Chandu Sarwate and Shute Banerjee became the first No.10 and No.11 to score centuries in first-class cricket as they shared a record 249-run stand for India against Surrey.
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In the near 150-year history of Test cricket, the contributions from tailenders have always been negligible. Only five people in the history of Tests have scored a century from the number 10 position. There has never been a century scored by a No.11 in Tests, with the highest being 98 by Ashton Agar during the 2013 Ashes Test in Trent Bridge. However, when one expands the scope to first-class cricket, there are some remarkable instances. In 1946, one such instance happened in the first-class game between Surrey and India.
In that match, which included England’s great Alec Bedser, Surrey had India on the ropes in a tour match in 1946. India was 205/9 at The Oval and in danger of being bowled out for a low score. However, Chandu Sarwate and Shute Banerjee changed the entire course of the match and created a new First Class record.
Both Sarwate and Banerjee hit 124 and 121 as they shared a record 249-run stand for the 11th wicket. India reached 454 and the partnership totally shocked Surrey. The hosts were bowled out for 135, with Banerjee taking two wickets while CS Nayudu took 3/30. Following on, Surrey made a decent start with Robert Gregory scoring a century. But, Sarwate took 5/54 and Vinoo Mankad took 3/80 as India registered a nine-wicket win, their first on British soil.
Sarwate and Banerjee’s exploits in the match are unequalled till date. The feat of Banerjee and Sarwate scoring centuries remains the only instance in world cricket where No.10 and No.11 scored centuries. Their stand of 249 is the second-best for the 11th wicket in history, behind the 307 between Alan Kippax and Hal Hooker. At that time, Hooker scored 62 and Kippax smashed 260 as New South Wales dominated Victoria in the 1928/29 season.
It was a grand tour for India, which would be the last by the team before they were partitioned. This was the first tour by a country to England after the end of the Second World War. Vijay Merchant scored 2385 first-class runs at an average of 74.53 with seven centuries and a high score of 242 not out. He also scored a century in Lord’s.
The tour had given Indian cricket plenty of stars, including Sarwate, Vijay Hazare, Vinoo Mankad and Merchant. Mankad became the first Indian and first visitor in England since Learie Constantine in 1928 to achieve the double of 1000 runs and 100 wickets on tour. However, the tour would be remembered for the feats of Sarwate and Banerjee for the last wicket.
A partnership of 249 should have gotten massive recognition. But, the tragedy of the Indian cricket team at that time was that both Banerjee and Sarwate did not get a long run in the Indian cricket team. Banerjee, in particular, would consider himself unlucky. Born in Kolkata, Banerjee played a total of 138 games for Bengal and took 385 wickets with his right-arm fast medium. In his solitary Test against the West Indies in 1949, Banerjee took 4/54 but was dropped afterwards. He did not play afterwards for India.
Sarwate, on the other hand, had a longer career. In 171 games for Holkar and Madhya Pradesh, he took 494 wickets. It was during his period with Holkar that they managed to win the Ranji Trophy for the last time. Sarwate played nine Tests and took only three wickets. With the bat, he failed to impress with just 208 runs in 17 innings with no fifties. However, Sarwate had an interesting career of the field. In the early 80s, he was a national selector. But, in a parallel career, he became a fingerprint expert who held a degree in Arts and Law.
However, the only person who made a massive impression from that 1946 tour was Alec Bedser. After his exploits for Surrey, Bedser responded with 22 wickets in the two Tests in Lord’s and Manchester against India. Bedser became England’s leader of the attack. In the 50s, the right-arm pacer single-handedly helped England to victories. At age 35, Bedser was the key factor in England’s Ashes victory with 39 wickets at 17.48. This included a haul of i14 for 99 at Nottingham. He took 100 wickets in a season 11 times. Bedser was instrumental in Surrey’s eight Championship victories between 1950 and 1958.
After his retirement, Bedser was an England selector for a record 23 years. He was the chairman between 1969 and 1981 as well as manager for England on two overseas tours. Bedser achieved knighthood in 1996. He died in 2010 at the age of 91. He also has a twin brother called Eric Bedser who played from 1939 to 1962. Eric, though, never played for England. In 457 First-Class matches, he took 833 wickets for Surrey. Eric and Alec were the bedrocks upon which Surrey and England dominated in the era of 50s.
The tour of 1946 witnessed strange contrasts for both India and England. It gave legends. However, some Indian players never got a big run for the side after Independence. But, for war-fatigued England, Alec Bedser was the beacon of hope and resurgence.
