Lives in Cricket No 30 - MJK Smith

71 the chefs slicing potatoes on the floor and tossing them straight into the pan. India was a mainly dry country at this time, and Mike remembers how all the team signed chits claiming alcohol dependence to accumulate a bit of drink for a Saturday night. Barber also recalls that crates of beer were planned to arrive at each Test venue. The tour manager, former Essex captain Tom Pearce, was a senior figure in the drinks trade and had made the necessary arrangements. ‘But we never saw a bottle of beer,’ says Barber. ‘They all disappeared before they got through to us. The only thing that seemed to get through was a bottle of whisky for Tom Pearce.’ In Barber’s eyes the tour was badly managed. They contrived to fly off from Lahore to Bombay, leaving him behind bereft of ticket, money or passport. He felt that too many social functions were allowed, with Pearce enjoying the chance to imbibe. On one occasion Barber had remonstrated with the manager for holding forth on cricketing matters when he was in no state to do so: ‘I felt that I was one of three amateurs and the pros wouldn’t say too much as they were on a bonus. I had a go at him and told him that perhaps he should hold his tongue while he was in the state he was. He didn’t take too kindly to that – I don’t think I got an invitation to play for T.N. Pearce’s Eleven at Scarborough!’ As vice-captain Mike was on the tour selection committee, and he could only agree with the decision that he should be omitted in favour of Peter Parfitt, who thus made his Test debut at Calcutta. After India won an important toss, Lock and Allen bowled well to contain them to 380, but only Richardson and Dexter passed 50 for England and, with the pitch increasingly responsive to spin, a deficit of 168 was too much to make up. With scores of 57 and 67 not out in a 37-run win against South Zone, Mike at last recovered Endurance test in India Bob Barber delivering his leg break. Like Mike, he was critical of many of the arrangements for the tour.