Amar Singh (Image: Wikipedia)
When the number of Test-playing teams doubled in the 1920s and 1930s through the admission of the West Indies, New Zealand and India to the “top table”, the newcomers took time to find their feet. For the West Indies, promotion came a little too late as several very good players had just passed their peak; New Zealand were solid but unspectacular, drawing nine out of twelve games against England before the Second World War. In that same period, India played seven Test matches and lost five without recording any wins, but that does not quite reflect the team’s quality. Despite very brittle batting, India were formidable opponents owing to their exceptional fast bowling attack of Mohammed Nissar and Amar Singh. Only the West Indies had better pace bowlers — and perhaps only just — in the pre-war period and there was no better indication of their quality than England’s failure to reach 300 in either innings of India’s inaugural Test in 1932; the same English batters went on to dominate in Australia the following winter. Only within the last ten years has the Indian team had a fast bowling attack to match those two. Mohammad Nissar was the faster bowler but Amar Singh was perhaps more skilful and certainly more feared by the opposition. Allied to his potentially devastating batting, Amar Singh’s talent made him one of the best all-round cricketers in the world and an almost unrivalled attraction for crowds, an appeal recognised by Colne, the Lancashire League club that signed him to play in England from 1935. Perhaps more importantly, he became the first Indian cricketer to become famous for his performances for India, not for playing in England.
Ladhabhai Nakum Amar Singh was born at Rajkot, Gujarat on 4 December 1910. Very little is known with any certainty about his early life. Several stories circulate about him but few that can be pinned down; all that survives are various vague myths. But it is possible to build up something of a picture of his background because he also had a famous brother, the fast bowler Ramji Ladha Nakum. Both brothers attended Alfred High School (the former school of Mahatma Gandhi). Amar Singh played cricket there (and presumably so did Ramji); one story says that he was originally a specialist batsman before the coach Velji Master persuaded him to take up bowling. Both brothers must have moved to Kathiawar; we know they played cricket for Halar, a region of Western India.
A likely location within the region of Halar might have been Nawanagar, around 60 miles from Rajkot, because several sources suggest that the brothers came to the attention of Ranjitsinhji — at the time the Maharaja of Nawanagar — who supposedly offered them a house called Cricketers’ Cottage for free; the brothers refused to accept without paying rent. Other possible princely help might have come from the Khansaheb of Manavadar, another influential ruler interested in cricket, who supposedly later gave Amar Singh a car. Some of these stories imply that Ranjitsinhji was instrumental in furthering the career of Amar Singh, but there is little available contemporary evidence to support this other than his appearances for the Halar cricket team and, in the late 1930s, for Nawanagar in the Ranji Trophy. Ranjitsinhji’s biographer Roland Wild made no mention of Amar Singh in the hagiographical biography published in 1934, the year after its subject’s death (although the book played down cricket as its main aim was to portray Ranjitsinhji as a wise and benevolent ruler). But a more modern work, Simon Wilde’s The Strange Genius of Ranjitsinhji (1990), noted that Ranjitsinhji encouraged local players, including Amar Singh, without going into details.
Ramji (Image: via ESPNcricinfo)
It is possible to pin down a few more concrete details. One curious snippet comes from the unlikely source of the Barnoldswick & Earby Times in 1945. A man serving in the British Army in India sent his father, a man called H. Lambert, a book he had found called Indian Cricketers. The reason was that Lambert had played alongside Amar Singh for Colne before the war, and the book, whose author was not named in the article, contained a brief biography of Amar Singh. According to this book, Amar Singh learned the game from his brother Ramji, which seems very plausible. Ramji was ten years older than Amar Singh and had a formidable reputation in the 1920s. The well-travelled cricketer Jack Parsons recalled when speaking to his biographer Gerald Howat in the 1970s that the English side that toured India in 1926–27 thought that Ramji was faster than Harold Larwood, who most of his generation viewed as the fastest bowler of all. But as Suresh Parekh wrote in a 2006 article, “Ramji invited the wrath of the Maharajas with his outspoken views and awesome fast bowling which they just could not play”; his refusal to follow orders or to accommodate men such as the Maharaja of Patiala restricted his career, and he played just one Test.
