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Cricket Country
Cricket is an Indian game accidentally invented by the English, it has famously been said. But India was represented by a cricket team long before it became a nation.
Conceived by an unlikely coalition of imperial and local elites, it took twelve years and four failed attempts before the first Indian cricket team made its debut on the playing fields of imperial Britain. Drawing on an unparalleled range of original archival sources, Cricket Country is the story of this first 'All India' national cricket tour of Great Britain and Ireland. It is also simultaneously the extraordinary tale of how the idea of India took shape on the cricket pitch long before the country gained its political independence.
Replete with a highly improbable cast of characters, the tour took place against the backdrop of anti-colonial protest and revolutionary terrorism in the high noon of Edwardian imperialism, with an Indian team that included the young, newly enthroned ruler of the most powerful Sikh state in India as its captain and, remarkably for the day, two Dalit cricketers as well.
Over the course of their historic tour in the blazing Coronation summer of 1911, these Indian cricketers participated in a collective enterprise that epitomizes the way in which sport - and above all cricket - helped fashion the imagined communities of both nation and empire.
Conceived by an unlikely coalition of imperial and local elites, it took twelve years and four failed attempts before the first Indian cricket team made its debut on the playing fields of imperial Britain. Drawing on an unparalleled range of original archival sources, Cricket Country is the story of this first 'All India' national cricket tour of Great Britain and Ireland. It is also simultaneously the extraordinary tale of how the idea of India took shape on the cricket pitch long before the country gained its political independence.
Replete with a highly improbable cast of characters, the tour took place against the backdrop of anti-colonial protest and revolutionary terrorism in the high noon of Edwardian imperialism, with an Indian team that included the young, newly enthroned ruler of the most powerful Sikh state in India as its captain and, remarkably for the day, two Dalit cricketers as well.
Over the course of their historic tour in the blazing Coronation summer of 1911, these Indian cricketers participated in a collective enterprise that epitomizes the way in which sport - and above all cricket - helped fashion the imagined communities of both nation and empire.
448 pages, Paperback
First published July 25, 2019
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June 8, 2020
I have loved cricket since my early teenage years (quite a long time ago now) and have occasionally played for low-level club teams where batsmen have been underwhelmed with my spin bowling. I have followed the sport for years and have had that roller coast of emotion that you get supporting the England cricket team where defeat is often snatched from victory and the certainty of a batting collapse hangs over every match.
While cricket is a sport that we invented and evolved, it seems that most of the world is better at it than us as a rule, in particular the players of the subcontinent, hence the phrase, cricket is an Indian game accidentally invented by the English. Now days India is a force to be reckoned with in modern cricket, producing world-class batsmen and bowlers who can reduce an opposition teams supporters to tears. It is a sport that does manage to unite a country that is riven with internal conflicts, but where did it all begin?
The story begins way back in the 1830s when India was under British control and the youth of the day began to take up the sport. As it became more popular interest in traditional Indian games began to diminish. Their colonial rulers did not discourage this, seeing that the game extolled of the British virtues. Lots of local teams were formed and by the late 1870s, some of them were good enough to defeat the Royal Navy Team. It was around this time that the possibility of a tour of an Indian Cricket team around the UK was first mooted. For a variety of reasons, it didn’t happen, but in 1889 a team from England toured the subcontinent and the India team of Parsi’s beat Lord Hawkes team, much to the disbelief of spectators.
Ranji was a talented cricketer who had studied at Cambridge and at one point played for Sussex and there was even some controversy about his being selected to play for England. He was involved in the possible first Indian tour of the UK, that was being organised for the turn of the century, but he scuppered that with his attempt to secure the throne of Nawanagar. There were internal rivalries in the team too, with the Hindu and Parsi factions causing another attempt to tour being abandoned. These differences were resolved in the end.
Further progress was made with the organisation for the tour and the Tata family offered to help with financial assistance, but some of the team members complained about individuals from lower castes being selected, thankfully Balloo contested the decision and in his time became to be considered the best left-arm spinner in the world.
Finally, all the different aspects of the tour came together and a team left India to go to the UK in 1911. The UK that year was undergoing a heatwave with temperatures as high as 98 deg F. The country cooked, thousands died from the heat and there was even one man who shed so many clothes as he was so hot that he was arrested for nudity. On top of that, there was social turmoil, strikes fighting in the streets and a political battle between the House of Commons and the Lords. It was an inauspicious start to their tour of the UK, but they began it in Oxford, nonetheless.
