by Arunabha Sengupta
A few days earlier, he had been batting at the nets when struck a violent blow over the heart by young Ken Farnes. But he recovered in time to lead MCC against British Guiana at Georgetown. It was an odd match on a sticky, with Bob Wyatt declaring at 41 for 5 in the first innings, 147 behind, and still MCC went on to win by 9 wickets.
In the second innings, as Hammond and Townsend were getting the runs, Wyatt was strolling around the ground. He came across native man, sitting on the branches of a tree, watching the match and conducting a loud but unintelligible commentary. As Wyatt walked past the tree, this man jumped down and approached him. In his cupped hands was a small black object, which turned out to be a miniature coffin. And in the coffin was a beautifully carved miniature corpse. In the place of the head was the picture of Wyatt himself.
As the England captain looked at the macabre effigy, the man leered at him: “This is what Martindale do to you!”
England went into the final Test one up in the series. George Headley batted eight and a quarter hours for an unbeaten 270. West Indies scored 535.
Wyatt debated dropping himself down the order. He was not feeling too well. Vice captain Errol Holmes dissuaded him. “We’re going to need you badly to take the edge off these fast bowlers.” Martindale, Hylton, Constantine… a hell of a pace attack.
Wyatt opened. In Martindale’s first over, a short ball came off the seam, missed his bat and wrist and hit him full on the jaw. Eric Hollies, sitting in the dressing room with windows closed, said it sounded like a revolver shot. Wyatt was carried off unconscious, blood pouring from his mouth.
When he came to, he was lying on stretcher in the pavilion. Gesturing for a notepad, he wrote down the rearranged batting order.
He was taken to the hospital and it was found his jaw was broken in four places. When Holmes went to see him, Wyatt was swathed in bandages.
The score did not cheer him up. 21 for 4. Wyatt snatched a note pad again and wrote, “We must not lose.” He did write another message, to Martindale, telling him not to worry because it had been a perfectly fair ball.
England lost by an innings and 161 runs and the series ended 1-1. Wyatt returned with the team, without any trained nursing attendant on the ship. The specialists in Birmingham told him that he would have to have the jaw built up with a bone graft from his shin, and that he would be out of the game for the season.
However, within three weeks, Wyatt opened the batting for MCC against Surrey, facing Alf Gover at his fastest, and scored 103. He returned to Edgbaston the day after the match, took on Gloucestershire, and scored 103 not out.
The coffin man’s prediction almost came true. But not totally.
Bob Wyatt was born on May 2, 1901