Although we cannot closely follow the progress of Amar Singh at this time, by the beginning of the 1930s he had begun to emerge at the top level of domestic Indian cricket, a world that is often opaque to the historian. We have only hints of how he got there. The first comes in a Times of India report on the 1928 Kathiawar Quadrangular tournament, organised by the Kathiawar Cricket Club and played annually since 1921; the competition was used to select players to represent the Western India States in the All-India tournament at Delhi. The Times of India records that in the 1928 final (played in August), Halar defeated Zalawar by two wickets. The seventeen-year-old Amar Singh — “of the Alfred High School of Rajkot” — took nine for 87 in Zalawar’s first innings and scored an unbeaten 62 to take his side home in the fourth innings. He shared a match-winning ninth wicket stand with a player listed as Nakum, who was probably Ramji. Another hint comes from those extracts of Indian Cricketers printed in Barnoldswick, which state that Amar Singh scored two centuries for Halar in the 1930 Kathiawar Quadrangular. This must have been enough to earn him selection for Western India because his first appearance in the CricketArchive database is a record of the 1930–31 Delhi Tournament, a non-first-class competition, when he appeared alongside his brother for the Western India States, chipping in with runs and wickets in the quarter and semi-final before his team lost. The Times of India mentions various other appearances of Amar Singh (sometimes listed as Amar Singh; sometimes as Amarsingh; and sometimes as both in the same article), such as when he an Ramji reinforced the “Bashir Bagh XI” against the G. I. P. Railway in the All-India Tournament at Secunderabad. But none of the brief reports contained any biographical information.
In the middle of the 1930–31 Delhi Tournament, Amar Singh made what has retrospectively been determined to be his first-class debut for the Rest of India against the Maharajkumar of Vizianagram’s XI, a team which included the England batsmen Jack Hobbs and Herbert Sutcliffe. He took two wickets in the match and scored 10 and 34. Soon after, he played for the Nawab of Moin-ud-Dowlah’s XI against the same team in the Moin-ud-Dowlah Gold Cup Tournament. Incidentally, the status of these games has been the subject of some dispute, although most statistical authorities now agree that they are first-class; but the inconsistency is made clear by the fact that the first two games of the Moin-ud-Dowlah Gold Cup have not been allocated first-class status, only the ones in which the Maharaja of Vizianagram’s XI played. So Amar Singh’s three wickets and six runs in the semi-final against Hyderabad and Secunderabad are not included in his career statistics. Despite his modest overall record, he made a good impression; before returning home, Herbert Sutcliffe told a Times of India reporter that Amar Singh deserved a place in any Indian side to tour England (but not Ramji, whose short bowling method Sutcliffe believed would not succeed in England).
Amar Singh in 1932 (Image: via ESPNcricinfo)
It seems most likely that by this stage Amar Singh had either already been taken under the wing of the Maharajkumar of Vizianagram or would be after his performances in these games. Amar Singh’s next appearances in matches today recognised as first-class came in the the Moin-ud-Dowlah Gold Cup at Secunderabad during the 1931–32 season, playing for the Maharajkumar’s team, the Freelooters. The Freelooters played a quarter final but only the semi-finals onwards have been given first-class status. It was in this competition that Amar Singh suggested that he might be something special. Playing alongside his brother (who took eight for 14 in the first innings to bowl out the opposition for 31), he took six for 59 in the semi-final against Nizam’s State Railway A. The brothers took all twenty wickets between them. In the final, against Aligarh Muslim University Past and Present, Amar Singh took four for 81 and five for 30, while chipping in with 74 in his team’s second innings. The Freelooters won by a crushing 432 runs.
