4/8/24, 12:23 PM Wisden - Wisden Obituaries - 2013

RUTNAGUR, DICKYJAMSHED SOHRAB, who died on June 20, aged 82, was one of the most durable,
knowledgeable and travelled of all cricket writers. A Bombay Parsi, Rutnagur began to forge a reputation in
India in the 1950s as a writer and commentator on cricket, badminton and squash. Encouraged by the
wandering scribe Ron Roberts, he moved to England to join the Daily Telegraph's team of county cricket
reporters, and between 1966 and 2005 his pieces, under the name D. J. Rutnagur, appeared in the paper
thousands of times. Out of season, he would travel the world to freelance on Test matches, disguised under
names such as Dilip Rao. His Telegraph copy, like his byline, was unadorned, fitting perfectly the paper's old
insistence on plain facts.

The restrictions largely deprived readers of his excellent cricketing judgment. In person, he was never bland:
a press box with Dicky in it was always full of cigarette smoke, chat and mischief, with whisky afterwards.
Therewould be fits of rather comic irritability, directed at "the bloody subs" or the copy-takers - or simply bad
cricket. Though the annoyance would soon dissolve into guffaws, he took the game seriously and expected it
to be played correctly and well. His son Richard appeared for Oxford in the 1985 and 1986 Varsity matches.

RYAN, MAURICE LLOYD, who died on August 12, 2011, aged 68, was an accomplished batsman, astute
captain, handy off-spinner and useful stand-in wicketkeeper who came close to selection for New Zealand.
Although he had three seasons with Central Districts - and made his maiden century for them against Otago
in 1968-69, when he shared a big stand with Bevan Congdon - Ryan was more associated with Canterbury.
He scored two hundreds in a week in January 1971, including a career-best 129 against Auckland, and made
more than 2,000 runs for them in all. His versatility made him a useful one-day performer, and he played for
a New Zealand XI that took part in Australia's domestic one day competition in 1971-72, catching Bill Lawry
off the young Richard Hadlee. He was later chairman of the Canterbury Cricket Association, before resigning
in 2001 and moving to Sydney, where he died ten years later.

SALIM PERVEZ died on April 24, aged 65, of injuries received in a motorcycle accident in Lahore. He had a
successful career in Pakistan, scoring more than 8,000 runs with 16 centuries, the highest 226 not out for
National Bank against Quetta in 1978-79. "Paijee" was often tantalisingly close to Pakistan selection, but in
fact played just a solitary one day international, against West Indies at Lahore in 1980-81 - and might have
wished he had missed it, as he was sent in first against Sylvester Clarke and Colin Croft, with Joel Garner
and Malcolm Marshall to come. Still, he made 18 in an opening stand of 44, and was unlucky not to play
again, particularly in 1982-83, when he passed 1,000 runs in the home season. Pervez was later involved in
the match-fixing scandals that engulfed Pakistan cricket in the late 1990s. After allegations that he had acted
as a go-between for bookies and players, he was summoned to appear before the 1998 Qayyum Inquiry. He
testified that he had given money to several cricketers, notably $US100,000 to Salim Malik and Mushtaq
Ahmed during a one-day tournament in Sri Lanka in 1994, an allegation both players denied. However,
Qayyum concluded, "this commission on the whole believes Salim Pervez".

SANTOSH LAL, who died of pancreatitis on July 17, aged 29, was an all-rounder for Jharkhand (formerly
Bihar), scoring 63 against Tripura in December 2006. But his greatest legacy was the whirling helicopter shot
later perfected by Mahendra Singh Dhoni, a state team-mate. On hearing of Lal's illness, Dhoni - a friend
since childhood - arranged for him to be airlifted from Ranchi to Delhi for specialist treatment, but it was too
late.

SHAH, Dr SYED MOHAMMAD ALI, who died on February 4, aged 67, was a Karachi orthopaedic surgeon,
and part-time cricket commentator for Pakistan TV and radio, in English and Urdu. He built the Asghar Ali
Shah Stadium in the north of Karachi - a fully equipped and floodlit ground, named after his father, which has
now staged several first class matches (Umar Akmal scored 248 there in December 2007). He received
awards from the government for his services to sport and medicine, and was Sind's sports minister from
2011 to 2013.

SHAHID ISRAR, who died on April 29, aged 63, was a wicketkeeper who played one Test for Pakistan,
against New Zealand in 1976-77, while the long-serving Wasim Bari was temporarily out of favour. Shahid
dropped a few in a high-scoring draw, but did catch Richard Hadlee off Intikhab Alam for 87, and Wasim
soon returned. Shahid's ten-year career included matches for several teams, most of them based in Karachi.
He scored 93 while captaining Sind A against PIA in January 1977. SHAHID QURESHI, who died on
September 2, aged 77, was a batsman who played 20 first-class matches in Pakistan over a decade from
1954-55. His only century, 135, came for Karachi C against Karachi A in October 1957.

SHAMSHER SINGH, who died of a heart attack on March 21, aged 40, was a hard working medium-pacer
who took 55 Ranji Trophy wickets for Rajasthan, with a best of five for 72 against Vidarbha in 1992-93, his
first season. He also took five for 26 against them in a one-day game. Shamsher later ran a coaching
academy in Jaipur, and was the manager of the Rajasthan Royals team, captained by Shane Warne, which
won the inaugural IPL, in 2008.

SHAW, JOHN, who died on November 25, aged 56, was a highly regarded journalist and commentator, best
known in the Midlands for his reports on music and sport, particularly cricket, for BBC Radio Leicester. "He
taught me everything I know in radio," said Charlie Dagnall, the former county player who joined the Test
Match Special team in 2013. "He'll always be the voice in my head when commentating."

SHEIKH SALAHUDDIN AHMED, who died of a heart attack on October 29, aged 44, was an off-spinner
who played six one-day internationals for Bangladesh in pre-Test days. In his second match, against Sri
Lanka in Colombo in July 1997, he took two for 48, dismissing Sanath Jayasuriya and Arjuna Ranatunga.
First-class cricket did not start in earnest in Bangladesh until Test status was acquired in 2000-01, by which
time Salahuddin was bowling less - but he did score 96 on his first-class debut, for Khulna against Biman
Airlines in January 2001. After retiring in 2006, he took up coaching.

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