Amar Singh (cricketer)
Encyclopedia
Ladhabhai Nakum Amar Singh Lodha (4 December 1910 – 21 May 1940) was an Indian Test
cricket
er.
A right-arm fast-medium bowler and effective lower-order batsman, Amar Singh Lodha played in seven Tests for India before World War II
. He took 28 wickets in these matches. He was the first Indian Fast bowler and All-rounder, and the first Indian to receive a Test cap. He also scored India's first half-century in Test cricket, in India's first Test.
over a nine year period; in 92 first-class matches he took 508 wickets at the bowling average
of 18.35. He also scored five centuries as a batsman. In domestic cricket he was the first Indian to complete the all-rounder's double of 1000 runs and 100 wickets in the Ranji Trophy
.
Against England at Madras
in 1933–34, Amar Singh Lodha scored 48 in the second essay after taking 7 for 86 off 44.4 overs in the visitors' first innings total of 335. At Lord's in 1936 he claimed 4/10 in his first nine overs and overall 6 for 35 from his 25.1 overs. In the next Test at Old Trafford he hit 48 not out to save India from an innings defeat. In the unofficial five-Test series against Lord Tennyson's MCC
team of 1937–38 he captured 36 wickets at 16.66.
Much to the delight of the Burnley supporters, Amar Singh scored two centuries and six half-centuries. There was a 167 against Rishton, followed by a hard-hitting 112 versus East Lancashire, both at Turf Moore. Amar Singh topped the batting and bowling aggregates as well as averages. In all, he took 101 wickets at 12.11 in 360 overs; and scored 806 runs at 39.38 in 23 innings.
Amar Singh Lodha along with Mohammad Nissar formed part of a duo of fast bowlers for India. Walter Hammond said that he was '"as dangerous an opening bowler as I have ever seen".
In club cricket
he played for Colne
in the Lancashire League. As the club's first overseas professional he was seen as a rival to Nelson
's Learie Constantine
and his arrival caused the club's gate receipts and membership to double.
According to Wally Hammond
, Amar Singh was "as dangerous an opening bowler as I have ever seen, coming off the pitch like the crack of doom". In an informal press meeting in 1970, Leonard Hutton said that "There is no better bowler in the world today than Amar Singh." Len Hutton said this out of experience as he had played against Singh during his years with Yorkshire. Amar Singh also had an elder brother, Ladha Ramji, an aggressive fast bowler, who played a test for India against England in Mumbai. His nephew, VL Nakum, also played first class cricket.
He died of typhoid in 1940.
and Herbert Sutcliffe
to reduce England 1 for 8 and 2 for 11.
Frank Woolley
, was later run out after adding none runs to their score. At 19 for 3, England were in deep trouble, but the legendary Walter Hammond, who would later go on to praise Singh lavishly, mounted a recovery with his Captain Douglas Jardine
, the pair added 82 runs for the third wicket before he gifted Amar Singh his first wicket in test Cricket, later, Nissar carried on his fine work and took three more wickets, cleaning up the middle order, while CK Nayudu(who was the Indian Captain, and who took two for 40 in England's first innings), and Singh mopped up the tail as England were shot out for 259. Amar Singh bowled 31.1 overs, taking 2 for 75.
In Wisden's report of the test, it was noted that, "Amar Singh bowled almost as well, making the ball curl in the air either from leg or from the off and causing it to come off the pitch at a tremendous pace." This was highly unexpected as England looked particularly strong on the batting front on paper. India, though, squandered their bowlers good work, and were all out for 189 runs, after they imploded after being 153 for 4. England started their second innings badly as well, losing Sutcliffe, after an opening stand of 30, to Amar Singh. From that point on, Jahangir khan, another Indian fast bowler, ran through England's middle order, taking 4 for 60. Amar Singh bowled for 41 overs, taking 2 for 84. However, Wisden heaped praise on the Indian fast bowler, stating, "When England went in a second time, Amar Singh bowled even better than before". England declared at 275 for 8, with Jardine once again displaying an excellent temperament, scored 85 not out to go with his 79 in the first innings, another innings which was highly received by Wisden and spectators alike, as one particular onlooker's reports, which was retrieved by The Cricketer
, praised his gritty innings, stating "Luckily England had in Jardine, the captain, a steel-hearted warrior to hold the pass".
