- Joined
- Oct 2, 2004
- Runs
- 217,869
"It did not surprise me to see Pakistan batsmen struggling against a moving ball" : Majid Khan
A world-class right-hand batsman of silken grace, Majid after leading Cambridge (1971-72), went on to captain Pakistan, Glamorgan, Punjab, Lahore and Rawalpindi, in a first-class career that lasted till 1985. His 2545 first-class runs @ 53.02 in 29 matches for the university, elevating his status, as one of the best post-war Cambridge batsmen. Highly respected individual, both as a player and administrator, now 71, Majid lives in Islamabad, capital city of Pakistan.
We understand you were asked by two Cambridge Blues to enrol at the University?
Majid Khan: Yes it was in May 1969 during a lunch break of a match between Cambridge University and Glamorgan at Fenner’s that I was approached by the two Sri Lankan players : V.P. Malalasekera and C.E.M. Ponniah. Why don’t you come and play at Fenner’s? I said I do not possess qualifications. Their reply was that a senior tutor, David Newsome, a cricket fanatic, would take me in. In those days senior tutor had the power to independently decide on an admission. My cricketing credentials overrode everything, and I was seen capable enough to get through the course. During the summer vacation, I was invited to stay overnight and attend the Annual Dinner of Cambridge Univeristy. David initially said he will try for a place for 1970 but on my request, I was offered a place for a three-year degree to start in 1969.
Did you grow up listening to your father’s time at Cambridge in the 1930s. Did he encourage you to study there? Was he also keen for you to pursue a cricket career?
Majid Khan: No. My father Jahangir Khan was a non-talkative person. He did not share his experience at Cambridge with us. Never one to boast of his sporting prowess. It was only when I joined Glamorgan and enrolled at Cambridge that I got to know about my father as a cricketer, from his contemporaries. Jack Davies, Grahame Parker, Wilf Wooller, etc. were all willing to share the old days.
In my recent research, of the 1933 season, I came across a scorecard in which my father bowled unchanged in both the innings against Yorkshire at the Fenner’s. Such was his stamina and accuracy, bowling at medium-fast, he claimed 11 wickets for 133 runs off 88.3 overs. Cambridge won the game by 19 runs. Against Nottinghamshire, he took guard with his side in deep trouble at 24/5, and managed to he hit 112, even negotiating the second new ball. He said, ‘I could sight the shiny ball much better and it allowed me to play more freely.’
After failing in my three attempts, Cyril Coote, the groundsman, informed me that Harold Larwood and my father Jahangir Khan, were the only two cricketers, who could throw a cricket ball beyond 100 yards, whilst simply standing on the last step of the Old Pavilion. He was a natural athlete and participated in the 1934 British Empire Games in London as a javelin thrower. He did his doctorate from Trinity College and Bar-in-law at Lincoln’s Inn.
Two things I have just come to know are that in those days no coloured player would be asked to captain Cambridge and furthermore only one overseas player would be included in the playing XI. Dilawar Hussain, All India wicket-keeper, could have represented Cambridge, alongside my father, but for that very reason did not feature at Fenner’s.
Our father gave us free will in terms of a career path, after my elder brother, Asad Jahangir Khan, who studied at Oxford, I got the opportunity to study and play at Cambridge. Once in a blue moon, we would hear him saying, ‘studies are good too’, implying keep a balance between sports and academics. My father’s philosophy was that one should excel at both education and sports. If not both, at least in one.
Did you not need certain GCSEs at O & A levels to get to Cambridge or was it simply a case that your father had been there before you?
Majid Khan: I did not have enough qualifications to enter Cambridge. My studies were interrupted by cricket as I was in the middle of my graduation at Government College, Lahore, when terms offered by Glamorgan to become a full-time cricketer, were too good to decline. Before arriving at Cambridge, I had already represented Pakistan in Test matches and had also helped Glamorgan in winning the 1969 County Championship. In view of these factors, it is fair to say that I was enrolled at Emmanuel College, on the strength of my cricketing pedigree.