Presumably Amar Singh was playing other games for other teams, but there are no clear records of these. Various quadrangular and pentangular tournaments were played across the country, attracting large crowds, but there was no overall structure; instead Indian cricket was torn between the influences of the British ruling classes and those of various competing princely states. It was not until after the 1926–27 tour by the MCC that the idea that the Indian cricket team should be run by Indians (as opposed to Europeans) became firmly established and accepted by the MCC. One of the main supporters of this idea, according to later recollections, was Arthur Gilligan, a man who was a member of a fascist organisation at the time. Boria Mujumdar wrote about this complicated picture in Cricket in Colonial India 1780 – 1947 (2013):
“In bringing to light the complex reasons behind cricket/sports patronage by the maharajas, some other extremely significant findings come to the fore. The maharajas, aiming to form quality cricket teams, ignored caste, creed and economic prejudices when recruiting players of merit, making cricket a representative sport in colonial India … Though the captains of the touring Indian team — the Maharaja of Patiala in 1911, the Maharaja of Porbander in 1932, Maharajkumar of Vizianagram in 1936, Iftikar Ali Khan Pataudi in 1946 — were men from aristocratic families, the leading players in their teams — Palwankar Baloo in 1911, Mohammed Nissar and Amar Singh in 1932, Lala Amarnath in 1936 — were men of humble origins, from lower-caste economically underprivileged backgrounds. Their careers demonstrate that by the early years of the twentieth century prowess in cricket had come to symbolize a ladder for social mobility among the relatively underprivileged. With mastery of the game holding before them prospects of association with, and the opportunity of drawing benefits from, the ruling elite, cricket was already being looked upon as an attractive career option.”
It was against this background that Amar Singh emerged. In early 1932, he played in the four trial games organised to assist with the selection of an India team to tour England later that year. India had been nominally given Test status in 1926 but to play official matches required the formation of a cricket board; it was this which proved a stumbling block given the disagreements about whether the team would be a European or an Indian one. Further delays were caused when a proposed MCC tour of 1930–31 was postponed owing to concerns in England about demonstrations connected to the Indian independence movement. But the 1932 tour of England was to feature India’s first Test match, to be played at Lord’s.
Unfortunately for Amar Singh, he did nothing out of the ordinary in the four trial games. Contradictory stories survive about what happened next. Ramachandra Guha in The States of Indian Cricket (2008) wrote: “It is not generally known that Amar Singh’s rise to cricketing greatness owed something to Ranji’s discerning eye. In a trial match for the 1932 tour of England, played at Delhi’s beautiful Roshanara Gardens, Amar took none for plenty, although he did hit one six into the street, the ball striking a tangawalla. Ranji, who was watching, was impressed with the youngster’s control and perseverance, and insisted his Nawanagar subject be selected for the tour. His advice was taken, and the rest is history.” Suresh Parekh wrote in 2006: “Amar Singh’s name was included only at the eleventh hour thanks to a noble job of negotiation by Kumar Duleepsinhji [Ranjitsinhji’s nephew, who had played for England].” Somewhat frustratingly, it is not possible to pin many of these legends down to find their source.
What we do know is that, after the trial games, he took seven for 36 for the Roshanara Club against the Viceroy’s XI, which included such stars as Duleepsinhji and the Nawab of Pataudi (both of whom he dismissed in the first innings). He followed up with four for 92 in 43 overs during the Viceroy’s second innings. And whatever the truth of who was responsible for his selection, he was indeed chosen to tour England. The team were given training by Frank Tarrant, an Australian who had played all over the world. Before the tour began, he said in an interview that Amar Singh was the best bowler in the team and “it is doubtful if there will be any better bowler in England next season”.
