One Test wonders

A FRIEND in London has just sent me Roderick Eastdale's One Test Wonders, a tribute to those cricketers who had the luck, or ill- luck to be capped a single time for England. The book contains a rich cast of characters, each with a string of tales attached to his name. There is Fred Tate who, in his only Test, dropped a vital catch and was himself bowled played a wild swipe, the last wicket to fall when his side needed four runs to win. On his way home from the match, Tate told a team-mate that he had a little boy who would make it up one day. He did, indeed: this was Fred's son Maurice Tate, an outstanding swing bowler who was to take 155 Test wickets. Then there was C.W.L. (Charlie) Parker, for years the finest slow bowler in England, but a crusty and quarrelsome character who never got along with officialdom. In first-class cricket, he took 3,278 wickets at 19 runs apiece. In his first Test, his figures were 28-16-32-2, but he was never picked again.

Perhaps the strangest story is that of C. S. ("Father") Marriott. Born in 1895, he made his first-class debut for Lancashire in 1919. Five years later he shifted to Kent. In 1933, at the ripe age of 37, this leg-break-googly bowler was picked for the final match of a three Test series against the West Indies. England won, and the debutant's figures were 11.5-2-37-5 and 29.2-6-59-6. That winter, Marriott toured India with D. R. Jardine's M.C.C. side, but did not play in a single Test. Eastdale thinks this because he bowled poorly in the warm-up games and because Jardine could call upon the services of three spin bowling all-rounders (Marriott could not bat for toffee). Again, Indians have always played leg-break bowling particularly well: C. K. Nayudu, the home captain, might have hit Marriott's first few balls for six apiece. But between the second and third Tests, Marriott claimed 15 wickets in two matches. Why was he not chosen for the third Test at Madras? Eastdale does not say, but I suspect it was because, in the shikar trips that interrupted the cricket, Marriott had successfully shot a tiger whereas his captain had not. Plain envy, rather than cricketing tactics, might explain why D. R. Jardine sought an early end to Father Marriott's Test career.

Reading Eastdale's book made me search out the names of all those Indians who have played one Test, and one only. In this list of 40-odd names there is a preponderance of fast bowers. Who now remembers V. N. Swamy, Ajit Pai, Ashish Nehra and S. Nyalchand? All new ball bowlers who were handed the India cap and then crucified on slow sub-continental wickets. Another one Test wonder, Yograj Singh, is now known again because of the dazzling entry into international cricket of his son, Yuveraj. And Salil Ankola would have been completely forgotten had he not become a successful model and small screen actor. Two other new ball bowlers had big reputations when they came to make their Test debut: L. Ramji, in 1934, and Rajinder Pal, 30 years later. Sadly, neither player was capped a second time.

Remarkably, as many as three Bannerjees have played one Test for India. And all were new ball bowlers. There was Montu Bannerjee, who played against the West Indies in 1948-49, and Subroto Bannerjee, who toured Australia in 1992. The best, and unluckiest, was that outstanding swing bowler Shute Bannerjee, who made two tours of England (in 1936 and 1946) without playing a Test. Capped at last, against the West Indies at Bombay in the final match of the 1948-49 series, Shute bowled his heart out, taking 1 for 73 in the first innings and an impressive 4 for 54 in the second.

In the Indian list of One Test Wonders, one also finds plenty of opening batsmen. Unlike the fast men, these were generally blooded overseas and then discarded after a single failure in conditions foreign to them. They include K. Jayantilal, Ghulam Parkar, Arvind Apte, A. K. Sengupta and M. R. Rege. Two men one feels particularly sorry for are Ramesh Saxena and T. E. Srinivasan. Both were middle-order batsmen who played slow bowling especially well. Both were forced to open the innings abroad - Saxena in England, Srinivasan in New Zealand - and dropped at the first opportunity.

Two of my own favourites on this list were both spin bowlers. R. J. ("Jamsu") Jamshedji was a little show left-arm spinner who bowled superbly well for the Parsis in the Bombay Quadrangular. The prince of slow bowlers, Wilfred Rhodes, once told him that "if I had your powers of spin, no side would get 50." I like to think that Jamshedji answered: "If I had your powers of flight, Wilfred, they would not even get 50." By the time he came to play his first, Test, at Bombay in December 1933, Jamsu was already 41. In an England total of 438, he had the honest figures of 3 for 137.

Amir Elahi was portly googly bowler who also came to fame in the Bombay cricket tournament which, by the time he came to play in it, had become a Pentangular. Through the 1930s and 1940s, Elahi bowled the Muslims to many a win over the Hindus and Parsis. The Second World War took away his best years, and when he was chosen to tour Australia with Lala Amarnath's team of 1947, he was 39. He played one Test in that series, his last: for India, that is. For shortly afterwards, he emigrated to Pakistan, and returned to our land with A. H. Kardar's side in 1952. Kardar too had already played for India (twice): now he and Elahi put their names on one of the most select of cricket lists, of those who have appeared for more than one country.

Quite a few Sikh cricketers have also made a single appearance in their country's colours. Chronologically, the first was Lall Singh, who fielded brilliantly in India's inaugural Test at Lord's in June 1932. Then someone objected that the Sardar was born in and lived in Kuala Lumpur, and had no business representing India. (He remains the only Malaysian to have played Test cricket).

Following the commoner Lall was Yadavindra Singh, Yuvraj of Patiala when he played against Jardine's team at Madras in February 1934. As one might expect, this Patiala was a fine, forcing batsman but a lousy field. He made 24 and 60 in his first Test, helped perhaps by indulgent bowling. His father died shortly thereafter, and his own elevation to Maharaja cut short his sporting career. However, Yadavindra's cousin Rai Singh played once for India, at Sydney in 1947. Befitting his lineage, he hit a ball out of the stadium too.

Two one Test men whom the readers of The Hindu might have a special interest in are M. J. Gopalan and Robin Singh. Both live in Madras, and both have been seam bowling all-rounders as well as brilliant fieldsmen. One does not have to be a Tamilian, however, to think that they deserved better of the selectors. There have been compensations: Gopalan also played hockey for India, whereas Robin has at least been allowed to more abundantly display his skills in the limited overs game.

Altogether the most curious name on this list is that of Baqa Jilani, a medium pacer of ordinary skill who played Test cricket in extraordinary circumstances. On the 1936 tour of England, some senior players had suggested to their incompetent captain, the Maharajkumar of Vizianagaram, that he step down for the Test matches to let the great C. K. Nayudu lead the side. The spiteful Vizianagaram thereupon asked baqa Jilani to abuse C. K. at the breakfast table. This Baqa proceeded to do, whereupon a grateful Vizzy bestowed a Test cap upon him.

When I contemplate this list of one test wonders - or blunders - I think of an old college contemporary, a magnificent forcing batsman who played for Combined Universities, Delhi, North Zone, Bihar and East Zone. In those days India played far fewer Tests than is the case now. For years together, this fellow was on the fringes of the Test side. He used to say that he would give up his career as well as the business he would inherit from his father for a single Test cap. Tragically, it never came. This recollection prompts the thought that it is tough to play only once for your country, but worse, far worse, not to play for your country at all.

RAMACHANDRA GUHA

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