They didn’t have an auspicious start to the tour and lost a number of their matches at the start of the tour, this was partly because they weren’t used to the pitch conditions of the spin and seam bowling, the matches were too close together not allowing recuperation between them and they were often set against much better sides. The odds were very much stacked against them, however, halfway through, their fortunes changed and they began to win matches, even Baloo began to take wickets and accumulated five-wicket hauls. The team was dissolved on it’s return to India and there would be another national team until 1926 and it was another five years after that, that an official Indian team would return to the UK.
I will admit to being a cricket fan, so this had an immediate appeal anyway, but for those that like their sport this book will almost certainly appeal. Kidambi has written a book that is comprehensive, richly detailed and full of stories and anecdotes about the origins of what is now a great cricket team. There was a brief sojourn into a story about a gentleman called Ramamurti Naidu who performed feats of strength and wrestling Fascinating as it was, and he was in the UK at the same time as the others, I wasn’t totally sure of the link to the cricket team’s story.
While cricket is a sport that we invented and evolved, it seems that most of the world is better at it than us as a rule, in particular the players of the subcontinent, hence the phrase, cricket is an Indian game accidentally invented by the English. Now days India is a force to be reckoned with in modern cricket, producing world-class batsmen and bowlers who can reduce an opposition teams supporters to tears. It is a sport that does manage to unite a country that is riven with internal conflicts, but where did it all begin?
The story begins way back in the 1830s when India was under British control and the youth of the day began to take up the sport. As it became more popular interest in traditional Indian games began to diminish. Their colonial rulers did not discourage this, seeing that the game extolled of the British virtues. Lots of local teams were formed and by the late 1870s, some of them were good enough to defeat the Royal Navy Team. It was around this time that the possibility of a tour of an Indian Cricket team around the UK was first mooted. For a variety of reasons, it didn’t happen, but in 1889 a team from England toured the subcontinent and the India team of Parsi’s beat Lord Hawkes team, much to the disbelief of spectators.
Ranji was a talented cricketer who had studied at Cambridge and at one point played for Sussex and there was even some controversy about his being selected to play for England. He was involved in the possible first Indian tour of the UK, that was being organised for the turn of the century, but he scuppered that with his attempt to secure the throne of Nawanagar. There were internal rivalries in the team too, with the Hindu and Parsi factions causing another attempt to tour being abandoned. These differences were resolved in the end.
Further progress was made with the organisation for the tour and the Tata family offered to help with financial assistance, but some of the team members complained about individuals from lower castes being selected, thankfully Balloo contested the decision and in his time became to be considered the best left-arm spinner in the world.
Finally, all the different aspects of the tour came together and a team left India to go to the UK in 1911. The UK that year was undergoing a heatwave with temperatures as high as 98 deg F. The country cooked, thousands died from the heat and there was even one man who shed so many clothes as he was so hot that he was arrested for nudity. On top of that, there was social turmoil, strikes fighting in the streets and a political battle between the House of Commons and the Lords. It was an inauspicious start to their tour of the UK, but they began it in Oxford, nonetheless.
They didn’t have an auspicious start to the tour and lost a number of their matches at the start of the tour, this was partly because they weren’t used to the pitch conditions of the spin and seam bowling, the matches were too close together not allowing recuperation between them and they were often set against much better sides. The odds were very much stacked against them, however, halfway through, their fortunes changed and they began to win matches, even Baloo began to take wickets and accumulated five-wicket hauls. The team was dissolved on it’s return to India and there would be another national team until 1926 and it was another five years after that, that an official Indian team would return to the UK.
I will admit to being a cricket fan, so this had an immediate appeal anyway, but for those that like their sport this book will almost certainly appeal. Kidambi has written a book that is comprehensive, richly detailed and full of stories and anecdotes about the origins of what is now a great cricket team. There was a brief sojourn into a story about a gentleman called Ramamurti Naidu who performed feats of strength and wrestling Fascinating as it was, and he was in the UK at the same time as the others, I wasn’t totally sure of the link to the cricket team’s story.
July 28, 2022
“In narrating the history of a pivotal phase in Indian cricket, Cricket Country dissents from the deeply entrenched idea that the game’s initial appeal in the subcontinent derived primarily from its pre-modern features. For the adherents of this view, the slow pace of cricket, its unpredictability, the lack of direct physical contact between the protagonists, and the significance of its unwritten codes of conduct chimed with the rhythms of an ancient, caste-based, agrarian civilization. Hence, it has been argued, even though cricket was brought to the country by the British, the affinity between its prim Victorian norms and the cultural values of the colonized enabled the game to take root within Indian society. By contrast, this book affirms that Indians were attracted to cricket because it represented the allure of the colonial modern…”
The most admired Indian amusement - no, not street food, not Bollywood, positively not politics! We're speaking of the most breathtaking leisure of it all - Indian Cricket!