The Cricketer Spring Annual later that year revealed that the “All-India” team was announced on 4 February, and although it underwent numerous changes as there was a row over the captaincy, Amar Singh was named in it. That preview of the tour, written by I. M. Mansukhani, the editor of the Illustrated Cricket and Sporting News of Karachi, suggested that the team would be weak in bowling as “apart from Ghulam Mahomed and Nazir Ali its bowlers have yet to win their spurs in first-class cricket”. The brief accompanying profile of Amar Singh in The Cricketer noted simply that he was a 21-year-old medium-fast bowler who had “played almost on all wickets in India, but has had more practice on matting. Best bowling performance — 16 wickets for 28 runs in the Kathiawar Quadrangular tournament. Fairly good as a batsman.” A preview in the Times of India suggested that he relied too much on the off-break to trouble English professional batters.
The Indian cricket team that toured England in 1932. Back row: Lall Singh, Phiroze Palia, Jahangir Khan, Mohammad Nissar, Amar Singh, Bahadur Kapadia, Shankarrao Godambe, Ghulam Mohammad, Janardan Navle. Middle row: Syed Wazir Ali, C.K.Nayudu, Maharaja of Porbandar (captain), K. S. Limbdi (vice-captain), Nazir Ali, Joginder Singh. On ground: Naoomal Jaoomal, Sorabji Colah, Nariman Marshall. (Image: Wikipedia)
By the end of the tour, there was no question that Amar Singh had established himself as a cricketer on the world stage, and all questions over the India attack had been dispelled by his fast-bowling partnership with Mohammad Nissar. Wisden, although reluctant to overdo the praise, made clear how good these two were during the 1932 season:
“The bowling of the side was, all things considered, capital. Mohammad Nissar, tall and very big for an Indian, was the fast bowler of the team. He had a nice, easy action and before the shine had gone off the ball, he made it swing and at times break back alarmingly. In point of actual skill, however, Amar Singh was probably the best bowler of the side. Exception might be taken to his run, which was far from smooth in its rhythm, but he was able to do such a lot with the ball that he not only looked, but actually proved to be, very difficult to play. He could make the ball swerve either way and at times cause it to dip, while his pace off the pitch was often phenomenal. Better bowling than his in the second innings of the Test match has not been seen for a long time and more than one famous old cricketer said afterwards that Amar Singh was the best bowler seen in England since the war. When one calls to mind the doings of [Ted] McDonald, the Australian [who toured England in 1921], however, it is a little difficult completely to concur with the opinions expressed regarding Amar Singh. Still Nissar and Amar Singh were the mainstays of the bowling. In first-class matches, the former took seventy-one wickets at a cost of just over 18 runs apiece, while Amar Singh obtained 111 for just under 21 runs each.”
The Indian team impressed many who saw it, and although they faced a ridiculously heavy schedule of 39 matches in total, including 26 that were first-class. Of these latter games, nine were won and eight lost; discounting Australia, only the 1935 South African team of the “second rank” Test teams had a superior record to this on English tours between the wars. The tour also featured India’s first ever Test match; England won but Amar Singh and Mohammad Nissar gave their batters a fright, reducing the home side to 19 for three in the first innings and 67 for four in the second. Only two defiant innings from the England captain Douglas Jardine allowed his side to reach respectable scores, aided by a strain to Amar Singh in the second innings which reduced his effectiveness. His figures of two for 75 and two for 84 were not a fair reflection; Wisden said: “Nissar took five wickets, but 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.” It also reported that he bowled even better in the second innings. The correspondent for The Times was impressed by the attacking intent of the bowling: seven men were placed behind the wicket in total on either side, and few fielders in front in order to encourage the batters to drive.
The England captain Douglas Jardine faces Amar Singh in India’s first Test match; Jardine’s scored of 79 and 85 not out were crucial in England’s win. The non-striker is Eddie Paynter and the wicket-keeper is Janardan Navle.
