Dial C for cricket emergency

Hugh Edmeades and Charu Sharma at the IPL auction on Sunday. Pic/IPL Twitter

Charu Sharma proving to be a fine replacement auctioneer for the Indian Premier League's mega auction over the weekend provided the anecdotal history of cricket another gem.

Designated auctioneer Hugh Edmeades suffered a fall, something that caused IPL chairman Brijesh Patel to ring his Bangalore-based contact to check if he could fill in. Sharma, who obliged, told The Indian Express that he would have been at the golf course at that time had he not suffered a fall himself and injured his shoulder on a trip to Kathmandu to conduct an auction for a cricket league there.

Sharma's qualities of a pro auctioneer came to the fore on Saturday. He was swift without appearing impatient, and if a cricketing term can be used, he fared well with the over-rate. I also liked the fact that he requested teams to hold the paddle high enough for everyone to see in the quest to save time. The auction stretched to ridiculous lengths on both days and the BCCI - their indifferent attitude to the media notwithstanding - must have an earlier end so that the print media has everything in detail for the next day's newspaper.

It would be fair to say Sharma was a saviour for the IPL auction; the stars appeared alligned and he did enough to make the Indian cricket bosses consider him for the next one. And if at all they were looking for someone to replace Richard Madley, who conducted all previous auctions, they had a good man right under their nose all this time. Sharma may well conduct many more auctions, but he'd be proud to tell his grandchildren about this one.

Ultimately, it's about being in the right place to come on board in an emergency. Bob Taylor, the former England wicketkeeper happened to be at Lord's on the second afternoon of the Lord's Test against New Zealand, when Richard Hadlee knocked down Bruce French with a blow at the back of his helmet. French, playing only in his third Test, had to be stretchered off before the doctor administered three stitches. Bill Athey wore the big gloves for a couple of overs before Mike Gatting, the England captain, called on his former England teammate Taylor, then 45 and two years into retirement. Taylor was at the iconic ground for some PR work with Cornhill Insurance, the sponsors of the series. Taylor did a tidy job for 73 overs before England summoned Hampshire's Bobby Parks, whose father Jim and grandfather James played for England. Bobby kept for 63 overs before French was fit enough to resume duty. According to David Frith's report in Wisden Cricket Monthly, Bobby was all set to leave for a day out when he got the call to join the England team at Lord's. Little did New Zealand captain Jeremy Coney imagine that he would be a Taylor and Parks-like substitute two years later when John Wright's New Zealand team were afflicted by a virus in Bangalore. Coney (by then retired and into radio commentary) and television producer Ken Nicholson did duty on Day Four of the Test. It could well have been a dream for Nicholson to be on the field during a Test match, but sometimes dreams don't come true. Ask celebrated commentator Henry Blofeld, a travelling journalist for the 1963-64 India tour and an opening batsman who played first-class cricket for Cambridge. Blofeld fancied his chances of playing the Mumbai Test for which the English camp were saddled with injuries and illnesses. MCC fielded an ill-balanced side the following day, but Blofeld didn't get his chance and Mike Smith's team managed to draw the game at Brabourne Stadium.

At times, replacements are close at hand, but they may not fit in because of likes and dislikes. My departed friend Kiran Ashar, who opened the batting and kept wickets for Mumbai in the 1970s, told me about how he was part of the Vijay Manjrekar-led Bandodkar XI squad (made up of mostly Associated Cement Companies players) for the 1968-69 Moin-ud-Dowlah Gold Cup which was then a first-class tournament in Hyderabad. The side's regular wicketkeeper KS Indrajitsinhji was unavailable for the semi-final and Manjrekar, despite opposition from senior players like Dilip Sardesai and Bapu Nadkarni, was in no mood to include young and promising Ashar. He had ex-Test stumper Naren Tamhane fly out from Mumbai to keep wickets for the rest of the tournament. Ashar was in tears because Manjrekar said he didn't like the way he played in the team meeting. The next time Ashar played the Moin-ud-Dowlah Gold Cup (1971-72), he was representing ACC and he scored a hundred in the semi-final against Hyderabad Cricket Association, while putting on 183 runs for the opening wicket with Sunil Gavaskar. Manjrekar watched it and was one of the first to congratulate Ashar.

Talking about congratulations, Sharma deserves plenty for his weekend work. It is one thing when providence provides an opportunity. It is quite another to take that chance and shine at short notice.

mid-day's group sports 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.