Amidst the hustle and bustle of Test match atmosphere, a septuagenarian works alone in his large room, which they call the library at the Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club here in Trent Bridge.
Amidst the hustle and bustle of Test match atmosphere, a septuagenarian works alone in his large room, which they call the library at the Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club here in Trent Bridge. Peter Wynne-Thomas, who turns 77 today, is no ordinary worker at the club's office. Since 1974, he has been restoring and updating the county's cricketing achievements. 
Cricket historian Peter Wynne-Thomas at the Nottinghamshire County
Cricket Club library. Pic/Clayton Murzello
The buck stops with him where cricket authenticity is concerned. He receives all kinds of queries. Like a proud grandson, who wants to check whether his granddad represented the county in 1924. Wynne-Thomas looks up a few books and discovers the right year -- 1932 and not '24.
Oh, we almost forgot to inform you ufffd he is one of English cricket's best-known historians and has authored 100 books if his Nottinghamshire yearbooks are to be included. Indeed, Wynne-Thomas' height does justice to his statistical and historic deeds. He has also risen to be the club's vice-president.
An architect by profession, Wynne-Thomas moved to Nottingham from London. He takes home only an honorarium and when he is asked whether that is enough for a living, he talks about the great opportunity to man the library, which provides him time to work on his book.
His latest book is one on cricket grounds in Nottinghamshire, which got the backing of the County Council. In three years spent visiting villages, Wynne-Thomas discovered that the county had 463 cricket grounds, out of which only 130 are in operation. "Research for this book was unique because it did not involve referring to Wisdens or old newspapers for facts. I had to go to the villages and find out for myself. My wife Edith's assistance was invaluable," he says.
He values Indian cricket literature and expresses deep regret that the Indian Cricket Field Annual and the Indian Cricket annual are no longer published.
ADVERTISEMENT
************
THREE Indian fans somehow managed to get into the Trent Bridge ground on Thursday thanks to an Indian cricketer, who recognised them from the previous day when they were hanging around the lobby of the team hotel. They grabbed the opportunity and watched the entire training session of the team. Towards the end of the day, they told us a nice little story about how Yuvraj Singh noticed how they were waiting for him outside a Costa outlet and when he came out, they discovered that he had bought coffee for them. What a priceless gesture!
************
SHANE Warne was unrecognisable to his fellow commentators and former teammates yesterday. Warne arrived from Australia for the second Test to work for Sky Sports. Sanjay Manjrekar too is in the Sky Sports team which includes Michael Holding and former England skippers David Gower, Mike Atherton and Nasser Hussain.
"I just couldn't recognise Warney. He has lost so much weight, but the weight loss doesn't make him look good. What has he done," asked a commentator during the tea interval yesterday. On July 27, Warne tweeted: "79.2 kg's this morning!!! Fitness and healthy lifestyle working.. Think last time I was this light I was 8 years old hahaha."
************
A LITTLE birdie tells us that Gautam Gambhir's elbow injury is not all that serious but the team think tank did not want to take any chances. He was 95 per cent fit for yesterday's second Test. Probably the team bosses didn't want a repeat of what happened to Zaheer Khan, who limped off on Day One at Lord's.
************
ENGLAND fast bowler Tim Bresnen was seen at the Radcliffe Road end of the ground in the morning, which is not the gate where the England team enter from. A few enquiries later, we discover that Bresnan had come over to oblige some autograph hunters who had arrived at the ground more than two hours before the start.
Bresnan replaced Chris Tremlett in the playing XI because the latter, who claimed three wickets in India's first innings at Lord's, couldn't recover from his hamstring "niggle."
************
MEDIA persons are barred from moving from their seats when the bowler is running into bowl from the press box end. The notices put up on doors and pillars read like this: "Please do not move when the bowler is bowling from this end or you will distract the batsman, interrupt the game and be very embarrassed!" Only one culprit so far ufffd that too in the first hour of play.
Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here!
