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 Wodehouse and Cricket

 

The creator of ‘Jeeves’ was an ardent cricket fan. This might not be a surprise considering that Wodehouse was an Englishman and was up at Dulwich College, an English public school, at the turn of the 19^th century.

 

But the link between England’s arguably greatest comic writer and England’s national passion runs much closer than that. PGW actually appeared in flannels no less than six times at the Lord’s cricket ground. In fact, his first captain at the cricketing Mecca was none other than Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the creator of Sherlock Holmes.

 

Pelham Grenville Wodehouse was knighted in 1975, long overdue at the age of 93. He died just 45 days later. Perhaps the comical irony of the situation overpowered him. He adored the game just as he adorned literature. He needed no title. The burden of the award literally took away the simple pleasures of life that he loved and treasured.

 

PGW gave birth to Jeeves, the patron saint of all butlers in English literature. The name ‘Jeeves’ he pilfered from that of a Warwickshire county cricketer, who had lost his life at war in 1916 in France. However Wodehouse, typical of his whimsicality, always maintained that he saw Jeeves playing for Gloucestershire!

 

He played regularly for Dulwich College as a medium pacer. He once observed that while he began with the new ball, from the other end bowled Knox, the future Test cricketer. And then in his self-deprecating style added, “Yes, Knox was 10 at the time.” Actually, Wodehouse was 18 and Knox 15.

 

Later even when he had settled in USA, his attention was never diverted from his juvenile passion. Wodehouse has written on cricket with deep interest, wide knowledge and ardent feelings. Revealed a distinctive style entirely his own: the laid back approach of a sensitive, enquiring, observant mind.

 

No sensationalism clouded his vision; no excitement rattled his composure. He was always his own man. An elegant writer of fluid style. His wit is typically dry British humour, but with a dash of originality that elevates him beyond the realms of the humourous story-tellers.

 

In 1941 he was in an internment camp in Upper Silesia. At the time he was 59, but the love for cricket still raged. Wodehouse surprised his guards and other inmates as he turned his arm to bowl slow leg spin. His batting never really flowered. He said that he was very consistent with zero as his favourite score! He further added, “I would have made a century if the boundaries had been closer.”

 

 

Eden Gardens & Arthur Gilligan

 

Eden Gardens achieved its legendary status because of the credentials of its groundsmen. Certainly not for any player or official as the publicity machinery will have you believe.

Almost 100 years ago was established the iconic status of Eden Gardens. In December 1926 the England (then MCC) captain Arthur Gilligan said aloud that this ground was at par with Lord’s and MCG. The saga began…

But we have gone far ahead of our story. In the winter of 1926-27 for the first time ever a representative MCC cricket team from England arrived in India. The brilliant England all-rounder Arthur Gilligan was the captain and the strong team included quality cricketers of the calibre of Andrew Sandham and Maurice Tate. The former England captain Gilligan had basically come to report back to MCC the actual standard of cricket played in India.

At Mumbai (then Bombay) for the Hindu team CK Nayudu, an erect ebony warrior of steel, welcomed them with an innings that included 13 sixes! The Indian spectators on the periphery of the Bombay Gymkhana ground went into raptures as the whip-lashing of the colonial masters took place.

In MCC’s following encounter against an All-India XI, one Sanskrit professor from Pune – by name Dinkar Balwant Deodhar – batted for four hours to register a patient 148 as India took the lead against the excellent bowling attack. This match at Bombay Gymkhana ground from 16 to 18 December, 1926, is on record as India’s first unofficial Test match.

MCC came to Kolkata (then Calcutta) over the new year of 1927 to play the 2^nd of the unofficial Tests. So impressed was Gilligan with the lush  green turf at Eden Gardens that he personally congratulated the chief curator Faguram, “This ground is among the best in the world, at par with Lord’s and MCG.” The billiard-table top outfield and the pitch with a light green hue completely floored the magnanimous gentleman. The saga of the iconic Eden Gardens began from that day.

Arthur Gilligan was highly impressed to find the sterling qualities that the Indians had at cricket. They could hit hard and often as well as they could defend for hours with impeccable temperament and technique. The cricket facilities and the Indian hospitality had few equals.

 He realized there and then that India was ready for international cricket as a Test-playing nation. Arthur Gilligan stressed on the need for a central body to control cricket in India. His well-considered suggestion led to the formation of the BCCI in 1928.

Arthur Gilligan came from a distinguished family with his education extending to Cambridge University. Deeply respected for his liberal views and credentials, the brilliant Test captain was extremely popular for his sportsmanship and lack of bias.

It was Gilligan’s unbiased observation that led to the iconic status of our favourite Eden Gardens and the formation of BCCI.

