DILAWAR HUSSAIN, the unheralded scholar, activist, Test cricketer.

Lahore-born Dr Dilawar Hussain  (1907-1967) was academically the most highly qualified of all Indian Test cricketers.  His Test batting average of 42.33 is more than most Indian Test batsmen. This intellectual, social activist was neglected even in his prime by his peers, by the administrators as well as by the media!

The heavily-built, rugged wicket-keeper made his Test debut at Eden Gardens on a chilly winter morn in January 1934 against Douglas Jardine’s England. In both the innings the debutant was the highest scorer for India with 59 and 57.

In the first innings Dilawar Hussain received a nasty hit on the head from a bumper when he was on 11. He had to retire. Returning from the hospital, his dogged 59 was the highest score of the innings.

My father witnessed the match at Eden Gardens, “Salute to the guts and the tenacity of the man. Blood dripping, forehead in bandage, team in tatters, stern captain Jardine showing no mercy. But our man stood up like a real freedom fighter. He took the deliveries on his body. Did not flinch even once. Showed exemplary bravery and patience to hold fort. A genuine patriot. That’s the real spirit of sports.” Those days the Indians took pride in speaking in terms of struggles against the colonial masters.

Inspired by dad’s words, as I delved into Dilawar Hussain’s life, I could only marvel at the magnificent all-round personality and his immense contribution to society.

Following-on, the brave man – head still swathed in bandage – came out to bat with India reeling at 129 for 5. Batting alongside the descending order, Dilawar contributed 57, again the highest scorer. Instead of creating a lasting impression, this achievement was never highlighted.

Next Test at Chepauk, again Dilawar played two tenacious innings of 13 and 36 but could not save India from a massive defeat.

In 1936 he was an obvious choice for the England tour. But the whimsical selection policy left the team rudderless. Two debutant keepers –Hindlekar and Meherhomji – shared the duties in the first 2 Tests. By the 3^rd Test both were injured. Suddenly someone remembered that Dilawar was also in England. Yes, he was in England for his doctoral studies at Cambridge University.

In the final Test at Oval, yet again he was his determined self with scores of 35 and 54. In England’s imposing total of 471, he gave not a single bye. For all his courage and contribution, the name of Dilawar Hussain was never heard of again as a Test cricketer! Omitted just after 3 Tests without a single failure!

At 6 feet 2 inches, his bulk and his bald pate gave him an imposing presence! Dilawar came from an academically-oriented, financially sound family. Excellent student, to him cricket was only a pleasant diversion. Became involved with socio-political activities while at college. Later with the nationalist movement gaining ground in the country, his concentration towards cricket receded.

Dilawar was a victim of jealousy of his peers. Intellectually superior, he was too scholarly for them. He aligned neither with the provincial groups nor with the communal-minded characters. He was nobody’s crony.

After the partition, Dilawar Hussain was a founder-member of the Pakistan cricket administration. Also served as Pakistan’s national selector.  Later became the principal of Muslim Anglo Oriental College in Lahore. A degree in Law and a ‘double MA’ were only after-thoughts!

The successful cricketer was involved with cricket, yet not quite into it. The brilliant activist was involved with serious politics, but stayed away from its corruptible influences. The esteemed academician was a friend of his students, not a pedagogue.

An ideal persona of an erudite, non-ambitious gentleman. A role-model whom we have ignored continuously and totally!

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Heroic warrior-sportsman

A heroic Indian soldier created a world-wide sensation at cricket in 1963-64. On his Ranji Trophy debut for Services the right-arm pacer shot down 3 batters in 3 consecutive deliveries. Not satisfied enough, in the following match the army man’s deadly marksmanship targeted 7 batters, including two separate hat-tricks in the same innings!

Yes, you read right: 2 hat-tricks in 1 innings! 3 hat-tricks in 2 matches!

Decades ago a devotee-ashramite at Sai Baba’s Puttaparthi opened my eyes. Then the director of Chaitanya Jyothi Museum, Col Samir Bose asked, “Raju, have you heard of JS Rao, the hat-trick wonder?”

Bose-da – former civil engineer with the Indian army – went on to say that JS Rao was as well a heroic figure with gallantry awards in India’s victorious wars of 1965 and 1971. Major General JS Rao was Bose-da’s contemporary in the Indian Army.

Wisden – Cricketers’ Bible – of 1996 highlighted that JS Rao’s dual feats of debut hat-trick and 2 hat-tricks in the same innings of the next match ‘is not merely unequalled; it may never be equalled’.

Rao Joginder Singh (mistakenly recorded as Joginder Singh Rao while at NDA), born in 1938, belonged to the Services team comprising cricketers of the Indian armed forces.  An unfortunate ankle injury in a parachuting accident terminated his cricket career to just one season of 5 first-class matches.

JS Rao deviated to golf and represented India in France and Pakistan. The exceptional cricketer became an international golfer, no less. The heroic multi-dimensional achiever went on to become a Major General of the Indian army and sacrificed his life for our safety. But we, in turn, have totally forgotten him!  

Apart from one or two sincere journalists, the sports media has had no time for him. Nor do the administrators. The former cricketers in the ‘expert box’ have not even heard of him!  He was neither a sponsor nor a publicity agent. Not even an influential politician. So nobody actually needed him!

JS Rao’s amazing achievement no other cricketer in the world has ever been able to replicate. His prize? No rewards. No recognition. Not even a remembrance.

Such is the fate of a unique Indian warrior-cricketer-golfer, who actually lived and died for the nation! The superlative achiever bid adieu to our ungrateful selves at just 56 in 1994.

At a time when megalomaniacs are busy naming sports stadia in their own names, no one thought of naming at least a part of our numerous sports arenas or at least a stadium gate in his honour.

Brave warriors do not die, they merely sleep. Softly they tread in time to refresh our memories…

 

 

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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!