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UK SPECIAL: SPORTS
The Homecoming
They may be batting for Britain but three of the cricketers
to tour India shortly trace their origin to the subcontinent
By Ishara Bhasi
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"If you are good enough and put in
hard work you can break into the English team."
Usman Afzaal, 23, traced to Rawalpindi
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When the England
cricket team lands in India, it will be a tour of several firsts, not
just the fact that this is the first cricket tour of the subcontinent
since the start of the war on Afghanistan: this is the first England tour
to India in eight years and the first time England is travelling with
three players who will find India completely foreign yet somehow familiar.
Captain Nasser Hussain and batsmen Mark Ramprakash and Usman Afzaal found
themselves in the news when the controversy erupted over whether the tour
should indeed go on or not. All three are of Asian origin: Hussain was
born in Chennai in 1968, Ramprakash's father hails from Guyana in the
West Indies, but the name is a giveaway as to his origins, and Afzaal
is the most-recently arrived: born in Rawalpindi, he moved to England
at the age of five. When the question of whether England should tour India
or not came up, these three became the object of all the attention. When
they come to India, they will receive more of it than their peers because
of their surnames, their histories and their public statements on the
tour.
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"The problems were to do with the
world situation and did not question India as a venue."
Nasser Hussain, 33, born in Chennai
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Hussain, captain of the English team, was in
the tightest of spots, having to counsel but not pressurise his teammates
on what he sees as a landmark tour. He wrote in his newspaper column,
"For me it was an easy decision. I am England captain, it is the
greatest honour and not something you pick and choose whether you take
up or not. It is also the greatest ambition of my father, Joe, to watch
me play and captain England in a Test match in the country of his birth.
And third, and most important to me, India is the soul of world cricket.
Even though the Australians lost a Test series 2-1 there last winter,
they will have memories to cherish for life of going on the trip."
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"Being in London and England presents
much more of a risk than being in India."
Mark Ramprakash, 32, from Guyana
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This will not be Hussain or Ramprakash's first
trip to India, both men having toured separately-Hussain for a one-day
tournament in 1989-90, and Ramprakash with the England-A team in 1994-95.
Afzaal, 23, is a first-timer on tour for the senior England team, but
the presence of the three together is being perceived as a shift in the
kind of teams the Old Country will put out in the future. England has
witnessed a rise in Asian players in county cricket as well as in its
national team. Andrew Walpole, spokesperson of the England and Wales Cricket
Board, says that the presence of many players of Asian origin in domestic
cricket is "a testament into changing times. In the past couple of
years, Essex has seen a major rise in the number of Asian kids in the
under-15 groups. Under-16 players Nadeem Malik and Bilal Sahayal from
Nottinghamshire are success stories. The signs for future are positive."
Not coincidentally, Hussain is from Essex where his father Joe (Jawad)
Hussain runs the Ilford Cricket School. Cricket is the number one sport
amongst the Asian community in Britain, Afzaal is resolute, "If you
are good enough and put in hard work you can break into the English team."
Already tagged the "only practising Muslim"
on the England team, Afzaal is left-hand bat and part-time left-arm spinner
from Nottinghamshire, who made his debut in the Ashes series this summer.
The only Nottinghamshire batsman to score 1,000 runs in the county summer
last season, Afzaal averaged 44.26, and was a member of the England "A"
tour to the West Indies before he made his debut for his adopted country,
to whom he says he is, "wholly committed". Afzaal says he had
little apprehensions about touring India and on the other hand appears
bursting with enthusiasm at the prospect. "India is a beautiful country.
People express themselves. Cricket is one thing they love and I am looking
forward to playing in India. The subcontinent has world class players.
Sourav Ganguly is fantastic, Rahul Dravid is brilliant. It will be a challenge.
The wickets will turn," he says. He says he hopes to "entertain"-something
which few English cricket teams of the recent past can lay claim to.
One writer summarised the contemporary image
of English cricket on India, "The general feeling in the world's
most cricket-mad country is that West Indies comes to party and play,
the Australians extend the hand of friendship with visits to local schools
and charities, and the other cricket-playing countries just get on with
the job. The English, however, are aloof, arrogant, and do nothing but
complain when it comes to touring India."
Hussain's team had shown signs of providing
a welcome change to the image of English cricketers as poor tourists.
They won four series in a row before being stopped by the Australians
in the Ashes at home, but travel to India with series wins in Pakistan
and Sri Lanka under their belts. Before all the controversy began, they
looked competitive enough to push the Indians. Once the discussions started
over touring or not, it was left up to the captain to keep things under
control. When the England team lands in India, it will be difficult for
them to shake off the impression that they are constantly looking over
their shoulder. Hussain's clear understanding of the situation may help,
"One thing I would like to make clear is that the problems were to
do with the world situation, not questioning India as a tour venue."
Ramprakash was among the first few on the current
England team to try and shrug off dread of security on the tour of India.
His wife Vandana is expecting their second child, (they have a four-year-old
daughter) but the Surrey batsman earned plenty of points for his common
sense when he said his wife and he felt "being in London and England
presents much more of a risk than being in India. There's probably more
danger going to Heathrow or using the tube than visiting Bangalore and
Mumbai."
It is now obvious Ramprakash and Afzaal will
not be reluctant tourists. Ramprakash going on to 32 now, is still looking
to cement his place in the England middle order where the competition
is suddenly getting crowded. Afzaal, just starting out, knows that the
best place to make an impression and seal a spot in this new England team
is on tour, where the best of records and reputations can come horribly
unstuck. For Hussain, India promises to be his stickiest innings. Given
the innate conservatism of English cricket, captain Hussain has wisely
and resolutely stayed away from discussing his "Asian origin"
or sense of ethnic identity. In India, he will be surrounded by it at
a personal and a public level. Known as a hard-nosed and pragmatic individual
as much as a batsman, Hussain will not be swept away. The cricket will
be as tough as usual. But he will perhaps know a few fleeting moments
on this tour will blur the differences between going away and coming home.
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