 

 

Olympic and Hollywood Hero

India’s first Olympic medal was won by a Calcuttan, Norman Pritchard. India’s first Hollywood hero was also a Calcuttan, Norman Trevor. However, both the Normans happened to be the same individual.

Born in Calcutta of British parentage in 1875, Norman Pritchard studied at St Xavier’s School and College. Stayed at Lansdowne Road till 1915 and was in the thriving jute industry in Bengal around the late 19th century. An Indian national by birthright and citizenship.

At the Paris Olympiad of 1900 Pritchard won two silver medals, 200 metres flat race and 200 metres hurdles. Those days sportsmen went to Olympics on their own as there were no national organizations to select or fund them.

While at Calcutta Xavier’s, he was an outstanding football player as well, achieving the first hat-trick in India. He was also the IFA secretary for a period.

One of my own gurus, the late lamented Cecil Leeming a priest of English parentage at Calcutta St.Xavier’s, always maintained that he would never have considered himself to be anything but a ‘pucca’ Bengali, “My dad used to say that Pritchard loved his luchees, kawsha-mangsho and misti-doi. A typical Bong he was!”

Later Pritchard went off to Britain to act in Shakespearean dramas on the London stage, where he changed his name to Norman Trevor. Here too he was an immediate success.

Next step was to be at Hollywood, where again his multi-faceted talents brought him the rare honour of being cast as a hero in numerous silent movies of those bygone days. Thus he became the first Indian to be a Hollywood film hero.

Thus he achieved the unique fame of being the first Olympian medalist to become a Hollywood movie hero. Unfortunately his over-exuberant life style led him into penury and worse. Expired in 1929.

Unfortunately film historians in India have never given this man his due recognition. No one in the film circles seems to have heard of him! The worlds of sports and films in modern India have no time for their own history and heritage. Pathetic scenario indeed! Old folks are best left buried…

 The name of Norman Pritchard should be written in letters of gold in the annals of Indian sport and movie history.

 Olympic Games & Cricket

The game of cricket and the Olympic Games do not gel. Just once at the Paris Olympiad in 1900 a cricket match was played between Britain and France. Britain was represented by Devon & Somerset Wanderers CC and France by members of the British Embassy based at Paris! Never again was such an absurd experiment encouraged.

But there happened to be an England cricketer who went on to win an Olympic medal. Ironically in boxing, a sport as far from cricket as possible. Sedentary cricket and super-fast boxing certainly make strange partners!

JWHT Douglas joined Essex just after leaving school in 1901. The young batsman began with an unusual record of scoring two zeros on his county cricket debut! As if this was not enough, he got another zero in his 3^rd innings. Thereafter he settled down to a normal career at cricket.

In the meantime the tough 26 year-old man appeared in the London Olympic Games of 1908 and defeated his more fancied opponent Reginald Baker of Australia in the final to claim the gold medal in the middle-weight category. An Olympic gold medal in boxing for a cricketer!

In 1911 Douglas went to Australia with Pelham Warner’s England (then MCC) cricket team. As Warner fell sick, Douglas was asked to lead the team. Believe it or not, that was his Test debut as well! Douglas lost the 1^st Test but went on to win the series 4-1 thereby helping England to regain the Ashes.

Douglas represented England in 23 Tests, leading in 18 of them. Won and lost 8 matches each. He was a tough, vigorous player who would bat, bowl and field with passion and energy. The Australian crowd expanded the initials of his name into ‘Johnny Won’t Hit Today’ because of his ultra-defensive batting approach.

Combining an Olympic gold medal in a body-contact sport with the sleepy approach of Test cricket captaincy, Douglas had an exceptionally eventful life. In death, too, at just 48 he left behind a most unusual occurrence.

 In 1930 Douglas and his father were on a business trip when their steamship collided with another in very poor visibility near Denmark. Both were thrown overboard by the impact. Trying to save his father from drowning, it was reported that the junior Douglas too expired leaving the sporting world stunned.

No other cricketer has ever been able replicate an Olympic gold medal with the nation’s cricket leadership. An exceptional sports personality was our John William Henry Tyler (JWHT) Douglas.

 

Nobel Prize & Cricket

Generally former first-class cricketers are relegated to the background in the appointment of coaches, selectors and commentators at the international level. Even the print and electronic media feel that former international players are more knowledgeable than players who have played only at the first-class level. Former first-class players are treated as distant, unworthy acquaintances.

However there is one distinct sphere where the first-class group has the upper-hand on their international peers. The honour of winning a Nobel Prize has never been achieved by a Test cricketer. However, one first-class player has the unique distinction of winning the highly coveted award.

