A cricket aficionado

Death has snatched from our midst a walking encyclopedia of cricket, Matin Siddiqi. An invalid for some years after the fracture of his hip bone and confined to bed and wheel-chair he passed away peacefully at the age of 84.

Nevertheless, up to the end he maintained a keen interest in the game and in conversations would portray quite vividly the style and mode of play of the old masters and the stars of the modern period. Ranji and Trumper, Tom Richardson and S.F. Barnes of the Golden Age were among his heroes. He will tell you about the famous glide of the Jam Saheb, the stroke coming at the very last moment with the almost imperceptible flick of the bat. It was a technique entirely unique which enthused the English spectators.

Matin Siddiqi carried cricket history with him. He admired the strokeplay of Walter Hammond, his powerful and graceful cover-drive. With the impressive figure of an athlete Hammond would turn the pendulum of the game with his daring and fearless hitting. He was not prepared to accept any comparison of Hammond's courageous batting and his inimitable cover and straight drives with any modern performer.

Giving an opinion on some of the cricket controversies of yore, he would forcefully condemn the intimidatory tactics of Jardine, trying to break the arm, nose and shoulders of the batsmen through his leg theory. He fully backed the elder Pataudi and Gubby Allen who disagreed with their captain during England's 1932-33 tour of Australia.

He was an admirer of the tall and burly Nisar, who though a speed merchant, hardly used a bumper to ruffle and harass the batsmen. There was a rhythmical action in his pace and full control over line and length.

Shooting too was Matin Siddiqi's hobby as everybody in C.P. would go to the woods on hunting excursions. A panther or a lion, apart from deers, may be the prized bag of the shooting parties. During a week's or a fortnight's expedition to the jungles and away from Amraoti, where he did his B.A., he would visit Nagpur and would be thrilled to watch the morning drills of the C.P. cricket team, under the supervision of Col C.K. Nayudu, at that time one of the leading all-rounders of the sub-continent. C.K. was a strict disciplinarian and put stress on swift and sprightly fielding, unlike some of the wizards of Bombay, who were lethargic and ponderous in the pickup and throw. It was a lesson and treat to see Mushtaq, C.S. Nayudu, C.T. Sarwate, B.B. Nombalkar, Jagdale and J.N. Bhaya practising and trying to get into trim.

Matin Siddiqi went to Aligarh Muslim University for his post-graduate degree when Lala Amarnath was leaving the Muslim institution. However, to his good luck he found Syed Mushtaq Ali, one of the most popular figures of Indian cricket, as his contemporary. Both were in the university's cricket and hockey teams. Whatever may have been the fame of Mushtaq Ali and the suppleness of his wrists Matin was more appreciative of the controlled aggression and fearless driving of C.K. Nayudu, the batsman who would set alight cricket fields with massive hitting. As Matin Siddiqui told us during his many visits to the Dawn office while he was keeping good health that he was among those who would shout, "Kankaiya (meaning CK), sixer wanted" and the cricketer, with a balanced physique, would oblige his fans in the very next ball, the hit zooming over the long-on, long-off or long-leg boundary.

Matin Siddiqi's accumulation of cricket literature, some of the books rare pieces, showed his high taste for pleasant and good reading. Admirable too was the way he had maintained and kept in order those large number of publications. The writers include Pycroft, Fry, Warner, Foster, Cardus, Swanton, Arlott, Moyes, Fingleton and Whitington.

One of his hobbies during his life-time was to select and pen down world elevens. At least 150 sets of world combinations were found in his note books after his death.

In his passing away cricket has lost a knowledgeable fan of the game, who was well versed in its history and would enjoy throwing light, for hours, on the old-timers and players engaged in the present-day matches. Truly, a great lover of the game.