It’s a century for Sir Frank

With entertainment occupying prime space in world cricketrsquos present canvas itrsquos never a bad idea to acknowledge the fathers of this particular aspect in the willow gameToday marks the birth centenary of one of themmdashSir Frank Worrell whom the late Australian cricket historian Jack Egan called a saint and the Nelson Mandela of cricketWorrell was one part of the captaincy pair which helped foster attractive play when Test cricketmdashat least in Australiamdashwas marred by boring draws towards the end of the 1950sOf course the man who stressed on the need to entertain was batting legend Sir Don Bradman then a key functionary of the Australian Cricket Board Worrell was captain of the West Indies team undertaking their third Test tour to Australia who were led by Richie Benaud Both captains agreed with Bradmanrsquos view and what emerged was one of the most engrossing Test series of all time Australia winning 21 with the opening Test ending in a tie at Brisbane Worrell born on August 1 1924 in Barbados however did more than just play a key role in entertaining spectators He embodied fine leadership infused the right kind of spirit in his team as West Indiesrsquos first regular black captain played the role of a great diplomat and contributed to society before he was taken away by blood cancer at 42 in 1967 Above all he was just the unifying spirit the West Indies needed to be world championsWorrell has a strong connection with India Apart from being part of two Test series in the Caribbean against the Indians in 195253 and 196162 Worrell made three tours here with the Commonwealth XImdash194950 195051 and 195354 The 195253 series involved Worrellrsquos fellow Ws Everton Weekes and Clyde WalcottIn the 194950 unofficial Test at Kanpur Worrell scored 223 for the Commonwealth XI and rated his sixhour effort on coir matting as his greatest inningsSo Indian cricket lovers had a good look at Worrellrsquos silken batting and effective leftarm spin He left a fine impression on his opponents as well Chandrakant Patankar the former wicketkeeper who at 93 is Indiarsquos second oldest living player remembered playing for the Cricket Club of India against the Commonwealth XI at the Brabourne Stadium in October 1953 During the course of Worrellrsquos 76 in the first innings he hit legspinner Avinash Desai for three consecutive sixes the third one landing in radio commentator Anant Setalvadrsquos hands on the top floor of the CCI pavilion Worrell enjoyed a cordial relationship with Indian cricketers Dilip Wagle a South Mumbaibased diehard cricket fan who passed away recently never tired of mentioning how Worrell used to visit great allrounder Vinoo Mankad regularly at his modest Pannalal Terrace residence on Grant Road during his Commonwealth XI tours Worrell touched down in India even in his postplaying days as a dignitary of the University of West IndiesHe happened to be in Kolkata when Day Two of the second Test in the 196667 series was lost due to riots over the sale of tickets The players feared for their safety and some of them wanted to go homeWorrell pointed out to the team that touring teams also had to cope with the common occurrences of riots on West Indian grounds and suggested that any decision to abandon the tour would not bode well for teams coming to the Caribbean The game resumed and West Indies ended up winning the Test match by an innings and 45 runs and with it the seriesThere were times when Worrell was happy to caution players about their safety For example before the touring Indian team took on Barbados in a tour game on the 196162 tour Worrell brought to opposition captain Nari Contractorrsquos attention a young fast bowler called Charlie Griffith who was dangerous Worrell advised Contractor that his batsmen were better off getting dismissed rather than being injured by Griffith whose action was suspicious As it turned out Contractor was hit on the head by Griffith in that game and was lost to Test cricket Moreover Worrell was one of the cricket personalities who donated blood forContractorrsquos operationSeveral players were fortunate to be mentored by Worrell Garry Sobers the most famous of all allrounders was one of them ldquoHe Worrell had encouraged me when I was low advised me when I was bewildered blasted me when he felt I was getting a bit too big for my cricket boots Always he was there with a welltimed word when I needed himrdquo Sobers wrote in King CricketSeveral books do justice to Worrellrsquos contribution to cricket Cricket Punch and Ernest Eytlersquos book were made available to Indian readers by Rupa amp Co Vaneisa Bakshrsquos extensively researched 2023 book Son of Grace provides a very fine account of the man and his influence Baksh found out that Worrell even spent three hours chatting with students of St Xavierrsquos College on January 11 1967 Milind Rege the former Mumbai captain recalled being in that hall and how Worrell stressed on the virtues of education and the importance of gathering knowledge in order to become a better personA little over two months later Worrell was lost to the world World cricket mourned the immeasurable loss then but today the century of his birth must be celebrated with all gestures noblemiddayrsquos group sports editor Clayton Murzello is a purist with an open stance He tweets ClaytonMurzelloSend your feedback to mailbagmiddaycomThe views expressed in this column are the individualrsquos and donrsquot represent those of the paper