What is common between Derek Underwood, Phil Edmonds and Monty Panesar? Cricket world knows that they are all top grade left-arm spin bowlers, who turned out for England with distinction for many years. But a little known fact about them is that they were members of England side that defeated India in a Test series while touring this country and had played important roles in bringing about this outcome. A full strength England team is visiting India at present to play five Tests and as one’s thoughts went back to these three heroes with the ball who had contributed substantially towards the visitors vanquishing the Indians on their home turf.
Though England had played Test matches in India from 1933 onwards and toured this country a total of 16 times in the past for doing so, they could record a series win only on four occasions, if one were to leave out the one-match Golden Jubilee Test of 1980. After the Douglas Jardine-led side won the three-match series in 1933-34 by a margin of 2-0, England could win a series again only after 43 years, in 1976-77. This was followed by a victory in 1985, when they defeated the home side by a margin of 2-1 in a five-Test series. The last such victory took place following the 2012-13 series when England defeated India by a similar margin in a four-match series.
The tour by England side in 1976-77 was an unique one in many respects. Those were the days when Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) used to send a team for the tour of the subcontinent. This team used to play as England in Tests while doing so under the label of MCC in first-class matches. On the previous occasions when the MCC had sent the side - in 1951, 1961, 1963 and 1972 - most of the senior players in England squad chose to stay away, not wanting to expose themselves to the “harsh” conditions in the subcontinent. So the sides were led by Nigel Howard (in 1951) and Tony Lewis (in 1972), who had no previous experience of playing Test cricket. It was only when Tony Greig decided, in 1976, to tour India that a serving England skipper came to the subcontinent as captain of their side for the first time ever.
Though Greig was a thorough professional who played the game hard, he was very popular with the crowds that flocked to the stadia in India. He led from the front during the series and employed all the tricks in the book, and some out of it, to ensure that his side emerged winners. Greig used his fast bowlers effectively to make the early inroads into the Indian batting line-up and for the occasional breakthroughs. But, his trump card was Underwood, who slogged like a workhorse to pick up 29 wickets in the five Tests. Underwood bowled at a pace which could be considered as fastish for a spinner, but was unerringly accurate and he could be more than a handful on helpful tracks. In those days when wickets were not covered, he was a master at bowling on rain-affected pitches, which earned him the nickname “Deadly”. He was a permanent fixture in the England side, irrespective of where they played, “like an umbrella in case it rained”, as one wag remarked! But, in India, in 1976-77, he was the fulcrum around which England bowling machinery functioned.
Edmonds, who picked up 14 wickets in five Tests when England toured India in 1984-85, played an important role in scripting his side’s win in this series. His bowling style was different from that of Underwood in that he believed in giving the ball plenty of air in the manner of an orthodox left-arm spinner. But he had an unorthodox streak in him which made captains and selectors wary of him and prevented him from playing more than the 51 Tests he finally did. Before the tour of India in 1984, Edmonds faced a rather unusual problem for a bowler in that he “forgot” his run up! Hence he resorted to bowling off one step starting from just behind the umpire. However, such was his control over the line and length and the strength and power of his bowling arm that he was able to overcome the difficulties posed by the absence of run up and still trouble Indian batsmen, who were very good players of spin bowling.
Panesar came into the England side during the tour of India in 2006 and quickly became the poster boy for the squad. He began his Test career in style, with Sachin Tendulkar as his first victim and he soon added Rahul Dravid to his list of scalps in the second innings. However, he had to compete with Graeme Swann, the off-spinner, for a place in the final playing eleven. Hence when England toured India in 2012-13, Panesar did not play the first Test, which England lost. But he was back in the side for the second Test, where he scripted a 10-wicket win for his side with a brilliant bowling performance that saw him return match figures of 11/210 (5/129 and 6/81). He picked up four wickets of the first innings of the third Test that the visitors won by seven wickets. This total haul of 17 wickets in three Tests against India would remain the highpoint of Panesar’s career.
Apart form being left-arm spinners, these three cricketers had little in common. Underwood was the ultimate professional completely dedicated to the game and his task as a bowler. He could keep bowing for hours on end and was a captain’s delight. In his Test career spanning 85 matches, spread over 16 years till 1982, he took 297 wickets. He would have added many more to his tally had he not chosen to join the World Series Cricket of Kerry Packer in 1977 and, later, the rebel tour of South Africa in 1982. He played county cricket till he was 42 years old and had 2,465 scalps to his credit when he finally hung up his bowling boots. He remains one of the all time greats of the game and occupies a position in cricket history much above Edmonds and Panesar.
Edmonds, on the other hand, was outspoken and considered to be a difficult cricketer to handle. He could bowl bouncers when provoked, something that did not amuse either the captain nor the wicketkeeper! He was also upset by the fact that he had to compete with Underwood for a place in the side, despite they both being vastly different bowlers. Due to all these factors, his career was limited to 51 Tests, with only 125 wickets to his credit. His marriage to Frances, an author and celebrity in her own right, made news and her books on touring with England team as wife of Edmonds were bestsellers They also proved to be controversial as it later emerged that the publisher had paid her to travel with the team, where she kept a secret dairy, contents of which were used in the books. After retiring form the game, Edmonds became a successful businessman.
Panesar had the potential to develop into an all-time great as he was blessed with a beautiful high arm action, an excellent loop and amazing control over line and length. However, his struggle to cement a place in the side, with the sole spot available for a spinner being a toss up between him and Swann, dented his confidence levels on many occasions. His career had a stunning collapse after the high of the tour of India in 2013, when he was released by Sussex following an incident when he was accused of urinating on bouncers in a night club. He could never live down the consequences of this disgraceful episode, which was made worse by the unravelling of his life on the personal front as well. He was not picked to play for England after 2013. His final tally of 167 wickets from 50 Tests does not do full justice to the abundant talent that he was blessed with.
Underwood, Edmonds and Panesar cannot be viewed merely as three left-arm spin bowlers who helped England to win Test series in India. Underwood seldom flighted the ball while Edmonds was not averse to giving the ball air. Panesar had in his possession the full armoury of a left arm spin bowler. While Underwood remained an old fashioned professional whose world began and ended with cricket, Edmonds was a candid and forthright individual and moved into the arena of entrepreneurship and business after his playing days. Panesar playing for England highlighted the increasing presence of immigrants and, in particular ,the Indian community in all walks of life in that country in the present century. His difficulties off the field and its impact on his performance on the field also mirrors the challenges that cricketers of the present generation face in their professional and personal lives. Thus, it can be seen that this trio also represents the changes in bowling style and skillsets of bowlers of this type in England over the last half century besides the shift in the approach of players towards the game and its impact on them.
Jack Leach, the leading left-arm spinner in the squad currently touring India, has so far played 36 matches and picked up 126 wickets, while Tom Hartley, his understudy, came up with match-winning figures of 7/62 in the second innings of the opening Test at Hyderabad. It will be interesting to observe the advances they make in conditions favourable to them in the remaining four Tests. This will have a huge bearing on the course of the series and the success of their side in this high-voltage contest. If the events that took place on the last day of the first Test are any indication, Leach and Hartley are bound to give the famed Indian batsmen a run for their money in the matches ahead and emerge as deserving successors to the trio of Underwood, Edmonds and Panesar.
(The author is a former international cricket umpire and a senior bureaucrat)
