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In all, 11 Parsis have represented India in Test cricket. Two of them, Soli Colah and Piloo Palia, played in India’s inaugural Test match against England at Lord’s in 1932. The others were Rustomji Jam­shed­ji, Kharshed Meher-Homji (my uncle), Rusi Modi, Keki Tarapore, Jehangir Irani, Polly Umrigar, Nari Contractor, Rusi Surti and Farokh Engineer. 

Umrigar and Contractor captained India in 1950s and 60s. All-rounder Surti later played Sheffield Shield and became the first from Queensland to take a hat-trick in 1969, vs Western Australia in Perth.

The peak was reached during the 1961-62 tour of West Indies when four (skipper Contractor, former captain and "palm tree hitter” Umrigar, Surti and dashing wicket-keeper batsman Engineer) played in the first two Tests. Four Parsis in the XI works out at 36.36 percent. Being a minority community (60,000 among a billion Indians), their population in India is equivalent to barely 0.006 percent. This is a staggering statistic.

However, since Engineer retired in 1975, no Parsi has played in a Test. This is rather disturbing considering that although the Indian cricket team’s first official overseas visit was to England in 1932, the first unofficial team from India to tour overseas was made up entirely of the Parsis, way back in 1886.

 Being Anglophiles, they were the first to learn cricket from the English in the 19th century. In 1848, the Parsis formed their first cricket club, the Oriental Cricket Club in Bombay. And in 1886 the Parsi cricket team toured England. On the eve of their departure from Bombay on April 17, 1886 at a dinner given in their honor Sir Pherozeshah Mehta said, "As artists go to Italy to pay homage to the great Masters, as pilgrims go to Jerusalem to worship at a shrine so now the Parsis are going to England to do homage to the English cricketers, to learn something of that noble and manly pastime in the country which is its chosen home.”

The 15 members on the team included 12 from Bombay and three from Karachi. Captained by Dr Dhanjishah Patel, their performance on the tour was disappointing. They lost 19 of the 28 matches played, drew eight and won only one. Their first match was at Sheffield Park where they were accorded a princely welcome by the Earl of Sheffield.  The moment they treasured was their match against Prince Christian Victor’s XI at Windsor Park, arranged at the express desire of Queen Victoria. 

To quote J. M. Patel from Stray Thoughts on Indian Cricket (1905): "The oriental cricketers were highly pleased at the royal reception they were accorded at Windsor in their final match, which they remember with pride.” 

Another proud moment for them was their batsman Jamshedji Morenas hitting Dr W. G. Grace for four fours in four balls. This feat was re-enacted in a play Aapri cricket — hastovari by the Zoroastrians of Sydney in 1986 to celebrate the centenary of the historic tour of England. The script of the play was written by me and I recall with pleasure acting the role of Morenas and hitting a Grace look-alike (Capt Noshir Sachinwalla) for four fours in four balls. The audience was at first terrified by the sight of a red ball coming their way but soon realized that it was only a tennis ball painted red. What fun, what memories!

Later that year I wrote a booklet, Parsee Cricket Centenary 1886-1986. An updated version is reprinted this April (available by e-mailing me on kersi5@bigpond.com). 

In 1888 another Parsi team toured England under the captaincy of P. D. Kanga. Their performance was much better, winning eight of the 31 matches, drawing 10, losing 11 with two abandoned. The improved performance was mainly due to the presence of Dr Meheleshah Pavri, India’s first great cricketer who captured 170 wickets on the tour and of the Kanga brothers, Pestonji and Merwanji.

To this day cricket is alive and well in Sydney with the Australian Zoroastrian Association (AZA) holding its annual social cricket match. Some of the Sydney Zoros — Cyrus Pestonji, Reza Bilimoria, Jal Kerkeria, Rishad Contractor, Viraf Wadia and Julian Khursigara among others — have gone on to play at senior grade and district levels in Sydney.

The latest AZA match was played recently at Langland Oval, Annangrove, less than a kilometer away from the AZA House. Youngsters dominated the game especially Man of the Match Kerfegar Parekh hit a magnificent and unbeaten 69, studded with nine cracking fours for The Dynamos who totalled 124 for six, off 25 overs. Percy Variava also batted with elegance to hit three fours. Tehmasp and Rushad Parekh, Kevin Batliwala and Rohinton Ghista were the wicket-takers while Viraf Variava kept wickets with grace and agility.

Soon the sunshine turned to gloomy and wet weather when it was The Supremos’ turn to bat. Variava top-scored with 20. Zubins — Marolia and Bilimoria — opened the attack and took wickets at regular intervals. The Supremos were dismissed for 102 and lost by 22 runs.

There were familiar and familial score-lines: Parekh to Parekh, Batliwala to Batliwala, Marolia to Marolia, Zubin to Zubin, Kersi to Kersi, Variava to Variava... 

Dara Wadia umpired the match with authority and took candid photographs. Daraius Bilimoria was the scorer in charge as also the "TV umpire” who was frequently consulted for DRS (Decision Referral System).

Now all AZA needs is a team of cheer leaders forming a ‘Zoro Army’ (like the Swamy Army in the recent Melbourne and Sydney Tests), chanting: "Aza, Aza, Aza; win, win, win!”

Born in Bombay and settled in Sydney since 1970, Kersi Meher-Homji is a Master of Science in virology. He has many research publications in international journals on poliomyelitis, smallpox and HIV-AIDS. He also writes cricket columns in mainstream newspapers (including the elite Sydney Morning Herald) and magazines in Australia and in The Wisden Cricketer in South Africa. He has written 11 books on cricket including the best-selling The Waugh Twins, Out for a Duck and Six Appeal. P. G. Wodehouse and Adi Marzban are his heroes.