John Snow and an avalanche of cricketing rows: England’s rebellious pacer turns 85

Cricket has been blessed by the presence of many “larger than life” characters, whose presence adds to the appeal and charm of this sport. In addition to earning immortality for themselves through outstanding performances, these cricketers also left behind many interesting stories and incidents, which add to the list of anecdotes that enrich this game. Their persona and bearing left an indelible mark on the followers, as did their heroics on the field and their lifestyle and actions outside it. One such cricketer who lit up the cricket arena during the late 1960’s and early 1970’s was John Snow, former England fast bowler, who turned 85 in the week that went by.

At his peak, which was between 1967 and 1973, Snow was the best fast bowler in the world. He spearheaded the England attack during this phase, when his country found its way to the top position in international cricket, defeating both Australia and West Indies. His aggression on the field created a few controversies as well, with unsavoury consequences. He was also a colourful character outside the field, having frequent run-ins with the authorities governing the game in England. And to top it all, he was also a sensitive poet who brought out an anthology of poems, exposing a different part of his persona to the world.

Though he made his entry to the world of international cricket in 1965, when he played for England against New Zealand, Snow came into the limelight only a couple of years later, during the home series against West Indies. In between, he changed his bowling style from a predominantly front-chested action to side-on, which helped to increase the pace of the delivery and made him a full-fledged fast bowler. He showed his true potential for the first time when Sussex, his county, outplayed West Indies, led by the great Gary Sobers, at Hove during a tour game in 1966. Besides Sobers, this side had in its ranks such greats as Conrad Hunte, Rohan Kanhai, Wes Hall, Basil Butcher and Lance Gibbs.

West Indies had reached Hove on a high, after thrashing England by an innings and 40 runs in the first test at Old Trafford, Manchester. But Sussex sprang a surprise on the visitors by dismissing them for a paltry score of 123 in the first innings, with Snow taking 7 wickets for 29 runs. Despite some hostile bowling by the West Indian pacers, the hosts managed to get a lead of 62 runs. West Indies fared even worse in their second outing, getting bundled out for a total of 67 runs. Snow was once again the wrecker-in-chief with 4 wickets for 18 runs. Sussex reached the target of 6 runs, losing only one wicket, completing the proceedings within two days. Incidentally, Sussex was led by Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi in this historic game.

This performance earned Snow a recall to the England side, and he contributed with both the ball and the bat to help his team win the last test of the series. The tour that followed to West Indies saw Snow take over the mantle as the head of the England attack. He missed the first test due to an injury but came back strongly from the next game onwards and picked up 27 wickets in the four matches that he played. He ran through the mighty West Indian batting to return with 7 wickets for 49 runs in the first innings of the second test and ended the series with a 10-wicket haul in the last match. This series, which England won 1-0 on account of a controversial declaration by Sobers in the fourth test, established Snow as one of the leading fast bowlers of his generation.

The high point of Snow’s career was the tour to Australia in 1970-71, when England won the Ashes, defeating the hosts 2-0 in a hard-fought test series comprising 7 tests. Snow was the star performer for England with 31 wickets to his credit. More importantly, he troubled the Aussie batsmen no end with his fiery pace and superb control over line and length. He ran through the Aussie batting line- up, dismissing 7 batsmen while conceding 40 runs, in the last innings of the fourth test at Sydney and helped England to clinch a win by 299 runs. Though he did not pick up many wickets in the last test that was also won by the visitors, his attacking bowling with liberal use of the short-pitched deliveries and bouncers was a key factor that kept the Aussie batsmen firmly tied down.

