black caps – probably is peculiar to these shores. Part of the fun, of course, is baiting the poor old stewards, always roundly booed for breaking things up.

24 WisdenEXTRA • England v India Test series England v India QUIZ by Steven Lynch Answers on page 29

The Maharajah of Porbandar was the official captain of India’s 1932 tour, 1 although he stood down from the inaugural Test against England as he recognised his shortcomings as a player. He was said to have collected more what during that tour than first-class runs?

On India’s 1952 tour of England, one batsman was in dreadful form during the 2 Tests, making just 43 runs at 6.14. But in the other games, he crashed 1,645 runs at 58.75 including five hundreds, three of them doubles. Who was he?

What unique feat befell India in the 3 1959 Test series in England?

India’s first Test win in England, at The Oval in 1971, was set up by which 4 unorthodox spinner’s superb spell of six for 38?

Who captained India to their first series win in England, in 1971, but resigned 5 after losing 3–0 three years later?

Who is the only visiting batsman to score three Test centuries at Lord’s, 6 doing so for India in 1979, 1982 and 1986?

Which Bombay-born spinner made his Test debut against India at Edgbaston in 7 1996?

Two Indian greats made their Test debuts at Lord’s in 1996. One made 131, the 8 other 95. Who were they?

Which player, who never scored another fifty and averaged 16 overall, hit a 9 century for India in the 2002 Lord’s Test?

Which England player, part of an 10 Australian bowler’s hat-trick in 2010, took one himself against India at Trent Bridge the following year?

WisdenEXTRA • England v India Test series 25 My First Test

In the 1970s, a young Robert Winder contrived two separate trips to his first Test. And when the weather cleared, he saw the Master Blaster dismiss England with trademark insouciance Rain, rain, go away. Come again another day

Scorecard: click here

The first time I went to a big game I didn’t see a thing. Pakistan were doing better second time around, but the It was raining at Lord’s, so we gave up and went off to script, on the Monday, was that England would have an a nearby cinema. But while this was dismaying at the easy target for victory… and (my favourite) time, it did turn out to have one pleasant consequence. would do the rest. Since it meant I had the rare excitement of going to my It didn’t turn out like that. The rain just fell and fell, first Test twice, it turned out to be a decent slice of luck. and after eating the last crumbs of our Enid Blyton It was the summer of 1974, and I was an eager picnic – pork pies, apples and ginger beer – we drifted 14-year-old with the usual schoolboy enthusiasms: south into central London. With no mobile phones to I liked playing, watching, talking and dreaming cricket. guide us, we stopped at the first picture house we came So when my father produced tickets for the Lord’s Test to, in Baker Street. It was showing The Day of the Jackal, against Pakistan I was thrilled. We caught an early train about an elegant English assassin slipping through to London and sat swaying in one of those carriages with , with General de Gaulle in his rifle sights. blue-upholstered compartments smelling of tobacco and Given the times we were living through – these were cleaning fluid, and with the familiar sign saying “Do Not the halcyon days of industrial disputes and IRA bombing Lean Out Of The Window” above the door. We journeyed campaigns – this was thrilling and evocative stuff, so by from our home in the Surrey/Hampshire badlands to (as the time we blinked back out into the wet streets we were one did in those days) “Camberley, Brookwood, Woking, almost glad the cricket had been cancelled. But at Waterloo Surbiton aaaand Waterloo”. we picked up an evening paper and saw to our horror that It was a commuter’s journey, which also involved play had resumed, and that Derek “Deadly” Underwood passing mysterious signs to the line routinely known as had taken eight wickets, including one super-hot streak the “Drain” – to my young mind it sounded like a sewer of six for nine in 11.5 overs, to put England on course for down which the menfolk of the Home Counties had to near-certain victory. (Not absolutely certain, because the crawl to become something in the City. Once we had same awful weather assassinated the entire last day…) thundered up the underground to Lord’s it felt even It hurt to have missed such a shivering passage of more like a man’s world: serried ranks of white benches play, and in the days that followed my head spun with fragrant with cigar smoke, beer, sawdust, sweat and hair a confused jumble of images. In my mind’s eye I saw tonic – and rain spattering on dark umbrellas. Even the Edward Fox sidling to the wicket, blond and splay- advertising boards that fringed the grass made the home footed, left wrist cocked in deadly intent. And was that of cricket feel like a DIY outlet: garish signs for building speeding through the French countryside companies, central-heating systems, shelving units, in a luscious blue convertible, romancing toolkits and carpets jostled for space with placards for a French comtesse in a refined hotel, or motoring clubs and cigarettes. limping down a Paris boulevard disguised as a war After Pakistan had made 130 on the first day, veteran, leaning for support on the custom-tooled, high- England scrambled their way to 270, largely thanks to calibre rifle hidden in his aluminium crutches? a typically fighting 83 (the kind the papers liked to call The upshot was that two years later I journeyed up “impish”) from , my father’s favourite player. to London for my first Test all over again. This time I