This book graphs how the inspiration of India took form on the cricket pitch.
Although we like to think that it began with gilli-danda, most Historians see eye to eye on the fact that that cricket, as we know it, came to India with English sailors in the 1700s.
Certainly, since the English played the game, all the important English spots -- Calcutta, Madras and Bombay became cricketing zones. Cricket clubs started getting formed all over the country. But the clubs were all-white clubs with a cluster of English playing against each other.
Then slowly but surely the affluent Indians started playing the game. See, whatever the English did was cool back then, so if they played cricket, so would the other cool folks in India.
The first to play with the English were the Parsis. They also became the first Indians to tour England.The Parsis and English were having regular tournaments in Bombay.
Not to be outdone, the Hindu Maharajas started forming their own teams. A Hindu cricketing club, "Bombay Union", was formed in...Bombay.
So now we had a triangular series in Bombay. Hindu cricketers sorted themselves on the lines of caste and region of origin. Now, of course, Muslims too wanted to compete, making it the Bombay Quadrangular series. But even then, many sections of Indians were left out in this communal cricket.
So all the others joined as a group called "The Rest". Thus we had the Bombay Pentangular series!
See, cricket had a lot of drama even before IPL! Gradually some Europeans started touring India. Popularity of the game grew.
Meanwhile two Indians Ranjitsinghji and Duleepsinhji were proving themselves to be cricketers of great merit in England.
Now both of these breathtaking cricketers played for England. Then, in 1932, led by C.K. Nayudu, India made its test debut in England. But from there till around 1950s, we were still considered a “puny” team. Although locally, we were gearing up for better days - BCCI was formed, Ranji trophy was started.
What does this book speak of? The following:
1) Principally, it argues that the nation on the cricket field was initially constituted by, and not against, the forces of empire. Drawing on a variety of unused archival sources, the book documents how the project to put together the first national cricket team was pursued by a miscellaneous combination comprising Indian businessmen, princes, and publicists, working alongside British governors, officials, journalists, soldiers, and professional coaches. Because of this large-scale alliance, ‘India’ was represented by a cricket team long before it became sovereign.
2) If the attempt to fashion India on the cricket field reveals the workings of empire, Cricket Country also shows how the ultimate outcome was unfalteringly shaped by the definite historical contexts within which it was conjured up and pursued.
3) The proposal of an amalgamated national team was first floated towards the end of the 1890s, when cricket’s promoters in India sought to take advantage of on the spectacular rise of Kumar Shri Ranjitsinhji, the Kathiawari prince whose inspirational batting mesmerized Britain and the wider imperial world.
4) As it transpired, ‘Ranji’ (as he was prevalently known) was unwilling to participate in a project that might risk his status as an English cricket icon. In the early 1900s, Europeans in colonial India sought to join forces with influential local elites in putting together a national team that would platform the country’s potential as a cricketing destination.
5) Once again, the venture failed; this time because of violent divisions between Hindus, Parsis, and Muslims over the irritated question of communal representation on the cricket field. A very dissimilar set of political conditions prevailed at the end of the 1900s.
6) The two years between 1907 and 1909 were marked by a wave of aggression in which young Indians targeted British officials and their local collaborators. Dismayed by the unenthusiastic publicity generated by these acts, Bombay’s leading business magnates and public men, along with well-known Indian princes, sought to revitalize the project of sending a national cricket team to Britain. Their aim was to use sport to endorse a positive image of India and to assure imperial authorities that the country would remain a devoted part of the British Empire.
7) This tome weaves together the stories of a brilliant bunch of other Indians who landed on British shores seeking sporting grandeur. In the pages, the readers bump into Jamsetji Marker, a 39-year-old Parsi racquets player, who was the world champion in his sport; a large cluster of Punjabi wrestlers, who had come to parade their frightening skills in London for the second successive year; and Professor Ramamurti Naidu, the ‘Indian Hercules’, whose displays of physical strength and stamina enchanted princes and plebeians in a similar way. Over the course of a blazing coronation summer, dominated concurrently by imperial pageantry and popular protest, the public reception of these long-forgotten Indian heroes shows how sport forged the imagined communities of empire and nation.
Each episode in this narrative underlines how the connection between cricket and the nation was neither normal nor predictable. Equally, it highlights how Indian agency, and not merely imperial imperatives, determinedly shaped this cricket country.
Ultimately, 1952 saw two milestone victories for us – the first test victory against England and the first series victory against Pakistan.
In the coming years, we were considered a force to be reckoned with on home territory. We had legends like Tiger Pataudi, Bishan Singh Bedi, EAS Prasanna, Gundappa Viswanath and many others.