The vast majority of students back them would have gone to public or grammar schools. Did you have a similar education in Pakistan? You were 23 when you attended Emmanuel - that's more mature than was usual in those days?
Majid Khan: Previously I had attended St. Anthony’s, a missionary school in Lahore and then Aitchison College – both in Lahore. Both these institutions were renowned for their academic results and yes both were private schools. I did my Faculty of Arts (F.A) from Government College, Lahore. I had started to play for Glamorgan whilst an undergraduate student.
Your captained Cambridge University to a win against the 1971 Pakistan tourists at Fenner's. How satisfying was it to beat your own team mates?
Majid Khan: I believe 1971 was the last year when Cambridge University played a match against a touring team. After that year a combined team made up of Oxford and Cambridge players would play against the touring teams. I thought the Pakistanis, led by Asif Iqbal, were a touch complacent. They took the game as just playing against undergraduate students and I am certain would have shown more application, if it were a county side.
After winning the toss, I wanted to take advantage of the early moisture. It paid dividends as John Spencer, bowled exceptionally well in that game to claim 11 wickets. He swung the ball away from a right-handed batsman and nipped it back off the seam and would go on to play for Sussex till 1980. It did not surprise me to see Pakistan batsmen struggling against a moving ball, in the first half of an English summer. In order to survive against quality bowling, one needed tight defence and good judgement of leaving the ball, which players brought up on the more batting-friendly pitches of Pakistan, do not generally possess.
By the time I came to bat, around tea time on the opening day, the conditions were much better for me to score 94. A very satisfying 10-wicket win, as for a previous Cambridge win against a touring team, one had to go back to 1927 when they beat New Zealand by 5 wickets.
Would you consider your innings of 200 against Oxford in 1970 at Lord's, as the highlight of your stay at Cambridge?
Majid Khan: In my three-years at Cambridge was much stronger than Oxford and with bit of a luck could have won all three matches. The Varsity match at Lord’s was the highlight of the year for the students of both universities. A double hundred at Lord’s was indeed very special, for me personally. In fact, all leading English grounds with their history having been preserved and talked about in books for the last two centuries, are all very special venues. Lord’s particularly, still to this day, carries an aura, based on tradition and history. In my days MCC was seen as the custodian of the game and with that affiliation Lord’s, to my generation was the ‘Home of Cricket’.
On my way to the double hundred, I shared a 168-run stand for the 2nd wicket with Phil Carling, a left-hand batsman who had so much time to play the fast bowler. It was a good wicket to bat on first and we stood in a good position to win before the final day was rained off. After taking a hundred off Middlesex in 1967, in my first game at Lord’s, I did not do that well in the three Test matches I played, at the ground, in 1967, 1971 and 1974.
Did you develop as a player and as a captain in the three years at Cambridge (1970-72) ? Did you also play cricket or any other sports for Emmanuel?
Majid Khan: As a captain of Cambridge, I was fortunate to have a very good side. A number of them had potential to play county cricket. Besides John Spencer, we had Robert Hadley, a left-arm paceman, who would play for Glamorgan. Another new-ball bowler Mike Selvey and slow left-arm Phil Edmonds, both went on to play for Middlesex and England. Peter Johnson, who was at Emmanuel College, would be signed on by Nottinghamshire. They were a number of players who had potential to enjoy a county career, if not progressing to the highest level. Dudley Owen-Thomas, again very talented batsman, who would play six seasons with Surrey. Michael Barford, the opening batsman, was a Double Blue having represented Cambridge in cricket and hockey.
Roger Knight, too played last time in 1970, remains a good friend. He captained Surrey, in his second spell with the county, representing Gloucestershire and Sussex in between. How I can possibly exclude Chilton Taylor, the wicket-keeper in the two years I captained Cambridge. Quite young and vibrant, he lifted the fielding standard of our team. The role played by wicket-keepers in team unity and success, can never be underestimated. I was fortunate to have him in the side.
