Dilawar Hussain

HUSSAIN, DR. DILAWAR, who died at Lahore on August 26, aged 60, was a batsman- wicket-keeper who played in three Tests, all against England, between 1933 and 1936. As an undergraduate at Cambridge in 1936, he assisted the team led by the Maharaj Kumar of Vizianagram when the other two wicket-keepers, D. D. Hindlekar and K. R. Meherhomji, were unfit, and in 17 first-class innings scored 620 runs, average 44.28. A defensive player, he had an ungainly crouching style but possessed unwearying patience coupled with admirable determination.

In the Second Test against D. R. Jardine's team at Calcutta in 1933 he opened the innings and made 59 and 57, being the first wicket-keeper to score fifty in each innings of a Test. Principal of M.A.O. College, Lahore, Dr. Dilawar Hussain became a cricket administrator and selector, and was one of the founder members of the Board of Control in Pakistan. Always witty and humorous, he was a noted after-dinner speaker. His son, Waqar Ahmad, was a member of the Pakistan 1967 team in England and flew home for the funeral during the Oval Test.