In the 1970s globally cricket was transitioning from test matches to One Day cricket. And we were finding it a bit tough to go with the new trend. This too was about to change. 1980s brought Kapil Dev, Sunil Gavaskar, Ravi Shastri, Kris Srikkanth, Madan Lal and a wave of cricketing masters we worship today.
India was becoming good at the game.
Still, in 1983, West Indies were the thought to be the best team. We were nowhere close.
So just visualize the thrill when Kapil and team lifted the world cup defeating the mighty West Indies! It was the most spectacular, most memorable event ever. The whole nation went bonkers!
Cricket in India had as a final point arrived.
And the rest, as they say, is an oft repeated and cherished History!
The most admired Indian amusement - no, not street food, not Bollywood, positively not politics! We're speaking of the most breathtaking leisure of it all - Indian Cricket!
This book graphs how the inspiration of India took form on the cricket pitch.
Although we like to think that it began with gilli-danda, most Historians see eye to eye on the fact that that cricket, as we know it, came to India with English sailors in the 1700s.
Certainly, since the English played the game, all the important English spots -- Calcutta, Madras and Bombay became cricketing zones. Cricket clubs started getting formed all over the country. But the clubs were all-white clubs with a cluster of English playing against each other.
Then slowly but surely the affluent Indians started playing the game. See, whatever the English did was cool back then, so if they played cricket, so would the other cool folks in India.
The first to play with the English were the Parsis. They also became the first Indians to tour England.The Parsis and English were having regular tournaments in Bombay.
Not to be outdone, the Hindu Maharajas started forming their own teams. A Hindu cricketing club, "Bombay Union", was formed in...Bombay.
So now we had a triangular series in Bombay. Hindu cricketers sorted themselves on the lines of caste and region of origin. Now, of course, Muslims too wanted to compete, making it the Bombay Quadrangular series. But even then, many sections of Indians were left out in this communal cricket.
So all the others joined as a group called "The Rest". Thus we had the Bombay Pentangular series!
See, cricket had a lot of drama even before IPL! Gradually some Europeans started touring India. Popularity of the game grew.
Meanwhile two Indians Ranjitsinghji and Duleepsinhji were proving themselves to be cricketers of great merit in England.
Now both of these breathtaking cricketers played for England. Then, in 1932, led by C.K. Nayudu, India made its test debut in England. But from there till around 1950s, we were still considered a “puny” team. Although locally, we were gearing up for better days - BCCI was formed, Ranji trophy was started.
What does this book speak of? The following:
1) Principally, it argues that the nation on the cricket field was initially constituted by, and not against, the forces of empire. Drawing on a variety of unused archival sources, the book documents how the project to put together the first national cricket team was pursued by a miscellaneous combination comprising Indian businessmen, princes, and publicists, working alongside British governors, officials, journalists, soldiers, and professional coaches. Because of this large-scale alliance, ‘India’ was represented by a cricket team long before it became sovereign.
2) If the attempt to fashion India on the cricket field reveals the workings of empire, Cricket Country also shows how the ultimate outcome was unfalteringly shaped by the definite historical contexts within which it was conjured up and pursued.
3) The proposal of an amalgamated national team was first floated towards the end of the 1890s, when cricket’s promoters in India sought to take advantage of on the spectacular rise of Kumar Shri Ranjitsinhji, the Kathiawari prince whose inspirational batting mesmerized Britain and the wider imperial world.
4) As it transpired, ‘Ranji’ (as he was prevalently known) was unwilling to participate in a project that might risk his status as an English cricket icon. In the early 1900s, Europeans in colonial India sought to join forces with influential local elites in putting together a national team that would platform the country’s potential as a cricketing destination.
5) Once again, the venture failed; this time because of violent divisions between Hindus, Parsis, and Muslims over the irritated question of communal representation on the cricket field. A very dissimilar set of political conditions prevailed at the end of the 1900s.
6) The two years between 1907 and 1909 were marked by a wave of aggression in which young Indians targeted British officials and their local collaborators. Dismayed by the unenthusiastic publicity generated by these acts, Bombay’s leading business magnates and public men, along with well-known Indian princes, sought to revitalize the project of sending a national cricket team to Britain. Their aim was to use sport to endorse a positive image of India and to assure imperial authorities that the country would remain a devoted part of the British Empire.
7) This tome weaves together the stories of a brilliant bunch of other Indians who landed on British shores seeking sporting grandeur. In the pages, the readers bump into Jamsetji Marker, a 39-year-old Parsi racquets player, who was the world champion in his sport; a large cluster of Punjabi wrestlers, who had come to parade their frightening skills in London for the second successive year; and Professor Ramamurti Naidu, the ‘Indian Hercules’, whose displays of physical strength and stamina enchanted princes and plebeians in a similar way. Over the course of a blazing coronation summer, dominated concurrently by imperial pageantry and popular protest, the public reception of these long-forgotten Indian heroes shows how sport forged the imagined communities of empire and nation.