The year happened to be 1969 when the Nobel Prize winner was Samuel Barclay Beckett. He won the prestigious honour in Literature. Born at Dublin in 1906, the former first-class cricketer died at Paris on 22 December, 1989, much loved and respected around the literary world.

An Irish by birth, Samuel Beckett was an internationally acclaimed author, playwright, poet and novelist. Wrote both in French and in English. His literary and theatrical works feature tragic-comic episodes in life coupled with literary nonsense. Very much like our own genius Sukumar Roy of Abol Tabol fame. Beckett was among the most influential writers of the 20^th century.

Beckett’s famous trilogy happens to be Waiting for Godot, Murphy and Moloy. He was at Trinity College of Dublin University for two years, 1925 and 1926. He did his schooling in Dublin.

Samuel Beckett had very little pretension to cricketing fame. Left-handed batter, he also bowled left-arm medium at gentle pace. His just two first-class matches fetched him 35 runs in 4 innings and he conceded 64 runs without a wicket.

But the superlative writer was indeed extremely lucky to be considered a first-class cricketer. He represented Dublin University in two matches, both against Northamptonshire, once in 1925 and another the following season in 1926. He opened the batting and the bowling for the University team on both occasions.

Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack, considered to be the Bible of Cricket, acknowledges that Dublin University had gained first-class status for only three seasons. This recognition gained by Dublin University is rather unusual as in Britain only Cambridge University and Oxford University cricket teams are considered to be of first-class status.

Luck or not, the fact remains that a former first-class cricketer, by name Samuel Barclay Beckett, did win the enviable Nobel Prize for Literature in 1969. He happens to be the only cricketer ever to have won the highest literary honour in the world.

 Thank God, he was only a first-class cricketer, and no more!

 

Bande Mataram & Cricket

Bande Mataram is in the news. Cricket always is. The twain – the highly inspiring ode and the crazy game – once did meet and cause an everlasting flutter. British Raj’s favourite sport had a very deep influence on Bharat Mata’s national song. Amazing, yes; but true.

In the early 1870s Bankim-babu was a highly placed government official as the Deputy Magistrate of Brahmapur (Baharampur) in Bengal. On 15 December, 1873, a drama unfolded which was to have wide-reaching influence on India’s nationalist movement. The Indian DM was seated inside an enclosed palanquin as the vessel-carriers took a short-cut through a field in the then cantonment area where some Britons were playing cricket.

One British player, Colonel Duffin by name, was so furious at the intrusion of the palanquin on the field that he vigorously pushed the passenger in full view of the players and spectators. Bankim Chattopadhyay was not a man to take an injustice lying down. He approached the court with a charge of assault. Although the British judge realized the crime committed, he did not want to punish his countryman. Instead he requested Bankim-babu to withdraw the allegation and settle the dispute through mediation.

Highly principled Bankim Chattopadhyay agreed on one condition that Duffin would apologize in full view of the hundreds of Indians who had gathered at the hearing. To save himself from a prison sentence, Duffin had no other option. He shook Bankim-babu’s hand saying, “With the same hand now I extend my sincere apologies to you, Sir.”  The multitude went into raptures.

The field known as Barrack Square or Parade Ground still exists. In 2007 the place was recognized as a heritage venue. In 1993 the Bengal-Assam Under-16 Vijay Merchant Trophy cricket match was held on this ground. I happened to be the Bengal coach.

Even as a government administrator, Bankim-babu was always a social activist of the highest order. Moreover he was an exceptional writer and edited a magazine named Bongo Darpan. Most of his essays reflected his own wide experience of people and places; issues and incidents. This particular incident left an indelible mark on the multi-dimensional personality. He began to write against the British Raj more often and with more venom to inspire generation of freedom fighters.

One day the magazine Bongo Darpan required some more written material to fill space. The working editor asked for an article and BC promised to write one that very day. In the meantime the working editor saw a poem on a piece of paper lying on the Bankim-babu’s desk. Promptly he read the piece and mentioned that the poem was good enough for the moment.

Immediately Bankim-babu took away the piece of paper and told him not to worry at all. The genius concluded by saying that after his death the patriotic Indians would learn to appreciate the sentiment involved in the poem, where Sanskrit and Bengali were beautifully twined.

What a prophecy it turned out to be. The awe-inspiring words “Bande Mataram” became the clarion call of thousands of Indian freedom fighters around the country. The lyrics were an ode to his Motherland. In 1882 Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay included the poem in his book Ananda Math, a novel based on the Sannyasi Movement in India against the British crown.

To me Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay will always remain a Rishi in the most appropriate sense of the term. His immortal ode Bande Mataram would probably have materialized anyway, but the strange encounter with cricket surely had a highly catalytic moment.