PART 2
SYMBOLIC
OF THE EFFORTS to keep the game alive is the Elephant Trophy,
played
between Royal
Bangkok Sports Club and Penang Sports Club. This series is but one of a
number
of series that Penang Sports Club is
involved
in, such as for the Gordon Jenkins trophy (PSC against Selangor Club),
the
Chartered Bank trophy (PSC against Royal Ipoh Club), and the Alex
Delikan
trophy (PSC against SSR in Petaling Jaya). What is unique about the
Elephant
Trophy series is the fact that it has managed to survive a world war,
and the
loss of stalwarts to continue to be played for today. This article will
restrict itself to highlights of the first fifty odd years, and leave
more
recent developments to be chronicled by others.It is
interesting that Perera (1980) points out that when “the history of
Inter-port
cricket comes to be chronicled in the future, it will record that the
oldest in
the Asian region is the encounter between Royal Bangkok Sports club and
the
Penang Sports Club, which began in 1931” (p. 9). The survival of the
game
through 71 years is an unmistakable tribute to the commitment and
untiring
efforts of players and administrators concerned.
The term
used for this series is Interport. The term was used for matches
between port
cities, such as between Bangkok,
Penang, Hong Kong, Singapore
and so on. Nowadays, however, the term is being used quite loosely for
annual
matches involving non-port clubs such as Royal Selangor Club. What has
been at
stake in these matches was the historic elephant, fashioned of solid
teak and
weighing a little more than 15 kilos
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While
the origin of the inaugural
game between the two Clubs is not clear, it is a fact that the Elephant
Trophy was one that the RBSC put up for competition.
In keeping with the tradition pointed out
earlier of the cricket season starting with Easter, the inter-port was
fixed
for this time of year. With the relatively heavy schedule of games
played by
both clubs, it has not been possible to maintain this tradition.
Perera points out
that the “1932
Easter match between the RBSC and PSC has been recorded in the Bangkok
Times as
‘The Ashes’. One wonders which part of
the elephant was chipped off for cremation to justify the title!
Suffice it to say that despite the half
century of being carried to and fro, the elephant itself has lost none
of its
luster, and even today, causes much amusement whenever the holders
carry it
past the Customs at both the Bangkok
and Penang airports”. The
quality of
the Elephant’s teak wood
has allowed it to survive many a journey across borders, and many a
fall from
mishandling. It is interesting to note that the trophy managed to
survive the
war, and came out again in the mid-fifties from the Penang
side. Perera records that while Penang won the inaugural trophy match
in 1931,
there was a significant gap since ‘The Ashes’ game in 1932, which was
also won
by PSC.
While the early
encounters between Bangkok
and Penang are
shrouded in mist, the earliest recorded history of these encounters can
be
traced back to the period after World War II. It was in 1957 that G.
Roberts
led an RBSC team that came to Penang Sports Club in quest of the
Elephant. The RBSC team included Ken
Gregory, a truly
hardy veteran, Tommy Madar and Charles Stewart. Penang Sports Club won
that
event, and so the Elephant stayed here.
The
RBSC, under R.E. Bentley,
visited Penang in 1958, and at
last,
the
visitors defeated the home team on their own grounds and won the trophy
for the
very first time. In that team were Pat
O’Connell, Tommy Madar and Mike Wilson – three cricketing stalwarts who
did
much for the game when they were actively involved in the sports.
From
then on, there is a period of
RBSC dominance that lasted until 1964, when PSC finally regained it.
Both the
1958 and 1959 games were won by the RBSC. The 1959 game was highlighted
by a
great spell of seam bowling by RBSC’s Mike Forshaw, who in Penang’s
first innings of 168, took 4 for 51. In the second innings, he had figures of 8 for 25, shot out the home team
for 80, thus enabling the RBSC to win by 9 wickets.
Hayati Meah top-scored in both Penang innings
with 66 and 25, while Mike Wilson made 77 n.o., M.C. Nana, 40, and Bob
Lambert,
46 in RBSC’s 203.
In 1960, Mike Wilson’s 80 runs is
supposed to have been decisive in RBSC’s win. In 1961, there was a
drawn game.
For RBSC, Mike Forshaw returned the remarkable figures of 10 for 96. Nana top scored with 45 in the second
innings, while O’Connell’s 36.
In
1962, PSC visited Bangkok.
PSC made 187,
with S.Wilson scoring 81, but
collapsed for 80 in the second innings.