Each episode in this narrative underlines how the connection between cricket and the nation was neither normal nor predictable. Equally, it highlights how Indian agency, and not merely imperial imperatives, determinedly shaped this cricket country.
Ultimately, 1952 saw two milestone victories for us – the first test victory against England and the first series victory against Pakistan.
In the coming years, we were considered a force to be reckoned with on home territory. We had legends like Tiger Pataudi, Bishan Singh Bedi, EAS Prasanna, Gundappa Viswanath and many others.
In the 1970s globally cricket was transitioning from test matches to One Day cricket. And we were finding it a bit tough to go with the new trend. This too was about to change. 1980s brought Kapil Dev, Sunil Gavaskar, Ravi Shastri, Kris Srikkanth, Madan Lal and a wave of cricketing masters we worship today.
India was becoming good at the game.
Still, in 1983, West Indies were the thought to be the best team. We were nowhere close.
So just visualize the thrill when Kapil and team lifted the world cup defeating the mighty West Indies! It was the most spectacular, most memorable event ever. The whole nation went bonkers!
Cricket in India had as a final point arrived.
And the rest, as they say, is an oft repeated and cherished History!
June 2, 2020
Kidambi's book examines the Indian cricket tour of the Britain (England, Scotland and Ireland) in 1911, not just as a sporting contest, but as a context in which to view nascent Indian nationalism as the Raj approached its final decades.
There is some fascinating preamble to the tour, but the book is at its compelling in the hundred or so pages that deal with the tour itself. As with many pieces of historical non-fiction, it is comprehensive and detailled, and not all of the tangents Kidambi departs on will be of interest to everyone. There are 90 pages of footnotes, as well as a comprehensive index (480 reading pages on
my eBook version, almost 800 in total). For cricket lovers, it is the beginings of the game in India, the selection process, the tour itself, and the subsequent lives of those involved that particularly appeal. Other sections could be cut out, though context is needed, and though lenghty, the writing always holds the attention.
Kidambi is strong on the diverse social contexts in which cricket came to thrive in India: from elite Muslim boarding schools in the north; to the Parsee community playing cricket on the maidans of Bombay; and the middle classes taking up cricket in Calcutta.
The summer of 1911 was a significant one; George V was crowned, the Festival of the Empire took place, the Indians toured, and it was the hottest summer on record. So hot, that the Indians actually quoted it as being a reason they struggled to perform.
Of course, they also struggled against swing bowling, a relatively new technique..
In addition they travelled maddening distances between games with very few rest days, in a schedule to suit the counties they played rather than logic. Though no Test matches, the tour finished in Bristol with a game against a Golucestershire team including WG and Gilbert Jessop.
Kidambi has an underlying contention though, that while cricket may once have been seen as fundamentally English, time has shown it to be much more core to Indian identity than to England's.
The captain of England at the time was Pelham 'Plum' Warner, who wrote..
So relevant still today. But sport can only go so far. One thing is for sure, that I miss cricket.. from today's news though we may only have to wait a month...
There is some fascinating preamble to the tour, but the book is at its compelling in the hundred or so pages that deal with the tour itself. As with many pieces of historical non-fiction, it is comprehensive and detailled, and not all of the tangents Kidambi departs on will be of interest to everyone. There are 90 pages of footnotes, as well as a comprehensive index (480 reading pages on
my eBook version, almost 800 in total). For cricket lovers, it is the beginings of the game in India, the selection process, the tour itself, and the subsequent lives of those involved that particularly appeal. Other sections could be cut out, though context is needed, and though lenghty, the writing always holds the attention.
Kidambi is strong on the diverse social contexts in which cricket came to thrive in India: from elite Muslim boarding schools in the north; to the Parsee community playing cricket on the maidans of Bombay; and the middle classes taking up cricket in Calcutta.
The summer of 1911 was a significant one; George V was crowned, the Festival of the Empire took place, the Indians toured, and it was the hottest summer on record. So hot, that the Indians actually quoted it as being a reason they struggled to perform.
Of course, they also struggled against swing bowling, a relatively new technique..
This innovation is credited to the Yorkshire professional George Hirst, but iroinically its originator was John Barton King, an American fast bowler who toured England in 1897 with the 'Gentlemen of Philadephia@.
In addition they travelled maddening distances between games with very few rest days, in a schedule to suit the counties they played rather than logic. Though no Test matches, the tour finished in Bristol with a game against a Golucestershire team including WG and Gilbert Jessop.
