Lives in Cricket No 30 - MJK Smith

72 form. When Pullar was declared unfit to play, he regained his place for the final Test at Madras. Mike’s 73 was top score in England’s reply to India’s 428, but a first-innings deficit of 147 once again left too much to be made up, India winning by 128 runs to take the series by two matches to nil. Returning to Pakistan and the Second Test at Dacca, England endured over eight hours of Hanif Mohammad as he compiled 111 in a total of 393 for seven. There was a spirited reply with Pullar sharing in stands of 198 with Barber and 147 with Barrington, but a collapse left England with only a slender lead, after which Pakistan batted out for a dull draw. Mike had made only 10 and would have dropped out of the team for the Third Test at Karachi had Barrington not been unfit. For the seventh time in eight Tests Dexter lost the toss, but there was some life in the pitch for Knight and Pakistan made only 253. In a massive England response Dexter hit 205, there was a first Test century for Parfitt and Mike weighed in with 56 towards a total of 507. With only a draw to play for, Pakistan closed on 404 for eight. They had saved the match with ease, but England’s win at Lahore four months earlier gave the tourists the series. Three matches in Ceylon, only one of them first-class, brought the tour to a less taxing conclusion. For all the team it had been a long time away from home and, with mobile phones still a science fiction dream, the players seldom had the chance to speak to their loved ones. The recently married Barber had advised his wife not to expect a call, but for Pullar the separation from his new wife was more traumatic. He had promised a call each week, but Barber remembers that ‘you just couldn’t get through. You’d ask someone to book a call and you might have to sit there for 24 hours.’ For Mike there was a happier end to the tour. Diana had taken the opportunity to visit her parents in the Argentine and they had all come out to join him in Ceylon. Leaving his team-mates to fly back to England, Mike sailed home with his family. Endurance test in India