Have seen Ashok Mankad play at Marina; he was one of the greatest cricketing brains in India, especially for Bombay team and in leading Mafatlals in Buchi Babu Trophy. His father Mulvantrai Himmatlal Mankad known as Vinoo Mankad, the more illustrious taking 162 wickets and scoring 2109 runs in Tests is the man in news often. Ashok Mankad did not succeed in a big way, though immensely talented, perhaps introduction of helmets would have changed his way. His brothers Rahul Mankad and Atul Mankad were also first class cricketers. He was married to Nirupama Mankad who was a former Asian Tennis champion.
The post is on Hall of Fame and what is sought to be achieved now – by adding players who are no more .. ..in this case, even the son has passed away !! - more than half of the list are no more !
Hall of Fame : Dictionary Definition of Hall of Fame
1: a structure housing memorials to famous or illustrious individuals usually chosen by a group of electors
2: a group of individuals in a particular category (such as a sport) who have been selected as particularly illustrious
The International Cricket Council (ICC) on 13.6.2021 announced a special edition intake of 10 cricket icons into the ICC Hall of Fame to celebrate the prestigious history of Test cricket, and to coincide with the first ever ICC World Test Championship Final. The 10 legends of the game to be inducted have all made a significant contribution to the history of Test cricket, and join an illustrious list of ICC Hall of Famers, taking the total number to 103 as a result of this intake.
Induction ceremonies take place throughout the cricket calendar where the inductees (or, in the case of those who have passed away, their relatives) are presented with a commemorative ICC Cricket Hall of Fame cap. The living members of the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame are also involved in the selection process to the new intake of legends into the Hall of Fame each year. ICC Hall of Fame 2021 LIVE Updates: “It is an honor for us to announce a one-time induction of ten cricketing greats into the ICC Hall of Fame to coincide with the first-ever final of the World Test Championship in Southampton,” said ICC acting chief executive Geoff Allardice. “We are celebrating the history of the game and what better way than to honor some of the greats that founded and played the game across different eras. These are all players with a legacy that will continue to inspire future generations for years to come,” he added.
The ten icons inducted as part of this special edition have been voted for by the ICC Hall of Fame Voting Academy, comprising of living Hall of Fame members, a FICA representative, prominent cricket journalists and senior ICC figures. The ICC’s independent statistician will compile a longlist of ex-players or other significant cricketing figures for each era (based on the period during which they had their most significant impact) and will be presented to the Hall of Fame Nominations Committee, together with relevant statistics and brief commentary.
Results will produce a weighted score, against which the top two individuals in each era will be inducted into the ICC Hall of Fame. In the event of a tie, the players with the most first-choice votes will take priority. The ten selected names will be formally inducted by way of a digital show on ICC digital channels. The list of new inductees of ICC Hall of Fame 2021 read :
• Kumar Sangakkara
• Andy Flower
• Vinoo Mankad
• Desmond Haynes
• Stan McCabe
• Learie Constantine
• Monty Noble
• Aubrey Faulkner
• Ted Dexter
• Bob Willis
The ICC Cricket Hall of Fame was launched on 2 January 2009 in association with the Federation of International Cricketers Associations (FICA), as part of the ICC's centenary year celebrations. The ICC Cricket Hall of Fame recognises the achievements of the legends of the game from cricket's long and illustrious history. The initial intake of inductees are the 55 players named in the FICA Hall of Fame, which ran between 1999 and 2003. This was supplemented by a select group of inductions each year, which started in 2009 when five new inductees; Wasim Akram, Clarrie Grimmett, Herbert Sutcliffe, Victor Trumper and Steve Waugh, were announced as new members of the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame at the LG ICC Awards. Courtney Walsh, Joel Garner, Rachael Heyhoe Flint and Bishan Bedi were inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame in 2010.
