Daily Mail Dec 5 2012
Ted Dexter was an honoured guest at the Calcutta Test together with his opposing Captain in 1961, Nari Contractor. On the eve of this match, Dexter gave the five Test scorecards to his Indian opposite number 50 years on at a ceremony the Cricket Association of Bengal laid on to celebrate 80 years of Anglo-Indian clashes and the half-century since that first, famous Indian series victory over England
Both Dexter and Contractor were due to be presented to the Eden Gardens crowd.
'It's wonderful to be here,' he added. 'My wife was born here and loves coming to India.'
Dexter speaks with the gushing enthusiasm of a man who could be excused for being scarred by his time in India
His series as a sort of interim captain in 1961-62, with Peter May, Tom Graveney, Jim Laker, Fred Trueman, Colin Cowdrey and Brian Statham missing, ended in a 2-0 defeat.
Worse followed more than 30 years later when, as chairman of selectors, Dexter presided over a 3-0 'brownwash' for Graham Gooch's England.
That was the tour of dodgy prawns, smog in Calcutta and 'a study into facial hair'.
Dexter, for a man who was lampooned for muddling his words - 'Who could forget Malcolm Devon?' he once said - was both lucid and articulate as he spoke to Sportsmail.
'Our side were in a terrible state,' the former chairman remembered.
'Air India had gone on strike so they did all their travelling by train or bus. I invited Graham Gooch for dinner first night and halfway through the soup he went… bonk. Out for the count, his head on the table.
Then there was that report into the pollution. 'I got into terrible trouble about the smog,' winced Dexter.
'This professor said he was making a study of pollution and its effects on athletes. I told him a couple of ours were coughing and perhaps he could let us have a proof.
'I don't think I ever saw it but I mentioned it in a press conference. Two guys heard some rumour and gave me a hard time.
England, in particular manager Bob Bennett, were also criticised for being unshaven after an arduous train journey.
'Oh yes, we had all that business too,' he said. 'It went with the territory I suppose.'
This dashing batsman, one of England's best post-war, and innovative chairman of selectors whose legacy remains in the form of rankings and a four-day County Championship, should not be remembered for slips of the tongue.
'I still follow cricket,' said a man now living in the south of France. 'You can read my blog. It's teddexter.com.' He always was a modern thinker
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/cricket/article-2242986/Lord-Ted-Dexter-said-defeat-India-great.html#ixzz2Er1woB1w
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Both Dexter and Contractor were due to be presented to the Eden Gardens crowd.
'It's wonderful to be here,' he added. 'My wife was born here and loves coming to India.'
Dexter speaks with the gushing enthusiasm of a man who could be excused for being scarred by his time in India
His series as a sort of interim captain in 1961-62, with Peter May, Tom Graveney, Jim Laker, Fred Trueman, Colin Cowdrey and Brian Statham missing, ended in a 2-0 defeat.
Worse followed more than 30 years later when, as chairman of selectors, Dexter presided over a 3-0 'brownwash' for Graham Gooch's England.
That was the tour of dodgy prawns, smog in Calcutta and 'a study into facial hair'.
Dexter, for a man who was lampooned for muddling his words - 'Who could forget Malcolm Devon?' he once said - was both lucid and articulate as he spoke to Sportsmail.
'Our side were in a terrible state,' the former chairman remembered.
'Air India had gone on strike so they did all their travelling by train or bus. I invited Graham Gooch for dinner first night and halfway through the soup he went… bonk. Out for the count, his head on the table.
Then there was that report into the pollution. 'I got into terrible trouble about the smog,' winced Dexter.
'This professor said he was making a study of pollution and its effects on athletes. I told him a couple of ours were coughing and perhaps he could let us have a proof.
'I don't think I ever saw it but I mentioned it in a press conference. Two guys heard some rumour and gave me a hard time.
England, in particular manager Bob Bennett, were also criticised for being unshaven after an arduous train journey.
'Oh yes, we had all that business too,' he said. 'It went with the territory I suppose.'
This dashing batsman, one of England's best post-war, and innovative chairman of selectors whose legacy remains in the form of rankings and a four-day County Championship, should not be remembered for slips of the tongue.
'I still follow cricket,' said a man now living in the south of France. 'You can read my blog. It's teddexter.com.' He always was a modern thinker
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/cricket/article-2242986/Lord-Ted-Dexter-said-defeat-India-great.html#ixzz2Er1woB1w
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook
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