Bapasola, Gagrat and Pavri are not names to be found in any list of India's international cricketers. They were of an era much before India made her Test debut (at Lord's in 1932). Yet these Parasee players were the three true ethnic representatives in the first All-India XI that ever played a match anywhere.

It all happened exactly 100 years ago. In the winter of 1892–93, Lord Hawke– at not yet the dominating figure he was to become in the game – took a team of amateurs out to the Indian subcontinent, where three years earlier he had been in the first English side to tour the region. After begining their programme in Ceylon, Hawke's even travelled through India and, some 10 weeks after the tour had commenced, the match against the XI of India was played at Allahabad, on Jan 26–28, 1893.

It seems surprising that Allahabad rather than the bigger centres of Bombay, Calcutta (then capital of British India) or Madras should have staged this important, in latter-day parlance something an `unofficial Test'. Perhaps the town's at the geographical centre of India had something to do with it.

The All-India side comprised eight Britons and the aforementioned Parsees. The team was chosen and led by M. Chesney (in the photograph, fourth from right in the middle row), editor of the local paper Pioneer, through apparently the Parsees were nominated by their eminence  J. M. Framee Patel. Nusserwanji Bapasola, 25, and 26-year-old Mehellasha Pavri (respectively second and fifth from right in the back row) had toured England with the 1888 Parsees side, and there were three others in the All-India XI who played first-class cricket in Britain.

 Walter Troup, standing on Bapasola's right, was the man who took over as Gloucestershire's captain in 1899, when W. G. Grace made his move to Crystal Palace. E. H. D. Sewell (on the right, front row) later played as a professional with Essex, while wicketkeeper E. L. French, on Sewell's right, appeared in 1902 for WG's London County team. Dr Pavri, incidentally, played one Championship match for Middlesex in 1895. Troup had been born in India: so too Sewell – but of course they were not Indians the way the Parasees were.

Sewell's rambling The Log of a Sportsman recalls that the match was played `on a very dusty pitch in the Albert Park', but the actual name of the venue was Alfred Park. Indeed, Allahabad's big cricket is still played there, albeit in the much later Madanmohan Malaviya stadium. Over the years only one other visiting side has played in Allahabad: the 1948–49 West Indians, who lost to East Zone on a matting pitch.

 Lord Hawke himself did not play against All-India. In the group he sits fourth from left, wearing gloves (not the batting kind) and carrying a cane: possibly on the day he had a chill. His team included several other Test cricketers. George Vernon, on his right, had 10 years earlier represented England in Australia, besides being a rugby international. He had led the 1889–90 touring side to India.

The two Cambridge men, F. S. Jackson and A. J. L. Hill (respectively first and second from left in the front row), were both to become Test players, `Jacker' as early as in the summer of 1893. The other future Test men were paceman Chris Heseltine (standing, second from left), who many years later was to be best man at Lord Hawke's wedding, and opener-keeper C. W. (`Chawles') Wright. These two, like Hill, played for England while in South Africa with another of Hawke's touring teams in 1895–96, when Hill hit a hundred at Cape Town.

Rather surprisingly, only one player in the photograph – A. E. Leatham, seated extreme left – is wearing the famous Lord Hawke blazer. Otherwise there is a quite a collection of sporting jackets of the day, and also an interesting exhibition of head-gear: boaters, golf caps, county caps. And the Parsees stand out in this respect, too. Incidentally, the third Parsee, B. D. Bagrat, is standing between Pavri and Troup.

All-India suffered an innings defeat. Batting first, the `home' side made 139, Troup top-scorer with 49. Then `Brownie' Hill, dropped early, scored 132 as the visitors went on to 343, half-centuries also coming from A. E. Gibson and Vernon. As All-India failed by five runs to make Hawke's team bat again, Bapasola (`Baby-soda', the Englishmen called him) hit 65, having earlier taken three wickets.

That was All-India's first-ever appearance. The name did not figure again in a first-class cricket match till an Indian side visited England in the summer of 1911. Then, Lord Hawke led Yorkshire against the tourists; and E. H. D. Sewell, in All-India's maiden match at Lord's, hit a hundred – for MCC!

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