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One apple was shared by every member of the Parsi Gymkhana (PG) cricket team including their "lucky mascot” actor Boman Irani, on their way to the Kia Oval cricket ground in London on August 23, 2019. It was a bhanaili (consecrated) fruit specially given by a lady the previous night at the Khordad Saal function hosted by the Zoroastrian Trust Funds of Europe (ZTFE). She wanted the visiting PG team to win the1886 Trophy match against the local Charles Alcock XI (CAXI). Whether it was the blessed fruit or the "warmth” exuded by the over 300 cheering Zoroastrians who had come to see the match on a week day, the PG team emerged victorious.
"Everything went off well, from the toss in our favor, to the batting, the fielding. We were very much on the top,” noted the captain of the PG team Kaizaad Wadia who was erstwhile president of the Gymkhana. The team notched up a total of 203 for two wickets in the assigned 20 overs; the home team only managed to score 135 for seven wickets. Winning by a margin of 68 runs, the PG team jubilantly lifted the 1886 Trophy instituted three years ago.
The visiting team enjoyed the thrill of playing at the Oval, being permitted an indoor net session, using the visitors’ room and the prestigious "Long Room” for the awards and reception. They were initially given a briefing on the rules and regulations too: be punctual, don’t write on the walls, don’t go onto the grounds unless you are fielders or the batsmen at the crease.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 "An important point to stress is that all the players were aged over 40,” said Wadia who is almost 59. In fact the eldest on the PG team was 77-year-old Freddy Sidhwa, chairman and managing director of Seven Seas Group in Dubai who after five minutes of play managed to bowl out Phil Walker, editor of Wisden Cricket Monthly, UK. The most successful bowler was opening batsman Shahen Mistry, an architect, who took three wickets. Lending an international touch to the PG team were Rony Iranpur, retired police officer  from the US and former PG captain Reshad Dotivala, a banker in London. Dotivala retired after scoring 38 runs, the highest among his teammates. The rest of the team from Bombay that played this or the other two matches in London included Firoze Katrak, vice president of the Gymkhana, Percy Pestonji who is on the Gymkhana cricket committee, lawyer Fredun De Vitre, Farshid Cooper, managing director of Spenta Corporation, architect Khushru Irani, businessmen Mehernosh Chhor, Vafadar Irani, Pervez Cooper, and those in private or government service Kersi Pavri, Vispy Mehta, Rustom Shethna, Maneck Daruwala, Behram Kotwal, Eric Billimoria and Soli Karanjia. Four of the higher order batsmen who had scored more than 35 chose to retire to permit other teammates to make their mark. "It was clear the tourers had prepared well for English conditions,” commented  ZTFE president Malcolm Deboo in his detailed report. 
CAXI captain Matt Greenwell congratulated the winners and thanked Khodadad Yazdegardi, vice president and cricket secretary of PG for organizing this tour. A former captain in the British Army, Greenwell, during his stay in Bombay, had put forth a suggestion to initiate the 1886 Trophy in memory of the first Indian cricket team’s visit to the UK. As the original 1886 team comprised all Parsis, it was decided that only Parsis would contend for the 1886 Trophy against the London county team. CAXI is named after Charles Alcock, the then secretary of Surrey County Cricket Club, who had organized the tour for the original 1886 pioneers.
Speaking on behalf of ZTFE and the UK Zoroastrians, Ron Kalifa OBE (Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire), chairman of payments company Network International and the first Parsi on the English Cricket Board, lauded the performance of the 2019 team as compared to their coreligionists in 1886 who had only managed to win one of the 28 matches in the UK, drawing eight and losing the rest. Lord Karan Bilimoria being abroad on the match day, his message was read out by Deboo. Bilimoria referred to hosting the PG team in the Houses of Parliament on August 20 when Yazdegardi presented him an asho farohar trophy which he planned to "proudly display in my House of Lords office and which I will cherish as well as the PG cap, tie and banner… The Parsi community are true all-rounders excelling in every field imaginable… Most importantly the Parsis have achieved all this, never with arrogance and always with humility…”
The post match reception for both teams and invited guests was sponsored by SPF Private Finance with the Bilimoria founded Cobra Beer supplying the brew. The prior night too, at the reception organized for the Parsi cricketers by the ZTFE at the Zoroastrian Centre, beer was provided by Cobra.

