June 11, 1946 – When Peter Judge bagged the fastest pair ever in first-class cricket

India toured England in 1946 for a 3-match Test series which also marked the return of Test cricket in England after the World War II. India played a total of 12 tour matches including ten games with the first-class status ahead of the first Test at the Lord’s. On 8th June, India began their 3-day match against Glamorgan at the Cardiff Arms Park with a rest day scheduled for the second day. India, who won the toss, elected to bat first and piled on a big score in the first innings.

Lala Amarnath scored an unbeaten 104 while Vinoo Mankad (86), Vijay Hazare (79) and skipper Vijay Merchant (52) struck the fifties as India declared their innings on 376/6 after batting for 156 overs. The first two days were marred by rain as the match headed towards a draw with the home team finishing the second day at 77/3. Mankad and Chandu Sarwate were active with the ball on the final day to reduce Glamorgan to 137/8.

Glamorgan’s tail turns up to open!

Sarwate got his 4th wicket when he cleaned up the opposition wicketkeeper Hayden Davies. The No.11 batsman Peter Judge walked out to bat at the score of 149/9 for joining the Glamorgan’s Captain John Clay at the crease. Sarwate completed a 5-wicket haul with Peter Judge getting cleaned up on the very first ball he faced. Glamorgan were bowled out for 149 and the Indian team decided to enforce the follow-on with a lead of 227 in hand.

The loss of time due to the rain was covered by both team captains as they decided to not opt for the innings break. Moreover, the last two batsmen of Glamorgan’s first innings, Peter Judge and skipper John Clay stayed on the field to open the second innings. Both Clay and Judge were not so skilled batters and it was proved again when they got out cheaply. (Judge scored 0 while Clay made 1 run.)

Dismissed twice in two minutes!

Chandu Sarwate began the proceedings of Glamorgan’s second essay as the two innings were spread barely by a minute. Sarwate, who cleaned up Judge with the first ball, took a ball more in the second innings. The new Glamorgan opener was cleaned up on the second ball of the innings with which, he bagged a pair as well. The two ducks of Peter Judge came in the space of two minutes making it the fastest pair in first-class cricket.

Peter Judge could have taken a total of five minutes from walking on to the field and returning back to the pavilion only to bag a pair. Glamorgan had to bat 35 overs in their second innings where they made 73/7 to avoid a big defeat against the Indian team. Both Mankad and Sarwate bagged seven wickets apiece in the match. Later, India went on to lose the Test series 0-1 having lost the Lord’s Test by 10 wickets.