RBSC made 201 for 9 and 68 for 6. Spink took 3 for 40 and
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Forshaw
5 for
27 in
the second innings. RBSC triumphed by four wickets with only three
minutes
remaining to keep the Elephant in Bangkok. In 1963, PSC, had one of their
strongest sides ever. With a number of
State players in Hayati Meah, Wilson Doss, Alex Delilkan, Noel
Monerasinghe,
Roy Walton, Tony Bromage and Graham Long, they were quite confident of
a win.
On the first day, they declared at 245 for 7, with Long unbeaten on
129,there
was good
reason for their optimism. Mike
Forshaw took 4 for 74 and skipper Mike Spink 2 for 48.
Any ideas Penang
may have had of dismissing the RBSC
cheaply soon
faded. Small sized M.C. Nana and the tall S.J. Tambiah put the Penang bowlers to the sword with a fourth wicket
stand of
183. Nana scored 115 not out, while
Tambiah missed his century with 97. Anton
Perera and David Cobb made 32 and 29 respectively
and the RBSC
total of 353 for 9 wickets, with Walton taking 4 for 138 and Hayati
Meah 3 for
44. PSC made 119 for 3 in the second, but the game ended in a draw, and
the
Elephant stayed with Bangkok.
In 1964,
after a long hiatus, PSC finally beat RBSC. Batting
first, RBSC were skittled out for 59 with Peter
Tett taking 4
for 21, and that man Hayati Meah 3 for 4. PSC,
however, did worse, and were bundled out for a mere
56 runs, thus
establishing a new low score for themselves, after the RBSC had
established
theirs. Eustace Labrooy made 29. Stewart had the magnificent figures of
7 for
13 that stood as the best Interport bowling figures in a single innings
for
quite a while. RBSC, the home team
totaled 120 in the second innings, with Hayati Meah again taking the
wickets, 7
for 33. When Penang batted, they were
in dire
straits at 98 for 8, and RBSC sensed victory. Peter Tett and R.M.
Patel,
however, steered Penang home with a
26-run
partnership for a two wicket victory.
Nerves must have been frayed quite a bit as
chances went begging, and
PSC
inched their way home. Hayati Meah had
match of 10 for 37, while Stewart, with 3 for 44, took 10 for 56. Here
was a
game dominated by two bowlers.
 The
Hayati Meah Pavilion
While
the 1965 game was drawn, both
in 1966 and 1967, the RBSC was outplayed. In
1966, Anton Perera top scored in the RBSC’s first
innings of 162 with
48, while Fred Cummings made 39. PSC
replied with 147 (Alcock 38 n.o, Cumming 4 for 31). RBSC lost the
initiative
when Patel took 5 for 18 in RBSC’s total of 89. PSC won by two wickets
after
despite Charles Stewart’s 3 for 22 in Penang’s
second innings of 106 for 8. Hayati Meah made 35.
PSC won easily by
seven wickets in Penang
in 1967. They declared at 252 for 8, with Hayati
top scoring with 68 and Donne Ayton taking 5 for 87. RBSC were
dismissed |
| for
148 (Anton Perera 58, Zainuddin Meah 5 for 37) and 127 (Robert Friend
45, Z.
Meah 3 for 20). History of sorts was made in this match with the first
time a
father and son combination had played in the series. Now, RBSC had to
contend
with two Meahs!
Between
1968-72, the Interport
stuttered, and only two games were played in 1969 and 1971. Both were
played in Penang.
PSC won by six wickets in 1969. RBSC made 106 ( Nana 27;
L.Singh4-21 and
C.Hunter 3-35) and 206 (D.J.Cobb 99, J.Barnes 43). Penang’
hammered 224 for 9 declared (A.K.Stevens 82, DJ. Cobb 3 for 39) and 91
for
4 (Monerasinghe 38 n.o)
for the outright victory. RBSC
skipper David Cobb, with 99 and 3 for
39, shone for them.
In
1971,
PSC trounced the RBSC by an innings and 25 runs, once again retaining
the
elephant. Penang’s
Tom Hart in 1971, was unplayable, returning figures of 7 for 14 in the
RBSC
first innings, when they were dismissed a second time in the Interport
for the
same score
of 59. In the
second knock they were all out for 81, with
Hart
taking 4 for 24 – a match tally of 11 for 38. Penang’s
165 proved sufficient for an innings win (A.G. Stevens 67, David Cobb 6
for 62,
and Malbari 3 for 52).