Kidambi has an underlying contention though, that while cricket may once have been seen as fundamentally English, time has shown it to be much more core to Indian identity than to England's.
The captain of England at the time was Pelham 'Plum' Warner, who wrote..
There is a case in point of the extraordinary power the game has over its votaries in this matter of sinking all prejudices and dislike, real or imaginary, in the tour in the United Kingdom of a team from India composed of men of all castes and creeds. I make so bold as to say that this travelling and living together of natives of various castes and creeds will have far-reaching effect in India.
So relevant still today. But sport can only go so far. One thing is for sure, that I miss cricket.. from today's news though we may only have to wait a month...
April 25, 2020
Indian cricket as we know it now, is almost indistinguishable from the way it was perceived in its early years. Today India is a financial powerhouse, having world class facilities, churning out modern master of the game, and is considered to be the driving force of the cricketing religion. It is fascinating to imagine and understand how the initial baby steps were taken in Indian cricket and this book is a crackling recount of the 1st All India team tour of the British Isles in 1911.
The author Prashant Kadambi in the book takes a wider look at the different contexts- political, social to the tour and the book paints a wider canvas and is encompassing in its vision. The organization of the book is very sound and is neatly divided into 11 Chapters. At the start of the Chapter, the author provides either a summary or a sort of preface to the content of the chapter very well.
The story starts from the urban origins of the game in Bombay, the way Parsis took to the game as an expression of community’s Britishness and focus on civilized masculinity. The attempt to have the atleast a tour of Parsi cricketers to Britain was proposed in 1878 but finally fructified in the 1886 and 1888. These tours were perceived as educational and pilgrimages for learning the game better and not as equals.
There were corresponding tours from English teams mainly amateur teams from 1890s to establish Brittanic nationalism and imperial diplomacy, and for some of the players to renew old friendships and bonds with fellow colonials. As the cricket spread in India rapidly in all communities and all parts of India accentuated by the dazzling presence of Ranji in Britain, proposal for an all India team again gained ground culminating with the tour in 1911
.
The author covers the many sub-plots and the juxtaposition of politics, power play and cricket very well including increasing cricketing rivalry between Parsis and Hindus, reluctance of Ranji to actively support the Indian cricket team to Britain due to his personal political reasons etc. He brings out the that these proposed tours of the Indian team were not just imperially promoted enterprises but also had active support of Indian industrial magnets like Dorabji and Ratan Tata.
You are curious of the players who composed the team and the author devotes a good amount of time covering the cricketing journeys of these pioneers including Palwankar Baloo, the Hindu Dalit player who was the easily India’s 1st world class spinner and returned from the tour with his reputation enhanced. He also touches on the political background for the selection of the team’s captain- Bhupinder Singh of Patiala, and sadly till date some level of political mechanisms have always been a part of Indian cricket.
The author also provides an insight in the journeys of some of the other Indian sportsmen who were in Britain namely Jamsetji Merwanji-world champion at racquets (precursor to Squash), Gama and Ahmad Baksh- India’s wrestling heavyweights and of Professor Kodi Ramamurti Naidu- known as Indian Hercules who performed with astonishing muscular feats. It was an Indian Summer in Britain and London in 1911 when the imperial power was its zenith. Coupled with Mohun Bagan’s defeat of Middlesex and East Yorkshire regiments in 1911, Indian sporting achievements were finally coming in the limelight breaking the preconceived Imperial notions of lack of ‘manly spirit’ and ‘physical activity’ in Indian people.
The author’s narrative style is compelling and with every chapter you look forward to the next set of events in this enthralling tale. The author also uses the reference material from contemporary sources well to allow us readers to perceive the different opinions and the context at the time. The authenticity of the book is also well-established through the extensive reference and you feel pretty satisfied that the author befitting a research scholar has taken a 360-degree view of the required information.
Finally to conclude, the book is more than just a cricketing tale, it provides a window into the Indian nation of the time within different contexts through a cricketing reference. The 1911 tour was the 1st attempt to forge a national team and was supported by a large section of Indian people and deserves to be remembered and appreciated. A must read book for any cricketing fan and in fact for anyone fascinated with Indian history.
The author Prashant Kadambi in the book takes a wider look at the different contexts- political, social to the tour and the book paints a wider canvas and is encompassing in its vision. The organization of the book is very sound and is neatly divided into 11 Chapters. At the start of the Chapter, the author provides either a summary or a sort of preface to the content of the chapter very well.
The story starts from the urban origins of the game in Bombay, the way Parsis took to the game as an expression of community’s Britishness and focus on civilized masculinity. The attempt to have the atleast a tour of Parsi cricketers to Britain was proposed in 1878 but finally fructified in the 1886 and 1888. These tours were perceived as educational and pilgrimages for learning the game better and not as equals.
