Denis Compton and other MCC players practice at the nets in Adelaide, 29 October 1954. Ashes Test Series 1954-1955. Sydney Morning Herald Picture by Harry Martin. Public domain.
The great English cricketer Denis Compton was posted at the Officers' Training School, OTS, Mhow as a PT instructor during the World War II years. As he was eligible to play in the Ranji Trophy for the Holkar team of Indore the Army would give him leave so he could play.
He was a member of the Holkar team which played against Bombay in the 1945 Ranji Trophy final. Denis had scored 20 and 249 not out in this match but the Holkar team lost this high scoring match. Denis still holds the record for the highest fourth innings score in the Ranji Trophy.
The Bombay team included a Parsi player named Rustom Sorabji Cooper who had scored 52 and 104 in that final - a match which Bombay won by 374 runs.
In 2012 Nick Compton, the grandson of Denis, had visited India as part of the England team. He met Rustom Sorabji Cooper in Mumbai (formerly Bombay) who shared with him his interaction with Denis and how they had played with and against each other. Click here and read this nostalgia invoking article by Derek Abraham published in DNA Nov 1, 2012.
If I remember correctly Nick had played one match against the Cricket Club of India which had Abbas Ali as a player. Abbas Ali is the grandson of the late Syed Mushtaq Ali who played Test cricket for India from 1934 to 1952 and was known as the Errol Flynn of Indian cricket. Mushtaq Ali and Denis Compton played together in the Ranji Trophy as members of the Holkar team.
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