Prized 'victims': Cricketers and the pranks they play on their colleagues

Clockwise from topleftGeoff BoycottPolly UmrigarSalim DuraniSourav Ganguly andDoug WaltersEarlier this week Test Match Special commentator Jonathan Agnew played a wellpublicised prank on Geoff Boycott by reading out a press release from the International Cricket Council who said as per a directive from the South African government they have to disregard runs and wickets made by cricketers in the 1970 England vs Rest of the World series because went against the Gleneagles Agreement during the apartheid period in South African cricketThis meant that statisticsdriven Boycott who got a hundred in the last Test of series would have one firstclass century less in his impressive 151 tally Of course it was a joke but Boycott endured nearly three minutes of absolute agony inflicted by AgnewWhile the great English batsman works out a way to get back at Agnew the former England fast bowler midday looks at cricketrelated pranks the victors and the victimsDuranis tape recorderMy favourite prank story was provided to us by Sunil Gavaskar in his first book Sunny Days It was about Salim Durani taking a call from a Dilip Sardesai admirer in his hotel room during the 1971 tour of the West Indies The admirer informs Durani that he wants to present a tape recorder to Sardesai When told that Sardesai is out the admirer then tells Durani that he wants to present one to him too and he should come down to the hotel foyerDurani dresses up puts on his India tie and heads down But he cant find the man so he heads back to his room The phone rings again The admirer apologises for not being at the foyer and requests Durani who had changed into his shorts to come down againDurani puts on his best clothes again doesnt forget the India tie and walks down two floors to reach the foyer When he discovers that the admirer is missing again he goes to the swimming pool and then again to the reception Over to Gavaskar in Sunny Days Suddenly a voice behind him said So you want a tape recorder huh and from behind a pillar stepped out Sardesai who himself had made those calls to Salim It was so funny that Salim himself started laughing forgetting the trouble he had taken to dress up and come down to the reception counter twiceWhen Polly was stumpedIf the prank on Durani was the most popular one of the 1971 West Indies tour the practical joke played on team manager Polly Umrigar during Indias next tour of the Caribbean in 1976 is a classic Umrigar and the team were in Georgetown where the third Test of the series got washed out One morning according to Gavaskar in Sunny Days Umrigar got a call arranged by skipper Bishan Singh Bedi from the Indian High Commission in Guyana asking him to come over and explain the Indian teams behaviour in the previous Test at Trinidad Umrigar immediately went to Bedis room and the Indian captain nearly gave it away by laughing Umrigar claimed he didnt even have enough Guyanese currency for the taxi fare Anyway Umrigar and assistant manager Balu Alaganan headed to the High Commission but Alaganan suspected it could be an All Fools Day joke They went to the High Commission in any case and thats where they realised that it was all set upDadas interview blastSourav Gangulys teammates decided to play a prank on him when the Indian team were in Kochi on April 1 2005 for their oneday international against Pakistan on the morrow The mischievous ones in the team thought up a fine way to fool GangulyThey conspired to get fake paper clippings made of a report in which the skipper lashed out at his team especially Yuvraj Singh and Harbhajan Singh for enjoying the good life and not working hard to up their game Ganguly was tackled by Harbhajan in the dressing room about the socalled interview and Ganguly spent a great deal of time convincing him and the team that he had not spoken to any journalist about thisSourav Ganguly and Harbhajan Singh share a light moment during a training session in 2007 PICAFPYuvraj and Zaheer Khan too chimed in with his displeasure and finally Ganguly declared that if this interview was true he would give up the India captaincy Harbhajan said on comedian Vikram Sathayes show What the Duck recently that he even picked up his kit bag to leave Ganguly was finally reminded that it was an April Fool joke Meanwhile coach John Wright who was already in the practice area was left wondering as to why his team were not moving out of the dressing roomHobbs the kind pranksterSir Jack HobbsEnglish batsman Sir Jack Hobbs was called The Master He was also masterly when it came to pranks When his visitors got up to leave he would give them back their pen diary and even the purse which he had pickpocketed just for fun While sitting in the dressing room as a member of the Surrey or England batting side it was not uncommon for him to attract the attention of a preoccupied next man in with the words hes out hes out Sometimes the poor batsman would be down the steps before he realised that no wicket had fallen John Arlott the late cricket writer and broadcaster remembered how Hobbs once emptied Percy Chapmans gin and tonic which was filled in ginger beer bottles to be consumed at tea time during a Lords Test At the interval Chapman duly uncorked one and sipped it only to taste the water That bloody Hobbs Chapman exclaimed Of course Hobbs had disappeared from the roomWalters empty feelingThe dressing room at the Western Australia Cricket Association ground in Perth in 1974 was lonely one for Australian batsman Doug Walters as he walked in after causing one of the most dramatic of lastballoftheday heroics Batting on 97 he hit Englands Bob Willis for a six off the last ball of the second days play He also achieved a rare feat of scoring a ton in a sessionWalters teammates decided not to give him a rousing welcome and stayed in the showers Walters didnt react and thats where he won in the prank He just opened a couple of beers and started to sip when the rest of the team ran out and embraced him