Lives in Cricket No 30 - MJK Smith

68 his 53 catches surpassed his own record and remain the best for Warwickshire. That winter a tour of India and Pakistan was scheduled. With May and Cowdrey among the leading batsmen unavailable, Mike was already a strong candidate for a batting place and, with Dexter appointed to lead the side, it was no surprise that he should be chosen as vice-captain. On 8 October MCC set off on what Leslie Smith, writing in Wisden , described as ‘one of the most strenuous tours undertaken by any side.’ There was a curious shape to the itinerary. With the Indian team scheduled to depart for the West Indies in February, England’s five-match series against them was sandwiched between a single Test against Pakistan in October and two more to complete the series in January and February. For good measure, as part of MCC’s flag-flying in the wider interests of cricket, the tour was extended with three matches in what was then Ceylon. Seven of Dexter’s party had no previous experience of Test cricket. Like so many leading players of their day, Trueman and Statham chose not to tour the subcontinent, so all four of the pace bowlers were uncapped. Mike remembers what hard work it was for the faster pair, Butch White of Hampshire and Kent’s Alan Brown. ‘They were knackered in quick time. By the time Butch had bowled two overs he was sweating like a bull.’ By contrast, the two of less pace, David Smith of Gloucestershire and Barry Knight of Essex, were bowlers who thrived on English conditions and now found nothing to help them. So it was the two spinners, David Allen and Tony Lock, who shared 80 or more overs an innings in match after match. The campaign began well with a five-wicket win in the First Test at Lahore. White made early inroads, bowling Hanif Mohammad with his eleventh ball, but 137 from Javed Burki, well supported by Saeed Ahmed and Mushtaq Mohammad, enabled Pakistan to reach 387. To counter the glare of the pitches he expected to find on the tour, Mike had invested in a pair of tinted spectacles. England soon saw their value as he joined Barrington in a stand of 192 that ended when Mike reached 99. Fuelling the argument that he was always a dodgy runner, he recalls needing one for his century: ‘I said to Kenny, “Don’t bother looking out for it.” Then I called him for a quick single to mid on and he sent me back!’ ‘It would probably have been a scramble for Barrington,’ wrote R.A. Roberts in the Daily Telegraph , ‘but he would probably have made it if he had gone with the stroke.’ Starting their second innings seven ahead, Pakistan were soon in trouble to Allen, Brown and Bob Endurance test in India