In 1971 we were a wicket short of a victory in the Varsity match at Lord’s, when Phil Edmonds picked up 10 wickets. It was a third time lucky for me when we finally managed to beat Oxford, by an innings in 1972, with our pace attack claiming all twenty wickets. Left-arm paceman Michael Kendall, finished it off with 6-43, strangely never to return to first-class cricket.
The development process of a cricketer continues right to the end of his career. As a senior most player of the team, I was expected to hold the Cambridge batting together. I owed my success to my team-mates for if no one supported me at the batting crease, I could have been left stranded. Could not have dome on my own.
I had not captained prior to arriving in Cambridge. As a University captain, once you have been democratically elected to the position, you are expected to change into an autocratic role as you are sole in charge of the team selection and all other key on-the-field decisions. With responsibility you grow as a person and mature as a leader. As I was leading a team of students in their early 20s, I was expected to lead by example. But I had a very good team which made my job a lot easier. If you have reliable players in the sense that batsmen make runs and bowlers taking wickets, you have wholehearted support of the players. Leading Cambridge for two years was a good experience, preparing me for future challenges, both at Glamorgan and for Pakistan.
Besides cricket, I did represent Emmanuel College, in hockey, squash and badminton in inter-collegiate competition, regularly for three years. Perhaps not leaving enough time, to excel in the studies. Emmanuel College won the Hockey League in 1969-70 and the Cuppers (a knock out tournament) in 1970-71. In hockey I was in the forward line, outside right, inside right, centre forward. The hockey stick I had got from Pakistan was a touch heavier than being used by other players. For that reason, I was often called upon to take the short corner.
Did you enjoy studying at Emmanuel College? Did you make friends with whom you are still in touch? How well did you fit into British college life? Did you have any friends outside of the University?
Majid Khan: Honestly I did not enjoy studies at all as my sole aim to be at Cambridge was to enjoy cricket, besides other sports. I found studies very hard and was glad to obtain a History degree, at the end of my three-year period. Bob Jones, a year ahead of me and doing the same degree, was only too happy to share his notes with me that helped me to get out of the ‘red zone’.
The friends I made at Cambridge were from the sports environment, most certainly not academics. I have kept in touch with a number of them. About five to six years ago, I initiated a get together to revive old memories over a dinner. I recall David Leader, full back in hockey, who persuaded me to play badminton. We often played doubles together.
The English way of life was no issue at all for me. Right at the beginning of my stay in Cambridge, they got to know there will be no drink, dance or girls in my life and neither did the night life appeal me at all. Once they understood me they accommodated me as I had been very open and upfront with them. In my stay at Cambridge, there was not a single race-related issue either that I can recall. My relationship with English students was built on mutual respect.
Once you create a ‘barrier’ or draw the line, one has to maintain it and stay consistent with that thinking and outlook. My comfort zone and my privacy did not become an issue for fellow students and thankfully never invaded by anyone. In my days at Cambridge, the students and the tutors, did not mock anyone who was less fluent in English language. Even the mispronouncing was accepted and students of all backgrounds and abilities, were provided with a level playing field.
What did you make of Cambridge when you arrived there? The '70s were the years of social change in England, how different an experience was it to come to a cold, Northern European country from Pakistan?
Majid Khan: Although I was far from being an academic, I could not help but admire the ‘ learning atmosphere’ in Cambridge. It simply made you want to learn, challenge yourself by using your mind and broaden your horizon. Libraries and other learning resources created a brilliant environment. The organized and structured ways of the University was so impressive. The atmosphere at Cambridge was different from other towns and cities as it was a University Town first and then followed by residential and commercial needs of the University.
One lecture a day and the rest of the day was down to us as to how productive we could make it with our research. The onus and responsibility were entirely on the shoulders of the student. Once a week tutorial was important for one met one’s supervisor, who would read a paper or an essay and build a discussion to establish, one that it was your own work and secondly you understood your work.