There were corresponding tours from English teams mainly amateur teams from 1890s to establish Brittanic nationalism and imperial diplomacy, and for some of the players to renew old friendships and bonds with fellow colonials. As the cricket spread in India rapidly in all communities and all parts of India accentuated by the dazzling presence of Ranji in Britain, proposal for an all India team again gained ground culminating with the tour in 1911
.
The author covers the many sub-plots and the juxtaposition of politics, power play and cricket very well including increasing cricketing rivalry between Parsis and Hindus, reluctance of Ranji to actively support the Indian cricket team to Britain due to his personal political reasons etc. He brings out the that these proposed tours of the Indian team were not just imperially promoted enterprises but also had active support of Indian industrial magnets like Dorabji and Ratan Tata.
You are curious of the players who composed the team and the author devotes a good amount of time covering the cricketing journeys of these pioneers including Palwankar Baloo, the Hindu Dalit player who was the easily India’s 1st world class spinner and returned from the tour with his reputation enhanced. He also touches on the political background for the selection of the team’s captain- Bhupinder Singh of Patiala, and sadly till date some level of political mechanisms have always been a part of Indian cricket.
The author also provides an insight in the journeys of some of the other Indian sportsmen who were in Britain namely Jamsetji Merwanji-world champion at racquets (precursor to Squash), Gama and Ahmad Baksh- India’s wrestling heavyweights and of Professor Kodi Ramamurti Naidu- known as Indian Hercules who performed with astonishing muscular feats. It was an Indian Summer in Britain and London in 1911 when the imperial power was its zenith. Coupled with Mohun Bagan’s defeat of Middlesex and East Yorkshire regiments in 1911, Indian sporting achievements were finally coming in the limelight breaking the preconceived Imperial notions of lack of ‘manly spirit’ and ‘physical activity’ in Indian people.
The author’s narrative style is compelling and with every chapter you look forward to the next set of events in this enthralling tale. The author also uses the reference material from contemporary sources well to allow us readers to perceive the different opinions and the context at the time. The authenticity of the book is also well-established through the extensive reference and you feel pretty satisfied that the author befitting a research scholar has taken a 360-degree view of the required information.
Finally to conclude, the book is more than just a cricketing tale, it provides a window into the Indian nation of the time within different contexts through a cricketing reference. The 1911 tour was the 1st attempt to forge a national team and was supported by a large section of Indian people and deserves to be remembered and appreciated. A must read book for any cricketing fan and in fact for anyone fascinated with Indian history.
July 29, 2023
This is a deserving companion volume to Guha’s book (A Corner of a Foreign Field). These two books supposedly on Cricket, are much more than that. They recount the interesting History and Sociology of the period they cover. Guha’s book has a wider sweep, in that it covers the entire period of India’s freedom struggle. The reader gets the impression that but for Cricket, India would not have gained independence. There is no trickery in engendering this impression. It is the power of narration, finding those intimate connections between the defining events of the freedom struggle, and the development of the game in India. Kidambi’s focus is at once narrower, and also wider. It is narrow, as it concerns the first ‘official’ tour of an all-India team to Britain and ends about the year 1912. It is wider as this tour is brilliantly described in the context of the socio-political developments in the Britain of that period. The year of the tour, 1911 was a landmark by many standards. It is the sixtieth anniversary of ‘The Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of all Nations’ (Kohinoor, Dalrymple and Anand), the first of a series of similar exhibitions of the Victorian age. 1911 was host to another such exhibition. It was also the year of the massive general strike. A team of wrestlers (the pioneers of freestyle wrestling) from India was also visiting. Forces that precipitated the Great War were in full flow, and in hindsight, it is incredible that a cricket team from India should play a series of matches in England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland- and this in the midst of the agitation for the Irish home rule, the birth of the Labour Party, the showdown with the House of Lords and so on. The extensive Notes and Citations provided are a delight in themselves.
The nineties saw the first public emergence of the match fixing scandal that rocked the India-Pakistan matches held in Sharjah. With this, the game lost millions of once devoted fans, this Reviewer, being one among them. This book, along with that by Guha, has the potential to bring these fans back to Cricket.
The nineties saw the first public emergence of the match fixing scandal that rocked the India-Pakistan matches held in Sharjah. With this, the game lost millions of once devoted fans, this Reviewer, being one among them. This book, along with that by Guha, has the potential to bring these fans back to Cricket.
January 26, 2024
Review -
Insight -
For most of the people the story of Indian cricket starts from 1932,When the Indian cricket team played its first test match.
