by Mayukh Ghosh
There have been over twelve thousand cricket books.
Autobiographies, biographies and tour books are in abundance. Some players have written even three or four autobiographies, though not necessarily guaranteeing any improvement in quality in the subsequent volumes/updates.
Cricket people too have made their contribution. End of career memoirs from the likes of John Arlott and Bill Frindall proved to be immensely popular. Writers like David Frith, David Foot and Stephen Chalke too have produced highly acclaimed autobiographies.
But when it comes to cricket writers of Asia there hasn’t been much output in this regard.
Qamar Ahmed, having covered the game for almost sixty years, has been an exception.
He has written an autobiography. He, quite rightly, thought that it was necessary given the amount of time he has spent enjoying the game.
It all began when, at a young age, he played multiple sports.
“I was a footballer during school days and had to switch over to cricket after my elder brother broke his forearm twice, playing football. Coming to what became Pakistan from Chapra in Bihar, football was the only game I knew or had seen.
“By the time I matriculated from Govt. High School in Hyderabad, Sindh in 1954, I had become an accomplished left-arm bowler & a right-handed batsman, good enough to captain Govt College Hyderabad and Sindh University. I made my debut in first-class cricket in 1956/57 in Quaid-e-Azam Trophy, taking young Mushtaq Mohammad’s wicket. He took my wicket & I took his! Later, I also led Hyderabad in first-class cricket.”
Ahmed is a natural left-hander but he there is an amusing story behind him becoming a right-handed batsman.
“ I am a natural left hander and had not seen any left-handed batsman when I started cricket, thus became a right-handed batsman & left-arm bowler!
I” used to bowl quicker but switched to spin on instruction of my first college captain. It served me rather well.”
Little known is the fact that he once took a 10-for. There’s a story there too!
“In my early days my cricketing heroes were A.H. Kardar, Fazal Mahmood, Hanif Mohammad, Vinoo Mankad, Lala Amarnath, Vijay Manjrekar, Keith Miller, Don Bradman, Denis Compton & Len Hutton.
“I could bat & bowl so I was never dropped at any level. Only once the Pakistan media did not play me against the Indian media in the media match during a Test versus India in Faisalabad in 1982.The Indian media captain Rajan Bala then asked me to play for India because I was born in India before partition.
And would you believe...I took all 10 wickets of the Pakistan media team to win the match for India!”
The career change happened rather too abruptly.
“Being a cricketer at first-class level and a student of English literature, I obviously was interested in reading, and at the time reading the columns in Dawn newspaper inspired me a lot.
"As an undergraduate, I started to write a column ‘CRICKET ANTICS’ in Indus Times daily paper in Hyderabad, Sindh. It attracted readers who followed the game.
After completing graduation in 1960, I became Bureau In-charge of PPI (Pakistan Press International news agency).
It was my first and last job in Pakistan, from 1960 to 1963, before leaving for England in January 1964 to play league cricket.
But it was not to my taste.
I was then offered to qualify to play for Warwickshire but there was then a three years residential qualification to play for the county. So, I declined it and did a diploma course in journalism.”
It was initially difficult for him to get a decent break in British journalism. He wrote on and off for ‘The Cricketer Pakistan’ edited by Hanif Mohammad and also for The Cricketer International.
The big breakthrough came when BBC World Service tested his voice and they found it to be good enough for radio.
This, in turn, led to him getting regular work from the leading British newspapers.
After spending much time as a journalist, he wrote some very readable books too.
“I ghosted Hanif Mohammad’s and Waqar Hasan’s autobiographies.
I also did Golden Greats of Pakistan with profiles & caricatures of important Pakistan players.
I contributed to World Cricket, Dictionary of Cricket by Oxford University Press in England in late 1990s. And quite recently, wrote for a book on Bishan Bedi and, a bit earlier, for a book on Sunil Gavaskar, published to mark his 60th birthday.
Then, of course, there was Showdown way back in the early 1990s (covering Pakistan’s tour of West Indies in 1993).”
The decision to write an autobiography was an easy one.
“As a travelling freelance cricket reporter, writer and commentator, I could not spare to write things I experienced in life and in the game. For a person involved with the game very deeply, first as a first-class player, and later as journalist, it was important to share my experiences in life. I thought I must write about life as a schoolboy in India before partition, then the partition and its pangs (which is in detail in the book) and then my later life in Pakistan and in England. Also, my association with people at all levels, be it cricket or outside, needed to be documented for posterity.
”Having covered 453 Tests, 741 ODIs, 9 Men’s World Cups, 3 Women’s World Cup finals and 2 T20 World Cups, I had plenty to write about!
“I wouldn't have done justice to the game if I hadn't written my story. I am glad that I did.”
Qamar Ahmed’s autobiography ‘Far More Than A Game’, besides the usual online and physical outlets, can be purchased here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/9492203006