RAMAN SUBBA ROW, who died last week, was one of the few remaining links to the game as it used to be played. He was one of the country’s last amateur players, a renowned run-maker in county cricket and an England international before he suddenly retired aged 29.
Born in Streatham to an Indian father and English mother, Subba Row was educated at Whitgift School, where he was equally regarded as a batter and an off-spinner. He then went to Cambridge University, where he studied law. He had transitioned to leg-spin by this time, but became better known as a talented, run-hungry batsman and earned his place in a strong university side that also featured future England captain Peter May. In that side, he won his cricket Blue, the highest sporting honour at the university.
Leaving Cambridge, Subba Row joined Surrey in 1953 as they began their run of seven Championship wins, but he left for Northamptonshire in 1955. Nevertheless, it was at The Oval that his most memorable moment in county cricket came as he made 300 there in 1958, Northamptonshire’s first triple century.
1958 was an important year for Subba Row, as he became captain of Northants and won his first England cap in an innings victory against New Zealand at Old Trafford, and though he only made nine runs, it was the beginning of a period of prolific scoring in first-class cricket. He made over 1,500 runs each season from 1958- 61, peaking with 1,917 in 1959 and a recall to the Test team.
A first England century came in 1960 against the West Indies in Guyana and a second against Australia at Edgbaston in 1960, with Subba Row now o
