The first under-15 world tournament reached a wild climax at
Lord`s yesterday. Over-excited elements in a partisan crowd of
8,000 supporting the finalists, India and Pakistan, had been
threatening unruliness throughout what was, until the closing
stages, a happy occasion.
As India, led by a wonderfully mature innings of 82 not out by
their captain, Retinder Sodhi, moved inexorably towards a four-
wicket victory, reached eventually with 14 balls to spare,
hordes of spectators twice invaded the pitch, stealing the
stumps.
Inadequate numbers of stewards and police struggled to keep order
and on the second occasion the Indian batsmen left the field, a
spectator was hit on the head and lay in- jured on the outfield
for several minutes and a skin-head Pakis- tan supporter was led
away by police after having a stump wrested away. He was an
adult, but most of the invaders were young: more over-
enthusiastic than malevolent.
There was further trouble after the game when pol- ice led away
more trouble-makers and a spokesman said four spec- tators had
been arrested. It was clear that both the size and fervour of
the crowd had taken the authorities by surprise. There was
booing as well as cheering at the prize-giving.
It was a quite inappropriate end to a lively match and a most
successful tournament. Attracting 10 countries, run like clock-
work until the final by the English Schools` Cricket Associa-
tion, sponsored by Lombard with a #50,000 gift from the the
Lord`s Taverners, and televised from the semi- finals on by
Sky, the matches proved that all that separates 14 and 15-
year-old would-be international players from the real thing is
age, strength and experience.
There was no difference in respect of raw talent, nor, alas, of
theatrical histrionics, fervent appealing and open, but not
malicious, dissent. No difference, even, in the advertising logos
on the Indian shirts.
Sodhi, a tall and already very accomplished right- handed
opener, is clearly destined for stardom.
India and Pakistan may not necessarily have been the best
sides in the tournament, but assuredly they were the most com-
mitted and best organised. Both countries were backed by their
governments and had been planning for this event for 18
months.
Both finalists were unbeaten, so there was no ques- tioning their
right to be at Lord`s. What is more, some 8,000 of their
England-domiciled supporters turned up to watch, making a din
worthy of 80,000. They lent atmosphere to the day and those who
appreciated the finer points saw much stylish stroke-play and
some mature bowling, especially from the 13-year-old left-arm
spinner from Jalandhar, Rajiv Jolly, possibly the youngest to
play at Lord`s since Sir Colin Cowdrey in 1946. For Pakistan,
Shazad Nazir already looks a fast bowler of immense promise.
Pakistan were put into bat by the Indians on a heavy morning
and on an ideal pitch were restricted to four an over despite
a fine innings by the opener, Hasan Raja, from Karachi,
whose 80 came from 108 balls.
The Indians were hustled into a bad start by ag- gressive
new-ball bowling, but from 19 for two in the eighth over, their
semi-final heroes, Retinder Sodhi and Pardeep Chawla, drove them,
literally, into a position of control. Sodhi, a tall and al-
ready very accomplished right-handed opener, is clearly des-
tined for stardom.
Keeping wicket Chawla spent too much time on the ground, but
his batting was wristy and neat. He and Sodhi put on 86 for the
third wicket, before Chawla drove a leg-break to mid-off. His
deceiver was Imran Qadir, son of Abdul and, as Burke said of
Pitt the Younger, "not so much a chip off the old block as the
old block itself". But nothing would stop Sodhi, not leg-
breaks, googlies or the Lord`s version yester- day of a sub-
continental riot.
Thank goodness, order was soon restored. Ken Lake, ESCA`s hard-
working secretary, delighted with the camara- derie among all
the teams (there was a plate competition, won by Sri Lanka)
hopes there may be another tournament for this age group in
four years` time. The dangers are that a schoolboy competition
might become a vehicle for xenophobes and that this
tournament`s success will lead to commercial exploitation inap-
propriate to amateur sport.
Christopher Martin-Jenkins has been a leading cricket broadcaster, journalist and author for almost four decades, during which time he has served as a cricket correspondent for the BBC, the Daily Telegraph and the Times