THESE days a cricket team from British Army is touring Pakistan which indeed reminds us of their contribution to the game in the sub-continent during its years of infancy. It will not be wrong to say that officers and soldiers of the British Army during the colonial rule were in fact the pioneers who spread the sport in the length and breadth of India and the parts which are now areas of Pakistan.

The sailors and tradesmen of the passing ships were in fact the first to be sighted playing the game at Cambay near the Kutch coast and Bombay (now Mumbai) in as early as 1721. With East India Company spreading its wings in the Calcutta region and later establishing the colonial rule, the game then flourished as British soldiers posted in various regions across India played matches, first against the European teams and later against the Parsis who were the first to learn the game from them.

The Hindus and Muslims joined in later to play against the Europeans and the British Army outfits.

Rawalpindi in northern Punjab, which is an ancient town dating back to nearly a thousand years, turned out to be a part of what became Pakistan and remained a garrison town as it was from 1850s onwards, the headquarters of the British Army. A lot of cricket was played here and around the city from the middle of 19th century until the end of the British rule in the sub-continent in 1947.

The Pindi Club where the present army men have recently played a couple of matches is one of the most historic grounds and possesses a proud history. Tucked in the centre of the city, it is the venue where the first ever double century was scored in 1893 by no other than the grandson of Queen Victoria, Prince Christian Victor who was then posted in the army at Rawalpindi.

Playing for King’s Royal Rifles against the Devonshire Regiment, Prince Victor scored 205 which is on record the first recorded double century in what has become Pakistan. He made loads of runs for the army here at the Pindi Club.

As you enter the Pindi Club Ground, which is now Army Cricket Ground or Sports Ground, you will notice immediately on the left the cricket pavilion of the time still intact. I hope that it is preserved for posterity.

One Lieutenant Col George Henry Neale of the third Middlesex regiment who was a very strong and fine batsman also excelled here and scored a lot of runs in the city and on this ground.

At Peshawar near the Khyber Pass, he once made 55 and 124 for Peshawar against Oxford University Authentic carrying his bat in the second innings. Once he also made 267 out of 607 for Queen’s Regiment against Gordon Highlanders.

A great number of British Army men also played for their country in Tests. The most notable of course was the Yorkshire left-arm spinner Hedley Verity, one of the most successful spinners for England who lost his life during the Second World War.

Reg Simpson, the opening partner in Tests with Sir Len Hutton, was posted in the army at Mauripur in Karachi before the partition of India. He made his first-class debut for Sindh province in the Ranji Trophy before he played for Nottinghamshire and England in Test matches. He is still around in his nineties and a regular visitor to Tests at Trent Bridge, Nottingham.

There were many others too and it will take many pages to mention their contribution.

The legacy of the British Army and its cricket continues and for this the world of cricket owes a great debt to them. Obviously, the British Army cricket team’s visit to Pakistan is certainly another landmark for the country and we welcome them for their predecessors’ contribution and the contribution that their present visit to Pakistan will make.