Khordad Saal with cricketers
The CAXI and PG teams were invited to the stage of the art deco grade II heritage listed Zoroastrian Centre at the Khordad Saal celebration on August 22. The mayor of Harrow, Cllr Nitin Parekh was requested to present golden plaques with the ZTFE logo to both the teams to celebrate their pre-match visit. The mayor welcomed the teams to Harrow, "the most religiously diverse borough in the UK,” and wished them success. Acknowledging the cheque presented by ZTFE trustee Rusi Dalal, he thanked them for contributing towards his efforts as mayor to support the Akshaya Patra Foundation in India that runs a school meal program serving 1.8 million children daily. Later Parekh was requested to draw the first winning ticket for the raffle organized by ZTFE to raise funds for the Dadar Athornan Institute.
Kalifa presented the ZTFE sesquicentennial gold medallion to Sidhwa, while ZTFE vice president external Shenaz Sadri, special projects officer Jesmin Sorab and Iranian community engagement officer Parivash Kiani presented the medallion to Bollywood star Boman Irani. On behalf of PG, Boman presented golden fravashi trophies to ZTFE, Kalifa, Sidhwa and Zarir Shroff of Red Tours who facilitated their UK trip.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"The first Bollywood actor to visit the Zoroastrian Centre,” Deboo’s report of the event referred to Boman "readily mingling with all, graciously posing with everybody, young and old.” Having flown in that morning, he chose not to partake of the heavy celebratory meal. "Not a single person came up to me to me and inquired why I was not eating, instead 38 persons came to persuade me to eat something,” jested Boman before regaling the audience with the Frank Sinatra number I Did it My Way. A video of the performance went viral across oceans.
After the Khordad Saal jashan, the celebratory meal catered by Zoe Foods comprised keema cutlets, jeera chicken, lamb biryani with dal and phirni. "Kudos to the PG team for their victory after drinking Cobra beer and the heavy meal they ate the previous night,” remarked Deboo. He added, "It should be noted that in 1986, the then ZTFE — Young Zoroastrians president Rumi Jasavala of Wimbledon organized a Zoroastrian cricket team from Canada to visit the UK to play a series of matches against the Zoroastrians of UK. They reciprocated by visiting Canada. However this year was the first time since the Parsis’ second tour of 1888 that an all Parsi cricket team from India toured the UK.”
Match memories
Of the three matches played in London in 2019 by the PG team, they lost the first one on August 19 against Chiswick County Club founded in 1853 and won the second on August 21 against Lurgashall County Club in Sussex, founded in 1863. "The 1886 team had played at both these places,” mentioned Yazdegardi in a subsequent interview with Parsiana.
On the 2019 trip, all the PG team members were given a chance to play a minimum of two of the three matches. For the match in Lurgashall where the PG team was captained by De Vitre, a 100-year-old coin was used for the toss. The understanding was, "if you win the game, you take the coin back with you,” related Yazdegardi. For the match that started at 5 p.m., they even got to play with a fluorescent orange ball.
Until August 19, the temperature in London ranged from 19° to 9°C; after 22, it rose to 32°, recalled Yazdegardi. Every player on the team was presented with a set of whites for the matches as also a sweater, blue T-shirt, blazer, tie and cap. Thanks to the largesse of well-wishers, for the 11 days of stay in London each of the players only had to pay the visa cost of Rs 11,000. As the prime organizer, Yazdegardi  had to arrange to carry 20 mementoes, each weighing 750 g, for the dignitaries and prime supporters, as also the small mementoes, each weighing around 450 g, for the players. But more than the weight, the prime cause for anxiety was the visas that came in late, and that too after intervention by Union minister Smriti Irani, with two players able to join the team only two days later. The British Deputy High Commissioner to India, Crispin Simon, specially flew home to participate in the game, stated Yazdegardi.
Most of the PG team members were known to each other, having played regularly in the 1980s. Wadia remembered the then PG team was so strong that despite his scoring 100 not out in one game and 173 in another, he was retained as the 12th man for years. The 1886 Trophy has given the PG players an opportunity to revive their bonds with the friendly games they play intermittently. Wadia though was keen to get better performance from his team, saying there is need for a physical fitness camp a month or two prior to the match. "Presently we are playing from muscle memory.”
The 1886 Trophy that was donated by Aspan Cooper, chairman and managing director of Spenta Corporation when the British Business 11 played against PG in 2016 (see "Parsis at the pitch,” Parsiana, December 7, 2016) was won by the home team in Bombay that year but carried to London in 2018 when they lost against CAXI. Brought back by the winning team this August, it is proudly displayed once again on the PG premises in Bombay.