It’s a beautiful day for cricket. The turf is green. The radio is crackling. The scoreboard is ticking. The crowd is cheering. And the sun is beginning to set on the British Empire.

We travel in time to an age when caste and class divide the pavilion. On and off the field, cricket reflects the discrimination that prevails in colonial societies. Players are segregated, teams assigned ethnic names, and coloured players docked their pay for using gates meant for white Englishmen.

Yet, it is this golden age that gives us greats like Ranjitsinhji and Duleepsinhji, and later Griffith and Sobers. Many new flags flutter in the winds of change as the colonies assert their independence. A game designed to cement the British Commonwealth takes on a life of its own and engenders a new world order.

Credits:Akshay Ramuhalli, Bijoy Venugopal, Bruce Lee Mani, Narayan Krishnaswamy, Prashant Vasudevan, Seema Seth, Shraddha Gautam, Supriya Joshi and Velu Shankar

Explore further:

Books:

• Mid-Wicket Tales — From Trumper to Tendulkar (Sage India, 2014)
• From Mumbai to Durban: India’s Greatest Tests (Juggernaut, 2016)

YouTube:

Cricket Giants Of 1890s (0)www.youtube.com/watch?v=w0KqQiurckQ

Rare Footage of English and Australian Cricket Teams (1905) | Sporting Historywww.youtube.com/watch?v=ChrFcjLJymU

1972: Gavaskar, Venkat, Solkar visit Ranjitsingh's home in Nawanagar.www.youtube.com/watch?v=hu3wIJkz5lg

Calypso Summer 1960/61 - Part 3 ABC Australiawww.youtube.com/watch?v=VFitqoB2B08

Shehnai Recital of Ustad Bismillah Khan | Part 1www.youtube.com/watch?v=3JeMR0RAHZg

All India Radio Signature tunewww.youtube.com/watch?v=WuS-UiaKiVk

England & Australia 1948 | The Lord's Ashes Test | Classic Cricket Filmswww.youtube.com/watch?v=l-xXMHXUMZg

Maryan - Official Teaser 3www.youtube.com/watch?v=3V8iZBq0JPo