Raman Subba Row

Raman Subba Row

CBE
Personal information
Full name
Raman Subba Row
Born(1932-01-29)29 January 1932
Streatham, Surrey, England
Died17 April 2024(2024-04-17) (aged 92)
BattingLeft-handed
BowlingLeg-break and googly
RoleBatsman
International information
National side
Test debut (cap 390)24 July 1958 v New Zealand
Last Test22 August 1961 v Australia
Domestic team information
YearsTeam
1951–1953Cambridge University
1953–1954Surrey
1955–1961Northamptonshire
Career statistics
Competition Test First-class
Matches 13 260
Runs scored 984 14,182
Batting average 46.85 41.46
100s/50s 3/4 30/73
Top score 137 300
Balls bowled 6 6,243
Wickets 0 87
Bowling average – 38.65
5 wickets in innings – 2
10 wickets in match – 0
Best bowling – 5/21
Catches/stumpings 5/– 176/–
Source: Cricinfo, 13 January 2009

Raman Subba Row CBE (29 January 1932 – 17 April 2024) was an English cricketer who played for the national team, Cambridge University, Surrey and Northamptonshire.[1]

Life and career

Born in Streatham, Surrey, England on 29 January 1932,[1] to an Indian father Panguluri Venkata Subba Rao, of Bapatla, Andhra Pradesh and English mother, Doris Mildred Pinner,[2] Subba Row was educated at Whitgift School and Cambridge University.

A left-handed opening batsman and occasional leg-spin and googly bowler, Subba Row was a member of the powerful Cambridge side of the early 1950s and played a few games for Surrey before joining Northamptonshire. Taking over as captain in 1958, he led the side for four seasons and achieved considerable success as a batsman, scoring the county's highest ever innings, 260 not out, in 1955 and then bettering it with 300 against Surrey, the County Champions, at the Oval in 1958, when he shared a record sixth wicket stand of 376 with Albert Lightfoot.[3]

Subba Row played in thirteen Test matches for England, opening the batting regularly from 1959 to 1961.[1] He scored centuries in his first Test against the Australians in 1961,[4] and in his last match against them at the Oval.[5]

In 1961, he was one of the Wisden Cricketers of the Year.

At the end of the 1961 season, he retired rather abruptly from first-class cricket at the age of 29, to go into the public relations business,[1] joining WS Crawfords advertising agency in Holborn. In later years, he was Chairman of Surrey (1974–78) and an influential figure at Lord's. He also served as Chairman of the TCCB, and as an ICC match referee.[1]

Personal life and death

Subba Row had a wife, Anne, a son and daughter, as well as eight grandchildren and a great-grandchild. His eldest son, Christopher, died in 2021.

Subba Row died on 17 April 2024, at the age of 92.[6] At the time of his death he was the oldest surviving England Test cricketer.[7]

Awards and honours

Subba Row was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 1991 New Year Honours.[8]

There is a conference room named after him in Whitgift School.

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Bateman, Colin (1993). If The Cap Fits. Tony Williams Publications. p. 163. ISBN 1-869833-21-X.
  2. ^ "Misconduct deserves match penalty". Rediff.com. 18 January 2005. Archived from the original on 11 April 2021. Retrieved 27 February 2023.
  3. ^ "Surrey v Northamptonshire 1958". ESPNcricinfo. Archived from the original on 24 January 2023. Retrieved 24 January 2023.
  4. ^ "1st Test, Birmingham, June 08 – 13, 1961, Australia tour of England". ESPNcricinfo. Archived from the original on 24 January 2023. Retrieved 24 January 2023.
  5. ^ "5th Test, The Oval, August 17 – 22, 1961, Australia tour of England". ESPNcricinfo. Archived from the original on 24 January 2023. Retrieved 24 January 2023.
  6. ^ "Raman Subba Row obituary: England's oldest-surviving Test cricketer". The Times. 18 April 2024. Retrieved 18 April 2024.
  7. ^ "Raman Subba Row obituary". Surrey County Cricket Club. 18 April 2024. Retrieved 18 April 2024.
  8. ^ United Kingdom list:"No. 52382". The London Gazette (Supplement). 28 December 1990. p. 8.


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