My first winter (1969-70) in England was the hardest. I had not experienced such cold before and I do recall snow falling in Cambridge right till February. The only excitement in such weather was the two hockey sessions – on Wednesday and Saturday – that one looked forward to. During the 1969 summer in a match between Somerset and Glamorgan, I had purchased fur line coat and shoes from Glastonbury, which helped me through my first winter. Good investment.
The culinary choices in Cambridge at the time were very limited. You must have suffered, getting used to bland British food. There were two Indian restaurants nearby - The Taj Mahal & The New Bengal, both in Regent Street. Did you use them?
Majid Khan: There was a period of 3 and a half years starting in April 1969 when I did not visit Pakistan at all. I was in UK for my entire stay in Cambridge.
I actually enjoyed the bland English food and did not miss Pakistani food as much as I thought I would. In the 1970-72 period there were not many Pakistanis living in Cambridge. I did eat at the two restaurants you have mentioned. The Indian food was totally different from Pakistani food. The Indian food did not come to my expectation as it was too bland by Asian standards. I accepted it thinking the food was being cooked to cater for the British taste but later on when I visited India for Abbas Ali Baig’s benefit in 1978 and with Pakistan team in 1979-80, did I realize that Indian food cooked in India too was not that different from what was being served in the two restaurants in Cambridge. The curry powder, a standard practice in restaurants in UK, failed in comparison to the fresh spices that we are so used to in Pakistan.
I also enjoyed Moussaka, a Greek dish, which contained mince meat and cheese with chips, mostly at Varisty restaurant, opposite Emmanuel College. Steak was another favourite in those days. Cyril Coote, the groundsman at Fenner’s, did pheasant shooting every Sunday. The two long-tailed game birds provided by him was a treat for me and I would ask the college chef to roast for me. Most of the students used to have both lunch at dinner at the college.
Cyril was a traditionalist. A real character who used to address, the students as Sir. He referred to my father’s as Sir Jahanagir Khan. With professional cricketers, he chose their first name. He had a close relationship with my father, who was at Trinity College, and would happily bat in the nets to face his bowling for an hour or so in the winter. A great man for we all benefited from his extraordinary knowledge of the game and the players he had seen at the Fenner’s.
The author of this interview is Mohammed Salim Parvez
A world-class right-hand batsman of silken grace, Majid after leading Cambridge (1971-72), went on to captain Pakistan, Glamorgan, Punjab, Lahore and Rawalpindi, in a first-class career that lasted till 1985. His 2545 first-class runs @ 53.02 in 29 matches for the university, elevating his status, as one of the best post-war Cambridge batsmen. Highly respected individual, both as a player and administrator, now 71, Majid lives in Islamabad, capital city of Pakistan.
We understand you were asked by two Cambridge Blues to enrol at the University?
Majid Khan: Yes it was in May 1969 during a lunch break of a match between Cambridge University and Glamorgan at Fenner’s that I was approached by the two Sri Lankan players : V.P. Malalasekera and C.E.M. Ponniah. Why don’t you come and play at Fenner’s? I said I do not possess qualifications. Their reply was that a senior tutor, David Newsome, a cricket fanatic, would take me in. In those days senior tutor had the power to independently decide on an admission. My cricketing credentials overrode everything, and I was seen capable enough to get through the course. During the summer vacation, I was invited to stay overnight and attend the Annual Dinner of Cambridge Univeristy. David initially said he will try for a place for 1970 but on my request, I was offered a place for a three-year degree to start in 1969.
Did you grow up listening to your father’s time at Cambridge in the 1930s. Did he encourage you to study there? Was he also keen for you to pursue a cricket career?
Majid Khan: No. My father Jahangir Khan was a non-talkative person. He did not share his experience at Cambridge with us. Never one to boast of his sporting prowess. It was only when I joined Glamorgan and enrolled at Cambridge that I got to know about my father as a cricketer, from his contemporaries. Jack Davies, Grahame Parker, Wilf Wooller, etc. were all willing to share the old days.
