Mushtaq Ali, the first Indian to score a Test hundred overseas, was born on this day, 1914.

Mushtaq was a batsman so attractive that Eden Gardens (where else?) once protested against his omission.

The slogan was simple: No Mushtaq, no Test.

He was a batsman like that.
+
He used to step out against fast bowlers – in the 1930s.

He used the uppercut with abandon.

Keith Miller called the Errol Flynn of cricket.

Ray Robinson called him "the most daringly original of international batsmen".
+
Numbers?

Mushtaq scored 13,213 runs at 35.90 and picked up 162 wickets at 29.34 – impressive by any standards.

All this for a man who once said: "I still believe that cricket played with joie de vivre, tempered with skill and caution, can normally lead to victory.
+
"Stoic resistance can avert defeat, but seldom contribute to a win. You can say, fortune favours the brave or attack is the best means of defence – it all adds to the same thing."

Yes, that is how cricket should be played.
+
The Test numbers (612 runs at 32.21) do not sound very impressive, but that includes two Test hundreds.

The first, at Old Trafford in 1936, was the first overseas hundred by an Indian.

Mushtaq was already in form, with 135 against Minor Counties and 141 against Surrey.
+
In the second Test at Old Trafford, England bowled out India for 203, then declared on 571/8 next day.

"To wipe out a deficit of 368 was like scaling Mt Everest," Mushtaq thought.

Then there was the other factor.
+
This was the ill-fated tour where Vizzy tried his best to split the squad in order to build a camp of his own.

He was constantly busy bribing, trying to win people over to his side.

He tried to convince Mushtaq too, to run out Merchant.

But he chose the wrong person.
+
Mushtaq tipped off Merchant.

"Try it if you can," came Merchant's reply.

Mushtaq started with a gorgeous cover-drive off Alf Gover ("sent the ball over the grass so swiftly that it might have been a ray of light").

India reached 25 in 20 minutes and 50 in 45.
+
Mushtaq then stepped out to hit Gubby Allen out of the ground and missed.

Merchant cautioned him, so Mushtaq responded by hitting Verity for two fours.

Merchant figured out there was no point, so he approached his own hundred in contrasting style.
+
So exhilarating was his stroke-play that when Mushtaq reached the 90s, the typically aloof Wally Hammond walked up to him: "My boy, be steady, get your hundred first."

So Mushtaq obliged.
+
Neville Cardus wote: "We could understand how a Ranji flowered from this field of play. The batting has paid rare tribute to cricket’s loveliness, its art and originality."

Cardus, of course, was known for overuse of the superlative.
+
But what about CB Fry, Ranji's friend and former teammate, who announced that Ranji "would have been the happiest man to witness your innings”?

Or Hobbs? "The best present I can make to you for your batting today is my genuine appreciation."
+
Even Vizzy gifted him a gold wristwatch, albeit grudgingly.

When Mushtaq left Old Trafford that day he was stopped by a gatekeeper.

The man gave Mushtaq a sixpence, confessing that it was a token of his appreciation.
+
He added that he had done this only twice before – to Bradman and Duleepsinhji.

Mushtaq's 112 took 150 minutes. He hit 17 fours. Merchant also got a hundred, and India drew the Test.

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More from @ovshake42

19 Dec
I suppose a lot of us are still upset, so let me share something amusing.

This concerns this book, one that I had been unaware of until I came across a report by Andrew Lang in The Times.

In a piece in 1922, EV Lucas hailed the author as the Indian Nyren.
+ Image
.@sumitganguly14 got a scan of the cover for me from an acquaintance in Lucknow.

I shall share some snippets here.

I shall share more if and when I ever get the entire book.

But first, a word or two on cricket books in India.
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Calcutta Cricket Club Scores 1844-54, the first known book of scores outside the British Isles, was published in 1854.

In 1867 a Hindi coaching book was published in Agra. It was translated in Urdu in 1868.

In 1889, a Marathi coaching book was published in Baroda.
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Read 25 tweets
16 Dec
What to write of Jack Hobbs on his birth anniversary?

