4/8/24, 12:17 PM Wisden - Wisden Obituaries - 2013

Wisden Obituaries Wisden home

Wisden Obituaries - 2013 Almanack archive home

2014 home

AHMED MUSTAFA, who died on August 10, would have been only ten years old - and the youngest-ever
first-class cricketer - when he made his debut in February 1955, if his stated date of birth (March 7, 1944)
was correct. However, Qamar Ahmed - a journalist who played against him in the 1950s - met Mustafa a few
months before his death, and was told he was actually about 15 when he appeared for a Pakistan Schools XI
against the 1954-55 Indian tourists at Karachi. So he was probably 74 when he died after suffering head
injuries in a fall in his bathroom. A stylish batsman good enough to tour England as vice-captain of a
Pakistan Eaglets team, Mustafa played on to 1970, and scored 110 for Karachi C against Sind A (and Qamar
Ahmed's bowling) in 1957-58. A car accident ended his career, but in 1987 he set up a coaching centre in
Karachi, where his charges included Pakistan's Faisal Iqbal and England's Owais Shah. Readers recommend - Curated tweets by ESPNcricinfo

ALLEN, STANLEY ROWLATT, MBE, who died on December 22, aged 95, was Sussex's secretary for four
years from 1976, a period that included the World Series Cricket upheaval - initial details of which emerged
during the touring Australians' match at Hove in May 1977. Former Sussex captain John Barclay said: "At the
time Stanley arrived at Hove, Sussex cricket was at a bit of a low ebb and he breathed fresh air into the
management team." Allen had also done some cricket commentary for Radio Brighton, where he worked
with Desmond Lynam; in 1980 he returned to his career as a solicitor.

ALLITT, INEZ, OAM, died on December 10, aged 88. "Mary" Allitt played 11 Tests for Australia, the last
three of them as captain of the 1963 side to England. One of 12 children born into a farming family near
Deniliquin, on the plains of south-west New South Wales, she learned her cricket playing with her brothers at
home and with the other pupils at the one-teacher school at Pretty Pine. This background left her adept at
cutting, as she used the pace of the boys' bowling to great effect on a concrete pitch. Four Allitt sisters
played for Deniliquin against the touring England women's side in 1948-49, when Mary showed her defensive
capabilities with 56 out of a total of 96.

Although she did little in the Tests in England in 1951, Allitt did hit 150 against West Women at Cheltenham,
dominating an unfinished opening stand of 218 with Joan Schmidt. On the 1963 tour, she made 76 at
Scarborough, the innings of her Test career, putting on 125 with Miriam Knee after they had come together
at 51 for five. Australia eventually reached 225, but - mainly thanks to thick fog which swallowed up two
hours on the last day - England just managed to avoid defeat, crawling to 93 for nine in 92 overs.

After her retirement, Allitt and her husband, former rodeo horseman Tom Loy, spent over 30 years
developing the equestrian skills of local children. She remained active in administering women's cricket, and
her work in both arenas was recognised by the Medal of the Order of Australia in 2007. James Sutherland,
Cricket Australia's chief executive, paid tribute: "Mary and her team-mates were trailblazers of the game, and
she led [them] through a significant period of societal change, helping to pave the way for today's elite
players." Norma Whiteman, a fellow tourist in 1951, added: "Mary's cricket reflected her personality: well
organised, thoughtful and understated."

AZAD, DESH PREM, who died on August 16, aged 75, played 19 matches in a first-class career that
stretched for 19 years - but is best remembered as the coach and mentor of Kapil Dev. "If I achieved
anything," said Kapil, "a lot of the credit goes to him." Azad also had a hand in the careers of three other
Test cricketers from Haryana: Chetan Sharma, Ashok Malhotra and Yograj Singh (father of Yuvraj). In 1986,
not long after Kapil led India to victory in the World Cup, Azad became one of the first recipients of the
Indian government's new Dronacharya Award for sports coaching. His highest score was 83, for Southern
Punjab against Services in Delhi in 1960-61, made in the follow-on after the whole side had been shot out
for 83 in the first innings.

BASHIR AHMED BASTI, who died on January 4, aged 88, was the secretary of the Board of Control for
Cricket in Pakistan between 1965 and 1971. He played two first-class matches in India before Partition,
opening the bowling and taking eight for 42 in the first innings of his debut, for United Provinces against
Bengal at Kanpur in 1945-46. BELLANY, JOHN, CBE, RA, who died on August 28, aged 71, was an acclaimed
Scottish artist, famous for his colourful figurative paintings, many of which featured fishermen from Port
Seton, the village in which he grew up. But one, in 1985, depicted Ian Botham, then in the "flower power"
stage of his career. The subject was unimpressed: "If an alien landed on the planet with explicit instructions

https://www.espncricinfo.com/wisdenalmanack/content/story/826611.html 5/19