In my recent research, of the 1933 season, I came across a scorecard in which my father bowled unchanged in both the innings against Yorkshire at the Fenner’s. Such was his stamina and accuracy, bowling at medium-fast, he claimed 11 wickets for 133 runs off 88.3 overs. Cambridge won the game by 19 runs. Against Nottinghamshire, he took guard with his side in deep trouble at 24/5, and managed to he hit 112, even negotiating the second new ball. He said, ‘I could sight the shiny ball much better and it allowed me to play more freely.’
After failing in my three attempts, Cyril Coote, the groundsman, informed me that Harold Larwood and my father Jahangir Khan, were the only two cricketers, who could throw a cricket ball beyond 100 yards, whilst simply standing on the last step of the Old Pavilion. He was a natural athlete and participated in the 1934 British Empire Games in London as a javelin thrower. He did his doctorate from Trinity College and Bar-in-law at Lincoln’s Inn.
Two things I have just come to know are that in those days no coloured player would be asked to captain Cambridge and furthermore only one overseas player would be included in the playing XI. Dilawar Hussain, All India wicket-keeper, could have represented Cambridge, alongside my father, but for that very reason did not feature at Fenner’s.
Our father gave us free will in terms of a career path, after my elder brother, Asad Jahangir Khan, who studied at Oxford, I got the opportunity to study and play at Cambridge. Once in a blue moon, we would hear him saying, ‘studies are good too’, implying keep a balance between sports and academics. My father’s philosophy was that one should excel at both education and sports. If not both, at least in one.
Did you not need certain GCSEs at O & A levels to get to Cambridge or was it simply a case that your father had been there before you?
Majid Khan: I did not have enough qualifications to enter Cambridge. My studies were interrupted by cricket as I was in the middle of my graduation at Government College, Lahore, when terms offered by Glamorgan to become a full-time cricketer, were too good to decline. Before arriving at Cambridge, I had already represented Pakistan in Test matches and had also helped Glamorgan in winning the 1969 County Championship. In view of these factors, it is fair to say that I was enrolled at Emmanuel College, on the strength of my cricketing pedigree.
The vast majority of students back them would have gone to public or grammar schools. Did you have a similar education in Pakistan? You were 23 when you attended Emmanuel - that's more mature than was usual in those days?
Majid Khan: Previously I had attended St. Anthony’s, a missionary school in Lahore and then Aitchison College – both in Lahore. Both these institutions were renowned for their academic results and yes both were private schools. I did my Faculty of Arts (F.A) from Government College, Lahore. I had started to play for Glamorgan whilst an undergraduate student.
Your captained Cambridge University to a win against the 1971 Pakistan tourists at Fenner's. How satisfying was it to beat your own team mates?
Majid Khan: I believe 1971 was the last year when Cambridge University played a match against a touring team. After that year a combined team made up of Oxford and Cambridge players would play against the touring teams. I thought the Pakistanis, led by Asif Iqbal, were a touch complacent. They took the game as just playing against undergraduate students and I am certain would have shown more application, if it were a county side.
After winning the toss, I wanted to take advantage of the early moisture. It paid dividends as John Spencer, bowled exceptionally well in that game to claim 11 wickets. He swung the ball away from a right-handed batsman and nipped it back off the seam and would go on to play for Sussex till 1980. It did not surprise me to see Pakistan batsmen struggling against a moving ball, in the first half of an English summer. In order to survive against quality bowling, one needed tight defence and good judgement of leaving the ball, which players brought up on the more batting-friendly pitches of Pakistan, do not generally possess.
By the time I came to bat, around tea time on the opening day, the conditions were much better for me to score 94. A very satisfying 10-wicket win, as for a previous Cambridge win against a touring team, one had to go back to 1927 when they beat New Zealand by 5 wickets.
Would you consider your innings of 200 against Oxford in 1970 at Lord's, as the highlight of your stay at Cambridge?
Majid Khan: In my three-years at Cambridge was much stronger than Oxford and with bit of a luck could have won all three matches. The Varsity match at Lord’s was the highlight of the year for the students of both universities. A double hundred at Lord’s was indeed very special, for me personally. In fact, all leading English grounds with their history having been preserved and talked about in books for the last two centuries, are all very special venues. Lord’s particularly, still to this day, carries an aura, based on tradition and history. In my days MCC was seen as the custodian of the game and with that affiliation Lord’s, to my generation was the ‘Home of Cricket’.