Thus, India, set a target of 346 in the second innings, came out to bat, but were outclassed by England's superior bowling. In fact, Wisden stated in its match reports, that "India fared so badly that they lost seven wickets for 108 ...". However, it was Amar Singh, this time, who displayed his lower-order batting prowess, hitting 51 with the help of one six. He added 74 runs for the eighth wicket with Lall Singh, who scored 29 runs. Ultimately, Amar Singh was the last man out for 187, and India lost by 158 runs.
Amar Singh played Lodha the rest of his six test matches against England, producing several of his best displays, including 4 for 106 in Kolkata
in 1934, 6 or 35 at Lord's in 1936, and his career-best figures of 7 for 86 in the Chennai match in 1934. However, he bowled more than thirty-five overs in an innings on six occasions, giving rise to the perception that he was perhaps being used as a workhorse.
One reason for Amar Singh's high amount of wickets was that he bowled with an aggressive field setting and more importantly, he aimed at the stumps while bowling. His field settings generally consisted of two or three slips, a gully, a cover point, and third man on the off side. On the leg side he usually had a short fine leg, a forward short leg, a silly mid-on and a long leg. He maintained this field against all batsmen.
Amar Singh's batting was more or less as much as aggressive as his bowling. He was a pinch-hitter, who was effective on some occasions. Surprisingly, Amar Singh was shifted up the batting order
. He was also made to play in the top five positions three times; but, also scored four scores above forty. In the summer of his first test match, Amar Singh hit an unbeaten 131, against Lancashire, coming at no.10, a position from which he had scored his 51 against England in his first test match.
In the light of his bowling performances, another aspect of his game that had been overshadowed along with his batting was Singh's fielding an catching. In 92 first class matches, Singh snaffled 77 catches, and according to Rusi Modi, he was easily as good as Bob Simpson
or Wally Hammond in terms of slip catching. However, it is highly debatable whether India's other fielders were as good, as it is reported that many edges of Nissar's and Singh's bowling were dropped.
Test cricket
Test cricket is the longest form of the sport of cricket. Test matches are played between national representative teams with "Test status", as determined by the International Cricket Council , with four innings played between two teams of 11 players over a period of up to a maximum five days...
cricket
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
er.
A right-arm fast-medium bowler and effective lower-order batsman, Amar Singh Lodha played in seven Tests for India before World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. He took 28 wickets in these matches. He was the first Indian Fast bowler and All-rounder, and the first Indian to receive a Test cap. He also scored India's first half-century in Test cricket, in India's first Test.
Career
Amar Singh Lodha played first-class cricketFirst-class cricket
First-class cricket is a class of cricket that consists of matches of three or more days' scheduled duration, that are between two sides of eleven players and are officially adjudged first-class by virtue of the standard of the competing teams...
over a nine year period; in 92 first-class matches he took 508 wickets at the bowling average
Bowling average
Bowling average is a statistic measuring the performance of bowlers in the sport of cricket.A bowler's bowling average is defined as the total number of runs conceded by the bowlers divided by the number of wickets taken by the bowler, so the lower the average the better. It is similar to earned...
of 18.35. He also scored five centuries as a batsman. In domestic cricket he was the first Indian to complete the all-rounder's double of 1000 runs and 100 wickets in the Ranji Trophy
Trophy
A trophy is a reward for a specific achievement, and serves as recognition or evidence of merit. Trophies are most often awarded for sporting events, from youth sports to professional level athletics...
.
Against England at Madras
Chennai
Chennai , formerly known as Madras or Madarasapatinam , is the capital city of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, located on the Coromandel Coast off the Bay of Bengal. Chennai is the fourth most populous metropolitan area and the sixth most populous city in India...
in 1933–34, Amar Singh Lodha scored 48 in the second essay after taking 7 for 86 off 44.4 overs in the visitors' first innings total of 335. At Lord's in 1936 he claimed 4/10 in his first nine overs and overall 6 for 35 from his 25.1 overs. In the next Test at Old Trafford he hit 48 not out to save India from an innings defeat. In the unofficial five-Test series against Lord Tennyson's MCC
Marylebone Cricket Club
Marylebone Cricket Club is a cricket club in London founded in 1787. Its influence and longevity now witness it as a private members' club dedicated to the development of cricket. It owns, and is based at, Lord's Cricket Ground in St John's Wood, London NW8. MCC was formerly the governing body of...
team of 1937–38 he captured 36 wickets at 16.66.
