Clayton Murzello: Club class of a different kind

In another era the Dr HD Kanga League kicked off this time of the year without many of the Mumbai teams regulars The stars used to be in England honouring their club commitments as overseas pros and it was only towards the fag end of the monsoon league that they returned for their respective A division Mumbai clubsTheir fine English league performances on the greens of Old Blighty used to get some space in newspapers and Sportsweek magazine Several cricketers sent their UK newspaper clippings to their family members who in turn used to contact the newspapers hereShrikant Wagh who claimed 10 wickets in an innings for Stokesley in the North Yorkshire and South Durham League last week did not have to post clippings to his family to publicise his achievement But the Vidarbha allrounders feat mdash that helped his side beat Middlesbrough by 135 runs mdash brought back some memories of Indians lighting up the leaguesThe runs wickets and wins provided some level of tuneup for the season and of course the money wasnt bad either Overall it was an experience of a lifetime and there were friendships made for life tooIn 1985 Shishir Hattangadi the former Mumbai opening batsman accompanied his Mumbai colleague Raju Kulkarni to the UK where they were given a caravan to live in This was the year when fast bowler Kulkarni played for Brechin Club In a vital fixture he hit an opposition batsman on the headThe batsman had negotiated Kulkarni for a while and hits to the hand and chest did not chip away at his determination When one of Kulkarnis deliveries landed on his head the fielding side rushed to check on his condition A lady ran on to the pitch and the players thought she was there to provide the injured some aid But she ran past the batsman and stopped where Kulkarni was standing and said I have been watching you for a while and you were trying to injure my husband The livid wife threatened to beat up Kulkarni An acquaintance of Sandeep Patil mdash a keen cameraman mdash was at the match and he recorded the incident that was not only reported in the local newspapers but also aired on BBCAlthough this was league cricket the club members expected you to perform well and also mingle with the community after a game At first I used to finish a game and head to my flat but then I was told by my club president that I must have a drink with the members After all they were contributing to my fees said Hattangadi who was Forfarshire Clubs professional for a few years The allrounders according to Hattangadi were invariably part of the Lancashire league This particular league is referred to every time the 1952 India v England Lords Test is brought up in discussions Vinoo Mankad was playing for Haslingden Club in this league when his services were sought by the Indian team that was hit by injuries to NR Chowdhury and Dattu PhadkarIn November the previous year with a league contract on the cards Mankad wanted an assurance from the Indian cricket control board over his selection else he would sign a lucrative pound1200 contract with Haslingden Mankad the quintessential professional was only being fair The Board believed an assurance would set a poor precedent so Mankad was not included in the original tour party and off he went to LancashireWhen Mankad was needed the Indian board and team manager Pankaj Gupta in particular tried to convince Haslingden to release Mankad It was not easy and there were compensations involvedAn English industrialist Sir Herbert Merritt offered to pay the pound300 compensation to the club and finally Mankad was released That Lords Test is now known as Mankads Test where he scored 72 and 184 and claimed five wickets in Englands first innings like the boy on the burning deckThe Lancashire league was also spoken of when fast bowler Chetan Sharmas back injury ruled him out of the second Test at Leeds in 1986 S Madan Lal who was playing in the Central Lancashire league was called to be skipper Kapil Devs new ball partner at Leeds Interestingly Manoj Prabhakar was the reserve pacer in the team but he didnt figure in the captains plans Also Pradeep Sunderam the Rajasthan fast bowler was a standby for the England tour Sunderam was playing league cricket in England but he was told they couldnt find him Obviously he found that hard to believeMumbai club cricketer Mobin Shaikh didnt have to be a firstclass player to get an opportunity to play in the Bradford League Before his first game of the 1990 summer he was introduced to some supporters as the man from Mumbai In response they admitted that they knew only two aspects about his city mdashSunil Gavaskar and the Kanga League Its Kanga League time again But its not going to be the same as in previous years The stars have either retired or find it unsafe to playCatch up on all the latest Crime National International and Hatke news here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates