by Rajesh Thomas
It was interesting to see the article about actress Julie Christie of Dr.Zhivago fame and her connection with Indian tea*. Little do people know that another world-famous personality owed his origin to the Indian planting community - this time in the world of sports and from Southern India.
As I sat down to write this piece, I realized that coincidentally, this famous person was born at Christmas time. The little lad who played the first of his many handsome drives amidst the lush tea gardens in the rolling hills of Wayanad was none other than Sir Michael Colin Cowdrey, who went on to captain the England Cricket team in the sixties. An old-school cricketer and a perfect gentleman on and off the field, Sir Colin Cowdrey was a stylish right-hand batsman who led England in twenty-seven test matches. He held a plethora of test match records including the first to play one hundred test matches and the then world record for the maximum catches (120 catches). He eventually ended with 7624 test runs and 120 catches from 114 test matches. He played his last test match in 1975 aged forty-one in an Ashes test match against the feared duo of Dennis Lillee and Jeff Thomson.
His father was E.A.Cowdrey, an English planter who worked as a manager in the tea estates of the Wyanad planting district. The estates ( Chundale and Arrapetta ) where the senior Cowdrey worked are all owned in the present day by the Harrison Malayalam group and I presume they were owned by them at that time also. Cowdrey Sr. was no mean cricketer himself, having played for the Surrey Second XI, and the Berkshire County Cricket Club. Running a tea plantation in the hills, he was a good enough batsman to score 48 for a European XI against the visiting MCC at Madras in 1926-27.
Sir Colin Cowdrey was born on December 24, 1932. The place of his birth is not clear, as in some places it is mentioned as Bangalore while in his autobiography Sir Colin mentions Ooty. Probably the senior Cowdrey did not trust the primitive medical facilities on the estate.
Mother Molly had considerable prowess in hockey and tennis and displayed more than a passing interest in cricket. Hence when Ernest Cowdrey asked whether she was okay with their son being invested with the initials of the world’s most famous cricket club, she readily agreed. He was baptised at the famous St. Mark's Cathedral in Banglore. Hence, Michael Colin Cowdrey came into being and the senior Cowdrey promptly put his son’s name down for membership at the hallowed club. Fifty-four years later, this newborn would go on to become the President of the very same Marylebone Cricket Club.
Surrounded by tea estates, and with the yesteryear planters blessed with a penchant for outdoor life, Cowdrey spent his early days enjoying a colonial life style, and was introduced to sports early. On the lawn next to their bungalow, Ernest Cowdrey built a miniature golf course, and father and son practiced in the morning before the former went to work. When he returned in the evening, attention switched to the unused tennis court where cricket soon took precedence. Cowdrey Jr was taught the basics of wielding the willow. The wicket was shifted towards the side netting of the tennis court so that the natural leg-side swipes could be purged early in his cricket education and he was taught to play with an orthodox straight bat. If he still indulged in an ugly slog, the boy had to forfeit his innings and spend a long afternoon bowling to his father. It is said a genial teenaged servant named Krishnan bowled to his dear little master for hours during the day and their adopted mongrel Patch did the fielding.
In 1938, Colin’s parents decided that he would be schooled in England. He embarked on his voyage in April of that year and the next time he was to return to India was in 1964 as a member of the touring English Cricket team. Incidentally, Colin was originally to captain the team on that tour, but due to injury, he withdrew from the touring party.
He was later included midway through the tour as a replacement as many of the originally selected players were injured or sick. He played in the last three test matches, scoring two centuries each at Calcutta and at New Delhi. A few years after Colin was sent to England for schooling, his parents decided to return to England for good. Unfortunately, the senior Cowdrey did not live to see his son reach the summit. He passed away a few weeks before Colin played his first test in Australia.
Colin Cowdrey’s association with India continued as his first test as captain of the England cricket team was against India in 1959.
Cowdrey's exploits were not really limited to cricket. He was an excellent performer in squash, led the England Colts rugby team and went on to captain the XV in his final year at university. He was also an excellent golfer who held a six handicap. During his years at Oxford, he won his university blue for rackets and in 1953 was runner-up in the English Rackets Championship at Queen's Club, falling only to the then World Champion (Rackets is a game very similar to squash.)
The sporting lineage of the Cowdrey family did not stop there and his son Chris also went on to play for England - and also captained England - for a brief period. They made a rare pair of father and son who played for and also captained the country.
An interesting anecdote of his son's debut against India: Cowdrey was listening to the radio in his car, when debutant Chris scalped Kapil Dev in his very first over in Test cricket. In his excitement, Cowdrey took a wrong exit from a roundabout and was flagged down by a police officer as he went down a one-way street. When the circumstances were explained and young Cowdrey’s success was discussed, the English bobby sportingly let him off.
Colin Cowdrey was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 1972, received a knighthood in 1992 towards his services to the gentleman’s game. His last great service to the game was to initiate the inclusion of “The Spirit of Cricket” in the Preamble to the 2000 Code of Laws. The MCC Spirit of Cricket Lecture is an annual and one of the most prestigious events of the cricket calendar.
Sir Colin Cowdrey passed away in December 2000. He is the fourth (and so far the last) sportsman to be honored with a memorial service in Westminster Abbey, following Sir Frank Worrell, Lord Constantine and Sir Bobby Moore.
Editor's Note: Readers might enjoy this You Tube video of Cowdrey's wedding!
*Many thanks to Alan Lane for the link to the story - Editor
Meet the writer: Rajesh Thomas
Rajesh is a second generation planter who was born and brought up in the planting districts of Southern India. His Learning to Drive takes us to Annamalai Club. Don't miss out on his earlier stories - Click on this link to read them: https://teastorytellers.blogspot.com/search/label/J.Rajesh%20Thomas
Is this your first visit here? Welcome to Indian Chai Stories!
You will meet many storytellers here at Indian Chai Stories, and they are almost all from the world of tea gardens: planters, memsaabs, baby and baba log. Each of our contributors has a really good story to tell - don't lose any time before you start reading them!
Do you have a chai story of your own to share? Send it to me here, please : indianchaistories@gmail.com. My name is Gowri Mohanakrishnan and I'm a tea planter's wife. I started this blog because one of the things that I wouldn't want us to lose in a fast changing world is the tea story - a story always told with great seriousness, no matter how funny - always true (always), maybe a tall tale, long, or short, impossible, scary, funny or exciting but never dull.
You will find yourself transported to another world! Happy reading! Cheers to the spirit of Indian Tea!
ADD THIS LINK TO YOUR FAVOURITES : https://teastorytellers.blogspot.com/Indian Chai Stories
It was interesting to see the article about actress Julie Christie of Dr.Zhivago fame and her connection with Indian tea*. Little do people know that another world-famous personality owed his origin to the Indian planting community - this time in the world of sports and from Southern India.
As I sat down to write this piece, I realized that coincidentally, this famous person was born at Christmas time. The little lad who played the first of his many handsome drives amidst the lush tea gardens in the rolling hills of Wayanad was none other than Sir Michael Colin Cowdrey, who went on to captain the England Cricket team in the sixties. An old-school cricketer and a perfect gentleman on and off the field, Sir Colin Cowdrey was a stylish right-hand batsman who led England in twenty-seven test matches. He held a plethora of test match records including the first to play one hundred test matches and the then world record for the maximum catches (120 catches). He eventually ended with 7624 test runs and 120 catches from 114 test matches. He played his last test match in 1975 aged forty-one in an Ashes test match against the feared duo of Dennis Lillee and Jeff Thomson.
His father was E.A.Cowdrey, an English planter who worked as a manager in the tea estates of the Wyanad planting district. The estates ( Chundale and Arrapetta ) where the senior Cowdrey worked are all owned in the present day by the Harrison Malayalam group and I presume they were owned by them at that time also. Cowdrey Sr. was no mean cricketer himself, having played for the Surrey Second XI, and the Berkshire County Cricket Club. Running a tea plantation in the hills, he was a good enough batsman to score 48 for a European XI against the visiting MCC at Madras in 1926-27.
Sir Colin Cowdrey was born on December 24, 1932. The place of his birth is not clear, as in some places it is mentioned as Bangalore while in his autobiography Sir Colin mentions Ooty. Probably the senior Cowdrey did not trust the primitive medical facilities on the estate.
Mother Molly had considerable prowess in hockey and tennis and displayed more than a passing interest in cricket. Hence when Ernest Cowdrey asked whether she was okay with their son being invested with the initials of the world’s most famous cricket club, she readily agreed. He was baptised at the famous St. Mark's Cathedral in Banglore. Hence, Michael Colin Cowdrey came into being and the senior Cowdrey promptly put his son’s name down for membership at the hallowed club. Fifty-four years later, this newborn would go on to become the President of the very same Marylebone Cricket Club.
Surrounded by tea estates, and with the yesteryear planters blessed with a penchant for outdoor life, Cowdrey spent his early days enjoying a colonial life style, and was introduced to sports early. On the lawn next to their bungalow, Ernest Cowdrey built a miniature golf course, and father and son practiced in the morning before the former went to work. When he returned in the evening, attention switched to the unused tennis court where cricket soon took precedence. Cowdrey Jr was taught the basics of wielding the willow. The wicket was shifted towards the side netting of the tennis court so that the natural leg-side swipes could be purged early in his cricket education and he was taught to play with an orthodox straight bat. If he still indulged in an ugly slog, the boy had to forfeit his innings and spend a long afternoon bowling to his father. It is said a genial teenaged servant named Krishnan bowled to his dear little master for hours during the day and their adopted mongrel Patch did the fielding.
In 1938, Colin’s parents decided that he would be schooled in England. He embarked on his voyage in April of that year and the next time he was to return to India was in 1964 as a member of the touring English Cricket team. Incidentally, Colin was originally to captain the team on that tour, but due to injury, he withdrew from the touring party.
