On this day 50 years ago: When Snow sent Gavaskar sprawling

John Snow tries to prevent Sunil Gavaskar from reaching his crease during the final day of the Lord’s Test in 1971. PIC/GETTY IMAGES

One of the ugliest sights in cricket was witnessed this day 50 years ago at the spiritual home of cricket, Lord's in 1971.

England and India were involved in a tense Day Five at the London venue, where Ajit Wadekar's team were set 183 to win their first-ever Test on English soil. They had four hours and 20 minutes to get to their target.

Two early wickets saw Sunil Gavaskar, playing only in his fifth Test, partnering the promoted Farokh Engineer. Just before lunch (47-2) Snow bowled to Engineer and both the Mumbai batsmen set off. While Gavaskar was running to make his ground, big Snow barged into him and sent the little batsman sprawling with no bat in hand. When he reached his crease, Snow picked up Gavaskar's bat and threw it to him, which didn't make for a pretty sight as well.

Snow apologised to Gavaskar for barging into him, but that didn't stop the English authorities to ban him for the next Test at Manchester. The shoulder charge, as expected, attracted harsh comments from the purists. England great Denis Compton called it "disgraceful" while Sportsweek magazine quoted an ex-cricketer as saying that it was "an act of a bully." Another former player asked, "While it is important to win at sport, do you bring wrestlers, boxers, anaesthetists into Test cricket to win at all cost?"

Earlier in the year, Snow was pulled up by the umpires for bowling bouncers in the final Test of the 1970-71 Ashes at Sydney. His delivery felled Australian tailender Terry Jenner. He was also manhandled by a member of the SCG crowd.

In Sunny Days, Gavaskar described Snow's shoulder-charge as a "violent shove" but emphasised that he tossed his bat to him and didn't fling it, contrary to media reports. Bad light and rain played their part on that final day and India, who were expected to win, ended up gasping at 145-8 with Gavaskar too-scoring with 53. Wadekar in My Cricketing Years said he was convinced India would have won had it not been for the rain. And no matter what the critics felt about the possible loss, he felt his team showed that they could handle pace bowling. The skipper himself played one of his finest innings on Day Two of the Test - 85 off 182 balls.

I interviewed Snow about the incident in Mohali during the opening Test of the 2001-02 India v England series. The fast bowler-turned-travel businessman told me: "Let me make it clear that it [shouldering Gavaskar] was an accident. I was just trying to pick up the ball to run him out. I apologised to Sunil, but there was a furore in the dressing room because I did not go down to the Indian dressing room to apologise which I told Alec Bedser [chairman of selectors] I would do.

"We [Gavaskar and him] were over with it but on a public basis, it was not desirable to cricket."

India ended the 1971 series in glory, beating England in the third and final Test at The Oval. Images of victory celebrations on that Oval gallery remind us of an epic triumph, but the Snow incident at Lord's was unforgettable too.