On my way to the double hundred, I shared a 168-run stand for the 2nd wicket with Phil Carling, a left-hand batsman who had so much time to play the fast bowler. It was a good wicket to bat on first and we stood in a good position to win before the final day was rained off. After taking a hundred off Middlesex in 1967, in my first game at Lord’s, I did not do that well in the three Test matches I played, at the ground, in 1967, 1971 and 1974.
Did you develop as a player and as a captain in the three years at Cambridge (1970-72) ? Did you also play cricket or any other sports for Emmanuel?
Majid Khan: As a captain of Cambridge, I was fortunate to have a very good side. A number of them had potential to play county cricket. Besides John Spencer, we had Robert Hadley, a left-arm paceman, who would play for Glamorgan. Another new-ball bowler Mike Selvey and slow left-arm Phil Edmonds, both went on to play for Middlesex and England. Peter Johnson, who was at Emmanuel College, would be signed on by Nottinghamshire. They were a number of players who had potential to enjoy a county career, if not progressing to the highest level. Dudley Owen-Thomas, again very talented batsman, who would play six seasons with Surrey. Michael Barford, the opening batsman, was a Double Blue having represented Cambridge in cricket and hockey.
Roger Knight, too played last time in 1970, remains a good friend. He captained Surrey, in his second spell with the county, representing Gloucestershire and Sussex in between. How I can possibly exclude Chilton Taylor, the wicket-keeper in the two years I captained Cambridge. Quite young and vibrant, he lifted the fielding standard of our team. The role played by wicket-keepers in team unity and success, can never be underestimated. I was fortunate to have him in the side.
In 1971 we were a wicket short of a victory in the Varsity match at Lord’s, when Phil Edmonds picked up 10 wickets. It was a third time lucky for me when we finally managed to beat Oxford, by an innings in 1972, with our pace attack claiming all twenty wickets. Left-arm paceman Michael Kendall, finished it off with 6-43, strangely never to return to first-class cricket.
The development process of a cricketer continues right to the end of his career. As a senior most player of the team, I was expected to hold the Cambridge batting together. I owed my success to my team-mates for if no one supported me at the batting crease, I could have been left stranded. Could not have dome on my own.
I had not captained prior to arriving in Cambridge. As a University captain, once you have been democratically elected to the position, you are expected to change into an autocratic role as you are sole in charge of the team selection and all other key on-the-field decisions. With responsibility you grow as a person and mature as a leader. As I was leading a team of students in their early 20s, I was expected to lead by example. But I had a very good team which made my job a lot easier. If you have reliable players in the sense that batsmen make runs and bowlers taking wickets, you have wholehearted support of the players. Leading Cambridge for two years was a good experience, preparing me for future challenges, both at Glamorgan and for Pakistan.
Besides cricket, I did represent Emmanuel College, in hockey, squash and badminton in inter-collegiate competition, regularly for three years. Perhaps not leaving enough time, to excel in the studies. Emmanuel College won the Hockey League in 1969-70 and the Cuppers (a knock out tournament) in 1970-71. In hockey I was in the forward line, outside right, inside right, centre forward. The hockey stick I had got from Pakistan was a touch heavier than being used by other players. For that reason, I was often called upon to take the short corner.
Did you enjoy studying at Emmanuel College? Did you make friends with whom you are still in touch? How well did you fit into British college life? Did you have any friends outside of the University?
Majid Khan: Honestly I did not enjoy studies at all as my sole aim to be at Cambridge was to enjoy cricket, besides other sports. I found studies very hard and was glad to obtain a History degree, at the end of my three-year period. Bob Jones, a year ahead of me and doing the same degree, was only too happy to share his notes with me that helped me to get out of the ‘red zone’.