After a hard struggle and an enormous amount of praise for India, England won by 158 runs on the final day. Amar Singh was the only Indian batter to reach fifty, hitting 51 on that last day. Wisden reported: “Amar Singh gave a great display of free hitting, he and Lall Singh adding 74 in 40 minutes.” Coming in to bat when India faced defeat, he took the attack to the bowling and hit 19 runs from one over by Walter Robins — three fours, a six and a single. Most writers noted that India had little luck in the game, and the Times correspondent said that the result “neither flattered the winners nor disgraced the losers in a match which from the first ball to the last was as good a game of cricket as could be asked for. If all Test matches were as enjoyable as this has been the voice of those who decry the best game in the world would be reduced to a whisper.”
Amar Singh’s Test fifty was not his only batting success. In all first-class matches on the tour, he scored 641 runs at an average of just under 23, and hit two centuries to go with his 111 wickets at an average of 20.37. Wisden called him: “The most dangerous all-rounder of the eleven”.
The tour firmly established his reputation. Another Indian cricketer who played for England, the Nawab of Pataudi, discussed Amar Singh while in India before he joined the England team touring Australia in 1932–33 (the “Bodyline” tour) and said that in the opinion of “competent cricket authorities in England”, “is one of the finest bowlers of his type playing cricket today.”
Most recollections of Amar Singh’s cricket were written after his death. His Wisden obituary described him in some detail: “A very good right-hand fast-medium bowler with easy delivery, he swung the ball; and pace from the pitch made him difficult to time. Seldom failing as a taker of wickets, he seemed to reserve his most effective work for the big occasion. Tall, of athletic build, Amar Singh, besides being such a capable bowler, batted freely and fielded brilliantly.” Wally Hammond, for example, wrote in Cricket My Destiny (1946) that in that 1932 Test match, “Amar Singh looked, in the first few overs, as dangerous an opening bowler as I have ever seen, coming off the pitch like the crack of doom.” Contemporary reports confirm how much Hammond struggled. Later in the book, Hammond said that he “showed himself to be in the top-class of world bowlers, an with the new ball he was perhaps better than anyone I have ever seen.” From a similar period, our unknown author of Indian Cricketers (via Barnoldswick) wrote that Amar Singh “was tall, beautifully built and possessed long arms. His stamina was endless and he could bowl over a long period without losing either length or accuracy. He was a very effective bowler with his high, loose action, and delivered fast-medium, with plenty of life in his deliveries. Moreover, he was a very clever fielder anywhere and a punitive batsman who hit the ball very hard and with relish and sent it long distances. His wrists were powerful and his coordination superb.” E. H. D. Sewell called him “such a grand fielder. A real Constantine type, as supple as elastic, and as slick as a panther. He had usually too much bowling to do for the sides he played for to be always attuned to concert pitch at dashing about saving the analyses of others ftom annihilation. But even on one of his moody days a sheer joy to watch.”
A longer description by someone who had played against him was written by Ian Peebles in Bowler’s Turn (1960): “Amar Singh was an altogether exceptional cricketer. He was a tall beautifully built man with a feline grace and smoothness of movement. He ran about half-a-dozen short, tripping steps and bowled fastish, with a quick whip-like action which gave him a great life and lift from the pitch. He could do the usual seam bowler’s tricks with the new ball, but in addition could impart a certain amount of spin by cutting the ball, a talent which made him a very good bowler on damaged or matting wickets. He fielded with the same lithe agility and, on occasions, hit with great effect. He was much the most interesting Indian cricketer to visit this country with the possible exception of Vinoo Mankad and a great draw when he went to a Northern league club.”
By any measure, he was a formidable cricketer. But he played only six more official Test matches (although some of his most impressive performances came in unofficial ones) and never took part in another full tour. When India next toured England, he was playing professional cricket in the Lancashire League and was only released (by prior agreement) for the Test matches. The limited number of games played by India perhaps prevented him establishing an impressive record; his Test figures are good but not spectacular and do not really show his impact. His greatest exposure came in the Lancashire League; and while it might seem odd to a modern audience, these games were some of the most intensely fought games in the period and featured many of the world’s best cricketers. And ironically, we know far more about Amar Singh’s life in England than we do about any other period…
Old Ebor 