In 2010, Rachael Heyhoe Flint, the former England captain who led her team to victory at the inaugural Women's World Cup in 1973, became the first woman in the Hall of Fame; the eight other female members are Belinda Clark, inducted in 2011, Enid Bakewell, inducted in 2012, Debbie Hockley, inducted in 2013, Betty Wilson, inducted in 2015, Karen Rolton, inducted in 2016, Claire Taylor, inducted in 2018, Cathryn Fitzpatrick, inducted in 2019 and Lisa Sthalekar, inducted in 2020.
The present inductees have been classified into five broad eras: Noble and Aubrey Faulkner from the pre-World War 1 period (early era), Learie Constantine and Stan McCabe from the period between the two World Wars (inter-war era), Vinoo Mankad and Ted Dexter from 1946 to 1970 (post-war era), Bob Willis and Desmond Haynes from 1971 to 1995 (ODI era), and Andy Flower and Sangakkara from 1996 to 2015 (modern era).
Aubrey Faulkner of South Africa played 25 Tests, scored 1,754 runs at 40.79, took 82 wickets at 26.58, and was one of the pioneers of the “googly” at the time. Faulkner was the only man to head both the MRF Tyres ICC Batting and Bowling rankings in Test cricket. He passed away in 1930 !!!
Monty Noble of Australia played 42 Tests, scored 1,997 runs at 30.25, took 121 wickets at 25.00, and was one of the greatest Australian all-rounders. He is still the fastest from that country to achieve the 1,000 run / 100 wicket Test double. Noble was a banker and a qualified dentist outside of being a prolific cricketer of that time. He passed away in 1940 !!!
Vinoo Mankad of India played 44 Tests, scored 2,109 runs at 31.47, took 162 wickets at 32.32, and was an opening batsman and slow left arm orthodox bowler, known as one of India’s greatest-ever all-rounders. His most famous feat was against England at Lord's in 1952 when he scored 72 and 184 and bowled 97 overs in the match. He is one of only three cricketers to have batted in every position during his Test career.
You perhaps would remember ‘mankading’ too. To perform a Mankad, the bowler removes the bails at the non-striker's end before the ball is released. If the non-striking batsman is out of his crease, the fielding side has every right to appeal for a wicket.- it is a legitimate dismissal and here is what the great Sir Donald Bradman had to say on ‘mankading !’ - "For the life of me, I can't understand why they questioned his sportsmanship. The laws of cricket make it quite clear that the non-striker must keep within his ground until the ball has been delivered," Bradman wrote in his autobiography.
"By backing up too far or too early, the non-striker is very obviously gaining an unfair advantage." It's spelled out clearly in Article 41.16.1 of the Laws of Cricket. "If the non-striker is out of his/her ground at any time from the moment the ball comes into play until the instant when the bowler would normally have been expected to release the ball, the non-striker is liable to be run out." It is absolutely legal. "The emphasis of Spirit of Cricket should be for the non-striker to stay in his ground until the release of the ball."
The earliest of these type of out involved Vinoo Mankad and occurred during India's tour of Australia on 13 Dec 1947 in the second Test at Sydney. Mankad ran out Bill Brown when, in the act of delivering the ball, he held on to it and whipped the bails off with Brown well out of his crease. The Australian press strongly accused Mankad of being unsportsmanlike, though some Australians, including Don Bradman, the Australian captain at the time, defended Mankad's actions. After this this type of run out came to be known as ‘Mankaded’. There have been instances of such outs in Tests and in One dayers.
Harsh Mankad is a former world ranked ATP Professional tennis player from India. He played Davis Cup for India between 2001–2010 and was the No. 1 singles player on the team for several of those years. .. .. he is the grandson of Vinoo Mankad and son of Ashok Mankad.
What is achieved and who would be pleased in inducting Vinoo Mankad in to Hall of Fame now !! Vinoo passed away in 1978 and his son Ashok Mankad passed away in 2008 !!!
With regards – S. Sampathkumar14.6.2021