Much to the delight of the Burnley supporters, Amar Singh scored two centuries and six half-centuries. There was a 167 against Rishton, followed by a hard-hitting 112 versus East Lancashire, both at Turf Moore. Amar Singh topped the batting and bowling aggregates as well as averages. In all, he took 101 wickets at 12.11 in 360 overs; and scored 806 runs at 39.38 in 23 innings.
Amar Singh Lodha along with Mohammad Nissar formed part of a duo of fast bowlers for India. Walter Hammond said that he was '"as dangerous an opening bowler as I have ever seen".
In club cricket
Club cricket
Club cricket is a mainly amateur, but still formal, form of the sport of cricket, usually involving teams playing in competitions at weekends or in the evening. There is a great deal of variation in game format although the Laws of Cricket are always observed...
he played for Colne
Colne Cricket Club
Colne Cricket Club is a cricket club in the Lancashire League, which plays its home games at The Horsfield in Colne. For the 2011 season their captain is Matthew Wilson, and their professional is Mansoor Amjad of Pakistan. The club has won the league on four occasions and won the cup six times,...
in the Lancashire League. As the club's first overseas professional he was seen as a rival to Nelson
Nelson Cricket Club
Nelson Cricket Club, based at Seedhill in Nelson, Lancashire, are a cricket club in the Lancashire League. They play at the Seedhill ground in Nelson. Their captain for the 2011 season is Thomas Lord and their professional is New Zealand international player Luke Woodcock.Nelson Cricket Club was...
's Learie Constantine
Learie Constantine
Learie Nicholas Constantine, Baron Constantine MBE was a West Indian cricketer who played 18 Test matches before the Second World War. He took West Indies' first wicket in Test cricket and was the team's leading all-rounder and opening bowler for the entirety of his career...
and his arrival caused the club's gate receipts and membership to double.
According to Wally Hammond
Wally Hammond
Walter Reginald "Wally" Hammond was an English Test cricketer who played for Gloucestershire in a career that lasted from 1920 to 1951. Beginning his career as a professional, he later became an amateur and was appointed captain of England...
, Amar Singh was "as dangerous an opening bowler as I have ever seen, coming off the pitch like the crack of doom". In an informal press meeting in 1970, Leonard Hutton said that "There is no better bowler in the world today than Amar Singh." Len Hutton said this out of experience as he had played against Singh during his years with Yorkshire. Amar Singh also had an elder brother, Ladha Ramji, an aggressive fast bowler, who played a test for India against England in Mumbai. His nephew, VL Nakum, also played first class cricket.
He died of typhoid in 1940.
Test career
Amar Singh Lodha was one of the amateurs who comprised the Indian team. His bowling partner Nissar, were the two fast bowlers who were the center of attraction on the first day of the match being played at Lord's. It was first Nissar who wreaked havoc with the English to-order, dismissing the openers, Percy HolmesPercy Holmes
Percy Holmes was an English first-class cricketer, who played for Yorkshire and England.Holmes was born in Oakes, Huddersfield, Yorkshire, England...
and Herbert Sutcliffe
Herbert Sutcliffe
Herbert Sutcliffe was an English professional cricketer who represented Yorkshire and England as an opening batsman. Apart from one match in 1945, his first-class career spanned the period between the two World Wars...
to reduce England 1 for 8 and 2 for 11.
Frank Woolley
Frank Woolley
Frank Edward Woolley was an English cricketer, one of the finest all-rounders the game has seen. In a career lasting more than thirty years, he scored more first-class runs than anyone but Sir Jack Hobbs, and took over 2,000 wickets at an average of under 20...
, was later run out after adding none runs to their score. At 19 for 3, England were in deep trouble, but the legendary Walter Hammond, who would later go on to praise Singh lavishly, mounted a recovery with his Captain Douglas Jardine
Douglas Jardine
Douglas Robert Jardine was an English cricketer and captain of the England cricket team from 1931 to 1933–34.When describing cricket seasons, the convention used is that a single year represents an English cricket season, while two years represent a southern hemisphere cricket season because it...
, the pair added 82 runs for the third wicket before he gifted Amar Singh his first wicket in test Cricket, later, Nissar carried on his fine work and took three more wickets, cleaning up the middle order, while CK Nayudu(who was the Indian Captain, and who took two for 40 in England's first innings), and Singh mopped up the tail as England were shot out for 259. Amar Singh bowled 31.1 overs, taking 2 for 75.