He was later included midway through the tour as a replacement as many of the originally selected players were injured or sick. He played in the last three test matches, scoring two centuries each at Calcutta and at New Delhi. A few years after Colin was sent to England for schooling, his parents decided to return to England for good. Unfortunately, the senior Cowdrey did not live to see his son reach the summit. He passed away a few weeks before Colin played his first test in Australia.
Colin Cowdrey’s association with India continued as his first test as captain of the England cricket team was against India in 1959.
Cowdrey's exploits were not really limited to cricket. He was an excellent performer in squash, led the England Colts rugby team and went on to captain the XV in his final year at university. He was also an excellent golfer who held a six handicap. During his years at Oxford, he won his university blue for rackets and in 1953 was runner-up in the English Rackets Championship at Queen's Club, falling only to the then World Champion (Rackets is a game very similar to squash.)
The sporting lineage of the Cowdrey family did not stop there and his son Chris also went on to play for England - and also captained England - for a brief period. They made a rare pair of father and son who played for and also captained the country.
An interesting anecdote of his son's debut against India: Cowdrey was listening to the radio in his car, when debutant Chris scalped Kapil Dev in his very first over in Test cricket. In his excitement, Cowdrey took a wrong exit from a roundabout and was flagged down by a police officer as he went down a one-way street. When the circumstances were explained and young Cowdrey’s success was discussed, the English bobby sportingly let him off.
Colin Cowdrey was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 1972, received a knighthood in 1992 towards his services to the gentleman’s game. His last great service to the game was to initiate the inclusion of “The Spirit of Cricket” in the Preamble to the 2000 Code of Laws. The MCC Spirit of Cricket Lecture is an annual and one of the most prestigious events of the cricket calendar.
Sir Colin Cowdrey passed away in December 2000. He is the fourth (and so far the last) sportsman to be honored with a memorial service in Westminster Abbey, following Sir Frank Worrell, Lord Constantine and Sir Bobby Moore.
Editor's Note: Readers might enjoy this You Tube video of Cowdrey's wedding!
Meet the writer: Rajesh Thomas
Rajesh is a second generation planter who was born and brought up in the planting districts of Southern India. His Learning to Drive takes us to Annamalai Club. Don't miss out on his earlier stories - Click on this link to read them: https://teastorytellers.blogspot.com/search/label/J.Rajesh%20Thomas
Is this your first visit here? Welcome to Indian Chai Stories!
You will meet many storytellers here at Indian Chai Stories, and they are almost all from the world of tea gardens: planters, memsaabs, baby and baba log. Each of our contributors has a really good story to tell - don't lose any time before you start reading them!
Do you have a chai story of your own to share? Send it to me here, please : indianchaistories@gmail.com. My name is Gowri Mohanakrishnan and I'm a tea planter's wife. I started this blog because one of the things that I wouldn't want us to lose in a fast changing world is the tea story - a story always told with great seriousness, no matter how funny - always true (always), maybe a tall tale, long, or short, impossible, scary, funny or exciting but never dull.
You will find yourself transported to another world! Happy reading! Cheers to the spirit of Indian Tea!
ADD THIS LINK TO YOUR FAVOURITES : https://teastorytellers.blogspot.com/Indian Chai Stories
This was an interesting read, Rajesh, and the video clip immensely entertaining and witty!
ReplyDeleteVery well written Rajesh. I had about the Cowdrey innings at Chundale , during my time with Malayalam Plantations which later became Harrisons Malayalam.
ReplyDeleteThank you.
DeleteCoincidentally the priest in the wedding video clip also played test cricket for England Reverend David Sheppard.
ReplyDeleteThank you Ma'am
ReplyDeleteWell scripted.Interesting to note Colin Cowdrey had his upbringing in the tea gardens of Wyanad.
ReplyDeleteThank yo
DeleteAs an erstwhile member of the Wynad club and former Assistant Manager at Arrapetta estate (circa 2015-16), I came across EA Cowdrey's name in the lending list tacked onto many of the old books in the club library. Sadly I seemed to be the only subscriber to the library. Arjun.
ReplyDeleteThats interesting Arjun.
DeleteFabulous , Rajesh. Well done. You should put all these tales in a book and publish the same
ReplyDeleteThis is a beautiful piece of history and thanks for penning it down. RAJESH
ReplyDeleteWonderful! You look exactly like my friend from my youthful days in planting in the Anamalais. PD Jothikumar!🙏
ReplyDeleteThank you for your comment. I am P.D.Jothikumar's son, so thank you also for your compliment.
DeleteA very well written piece Rajesh. Malayalam Plantations later became Harrisons Malayalam upon merger with Harrisons & Crosfield, a well known engineering company in South India. HML as it is referred to now is still going strong despite challenges in the plantation sector in terms of rising costs and low prices. The company and its plantations are storehouses of history and heritage. Regards S.Mathew
ReplyDelete