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Farokh Engineer from Bombay was the first to play the role of 'pinch
hitter' in ODIs, although in those early days he was known as the
'suicide pilot'. It was a role he had perfected with Lancashire in the
early days of the Sunday League, when he would lead off the innings at a
charge. It helped that he was a naturally aggressive batsman and being
the side's wicket- keeper as well gave him license to take a chance. He
played for India when Ted Dexter took an England team there in 1961-62
and scored 65 in the Kanpur Test batting at number nine. Later that
season he made 53 and 40 against Wes Hall on a fast Jamaica pitch. In
1965 he made 90 against New Zealand at Madras in just under two hours
and in 1966-67 almost made a century before lunch against the West
Indies, finishing 6 runs short against an attack which included Hall,
Griffith, Sobers and Gibbs.
He scored 86 in the Lord's Test of 1974 and
opened the batting for India in the first World Cup in 1975. He played
for the Rest of the World in the two unofficial Test series in England
and Australia in the early 1970s. He made 192 in one of the Rest of the
World minor matches, against a Combined XI in Hobart. As a wicket-keeper
he crouched down very low, almost cuddling his pads. He played for
Lancashire from 1968 to 1976 and team-mates knew him as 'Rooky',
although one member, asked to name the 'keeper, came up with the
unlikely alternative of 'Farokh Mechanic'. Although he was able to find
his way to many exotic parts to play cricket he did embarrass himself
once, turning up in Newport in Shropshire for a county match when he
should have been at Newport in Monmouthshire. (Bob Harragan)
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