Mirza Idrees Baig (1911 – 30 July 1986) (also spelled Idris, Beg and Begh) was a Pakistani
cricket umpire
In cricket, an umpire (from the Old French ''nompere'' meaning not a peer, i.e. not a member of one of the teams, impartial) is a person who has the authority to make decisions about events on the cricket field according to the ''Laws of Cricket ...
. He stood in nine
Test matches between 1955 and 1969.
Playing career
Idrees Baig played seven
first-class matches
First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is one of three or more days' scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officiall ...
for
Delhi
Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders ...
in the
Ranji Trophy between 1936 and 1946. (Delhi played only 11 matches in this period.) A middle-order batsman and fast-medium bowler, he scored one century, 106 in the victory over
Gwalior
Gwalior() is a major city in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh; it lies in northern part of Madhya Pradesh and is one of the Counter-magnet cities. Located south of Delhi, the capital city of India, from Agra and from Bhopal, the s ...
in 1943–44, reaching his century in 155 minutes with 18 fours. His best bowling figures were 4 for 29 and 5 for 27 against
United Provinces in 1936–37, but they were not enough to prevent a three-wicket loss in a low-scoring match.
Umpiring career
Baig umpired one Ranji Trophy match in 1945–46 (a few weeks after playing in his last match) and 45 first-class matches in
Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...
between 1953–54 and 1974–75. He umpired nine Tests in Pakistan: four in Pakistan’s five-match series against India in 1954–55 (the first four Tests in Pakistan), all three Tests against New Zealand in 1955–56, the single Test against Australia in 1956–57, and the First Test against New Zealand in 1969–70. He also umpired all four matches Pakistan played against the
MCC in 1955–56.
He was the subject of a controversial incident in
Peshawar
Peshawar (; ps, پېښور ; hnd, ; ; ur, ) is the sixth most populous city in Pakistan, with a population of over 2.3 million. It is situated in the north-west of the country, close to the International border with Afghanistan. It is ...
during the
MCC tour of 1955–56. One evening some of the English players, fed up with what they regarded as Baig's pomposity on the field and his bias in favour of
Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...
, kidnapped him, took him back to their hotel and tipped a bucket of water over him. The incident caused outrage in Pakistan and almost led to the abandonment of the tour, but diplomacy by the
MCC president,
Lord Alexander, and
Iskander Mirza
Sahibzada Iskander Ali Mirza ( bn, ইস্কান্দার আলী মির্জা; ur, ; 13 November 1899 – 13 November 1969), , was a Pakistani Bengali general officer and civil servant who was the first President of Pakista ...
, the president of the
Board of Control for Cricket in Pakistan, smoothed things over sufficiently to allow the tour to continue.
Peter Oborne
Peter Alan Oborne (; born 11 July 1957) is a British journalist and broadcaster. He is the former chief political commentator of ''The Daily Telegraph'', from which he resigned in early 2015. He is author of ''The Rise of Political Lying'', ''Th ...
, who has researched the incident, doubts if the suggestions of bias were valid. He points out, for example, that
Henry Cooper, who managed the
New Zealand cricket team
The New Zealand national cricket team represents New Zealand in men's international cricket. Named the Black Caps, they played their first Test in 1930 against England in Christchurch, becoming the fifth country to play Test cricket. From 1930 ...
that
toured Pakistan in 1955, had singled out Baig as the best of the Pakistan umpires, calling him "first rate". Baig does seem to have been more than usually vain, however; he told the MCC team's manager that people came to his matches to watch him umpire.
Baig managed the 1957 tour of England and Wales by the
Pakistan Eaglets, a two-month, 35-match tour by young players that "passed harmoniously and highly successfully".
[Oborne, p. 131.]
See also
*
List of Test cricket umpires
A ''list'' is any set of items in a row. List or lists may also refer to:
People
* List (surname)
Organizations
* List College, an undergraduate division of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America
* SC Germania List, German rugby uni ...
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Baig, Idrees
1911 births
1986 deaths
Cricketers from Delhi
Pakistani Test cricket umpires
Pakistani cricketers
Delhi cricketers