M. P. Bajana
Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Full name | Manek Pallon Bajana | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Born | India | 14 September 1886||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Died | 28 April 1927 London, England | (aged 40)||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Nickname | Pyjamas[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Batting | Right-handed | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Role | Opening batsman | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Domestic team information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Years | Team | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
1911 | Indians | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
1912–1920 | Somerset | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
First-class debut | 29 June 1911 Indians v Surrey | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Last First-class | 18 August 1920 Somerset v Middlesex | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Career statistics | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Source: CricketArchive, 2 February 2010 |
Manek Pallon Bajana (14 September 1886 – 28 April 1927) was an Indian amateur cricketer who played 55 first-class cricket matches between 1911 and 1920. Originally a member of the Indian team which toured England in 1911, he remained in the country and joined Somerset County Cricket Club, for which he played as an opening batsman until 1920. During his nine-year first-class cricket career, Bajana scored 1,975 runs at an average of 20.78. He scored three centuries, and made his highest score in 1920, scoring 115 runs against Cambridge University.
Early life and Indian tour
Manek Pallon Bajana was born on 14 September 1886 in India.
County cricketer
At the time of Bajana's arrival in the Somerset team, the county were struggling to compete in the
Bajana appeared less frequently for Somerset in 1913, playing ten matches for the county.[18] He only scored one half-century, accruing 78 runs against Derbyshire.[19] His batting average of 19.75 in 1913 placed him fourth in the Somerset batting averages.[18]
He did not play for Somerset in 1914, as business interests had taken him to London. Instead he played regularly for Shepherd's Bush, for whom he had appeared on occasion from his first arrival in England,[20] and for whom in 1914 he made two centuries over one bank holiday weekend; 134 against Brixton and 121 against North London.[21]
At the outbreak of the First World War county cricket was suspended, but Bajana continued to play for Shepherd's Bush until in 1916 he became involved in the foundation of the Indian Gymkhana club in Mill Hill, north London, scoring a century in the club's first match against Australian Imperial Forces. Thereafter Bajana played, and captained, in a number of matches for Indian Gymkhana, scoring another century for the team against a New Zealand APS side in 1918.[22][23]
In 1919 he returned to the Somerset team, playing in six of their twelve County Championship matches. His batting average of 27.55 in that competition was the second-highest amongst his team, bettered only by Jack MacBryan. Bajana hit two half-centuries during the season,[24] scoring 77 against Derbyshire,[25] and 59 against Essex.[26] The following 1920 season was Bajana's last with Somerset. He appeared fifteen times for the county in first-class cricket, averaging just over twenty.[15] In a match against Cambridge University, he achieved his highest first-class score, hitting 14 fours on his way to a total of 115 runs in 135 minutes.[27] In his next match, he scored a second century for Somerset, and his only one in the County Championship, scoring 106 runs against Warwickshire.[28] Bajana played his final first-class match against Middlesex in August 1920, scoring six and a duck.[29] In all, Bajana scored 1,975 first-class runs at an average of 20.78. He scored three centuries and seven half-centuries in 96 innings. He was rarely used as a bowler, and took four wickets at an average of 33.00.[2]
Personal and later life
In his history of Somerset cricket, David Foot describes Bajana as a "smallish solidly built opening bat".[10] During his time at Somerset, he was known as "Pyjamas", which sounds similar to his surname.[10] For a time, he ran an antiques and art dealership in Bayswater, London with Constantine Diamandis, but they dissolved their partnership in early 1920.[30] After the conclusion of his first-class cricket career, he continued to play for Indian Gymkhana, including matches at Lord's against the Marylebone Cricket Club in each of 1922, 1923 and 1924.[6] He died in Bethnal Green, London on 28 April 1927 at the age of 40.[2]
References
- ^ ISBN 978-1-4081-3130-5.
- ^ a b c "Player Profile: Prince Bajana". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 22 May 2013.
- ^ Lynch, Steven (3 October 2011). "My kingdom for a bat". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 22 May 2013.
- ISBN 1-897829-19-1.
- ^ a b "First-Class Matches played by Prince Bajana (55)". CricketArchive. Retrieved 23 May 2013.
- ^ a b "Miscellaneous Matches played by Prince Bajana (9)". CricketArchive. Retrieved 23 May 2013.
- ^ "First-class Batting and Fielding for Indians: India in British Isles 1911". CricketArchive. Retrieved 23 May 2013.
- ^ "Somerset v Indians: India in British Isles 1911". CricketArchive. Retrieved 23 May 2013.
- ^ "Surrey v Indians: India in British Isles 1911". CricketArchive. Retrieved 23 May 2013.
- ^ ISBN 0-7153-8890-8.
- ^ Roebuck (1991), pp. 107–113.
- ^ Roebuck (1991), p. 411.
- ^ "Sussex v Somerset: County Championship 1912". CricketArchive. Retrieved 23 May 2013.
- ^ "Hampshire v Somerset: County Championship 1912". CricketArchive. Retrieved 23 May 2013.
- ^ a b "First-class Batting and Fielding in Each Season by Prince Bajana". CricketArchive. Retrieved 23 May 2013.
- ^ "Worcestershire v Somerset: County Championship 1912". CricketArchive. Retrieved 23 May 2013.
- ^ "Batting and Fielding for Somerset: County Championship 1912". CricketArchive. Retrieved 23 May 2013.
- ^ a b "Batting and Fielding for Somerset: County Championship 1913". CricketArchive. Retrieved 23 May 2013.
- ^ "Somerset v Derbyshire: County Championship 1913". CricketArchive. Retrieved 23 May 2013.
- ^ Perrin, David (1 May 2006). "The rise of the Bush". Archived from the original on 7 July 2013. Retrieved 23 May 2013.
- ISBN 978-1-83859-202-8.
- ^ "Cricket". Evening Post. Vol. XCVI, no. 102. Blundell Bros Limited. 26 October 1918. p. 11. Retrieved 23 May 2013.
- ^ "First-Class Cricket Match". VADS. 1919. Retrieved 23 May 2013.
- ^ "Batting and Fielding for Somerset: County Championship 1919". CricketArchive. Retrieved 23 May 2013.
- ^ "Derbyshire v Somerset: County Championship 1919". CricketArchive. Retrieved 23 May 2013.
- ^ "Essex v Somerset: County Championship 1919". CricketArchive. Retrieved 23 May 2013.
- ^ "Cambridge University v Somerset: University Match 1920". CricketArchive. Retrieved 23 May 2013.
- ^ "Somerset v Warwickshire: County Championship 1920". CricketArchive. Retrieved 23 May 2013.
- ^ "Middlesex v Somerset: County Championship 1920". CricketArchive. Retrieved 23 May 2013.
- ^ "No. 31784". The London Gazette. 17 February 1920. p. 1990.
Bibliography
- ISBN 1-85225-085-2.
External links
- M. P. Bajana at CricketArchive (subscription required)
- M. P. Bajana at ESPNcricinfo