But Here the author takes you on a completely new journey in which you will come to know that the story is much wider. This book helps you expand your knowledge about Indian cricket and introduces you to some characters and stories that you have never read or heard about before.
Review -
Prashant Kidambi in his book Cricket Country has beautifully brought out India's beginning in the game of cricket. In a time of colonialism how Indian people and specially parsee people of India started to play this game, what kind of difficulties they faced during this time from every corner, this book explained all that in a very smooth way.
The centre of this book is the story of how India formed it's very first cricket team in 1911 for the tour of England, Which players were part of this team and how were they selecteted.
This book also gives us a opportunity to meet the before and after life of the players who played an important role in this historical tour.
This is the story of first ever all India cricket team and Prashant kidambi tells this beautiful story in a very good way.
This book is a pure ride of great writing work, engaging stories with the flavour of drama and all those things you want to have in a great non fiction book.
There is no such bad things or big faults as long as my experience of reading this book is concerned, but if you are a beginner then this is not a right book to start because of its length.
so if you are a great cricket enthusiasts, history buff want to know about How cricket established itself in India during British rule then this book surely deserve to be in your bookshelf, go for it.
Insight -
For most of the people the story of Indian cricket starts from 1932,When the Indian cricket team played its first test match.
But Here the author takes you on a completely new journey in which you will come to know that the story is much wider. This book helps you expand your knowledge about Indian cricket and introduces you to some characters and stories that you have never read or heard about before.
Review -
Prashant Kidambi in his book Cricket Country has beautifully brought out India's beginning in the game of cricket. In a time of colonialism how Indian people and specially parsee people of India started to play this game, what kind of difficulties they faced during this time from every corner, this book explained all that in a very smooth way.
The centre of this book is the story of how India formed it's very first cricket team in 1911 for the tour of England, Which players were part of this team and how were they selecteted.
This book also gives us a opportunity to meet the before and after life of the players who played an important role in this historical tour.
This is the story of first ever all India cricket team and Prashant kidambi tells this beautiful story in a very good way.
This book is a pure ride of great writing work, engaging stories with the flavour of drama and all those things you want to have in a great non fiction book.
There is no such bad things or big faults as long as my experience of reading this book is concerned, but if you are a beginner then this is not a right book to start because of its length.
so if you are a great cricket enthusiasts, history buff want to know about How cricket established itself in India during British rule then this book surely deserve to be in your bookshelf, go for it.
November 2, 2020
Mixed reviews for the book.
Pros: Anyone who wishes to know how the game started and developed in India, this is the right book. Talks a lot about the origin of cricket in India right from the 1870s. The story of the first all Indian cricket team comes late in the second half. Overall, a decent read.
Cons: Might get a little boring at times when the focus shifts more into the British Rule in India at the time, and the politics associated with it.
Pros: Anyone who wishes to know how the game started and developed in India, this is the right book. Talks a lot about the origin of cricket in India right from the 1870s. The story of the first all Indian cricket team comes late in the second half. Overall, a decent read.
Cons: Might get a little boring at times when the focus shifts more into the British Rule in India at the time, and the politics associated with it.
February 24, 2023
A well-written book that chronicles the events at the turn of the twentieth century and a couple of decades beyond that.
The English tour by an Indian team is researched and described very well. The characters, habits, quirks and controversies on that first tour makes for interesting reading. Cricket was a leveler amongst maharajas and common men of lower castes once they were on the field. Off the field it was a different story. The characters and incidents would make for a good movie.
The English tour by an Indian team is researched and described very well. The characters, habits, quirks and controversies on that first tour makes for interesting reading. Cricket was a leveler amongst maharajas and common men of lower castes once they were on the field. Off the field it was a different story. The characters and incidents would make for a good movie.
August 2, 2021
A wonderfully researched and written book about the first All India cricket tour to England. Though the actual description of the matches was brief but the immense information on the history of cricket in India since the beginning leading upto the said tour and everything affecting it makes for a delightful reading. Recommended for Indian Cricjet lovers the world over.
June 13, 2020
Excellent and readable account of the background to the 1911 All India tour of Britain. Interesting and context laden account of the development of cricket.
An impressive piece of research too looking at the bibliography!
An impressive piece of research too looking at the bibliography!
August 14, 2021
It is a well researched book. But it isn’t for everyone. I found it too much detailed for my taste. Loved the parts when author puts events into context. It was great to back to old times and read about it.
I may have loved it more if I was a bigger cricket lover.
I may have loved it more if I was a bigger cricket lover.
December 31, 2020
The only book this year that I started but could not finish. Like swimming through treacle. Paucity of archival material should have counselled to make this a paper or pamphlet.
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