26 WisdenEXTRA • England v India Test series went with a friend, and at Waterloo we turned south to and scornful, touching the peak of his , chewing his see England play the West Indies at The Oval. We were gum, rolling his shoulders, despatching Underwood junior Surrey members and had attended nets, so we once again. It was superb, but also cold and relentless. hugged our green booklets and went for two days. It was Without the element of a contest, it felt more of an summer 1976, the year of sunshine and the minister of exhibition than a game. drought, and The Oval was parched and brown. For a day It taught me, as cricket does, several lessons. I learned and a half we watched the game’s newest and brightest that “bad” wickets were more exciting than so-called star, Viv Richards, make his second double-century of the good ones. I learned that low-scoring games could be series by plundering 291 stylish and unhurried runs. It more dramatic than high-scoring ones, bowling sprees was a masterclass, and in case anyone thought it had been more startling than run-feasts, and that cricket could be achieved on an ideal batting surface, Michael Holding magic even when you missed every ball. I learned – since would soon tear England’s batting to ribbons, collecting the same bowler (Underwood) had been unplayable in eight wickets with the playful air of a fox among chickens. one session, unthreatening in another – that the weather I was dimly aware that there were historical resonances gods ruled all. I learned that I cared more for narrative here. I had not read C. L. R. James or been to the excitement, the game’s power to surprise, than I did ; I knew nothing of Britain’s slave plantations for monumental feats. And I developed a mild national in the tropics or the way cricket had been carried around inferiority complex: how come they had swaggering the far-flung empire. But I did know that England’s South geniuses like Richards and Holding, while we had grey- African captain, , had made an embarrassing haired bank-manager types like ? pledge to make these fabulous West Indians “grovel”, and And of course I learned the importance of patience. could see that Viv was making him eat his rash words. So Walking out of Lord’s that day turned me into one of I was happy, and proud, to be there. those dreadful bores who spend hours on wet cricket But I was aware of a disturbing contrary emotion grounds saying, as they squint optimistically at the too. It was magnificent, yes, but it was also (whisper it) a clouds: “D’you know, I think it might be clearing.” bit of a yawn. Sun-baked over followed sun-baked over. Here was a four cuffed through midwicket… there went Robert Winder, former literary editor of The another, eased behind square. Time after time, Richards Independent, is the author of The Little Wonder: settled into that perfect swaggering stance, haughty The Remarkable History of Wisden

The chap on the right contemplating the chocolate cake is my son Will, and the girl in the blue sweater is my daughter Kate, so it’s something of a family snap. This cricket tea was enjoyed in Andover in 1985, and is the focus of an image that just shouts Englishness (though not too loudly). The lighting works well, and everyone was so used to my taking photos all the time that the picture has a natural feel to it. Eagar’s Eye 10

