No such joy for England

A 03 situation be it in a completed or incomplete series can never relate to a joyous time for any team The England cricket outfit in particular has to face this ignominy during the festive season Although they stretched Australia to Day Five in Adelaide they were still beaten by a margin that was convincingThe Australians are cockahoop they talk about a 50 scoreline while the critics in the form of exgreats are having a field day Englandrsquos former players who now sit in commentary boxes have been ruthless in their criticism of Ben Stokes amp Co They just cannot comprehend how England didnrsquot cash in on Josh Hazlewoodrsquos injuryrelated absence regular skipper Pat Cummins missing the first two Tests and Steve Smith not being in the lineup for the Adelaide gameBe that as it may itrsquos not a Christmas Day that Stokes and his team would have wanted I figured that there has been only one occasion in nearly 150 years of Test cricket when England have won on Christmas Day mdash versus India at New Delhi in 1972It was some achievement because India had not been beaten in a Test since December 1969 After that home loss to Australia India under new captain Ajit Wadekar won a Test series in the West Indies and England in 1971 For some reason there were no international engagements for Wadekarrsquos India in 197172 At the Kotla India were dismissed for 173 with Geoff Arnold moving the ball well enough to claim 645It was a strange time for English cricket Their 197071 Asheswinning captain Ray Illingworth didnrsquot want to make the India trip so the bosses appointed Tony Lewis as captain Lewis hadnrsquot even played Test cricket ldquoArnold bowls to Gavaskar and I have played for Englandrdquo the Welshman wrote in his diary jottings which were part of his book Playing DaysThe joy of seeing his bowlers dismiss India cheaply on the second morning of the Test was chipped at when BS Chandrasekhar trapped him leg before for a duck Lewis felt he was hard done by ldquoOddly enough the LBW decision which got rid of me for a duck in my first Test match was so atrocious I scarcely felt any pain immediately I walked back to the pavilion after only two balls with sadness but also with disbeliefrdquo wrote LewisEngland did not respond with a sizeable total 200 with Chandrasekhar sending back all save Dennis Amiss 46 and future skipper Mike Denness 16 both dismissed by Bishan Singh Bedi Armed with a lead of 27 England had India on the ropes again the hosts only to be rescued to an extent through a 103run stand between Eknath Solkar and Farokh Engineer They went to lunch at 2065 but the wicketkeeperbatsman was dismissed caught behind by Derek Underwood for 63 Three more wickets fell in the space of 22 balls Solkar holing out in the deep for 75 to be the last man dismissedEnglandrsquos 207run victory target was never going to be a stroll but ending the day with 1063 meant they just had to score a team century to draw first blood Lewis batted with determination as he only watched partner Barry Wood depart in the first over of the day Tony Greig and the skipper thwarted the Indian bowlers for England to win by six wickets The experts couldnrsquot fathom how Chandrasekhar who outwitted the England batsman in the first innings could be ineffective in the last innings of the Test 170 in 24 oversLewis was awarded the ErasmicSportsweek magazine Man of the Match award of Rs 1000 ldquoCan Christmas ever be the same again England score 207 for 4 to win the first Test by six wickets Who would have thought a young untried side could have done that We are widely acclaimed Champagne in the dressng room telegrams rush in from home and some of the boys travel back to the hotel on the roof of the teamrsquos bus waving to the crowds lining the streets Alan Knott gave everyone a warning smile lsquoIrsquoll stay in here downstairs Four more Tests to go before I jump up therersquo rdquo wrote LewisKnott knew what he was talking about India won the next two Tests at Kolkata and Chennai before drawn games in Kanpur and Mumbai Pat Pocock the offspinner revealed in his book Percy that 50 bottles of champagne arrived in their dressing room and they were ldquoconsumed in short order by both the team and the quorum of English fansrdquoKnott and Greig were India tourists on Englandrsquos next tour of India in 197677 Greig captain by now noticed how his 197273 teammates got carried away with the New Delhi Test celebrations Like in 197273 England won the opening Test of the 197677 series in New DelhiGreig and his team were in Kolkata in the buildup to the next Test to be held after a tour game against East Zone at Guwahati Determined not to allow a repeat of 197273 when they lost the next Test after the euphoric one in New Delhi Greig chose to let his team know where their priorities should lie He was stung by the fact that some from his team were getting carried away and let it rip in the team room ldquoWhen Irsquom angry my language can deteriorate That night it was appalling I strode out slamming the door on an extraordinary silencerdquo wrote Greig in My StoryEngland ended up winning the Kolkata Test en route a 31 win till today the biggest victory margin by an England team on these shoresStokes may have read the riot act too after his side slumped to their third defeat in as many Tests He doesnrsquot have the advantage of a win in the pocket like Greig did after New Delhi in 197677 but England do have two Tests to play for pridemiddayrsquos Deputy Editor Clayton Murzello is a purist with an open stanceHe tweets ClaytonMurzello Send your feedback to mailbagmiddaycomThe views expressed in this column are the individualrsquos and donrsquot represent those of the paper