The first team of cricketers who travelled from the Indian shores to England in 1886 comprised an all Parsee unit. It is here that the Parsees played in 28 matches, lost 19, drew eight and won one game. The team consisted of 15 players and was captained by Dr. Dhunjeeshaw Patel. This in turn laid down the foundation for future decades. To celebrate the 132nd anniversary of this historic game of the 1886 Trophy between the British and Parsees, team Parsee Gymkhana (PG) faced team Surrey County Cricket Club’s Charles Alcock X1 on 1st December 2018 at Parsee Gymkhana grounds, Mumbai.
The sponsors of the tournament were Spenta, HSBC, Lodha London, Parsee Gymkhana and Surrey County Cricket Club’s Charles Alcock X1. During the second edition, the British team looked to turn things around as in the first edition of the 1886 Trophy Parsee Gymkhana won the match by 68 runs. The rules of the game stated that it would be a 30 over per side match. Five bowlers could bowl a maximum of six overs each. A batsman would have to retire after scoring 50 runs. Eleven fielders would field at all times.
The wonderful morning kicked off with delicious breakfast followed by the toss with both team skippers Kaizaad Wadia (Parsee Gymkhana), Matt Greenwell (Charles Alcock X1) along with Farokh Engineer (Chief Guest), Mehli Golvala (President of Parsee Gymkhana), Aspan Cooper (Chairman- Spenta Group of Companies) and umpires Jehangir Umrigar and Rohinton Mistry, did a great job during the entire match. National Anthems of both sides were played after which everyone stood for a minutes silence in memory of late Mac Spencer and late Behruz Yazdegardi.
Magnificent batting effort from Josh Taylor (51) and Man of the Match Frankie Brown (51) helped Surrey C.Cs Charles Alcock X1 win the second edition of the 1886 Trophy by eight wickets. Batting first, PG notched up a mammoth 211-3 in their 30 overs courtesy great batting from skipper Kaizaad Wadia who led from the front with (50), Khushru Irani (54) and Kersi Pavri who took the attack back to the opposition with his 53. Amongst the bowlers, for Charles Alcock X1…Harry Martin, Shane Russell and Charles Hodgson snapped up one wicket each. In reply, the visitors got off to a flying start as they were eager to take the cup home. They finished off with 216-2 in 25.5 overs. Amongst the Parsees, Freddy Sidhwa who travelled all the way from Dubai to play… grabbed one wicket while the other wicket was taken by Khushru Irani.
Charles Alcock X1 had luck going their way while on the other hand team PG fought back brilliantly but alas it was not meant to be. Numerous great personalities graced the occasion – Farokh Engineer, Diana Edulji, Ramesh Powar, Dr. Makarand Waingankar, Milind Rege, Mehli Irani, Farokh Khodaiji, Kailash Gattani, Vilas Godbole, Kenia Jayantilal, Piloo Reporter, Bomi Jamula, Nadim Memon, Viraf Mehta, Nitin Dalal, Iqbal Shaikh, Hoshang Dadachanji and other dignitaries.
For the post-match presentation ceremony the esteemed guests on the dais included Mehli Golvala, Farokh Engineer, Aspan Cooper, Diana Edulji, Charles Hodgson and Crispon Simon. Further mementoes were given to both teams. PG also thanked the following people for their respective contributions – physio Dr. Ruchita Kulkarni, scorer Harshil Patel and commentators Haresh Pandya and Binaisha M. Surti. Charles Hodgson presented Surrey caps to team PG. Freddy Sidhwa presented souvenirs to Mehli Golvala and Charles Hodgson. The Man of the Match trophy in honour of late Mac Spencer was presented to Frankie Brown. Farokh Engineer handed over the winning trophy to the British team.
Finally, Vice President and Cricket Secretary of PG Khodadad Yazdegardi thanked the sponsors for their continuous support and contributions. The post-match reception along with cocktails and dinner for both teams was hosted by the British Deputy High Commissioner Crispon Simon at his residence.
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