27 WISDEN NEWS nusually for a Championship school season since the start of ex-professional cricketers discuss U match in the 21st century, the millennium – earned him the the challenges of playing at the there was a sell-out at Headingley in Wisden Schools Cricketer top level. Former spinner Graeme early June. What sold out, however, of the Year award. In May, Swann and national selector Geoff were in fact copies of 10 for 10, playing a three-day game for Miller were guests in the last lunch, being signed by the author and Worcestershire against held in the Long Room at Lord’s Post cricket correspondent, Cambridge University at on June 18 and hosted by Mark Chris Waters. His book tells the Fenner’s, he made his maiden Butcher. The topic for discussion story of just under 20 overs of left- professional hundred. Köhler- was “England Cricket: Moving On”. arm spin bowled by Cadmore faced the first ball of the The next lunch, also to be held in and summed up in the figures match, bowled by Zain Shahzad, a the Long Room, will be on July 23. 19.4–16–10–10. Verity’s miracle graduate of the Wisden City Cup Find out more here. came for Yorkshire against inner-city programme. Nottinghamshire at Leeds in uring the England–India 1932 – and remain the best figures he Wisden City Cup was DInvestec Test series, Sky Sports in all first-class cricket. The signing Trenamed the Lord’s Taverners scorer Benedict Bermange will appropriately took place during City Cup in 2013, reflecting the introduce a feature on A. E. J. Yorkshire’s 2014 Championship Taverners’ generous funding. Collins, whose 628 not out as match against Nottinghamshire. The aim remains the same: to 13-year-old in a house match at Click here to read a sample of give inner-city cricketers aged Clifton College in 1899 remains 10 for 10, and here to order it. 16 to 22 in eight urban centres the highest score in cricket history, the chance to play competitive and on , one of the run of the first nine Twenty20 matches on good club finest bowlers of the Golden Age. Aleatherbound editions of wickets – and hope to lessen the Collins and Blythe died in the First Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack English professional game’s over- World War, and are two of the most (1995–2003) were recently reliance on the middle-class and renowned players to appear in auctioned by Knights, in their privately educated. Each season, Wisden on the Great War, edited by regular Leicester sale. The 1995 MCC award a place on their Andrew Renshaw. Click here to leatherbound, limited to 100 copies, Young Cricketers scheme – read a sample sold for £2,300, while the other giving City Cup players a clear eight (150 copies each) fetched a route into first-class cricket. he 2015 edition of Wisden combined total of £1,430. To find The sixth season of the City TCricketers’ Almanack will out more about limited-edition Cup began in June. For more include a supplementary obituary leatherbound Wisdens information, click here. section for those whose deaths click here. have been overlooked. Suggestions he Wisden 150 Club, founded for this, and information on those om Köhler-Cadmore’s 1,409 Tin 2013 to mark the 150th who died in 2014, should be sent to Truns for in anniversary of Wisden, continues its [email protected]. Many 2013 – a record aggregate for a popular series of lunches, in which thanks for your help. Win a case of Hardys Wine!

To celebrate the rare feast of a five-Test series England? You’ll find all the details – including the terms between England and India, our sponsors Hardys and conditions – here. – the official wine of English cricket – are giving The winners will be announced in the first Wisden away two cases of their excellent wares. First EXTRA issue of 2015, released on February 13. All prize is a full case; two runners-up will each entrants must be aged receive six bottles. 18 or over, and resident in the UK. To enter, all you need do is answer this question: Closing date for entries is February 2, 2015. The who took 12 wickets in India’s maiden Test victory over decision of the Wisden editorial team is final.

28 WisdenEXTRA • England v India Test series WISDEN NEWS

Do you know these men?

This, like a Chris Gayle drive sailing over the crest of Croydon-based photographer, but I could be sightscreen, is a long shot. Still, as many a bowler has completely wrong. pondered, you can but try… The fellow on the right who’s either dapper or What I’d dearly love to unearth is the identity shifty (I’m never sure which), the various owners of a of this group of 19 chaps who, I think it’s safe to fine titfer (and even finer tache), the studious one in assume, together made up a cricket club 100 years glasses in the middle at the back, the roué with a centre or so ago. parting, messy and half-smile… Who are they all? They have looked benignly down on my desk in the Does anyone have a bright idea? Wisden offices for the past few years ever since my Identified or unidentified, there’s a beguiling daughter found the print in a Basingstoke junk shop and immediacy to the image. And if you’d like to send in a gave it to me for my birthday. scan of a similarly old photograph, whether or not you The mount on which the print sits has been cut to know its history, we at Wisden would be delighted. fit it into a frame. Just visible in one corner, however, Send files (no greater than 5Mb, please) to is a crown, a fragment of a flowery typeface – it [email protected], and we’ll do our best to looks as if it might have ended “ck” – and the green publish one or two in the next edition of Wisden EXTRA. letters “OYDON”. I imagine that must have been the Hugh Chevallier

QUIZ ANSWERS See page 25 5 Ajit Wadekar 1 Rolls-Royces (he made two runs) 6 2 7 3 They were the only visiting team to be 8 Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid whitewashed 5–0 by England 9 4 Bhagwat Chandrasekhar 10

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