After
another gap in 1972, Penang
finally made the trip by rail to Bangkok
in the 1972-73 season to play both cricket and hockey with a severely
under
strength team made up of at least 8 non-cricketers.
The home team, captained by Graham Evans, won
back the elephant by an innings. PSC
were all out for the lowest total in the series – a mere 34 – and Fateh
Ali
Malbari had the remarkable figures of 7 for 7 on a slow wicket, Lakhbir
Singh
scoring 16. Mike Minto took 3 for
24. The RBSC declared at 204 for 5 with
Anton Perera top scoring with 79. Penang lost five wickets for 94 on the Saturday
and the
game finished early on Sunday. It was
the first time since 1964 that the elephant returned to it’s original
home. Penang
were all out for 99, Gitu Chakravarthy and Lakhbir with 35 and 34 being
their
top scores, putting on 62 for the opening wicket. Their
last nine wickets could only add 37
runs Bowling honours went to David Cobb (5 for 18) and Minto (4 for 30). .
The margin of victory
by an innings and 73
runs set a new record in the series
The
1974 game was drawn. In 1975,
Adrian Gundlach captained the RBSC team in Bangkok, in a game that
provided a
cliff-hanger of a finish. When RBSC batted, Alan Elliot became the
first RBSC
left-handed batsman to score a century (108 n.o)in the innings which
was
declared at 247 for 5 (Nick Coulson 37, Malbari 35 and Tony Hall 32 not
out).
PSC barely made it to 88, with Hayati Meah top scoring with 35.
Malbari (4 for 37), Pow Arghabhadra (3 for
33) and Tony Hall (2 for 10) did the damage for the RBSC. Leading Penang by 159 runs,
Gundlach did not enforce the
follow-on. Instead, he declared at 79 for 2. With
only 175 minutes left and 238 runs to get to
win, the
task seemed
impossible. But a 103-run second wicket
stand between skipper R. Ratnalingam (60) and Gitu
Chakravarthy (88) put Penang front of the
clock as they went boldly for runs. When
Hayati Meah (31)
was brilliantly stumped, the score read 191 for 4. In the end Penang
failed by a mere 12 runs to win with two wickets in hand, finishing the
day
with 226 for 8. PSC needed an over, but the umpires deemed it time. Pow
Arghabhadra made it his game by taking 4 wickets, and taking 3
tremendous |
| catches.
The last one, a brilliant running diving left-handed catch at
the
boundary got K.S.P.Sundram out, and saved RBSC. PSC should have won a
thrilling
victory.
The
1977 game was drawn. In the 1978
game in Penang, PSC scored 210
(Ratnalingam
51, L.Singh 21, H.Meah 68) and declared at 103 for 4 in the scond (N.
Monerasinghe 51, L. Singh 21). RBSC recovered from 6 for 53 to make
162. Nana
Junior had arrived, making 65 n.o. They achieved a splendid victory
when John
Weymouth, with 80, almost single-handedly guided them home.
In
1979,
PSC were comprehensively beaten by an innings and 48 runs in Bangkok. RBSC
scored 274 for 3 declared
(Fraser 62, Endley 100, and Jaffri 78). PSC could only muster 82 and
143. The
Elephant returned to Penang in 1980 when RBSC
sraped a total of 133 (M.C.Nana 22, Malbari 44;
L.Singh 7-41) PSc
scored 170 (Ratnalingam 38, L. Singh 22,
Z.
Meah 36; F.A Malbari 5-44,
Kader
2-10). In their second innings, RBSC somehow folded on a batting pitch,
and
were skittled out for 55 (a new low total) with bowlers dominating.
Ratnalingam
took 2 for 6, Ramanathan 4 for 14 and Monerasinghe 3 for 12.
