From making the Test Match Special team chuckle to exciting Ian Botham on his debut, Queen Elizabeth II held a special place in the heart of cricket, as our latest exclusive extract from the Wisden 2023 reveals.
Queen Elizabeth II’s reign ended as it had begun: on the first day of a test match. In Madras in February 1952, news of George VI’s death reached tea; England thrashed to the bone before the scheduled rest day was brought forward as a mark of respect.
On the resumption, they were fired on by Vinoo Mankad, before Pankaj Roy and Polly Umrigar took ages to take India’s first test win.
Seventy years later, only the throw was possible at The Oval before the gray sky began to howl, possibly anticipating the events of Balmoral. It enabled Harry Brook to become England’s 339th player to receive his Test cap as the Queen’s subject – Fred Trueman being the first – although he would not take the field for two days, when the country had a King. England beat South Africa by nine wickets.
In Madras, England it was managed by Donald Carr, who replaced Nigel Howard. It was the second and final Test of Carr’s career, although he had the honor of taking the New Government’s first wicket – the first success by an Elizabethan bowler since Francis Drake, against Spain in 1588.
Queen Elizabeth II held a special place in the heart of cricket, attending Lord’s 36 times – 32 of which were for Tests – between 1947 and her death at age 96 last year
Yet cricket and society began to change. That summer, Len Hutton became England’s first professional captain, guiding them to a 3–0 victory over India, before reclaiming the Ashes the following year.
The coronation was also marked by an overdue knighthood for Jack Hobbs, the son of a Cambridge slater who had worked as an apprentice gasfitter before finding a county willing to pay for his batting talents.
Like Gordon Richards, the son of the Shropshire miner who became the country’s greatest jockey and also knighted in 1953, Hobbs overcame his background and was honored for his achievements.
Although racing was always the Queen’s greatest love, she had good reasons to show more than a polite interest in cricket.
Her husband, a decent player, was president of MCC twice, in 1949 and 1975, and her father was generously described by Wisden as the greatest royal cricketer since Frederick, Prince of Wales, in 1751, largely because he hit a hat-trick in a match at Windsor: Edward VII and the future George V and Edward VIII were all bowled, proving that a straight always beats three kings.
In 1947, more than 75 years before Lord’s was decked out in red, white and blue to celebrate the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, she had made her first official visit to the ground, accompanied by her parents and her sister, Princess Margaret, to see England play against South Africa. It was the first of 36 visits to Lord’s, 32 to see Tests.
In 1948, Don Bradman and his Australian Invincibles were invited to Balmoral, where they met George VI.
The previous day, Bradman had made an unbeaten 123 against Scotland in Aberdeen, his last innings in the UK. Now he raised eyebrows at being filmed walking with his hands in his pockets as he spoke to the king. Not remotely offended, George knighted him in 1949.
The Queen shakes hands with India’s Vinoo Mankad on matchday four, in which he became the first Indian to earn a century and take five wickets in the same Test
The Queen talking to West Indies Captain Sir Garfield Sobers in 1966
On 23 June 1952, the Queen visited Lord’s on the fourth day of the match against India, shortly after Mankad became the first Indian to earn a century, taking five wickets in the same Test.
She congratulated him during the tea break. “One of the most charming pictures ever to appear in Wisden,” wrote AA Thomson, “is that of Her Majesty shaking hands with Mankad on that glorious day.”
Until 1999, the Queen was the only woman allowed into the pavilion. An undoubtedly apocryphal story is told of the MCC member waking from a slumber and sputtering, “Good heavens, there’s a woman in the committee room!” And she’s talking to Swanton!’
Despite all her visits to Lord’s, the 2009 Ashes Test was the first time in 50 years that she stayed for lunch. This caused problems when she asked for a Dubonnet and the staff found the liquor cabinet empty.
Someone was sent to buy a bottle in St John’s Wood, only to be nearly thwarted on their return to the ground by a guard, who said that liquor was forbidden. The protest — “but it’s for the Queen” — was eventually accepted.
There is also a royal connection to the Oval, whose property is owned by the Duchy of Cornwall, marked in the Surrey coat of arms by the Prince of Wales’s three ostrich feathers. The Queen first went there as monarch in 1955, for Surrey’s match against the touring South Africans.
The Queen is introduced to the late Shane Warne of Australia by team captain Allan Border in 1993
The Queen witnessed Sir Ian Botham’s test debut in 1977 (pictured last year)
Alastair Cook couldn’t remember his players’ names when he met the Queen in 2013 and struggled to remember anything more formal for Graeme Swann (right) than ‘Swanny’
Two years later she attended the Guildford Festival as part of the town’s 700th anniversary celebrations, but not before Surrey had an easy victory over Hampshire. An exhibition game was quickly organized to give the royal couple something to see before they met the teams.
For the World Cups in 1975, 1979, 1983 and 1999, the Queen invited all teams to a reception at Buckingham Palace; in 2019 it was just the captains. The 1999 invitation came midway through the tournament, with England knocked out. David Morgan, then deputy president of the ECB, recalls being introduced to the royals as head of the steering committee and hearing the Duke of Edinburgh mutter, “What’s left to send?”
In 1977, the Queen had visited Trent Bridge where she witnessed the Test debut of a cricketer whom she would later knight and then become a Peer. “It was a moment I will never forget,” said Ian Botham. “I was walking on air.” Inspired, he took five wickets in his first innings.
The excerpt is from WISDEN CRICKETERS’ ALMANACK by Lawrence Booth
A royal visit often left English captains stunned. Alastair Cook discovered that he could no longer remember his players’ names. When he met the Queen in 2013, he saved himself with “this is Jimmer, James Anderson,” but struggled to remember anything more formal for Graeme Swann than “Swanny.”
Australians are less affected. During the Centenary Test in Melbourne, Dennis Lillee asked the Queen for her autograph; she sent him an autographed photo. Four years later, invited to the palace to receive his MBE, Lillee greeted her with “G’day, Queen.” During the lineups at Lord’s, while the Queen was not quite out of earshot, Rodney Hogg remarked that she had “nice legs for an old Sheila.”
Deep down, the affection was mutual: when she visited the Test Match Special box in 2001, she was carrying a fruitcake laced with cognac. “When we cut it open, you only had to take two sniffs and you were drunk,” said Henry Blofeld. He and Jonathan Agnew enjoyed her presence when she noticed the game had started, and asked how they could be with her and on the air at the same time? “We’ve got an Australian,” Blofeld said. “Oh yes,” she replied. “They can be useful.”
From WISDEN CRICKETERS’ ALMANACK edited by Lawrence Booth, published Thursday by Bloomsbury for £57. © John Wisden & Co 2023 To order a copy (free UK P&P), visit www.mailshop.co.uk/books or call 020 3176 2937.