The last test of this series will always be remembered for the infamous “Terry Jenner incident” and “Illingworth’s walkout”. All through this series, the Aussie umpires, especially Lou Rowan, felt that Snow as overdoing the short stuff, which led to many arguments between the umpire and the bowler. When Australia was batting in the first innings, Snow bowled a bouncer at Terry Jenner, a tail-ender, which hit the batsman just above his left ear, forcing him to retire. Umpire Rowan intervened with an official warning, which was protested by Ray Illingworth, England captain and Snow. At the end of the over, when Snow moved to his fielding position at fine leg, he was heckled by an irate crowd, who also threw empty beer cans to the ground. When Snow moved closer to the boundary, a spectator, under the influence of alcohol, suddenly grabbed him by the collar. Incensed by this development, Illingworth led the side off the field and returned after a gap of 7 minutes, by which time the ground was cleared and action taken against the troublemakers. This incident, involving Snow bowling intimidating stuff against a tail-end batsman and Illingworth taking his side out of the field, invited a heavy dose of criticism.

Snow played only two tests against India, both during the 1971 series that India won. Here also, he is better remembered for the controversy involving shoulder charging Sunil Gavaskar. In the first test of the series, India were set a last innings target of 183, which they decided to chase. Farokh Engineer, who joined Gavaskar at the crease following the fall of two early wickets, called for a quick single after playing the ball from Snow to the unmanned area between square leg and midwicket. Snow raced towards the ball, planning to pick it up and throw down the stumps at the batsman’s end while Gavaskar was running fast to complete the run. In the process, Snow collided with the short-statured Indian opener and sent him sprawling to the ground. Gavaskar got up and made good his ground. Meanwhile, Snow picked up the bat dropped by Gavaskar and tossed it back to him.

Though this incident happened during the course of play and was not any sort of premeditated physical charge on the batsman, the authorities at Lord’s, where this took place, were not amused. They were horrified that Snow had come into physical contact with Gavaskar and made him fall on the ground. Their ire knew no bounds when Snow tossed the bat at Gavaskar rather than handing it over to him. Despite an apology by Snow to both Gavaskar and the authorities, he was dropped for the next test. Snow returned for the last test and reserved his best for Gavaskar, whom he dismissed in both innings for very low scores!

By this time, Snow had developed a reputation for being a cricketer who was difficult to deal with. His main grouse was against the authorities of Sussex, his county, who he believed did not understand his need for workload management. Snow had suffered an injury to his spine in 1967 and was worried about the prospect of this injury recurring due to being overbowled. Hence, he protested when asked to play even in games of lesser importance and resorted to bowling off a shortened run-up in such matches. This earned him the ire of the powers that be in the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) circles, especially Alec Bedser, who was then the chief selector. The result was that Snow was not considered for test matches between 1973 and 1975. He returned to the side in 1975 and did fairly well under the captaincy of Tony Greig, his Sussex teammate.

Though he was past 36 years of age and past his prime, the scouts working for Kerry Packer found him good enough for being offered a contract to play in the World Series Cricket (WSC), which commenced in 1977. After WSC concluded in 1979, Snow played one more season of county cricket before hanging up his cricketing boots in 1980.

At his peak, Snow, with his long run-up and flowing mane, was a menacing sight for the batsmen. He combined that with an air of malevolence and outright hostility, which was sufficient to send shivers down the spine of most batsmen. His bowling was all about rhythm, and he had a beautiful action with a lovely follow-through. He did not hesitate to use the fast short-pitched ball and was tough as nails on the field. He was also a useful lower-order batsman, with two half-centuries to his credit in tests.

For a flamboyant fast bowler who had no qualms about sending down bouncers aimed at the body of batsmen, Snow had an unusual hobby in poetry writing. He was an introvert and a sensitive person and used his poems to express his thoughts and feelings. He bought out two collections of his poems- “Contrasts” in 1971 and “Moments and Thoughts” a couple of years later. After retirement, he started a successful travel agency. He also published in autobiography titled “Cricket Rebel”, which was a forthright account of his cricketing career and, as could be expected, included many unsavoury references to the cricket administrators of that period.

Happy Birthday, John Augustin Snow! Best wishes for your good health and happiness in the years ahead!