Although there is only one instance of England winning a Test on Christmas Day (vs India in 1972), Stokes & Co may have enjoyed a better festive season had they shown some fight in Australia
England captain Ben Stokes cuts a frustrated figure during a nets session at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Wednesday. PIC/Getty Images
A 0-3 situation, be it in a completed or incomplete series, can never relate to a joyous time for any team. The England cricket outfit in particular has to face this ignominy during the festive season. Although they stretched Australia to Day Five in Adelaide, they were still beaten by a margin that was convincing.
The Australians are cock-a-hoop; they talk about a 5-0 scoreline while the critics (in the form of ex-greats) are having a field day. England’s former players, who now sit in commentary boxes, have been ruthless in their criticism of Ben Stokes & Co. They just cannot comprehend how England didn’t cash in on Josh Hazlewood’s injury-related absence, regular skipper Pat Cummins missing the first two Tests, and Steve Smith not being in the line-up for the Adelaide game.
Be that as it may, it’s not a Christmas Day that Stokes and his team would have wanted. I figured that there has been only one occasion in nearly 150 years of Test cricket when England have won on Christmas Day — versus India at New Delhi in 1972.
It was some achievement because India had not been beaten in a Test since December 1969. After that home loss to Australia -- India under new captain Ajit Wadekar --won a Test series in the West Indies and England in 1971. For some reason, there were no international engagements for Wadekar’s India in 1971-72. At the Kotla, India were dismissed for 173, with Geoff Arnold moving the ball well enough to claim 6-45.
It was a strange time for English cricket. Their 1970-71 Ashes-winning captain Ray Illingworth didn’t want to make the India trip, so the bosses appointed Tony Lewis as captain. Lewis hadn’t even played Test cricket.
“Arnold bowls to Gavaskar and I have played for England,” the Welshman wrote in his diary; jottings which were part of his book Playing Days.
The joy of seeing his bowlers dismiss India cheaply on the second morning of the Test was chipped at when BS Chandrasekhar trapped him leg before for a duck. Lewis felt he was hard done by. “Oddly enough, the LBW decision which got rid of me for a duck in my first Test match was so atrocious I scarcely felt any pain immediately. I walked back to the pavilion after only two balls with sadness, but also with disbelief,” wrote Lewis.
England did not respond with a sizeable total (200) with Chandrasekhar sending back all save Dennis Amiss (46) and future skipper Mike Denness (16); both dismissed by Bishan Singh Bedi. Armed with a lead of 27, England had India on the ropes again; the hosts only to be rescued to an extent through a 103-run stand between Eknath Solkar and Farokh Engineer. They went to lunch at 206-5, but the wicketkeeper-batsman was dismissed caught behind by Derek Underwood for 63. Three more wickets fell in the space of 22 balls; Solkar holing out in the deep for 75, to be the last man dismissed.
England’s 207-run victory target was never going to be a stroll, but ending the day with 106-3 meant they just had to score a team century to draw first blood. Lewis batted with determination as he only watched partner Barry Wood depart in the first over of the day. Tony Greig and the skipper thwarted the Indian bowlers for England to win by six wickets. The experts couldn’t fathom how Chandrasekhar, who outwitted the England batsman in the first innings could be ineffective in the last innings of the Test (1-70 in 24 overs).
Lewis was awarded the Erasmic-Sportsweek (magazine) Man of the Match award of Rs 1000. “Can Christmas ever be the same again? England score 207 for 4 to win the first Test by six wickets. Who would have thought a young, untried side could have done that? We are widely acclaimed. Champagne in the dressıng room, telegrams rush in from home, and some of the boys travel back to the hotel on the roof of the team’s bus, waving to the crowds lining the streets. Alan Knott gave everyone a warning smile. ‘I’ll stay in here downstairs. Four more Tests to go before I jump up there,’ ” wrote Lewis.
Knott knew what he was talking about. India won the next two Tests at Kolkata and Chennai before drawn games in Kanpur and Mumbai. Pat Pocock, the off-spinner, revealed in his book Percy that 50 bottles of champagne arrived in their dressing room and they were “consumed in short order by both the team and the quorum of English fans.”
Knott and Greig were India tourists on England’s next tour of India in 1976-77. Greig, captain by now, noticed how his 1972-73 teammates got carried away with the New Delhi Test celebrations. Like in 1972-73, England won the opening Test of the 1976-77 series in New Delhi.
Greig and his team were in Kolkata in the build-up to the next Test, to be held after a tour game against East Zone at Guwahati. Determined not to allow a repeat of 1972-73 when they lost the next Test after the euphoric one in New Delhi, Greig chose to let his team know where their priorities should lie. He was stung by the fact that some from his team were getting carried away and let it rip in the team room. “When I’m angry, my language can deteriorate. That night it was appalling. I strode out, slamming the door on an extraordinary silence,” wrote Greig in My Story.
England ended up winning the Kolkata Test en route a 3-1 win, till today the biggest victory margin by an England team on these shores.
Stokes may have read the riot act too after his side slumped to their third defeat in as many Tests. He doesn’t have the advantage of a win in the pocket like Greig did after New Delhi in 1976-77, but England do have two Tests to play for pride.
mid-day’s Deputy Editor Clayton Murzello is a purist with an open stance.
He tweets @ClaytonMurzello. Send your feedback to mailbag@mid-day.com
The views expressed in this column are the individual’s and don’t represent those of the paper.
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