John Abrahams, the cricketer who got the man of the match for nearly doing nothing. It was the birthday of an unassuming, honest, and rather ordinary cricketer in the final of Benson & Hedges Cup final of 1984. Despite Alvin Kallicharran scoring a crucial 70 in difficult conditions, Abrahams won the man of the match award in the Benson and Hedges Cup final at Lord's in 1984 for his captaincy, despite not bowling and scoring a duck. The two events combined into one of the strangest birthday gifts presented on the cricket field.
Abrahams was a left-handed batsman and right-arm-off break bowler. He played for Lancashire County Cricket Club from 1973 to 1988 and also appeared for the Minor Counties in 1974 and Shropshire from 1989 to 1991. He was awarded his Lancashire cap in 1982 and captained Lancashire in 1984 and 1985. He scored 14 First-Class hundreds, with a best of 201 not out against Warwickshire. His solitary One-Day century, 103 not out, came against Somerset.
Daddy Abrahams was a cricketer as well
John's father Cec Abrahams was a fast bowling all-rounder of Western Province. In 1958, Cec went on a tour to East Africa with the non-white South African side, and his performance with the bat matched the deeds of Basil D’Oliveira. Young John was just six when his dad was going through cricketing success as a coloured South African touring East Africa. Soon after that, D’Oliveira famously journeyed to England to script history in the world — sporting and beyond. Cec Abrahams followed him and joined as a pro for Milnrow in the Central Lancashire League. John accompanied his father, and quite understandably they never thought of returning to their homeland.
The beginning for John
He made his debut for Lancashire in 1973 but remained a fringe player for almost a decade. He did score his first hundred for the county in the Roses match of 1977, but that remained his only hundred till 1982. Suddenly, he started scoring more than 1,000 runs a year. He did so in four seasons, between 1982 to 1986, missing the milestone by only 48 runs in 1985. Yet, he never succeeded in managing a season average of 40-plus other than in 1986. As already stated, he was not the best of cricketers.
It was therefore a major surprise when he was appointed captain of the county in 1984, succeeding a figure as huge as Clive Lloyd. During his first year, he led the Lancashire side to triumph in the Benson & Hedges Cup.
John Abrahams later went on to manage the England Under-19 team in 2009 and coached the side in 2010. His brothers are Basil and Peter Abrahams. John's wife Debbie is a Labour MP, elected at the January 2011 parliamentary by-election in Oldham East and Saddleworth.
