Pankaj Roy's memories of Statham
Pankaj Roy, the former Indian opener and selector took a trip down memory lane on Wednesday while talking about the great English fast bowler Brian Statham
Sakyasen Mittra
22-Jun-2000
Pankaj Roy, the former Indian opener and selector took a trip down memory lane on Wednesday while talking about the great English fast bowler Brian Statham. Roy, who has recently been embroiled in a controversy regarding his wine shop at Salt Lake felt that the
issue was being unnecessarily blown up by the media. "There are
far more important things to talk about than my shop," he said.
But today Roy took some time off to speak about Statham, who
was a good friend of his. "When he toured India with Nigel
Howard's team in 1951-52, he got me out at the Brabourne
stadium. "It was the last ball of the first day of the
second Test," recalled Roy. "I was caught at deep square
leg trying to hook a bouncer from Statham. However,
that time, he was just another budding cricketer. The
next time that I played against him was in the Test series in
1959. By that time he was one of the most respected
bowlers." Roy fell to him three times in six innings he faced
Statham in that series, including twice in the final Test at
the Oval.
Roy said that it was because of the unflagging accuracy of
Statham that his bowling partner Fred Trueman, managed to get
more than 300 wickets in Test cricket. "He was so accurate,
that he rarely gave you a ball to hit," said the bespectacled
opener. The former Indian opener, who still holds the
record for the highest opening partnership with the
late Vinoo Mankad, also stated that Statham was a real
gentleman. "He did not have the same aggressive streak
like Trueman. He lacked the fiery temper that guys like
Wes Hall and Charlie Griffith possessed."
Coming to the recent controversy surrounding
Mohammed Azharuddin and his comment based on
`minorities', Roy felt that it was uncalled for.
"However, in today's paper he has apologized for his
outburst. I think we should allow the matter to rest
there and proceed with the investigation. The game
needs a total clean up and we should not let small
matters like this bother us," Roy said. Roy, who is
the sheriff of Calcutta also stated, "Unless something
is done to erase the doubts that has crept into the
mind of the paying spectator, cricket will die in this
country. I read in the newspapers that television viewership
of cricket has already gone down. So it is our duty to find
out the reason for which such a thing has occurred."