Cowdrey's bond with India not by birth alone

Colin Cowdrey, who passed away in London on Tuesday, was one of the best loved cricketers. A gentleman to the core, he always stood for what is noble and cultured about the game. As a technical craftsman at the crease, he had few peers and to see Cowdrey playing his full repertoire of strokes was one of the ethereal sights in the game.

Cowdrey had more than one close association with India. To start with, he was born in this country and recalls in his extremely readable autobiography `Time for Reflection' how his cricket loving father, a tea planter by profession, gave the new born the famous initials - MCC for Michael Colin Cowdrey - soon after his birth on December 24, 1932 in Ootacamund. He was christened at Bangalore. The Cowdrey family went back to England in 1938 and at school and Oxford University, the young Colin proved that he was a genuine prodigy.

It was against India that he made two knocks that brought him into national prominence. Batting for Oxford against the touring Indians in 1952, Cowdrey scored 92 and 54. SK Gurunathan wrote in Indian Cricket: "In these two innings, the young cricketer fully lived up to his promise and showed himself unmistakably as a future England player. He has an easy stance and good forward strokes. He possesses the most important quality, temperament, which enabled him to play well at a critical hour." The two innings were played in a losing cause with the Indians winning by nine wickets and in the face of a good Indian bowling attack - Divecha, Hazare, Ghulam Ahmed and Shinde. Ghulam in fact was quite unplayable, taking 13 wickets in the match.

It was also against India seven years later that Cowdrey captained his country for the first time. After serving as deputy to Peter May, Cowdrey got his chance to lead England against India at Old Trafford when May had to undergo surgery. It was the first of his 27 Test appearances as England captain, spread over the next ten years. England won that Test by 171 runs. Cowdrey stayed on as captain for the final Test at the Oval which England won by an innings and 27 runs to complete a clean sweep in the five match series.

Cowdrey declined to tour India with the MCC team in 1961-62. He was however named captain of the MCC team to India in 1963-64. At the last minute, he withdrew and Mike Smith led the team. As luck would have it, when the side was badly hit by injuries and indisposition, the team management asked for replacements and Cowdrey and Peter Parfitt were flown in at short notice. Cowdrey had not played any cricket since his arm had been broken by Wesley Hall in the Lord's Test against West Indies in June, 1963. But bringing all his skill and experience into play, Cowdrey, who joined the team after the second Test at Bombay, got 107 in the next Test at Calcutta and followed it up with 151 in the fourth Test at New Delhi. He took little time to settle down, adjusting himself well to the hotter climate and the pitches that lacked pace and bounce. But then superb technique had always been Cowdrey's trademark.

Cowdrey did not play against India in a Test again. But the Indian connection continued via his son. His eldest son Christopher Cowdrey made his debut against India at Bombay in 1984. When he bowled Kapil Dev, his proud father, listening in London to the radio commentary, was so astonished that he drove in the wrong direction along a one way street!