In Wisden's report of the test, it was noted that, "Amar Singh bowled almost as well, making the ball curl in the air either from leg or from the off and causing it to come off the pitch at a tremendous pace." This was highly unexpected as England looked particularly strong on the batting front on paper. India, though, squandered their bowlers good work, and were all out for 189 runs, after they imploded after being 153 for 4. England started their second innings badly as well, losing Sutcliffe, after an opening stand of 30, to Amar Singh. From that point on, Jahangir khan, another Indian fast bowler, ran through England's middle order, taking 4 for 60. Amar Singh bowled for 41 overs, taking 2 for 84. However, Wisden heaped praise on the Indian fast bowler, stating, "When England went in a second time, Amar Singh bowled even better than before". England declared at 275 for 8, with Jardine once again displaying an excellent temperament, scored 85 not out to go with his 79 in the first innings, another innings which was highly received by Wisden and spectators alike, as one particular onlooker's reports, which was retrieved by The Cricketer
The Cricketer
The Cricketer was an English cricket magazine published between 1921 and 2003 when it was merged with Wisden Cricket Monthly and relaunched as The Wisden Cricketer....
, praised his gritty innings, stating "Luckily England had in Jardine, the captain, a steel-hearted warrior to hold the pass".
Thus, India, set a target of 346 in the second innings, came out to bat, but were outclassed by England's superior bowling. In fact, Wisden stated in its match reports, that "India fared so badly that they lost seven wickets for 108 ...". However, it was Amar Singh, this time, who displayed his lower-order batting prowess, hitting 51 with the help of one six. He added 74 runs for the eighth wicket with Lall Singh, who scored 29 runs. Ultimately, Amar Singh was the last man out for 187, and India lost by 158 runs.
Amar Singh played Lodha the rest of his six test matches against England, producing several of his best displays, including 4 for 106 in Kolkata
Kolkata
Kolkata , formerly known as Calcutta, is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal. Located on the east bank of the Hooghly River, it was the commercial capital of East India...
in 1934, 6 or 35 at Lord's in 1936, and his career-best figures of 7 for 86 in the Chennai match in 1934. However, he bowled more than thirty-five overs in an innings on six occasions, giving rise to the perception that he was perhaps being used as a workhorse.
Cricketing Style
Amar Singh was a tall man; standing at over six feet and two inches, Amar Singh used this height advantage to great effect. He was wiry and broad shouldered. Though not really fast, Amar Singh used his height to extract bounce and movement off the pitch. He was said to have had a clean action, and generated lots of energy from a run-up of a little more than a dozen yards. This was the reason why English conditions suited him well. Amar Singh was also said to have had the ability to exploit the new ball well, making it swing both the ways, and when the shine was off, his "his devastating breakback often penetrated the defense of well set batsmen, castling them comprehensively".One reason for Amar Singh's high amount of wickets was that he bowled with an aggressive field setting and more importantly, he aimed at the stumps while bowling. His field settings generally consisted of two or three slips, a gully, a cover point, and third man on the off side. On the leg side he usually had a short fine leg, a forward short leg, a silly mid-on and a long leg. He maintained this field against all batsmen.
Amar Singh's batting was more or less as much as aggressive as his bowling. He was a pinch-hitter, who was effective on some occasions. Surprisingly, Amar Singh was shifted up the batting order
Batting order (cricket)
In cricket, the batting order is the sequence in which batsmen play through their team's innings, there always being two batsmen taking part at any one time...
. He was also made to play in the top five positions three times; but, also scored four scores above forty. In the summer of his first test match, Amar Singh hit an unbeaten 131, against Lancashire, coming at no.10, a position from which he had scored his 51 against England in his first test match.
In the light of his bowling performances, another aspect of his game that had been overshadowed along with his batting was Singh's fielding an catching. In 92 first class matches, Singh snaffled 77 catches, and according to Rusi Modi, he was easily as good as Bob Simpson
Bob Simpson (cricketer)
Robert Baddeley Simpson AO is a former cricketer who played for New South Wales, Western Australia and Australia, captaining the national team from 1963–64 until 1967–68, and again in 1977–78. He later had a highly successful term as the coach of the Australian team...
or Wally Hammond in terms of slip catching. However, it is highly debatable whether India's other fielders were as good, as it is reported that many edges of Nissar's and Singh's bowling were dropped.