The Test Debut that really happened,yet officially didn’t-
An interesting title,isn’t it? Well,the story that’ll follow is more interesting(long answer ahead).
It was the fag end of 2001. India,after having a successful home season flied to South Africa to play a series of 3 tests under the leadership of Sourav Ganguly.
Now,many might remember this series,as it was the debut series of our very favourite opener-the ever entertaining Virender Sehwag. He infact,scored a century(105) on debut!
But things didn’t go as straight as everyone expected.
The infamous match referee- Mike Dennis,convicted 6 Indian cricketers guilty of various offences during the 2nd test.
And the allegations were quite funny- while Harbhajan Singh,Virender Sehwag,Deep Dasgupta and SS Das were held responsible for excessive appealing,their captain Ganguly was held responsible for failing to control his team’s bad behaviour.
The 6th one to be convicted was none other than Sachin Tendulkar,and he was found guilty of tampering the ball.
As a result,Dennis decided to ban these players for the remaining test.
But such a decision started increasing tensions and agitation in India. The fans started criticising this decision. As a result,the ICC decided to take this case to court.
In the meantime,the 3rd test was underway.
As per rule,the banned players weren’t allowed to play(they were present in the hearing).
So in place of Virender Sehwag,India gave chance to a player from the bench,named Connor Cecil Williams.
He happened to be the 240th test cap for India.
He came out to bat at a precarious position in the 1st innings,and was out cheaply,LBWed by Lance Klusener,though replays showed that the ball was clearly pitching outside leg.
In the 2nd innings,however,he showed tremendous resilience against the pace of Klusener,Pollock,Kallis and Ntini,as he scored a gutsy 42. This however couldn’t stop India from crashing to an innings defeat.
This man took on everything-lethal blows from the fiercest pacers of all times,sledging from Jacques Kallis,and obviously,the hype of playing for India for the 1st time.
While this test was going on,the tribunal was held. And in that,Tendulkar and Ganguly were freed from all charges,as no evidence was found against them.
Thus,the allegations of Dennis,all proved to be wrong. This caused a furore in India,and BCCI threatened to call the tour off. Crumbling under pressure,Cricket South Africa too decided to side with the BCCI.
So ICC decided to call off the 3rd test,which had already been completed,as an international friendly 5-day match(an unofficial one). As a result,Williams’ test cap too had no value.
That is why,no scorecard of this test can be found from any notable sports sites like CricBuzz or ESPNCricinfo.
Yet,this test did happen,and Williams did bat well. Infact,he did enough to be selected again in the team. He was picked for the test series against England a few months later,but didn’t play.
Infact,he never played for India again.
Sitting in the dressing room,he had to witness that the same 240th test cap,which he had been awarded a few months earlier,being passed to Sanjay Bangar.
He definitely doesn’t feature in the BCCI’s official list of cricketers who featured in tests.
But was he a bad player?
People who will see his batting have to agree,that when he drove,his drives were as languid as Kumara Sangakkara. Infact,the way he got dismissed(LBW),was also a fashion in which Sanga often used to get dismissed(trying to play across the line).
And the way he used to cut,was almost similar to Sanath Jayasuriya. Infact,his dismissal in the 2nd innings,the one where he edged to 2nd slip was a fashion in which Jayasuriya used to get out on many occassions!
Such a player never played for India again,inspite of scoring almost 8k domestic runs for Baroda,at an average of 40. He always dreamt of a comeback,till he retired in 2011,but that never happened.
Its said that the Williams have roots in St. Lucia,West Indies. Had his forefathers not migrated to India,he might have become a successful Carribean batsman!
Just think- you don the national test jersey,take the field for almost all 5 days of a test match,earn a hard earned test cap,yet you are never ever given the status of a test player.
Can anyone be unluckier than him?
Truly,life isn’t sweet for all!
Heartiest apologies- He is not exactly current,but is probably the most fitting person for this question!