So finally
in 1981, the Elephant was 50 years old. A great carnival like
atmosphere
surrounded this match at the RBSC ground. On a newly laid pitch, RBSC
found
Johnson Doss’s pace and lift unplayable. They tottered on 28 for 5,
with their
best batsmen out. When the next man
was
felled by a bouncer, the two
captains,
Myles de Vries and Dr.J.S.Gill agreed to call off the game for reasons
of
safety! A pity, because PSC had the team to win, whatever the wicket. Mention
must be made of some wonderful cricketers from RBSC. The irrepressible
Anton
Perera, batting wonder M.C.Nana, M. Forshaw, C.Stewart, R.Endley, the
Seghal
brothers Ravi and Satish, M.Balani, Edward Thangarajah, Pradeep Gulati,
Mohidin
Abdul Kader and the one and only F.A.Malbari. The last two have in fact
been
made honorary members of the PSC because of their performances on and
off the
field. Perera
(1980) points out what has
characterized these matches ever since the 1931 inaugural encounter has
beenthe
spirit in which the rival teams have met both on and off the field. Gone are the days when the players used to be
the guest in the home of their counterparts in both Penang and Bangkok. As the
Interports
acquired a new dimension, and, for reasons obvious and not so obvious,
hotel
accommodation has become preferred. But
this has in no way spoilt the camaraderie, the hospitality, the
friendships
made and reacquainted over the years, which are in the true tradition
of
cricket wherever the game is played. One
major
change has been the introduction of one-day games, replacing the old
two-day
format, thereby forcing a definite result in each encounter. This has
done away
with the acrimony resulting from late declarations, and dour batting to
play
for a draw. The last drawn encounter was in 1985, after which the
format has
changed in line.
Today,
the hallowed Interport
between the Royal Bangkok Sports Club and the Penang Sports Club has
moved
inexorably into the new millennium. It still continues to stir passion
and
performance among players and supporters. One sad piece of news,
however, is
that the
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revered Elephant that
survived a war and the ravages of
travel,
finally succumbed to carelessness. On its way back to RBSC in 2001 from
Penang, cricket paid the
price
of ‘duty free supplies’.
The trophy, entrusted to a relative new comer to the series, was left
behind in
a taxi in Bangkok,
and has to be presumed lost. The series, however, continues, and more
important,
has spawned an offshoot. Today, the veterans play for the Hayati-Nana
Trophy, a
much smaller and more manageable replica of the old one (picture 7). In
this
series, the score is poised at 3 games each. Fateh Ali Malbari of RBSC,
in his
seventies now, is the most senior cricketer to be still involved. In
the 2002
match in Penang, he bowled 8 overs
and took 3
for 21. What a man!
In
a paper
such as this, it will not be possible to focus on all historical
aspects of the
game in Penang. Instead, what has
been
attempted is to present a minimal summary of the state of affairs in
the past.
Having said that, it would also be true to say that the game continues
to be
played in Penang, but on a much
smaller scale.
The number of teams playing consistently through the years is 5. These
are the
RAAF, PFS, BMHS, Kilat Prai, and Penang Sports Club. The continued
participation of the schools will depend on the support of the school
heads and
teachers. We have to be thankful that they still continue to
participate. Other
schools have packed it in, most notably SXI, which suffered from not
having an
interested teacher after 1969, and due to the pressure of sharing the
field
between three schools. The Royal Australian Air Force presence has
continued to
get smaller, and what remains is skeletal compared to the fifties and
sixties.
It
is
indeed series such as the Elephant series that are keeping the game
alive, as
schools stop playing, and clubs run out of replacements. The Penang
Sports Club
is the last consistent and enduring bastion of cricket in the North.
Coaching
of young cricketers is ongoing. If this club folds up or stops playing
cricket,
then it will be the death knell for the grand game in Penang.# END
REFERENCES:
Anton
Perera. 1980 A Cricket Golden Jubilee: 50
not out, Bangkok.
RBSC.
Gitu
Chakravarthy. 1980. PSC vs. RBSC 50th
Anniversary of the Elephant Trophy; 17th Anniversary of the
Tiger
Shield, Penang, Jelutong Printers.
Khoo Kay
Khim, “How soccer became a popular sport”, New Straits Times,
April
2000.
Eustace
Labrooy. 1993. Cricket in Penang. In V.Selvarajah, Penang Cricket
Association
Newsletter, September 1993, Penang .
Manicasothi
Saravanamuttu. 1970. The Sara
Saga. Penang: Cathay Printers.
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|
Penang
Cricket Season Reviewed, The Straits Echo, an undated cutting
(circa
1951)
Arnold Wright ed.
1908. Twentieth Century Impressions of British Malaya.
Singapore:
Graham Brash.
Arnold Wright ed.
1989. Twentieth Century Impressions of British Malaya.
Abridged version. Singapore:
Graham Brash.
Interviews
in March 2002:
Eustace
Labrooy
N.Sarvaeswaran,
Frankie
Cheah,
P.Aiyathura
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(Presented at the
Penang story – International Conference , Penang) |
