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Abhishek Mukherjee Profile picture
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12 Dec, 5 tweets, 1 min read
Ghulam Guard, the first left-arm seamer to open bowling for India, was born on this day, 1925.

At 6'3", Guard was the tallest Indian cricketer between Ladha Ramji (1933-34) and Abey Kuruvilla (1997).

He also worked in the police force as a sub-inspector.
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Guard took 5/66 and 4/69 in the final of the 1959-60 Ranji Trophy.

And then he found a mention in a police journal. Not many Indian cricketers have achieved this.

The report in Indian Police Journal, Volume 5 ran:
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"Ghulam Guard, Sub-Inspector in the Bombay State Police Force, hit newspaper headlines with his fine spell of bowling in the Ranji Trophy Cricket Final between Bombay and Mysore."

Guard bowled at a lively pace and could move the ball, and his height helped him generate bounce.
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He bounced Sobers on Test debut.

The bat was knocked out of Sobers' hand on impact, and Guard took the catch. It was his first Test wicket.

Not many Indian cricketers can boast of this, either.

Sujit Mukherjee called it "the most famous arrest of his career".
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He played only two Tests, both after he turned 33, and got three expensive wickets.

However, his 124 First-Class wickets came at only 20.53 apiece.

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Abhishek Mukherjee Profile picture
14 Dec
I know this is subjective, but there is little doubt in my mind that the first tied Test match, at Brisbane, was the greatest in history.

Today is the 60th anniversary of the final day of that Test.

Here is how the drama unfolded as the day went on.

But first, some context.
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Not only the greatest, this was one of the most significant Test matches.

West Indies had their first full-time black captain, in Worrell.

The history of racism in the islands, the ridiculous injustice of it all, demands a separate thread.

I shall leave that for another day.
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There is more.

Until this point, only Test matches involving England used to receive serious coverage.

That would change here. That demands another thread too.

Now for the cricket.

After four days, the score read West Indies 453 and 259/9, Australia 505.

207 ahead.
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Read 37 tweets
Abhishek Mukherjee Profile picture
13 Dec
On this day, 1948, during the Sydney Test, Vinoo Mankad whipped off the bails at the non-striker's end.

Bill Brown, out of the crease, was ruled out.

The mode of dismissal is unofficially referred to as Mankading.

There are a few misconceptions regarding Mankading.
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Misconception 1: Mankad was the first to do this

Mankad was the first to do this *in a Test match*. However, there was nothing new about it.

The first recorded instance of Mankading in First-Class cricket happened in 1835 (not 1935).

Thomas Barker ran out George Baigent.
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By 1843, Barker had run out four others, the last of these at Lord's.

No "spirit of cricket" garbage was uttered during any of this.

This illustration is from Nicholas Felix's 1845 book Felix on the Bat.

Do not miss the caption. This was the general attitude towards this.
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Read 17 tweets
Abhishek Mukherjee Profile picture
12 Dec
On this day, 2000, South Africa and New Zealand played out a drab draw in a rain-affected Test match at Johannesburg.

This man, Chris Scott, did not play but was named was named Player of the Match.

Here is what happened.
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It had rained heavily on Day 1.

The outfield was waterlogged, but the ground staff did a fantastic job and ensured cricket got underway on Day 2.

Almost a hundred overs of cricket were played on the day.

South Africa bowled out New Zealand for 200, then finished on 18/1.
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But this was followed by two more days of rain, which as good as killed the match.

Once again the ground staff did a stellar job, and made some cricket possible on Day 5.

Dippenaar scored a hundred, and South Africa finished the Test on 261/3.
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Read 4 tweets
Abhishek Mukherjee Profile picture
11 Dec
On this day, 2007, Luke Pomersbach had come to the WACA with his girlfriend to watch a T20I between Australia and New Zealand.

After scoring 395 runs at 98.75 that season, Pomersbach had a drink too many with Shaun Marsh.

Both men were suspended till December 14.
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But there was no ban on watching cricket, so he went to the ground.

Just before the match, Brad Hodge reported a back injury and was ruled out.

Now Stuart Clark was the only man in the reserve.

Replacing Hodge with Clark would mean playing with one batsman less.
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The team management must have noticed Pomersbach's form.

They also knew he was around.

Pomersbach was parking the car when a friend told him.

He initially thought it was a joke (what would you have done?).

Once convinced, he rushed to report to the dressing-room.
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Read 5 tweets
Abhishek Mukherjee Profile picture
11 Dec
Subhash Gupte, born on this day, 1929, was arguably the greatest spinner India has ever produced.

I have obviously never seen him bowl, but every eyewitness has rated him as extraordinary.

And yet, BCCI treated him too shabbily – but more of that later.
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Even if one looks at basic data, Gupte's greatness becomes obvious.

Gupte took 12 five-wicket hauls in 36 Tests (one in three) and 61 innings (one in five).

Remember, he did this despite having to share wickets with Mankad and Ghulam.
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Gupte's 65 overseas wickets came at 28.52.

Put a 50-wicket cut-off, and no Indian spinner has a better average.

In fact, nobody else averages less than 31.

One must remember that unlike some other world-class leg-spinners, Gupte seldom not have an all-time great batsman.
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Read 18 tweets
Abhishek Mukherjee Profile picture
10 Dec
Chris Martin was born on this day, 1974.

When he retired, his 233 Test wickets were the third-most among New Zealand bowlers, after Hadlee and Vettori.

However, it is his batting that made him a cult hero.

Before going into that, a bit on his bowling.
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Martin's wickets came at almost 34, not great numbers for a spearhead from New Zealand.

But in the 2000s (the decade), he sent down 1745.5 overs – over twice as any New Zealand fast bowler.

So there was no steady fast bowler at the other end.
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All of them were hit by injuries at some point, which should give that bowling average some leeway.

Now for his batting.

Martin averaged 2.36 with bat.

Put a 50-run cut-off, and nobody averaged less than 3.46 – 47% more than Martin.

Martin scored 123 runs from 104 innings.
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Read 10 tweets

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