The friends I made at Cambridge were from the sports environment, most certainly not academics. I have kept in touch with a number of them. About five to six years ago, I initiated a get together to revive old memories over a dinner. I recall David Leader, full back in hockey, who persuaded me to play badminton. We often played doubles together.
The English way of life was no issue at all for me. Right at the beginning of my stay in Cambridge, they got to know there will be no drink, dance or girls in my life and neither did the night life appeal me at all. Once they understood me they accommodated me as I had been very open and upfront with them. In my stay at Cambridge, there was not a single race-related issue either that I can recall. My relationship with English students was built on mutual respect.
Once you create a ‘barrier’ or draw the line, one has to maintain it and stay consistent with that thinking and outlook. My comfort zone and my privacy did not become an issue for fellow students and thankfully never invaded by anyone. In my days at Cambridge, the students and the tutors, did not mock anyone who was less fluent in English language. Even the mispronouncing was accepted and students of all backgrounds and abilities, were provided with a level playing field.
What did you make of Cambridge when you arrived there? The '70s were the years of social change in England, how different an experience was it to come to a cold, Northern European country from Pakistan?
Majid Khan: Although I was far from being an academic, I could not help but admire the ‘ learning atmosphere’ in Cambridge. It simply made you want to learn, challenge yourself by using your mind and broaden your horizon. Libraries and other learning resources created a brilliant environment. The organized and structured ways of the University was so impressive. The atmosphere at Cambridge was different from other towns and cities as it was a University Town first and then followed by residential and commercial needs of the University.
One lecture a day and the rest of the day was down to us as to how productive we could make it with our research. The onus and responsibility were entirely on the shoulders of the student. Once a week tutorial was important for one met one’s supervisor, who would read a paper or an essay and build a discussion to establish, one that it was your own work and secondly you understood your work.
My first winter (1969-70) in England was the hardest. I had not experienced such cold before and I do recall snow falling in Cambridge right till February. The only excitement in such weather was the two hockey sessions – on Wednesday and Saturday – that one looked forward to. During the 1969 summer in a match between Somerset and Glamorgan, I had purchased fur line coat and shoes from Glastonbury, which helped me through my first winter. Good investment.
The culinary choices in Cambridge at the time were very limited. You must have suffered, getting used to bland British food. There were two Indian restaurants nearby - The Taj Mahal & The New Bengal, both in Regent Street. Did you use them?
Majid Khan: There was a period of 3 and a half years starting in April 1969 when I did not visit Pakistan at all. I was in UK for my entire stay in Cambridge.
I actually enjoyed the bland English food and did not miss Pakistani food as much as I thought I would. In the 1970-72 period there were not many Pakistanis living in Cambridge. I did eat at the two restaurants you have mentioned. The Indian food was totally different from Pakistani food. The Indian food did not come to my expectation as it was too bland by Asian standards. I accepted it thinking the food was being cooked to cater for the British taste but later on when I visited India for Abbas Ali Baig’s benefit in 1978 and with Pakistan team in 1979-80, did I realize that Indian food cooked in India too was not that different from what was being served in the two restaurants in Cambridge. The curry powder, a standard practice in restaurants in UK, failed in comparison to the fresh spices that we are so used to in Pakistan.
I also enjoyed Moussaka, a Greek dish, which contained mince meat and cheese with chips, mostly at Varisty restaurant, opposite Emmanuel College. Steak was another favourite in those days. Cyril Coote, the groundsman at Fenner’s, did pheasant shooting every Sunday. The two long-tailed game birds provided by him was a treat for me and I would ask the college chef to roast for me. Most of the students used to have both lunch at dinner at the college.
Cyril was a traditionalist. A real character who used to address, the students as Sir. He referred to my father’s as Sir Jahanagir Khan. With professional cricketers, he chose their first name. He had a close relationship with my father, who was at Trinity College, and would happily bat in the nets to face his bowling for an hour or so in the winter. A great man for we all benefited from his extraordinary knowledge of the game and the players he had seen at the Fenner’s.
The author of this interview is Mohammed Salim Parvez
Last edited:
