 Proud member of the old guard
When former cricketers get together, and that is not so often, we sometimes enter that twilight zone where we share memories effortlessly, as though it all happened just yesterday. Sure enough, the conversation veers around to those cricketers who did not make it big but ought to have. In Chennai cricket, I remember from my college days such outstanding cricketers as Vasant Kumar, Dayakar, Premkumar, and my own cousins Narayanan and Ramachandran, who were good by any standards, but did not progress to the national level. At another level, there were some talented individuals who were forced to seek greener pastures elsewhere, even though they were good enough to play for Madras or, later, Tamil
Nadu.
One such cricketer was Alfred Burrows, who played with distinction for St Bedes School, and later, in the TNCA league, for Southern Railway. Burrows was a stylish, technically sound opening batsman and more than useful off spinner. Before he joined the Railways, he played for YMA (Young Men’s Association) and SPIC Recreation Club, both teams supported by S Sriraman, the secretary of the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association who rose to be president of BCCI. Now, it was popularly suggested in cricket circles that playing for Sriraman’s club was a surefire passport to a place in the state team, but Burrows was one cricketer who did not benefit from any such advantage. He went on in his youthful optimism, sharing many successful partnerships with left-handed opener V Sivaramakrishnan, and making a very good impression on his captain S
Venkataraghavan.
Burrows still looks back with more than a tinge of regret on his inability to force his way into the Tamil Nadu team, though through no fault of his. He remembers that in a key match considered to be a selection trial in the 1978 season, he made a superb half-century, after he was more or less promised a berth in the state squad if he did well in that game. Still, when the team was announced, he found that his name was missing as usual. He went home straight and announced to his father his intention of joining the Railways.
Burrows did himself proud once he joined the Railways. His consistent performances won him a place in the Railways team for the Ranji Trophy. He did well enough to score 1,269 runs in 20 games for an average of 37.32. His highest score was 193 and he scored four hundreds and five fifties. The high point of his career was a well-made 40 against the touring West Indies.
Like many other cricketers of his time, Burrows was coached by A G Ram Singh. “I owe everything to Mr Ram Singh,” he once told me. Having gone away from Chennai for most of Burrows’ career, I played against him only after his active playing days, when we would meet in the TNCA league. I was of course several years his senior and therefore even more of a veteran. He was still a good batsman and a canny bowler. He is one of a breed of cricketers belonging to the old guard, to which many of us were proud to belong.
V Ramnarayan
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