Lives in Cricket No 30 - MJK Smith

77 hotel, and at one point, it has been suggested, the only fit man left to come in was fast bowler David Larter, the least valuable batsman in the party, but one who, like Mike, survived the tour without succumbing to illness. For England, it was mission accomplished - amid the hubbub of cricket in India. ‘They had blokes in the crowd with mirrors,’ Mike remembers, ‘to flash them in the batters’ eyes. It didn’t put you off necessarily, but it just contributed to the madhouse atmosphere.’ After the rest day Parks, Titmus and Mortimore were all fit enough to bat. Even Stewart struggled to the wicket with a runner at number ten and was able to help Titmus take England past the point where they could be asked to follow on. The Indian captain, the Nawab of Pataudi, was as culpable as his fellow batsmen in India’s failure to press home their advantage in the second innings. When his declaration came, England were set the unlikely target of 293 in 265 minutes. Mike took up the challenge and top scored with 57. In partnership with Parks, promoted to number three, he gave his team a whiff of victory, but the fall of the fourth wicket heralded the end of the chase and the match closed with England on 241 for five after ten Indians had turned their arms. With a fragile Micky Stewart perhaps unwisely volunteering to lead the side against West Zone at Ahmedabad, Mike moved ahead to Bombay, where the Second Test was to be played at the gracious Brabourne ground. Having had the better of a strong zonal side, MCC should have been in good spirits as they flew in, but by the time they arrived in Bombay the flu virus had worked its way through what was only a 15-man party. John Edrich, who had just hit 150, Sharpe, Mortimore and Stewart were all laid low. To compound an already dire situation, Barrington, the team’s best batsman, had broken a finger attempting a catch that would end his tour. A call for reinforcements was put out, and Parfitt was soon flying out to India. He was followed by Cowdrey, who had taken a telephone call on a different matter from Billy Griffith at MCC and ended up volunteering to go as well. But before all this could happen there was a team to be assembled for a Test match. All who were fit would play. This meant that Mike would be accompanied by Bolus, Parks, Titmus, Wilson, Knight, Larter, John Price, Jeff Jones and Jimmy Binks. The team comprised four pace bowlers, two spinners, two wicketkeepers and two specialist batsmen. Indian pitches were not conducive to fast bowling, and one of the spinners, Wilson, had a bad back, brought on by twisting round ‘If you can stand up, you’re playing’