We know the quotes, we know about his inimitable style, everything...

Maybe some numbers.

Mosts in First-Class cricket:
Runs
61760 Hobbs
58959 Woolley

Hundreds
199 Hobbs
170 Hendren

50+
472 Hobbs
445 Hendren
+
Mosts in Test cricket when Hobbs retired:
Runs
5410 Hobbs
3412 Hill

Hundreds
15 Hobbs
13 Hill

50+
43 Hobbs
29 Sutcliffe

Some of Hobbs' were lost due to World War 2. He played even at 47, and 27 of his 61 Tests came after he turned 40.
+
Mosts in Test cricket after turning 40:
Runs
2440 Hobbs
2004 Misbah

Hundreds
8 Hobbs
5 Misbah

50+
19 Hobbs and Misbah

Best average Test partnership (cut-off: 2000 runs)
87.86 (3339 runs) Hobbs and Sutcliffe
82.16 (3451 runs) Langer and Ponting
+
Read 5 tweets
16 Dec
I often come across gobbledygook like "Spirit of Cricket" or "Gentleman's Game" or "That's Not Cricket".

These comments often remind me of what Archie McLaren did to Charlie McLeod (in photo).

And that happened on this day, 1897-98, at Sydney.
+
In those days, SoC and GG were often defined based on whether MCC were the enforcers or victim.

Before getting into the incident, a bit on McLeod.

McLeod's name never comes up when cricketers who overcame disabilities are listed.

He was hearing impaired.
+
So he could not hear snicks, appeals, even the non-striker's call.

Yet he had 3,321 runs at 21 and 335 wickets at 24 in First-Class cricket.

His numbers were not great in Test cricket (17 Tests, 573 runs at 24, 33 wickets at 40), but he had one great series.
+
Read 11 tweets
15 Dec
On this day, 1979, Dennis Lillee walked out with an aluminium bat (the brand was called ComBat) during a Test match.

But a quiz question before all that.

There were many surplus ComBats, so they tried to sell them for another purpose. What?
(I shall answer this, don't worry)
+
The bat was devised by Graham Monaghan, a close friend and business partner of Lillee.

He had been inspired by the use of metal in baseball clubs.

It was merely a marketing exercise, but nobody knew that at that point.
+
Lillee had used it in a Test match, less than two weeks ago.

He had connected once before Garner dismissing him.

It was forgotten.

Here he was unbeaten on 11 at stumps on Day 1.

And he used it in the nets next morning, making ghastly sounds.
+
Read 11 tweets
15 Dec
Today is the birthday of Greg Matthews, a superb cricketer and a hipster long before Colin Miller or Andre Russell.

In the Madras tied Test, Matthews got 44, 5/103, 27*, and 5/146 – one of the greatest all-round performances in history.
+
But more than that it was his strategy to combat extreme heat that made him popular.

While a dehydrated Dean Jones lost weight, ran a high temperature, and vomited on the ground, Matthews fielded in *two sweaters*.

The theory was astonishing.
+
"Nomadic herders in the desert wore woollen coats because they kept the cool air in, thus acting as a kind of air-conditioner."

While bowling he handed a sweater to the umpire but bowled in a cap.

Mark Taylor once said that Merv Hughes was "more mainstream than" Matthews.
+
Read 13 tweets
15 Dec
On this day, 1933, the first Test match on Indian soil got underway.

BCCI had been founded in Delhi, but Bombay was the hub of Indian cricket, more so given the popularity of the Quadrangular.

So Bombay Gymkhana was a fair choice as venue.

The build-up was tremendous.
+
India's had an impressive tour of England in 1932 (9 wins, 8 defeats).

Now people wanted to see these men live.

Twenty thousand people had attended the match between the MCC and Bombay Presidency at the same venue a week ago.
+
Now, when Nayudu went out to toss with Jardine, about fifty thousand people had to be crammed together.

Temporary tents had been set up in anticipation.

Making his debut was Rustomji Jamshedji, still the oldest man to play for India.


+
Read 13 tweets

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