{{Short description|English cricketer (1932–2024)}} {{Use British English|date=April 2024}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2024}} {{Infobox cricketer | name = Raman Subba Row | honorific_suffix = CBE | image = | country = England | fullname = Raman Subba Row | nickname = | birth_date = {{Birth date|1932|1|29|df=yes}} | birth_place = Streatham, Surrey, England | death_date = {{Death date and age|2024|4|17|1932|1|29|df=yes}} | death_place = Croydon, Surrey, UK | batting = Left-handed | bowling = Leg-break and googly | role = Batsman | family = D. V. Subba Rao (cousin)<br>Sir M. Venkata Subba Rao | international = true | testdebutdate = 24 July | testdebutyear = 1958 | testdebutagainst = New Zealand | testcap = 390 | lasttestdate = 22 August | lasttestyear = 1961 | lasttestagainst = Australia | club1 = Cambridge UCC | year1 = 1951–1953 | club2 = Surrey CCC | year2 = 1953–1954 | club3 = Northamptonshire CCC | year3 = 1955–1961 | type1 = FC | debutdate1 = 2 May | debutyear1 = 1951 | debutfor1 = Cambridge University | debutagainst1 = Lancashire | lastdate1 = 9 April | lastyear1 = 1968 | lastfor1 = Bombay Cricket Association President's XI | lastagainst1 = Indian Prime Minister's XI | columns = 2 | column1 = Test | matches1 = 13 | runs1 = 984 | bat avg1 = 46.85 | 100s/50s1 = 3/4 | top score1 = 137 | deliveries1 = 6 | wickets1 = 0 | bowl avg1 = – | fivefor1 = – | tenfor1 = – | best bowling1 = – | catches/stumpings1 = 5/– | column2 = First-class | matches2 = 260 | runs2 = 14,182 | bat avg2 = 41.46 | 100s/50s2 = 30/73 | top score2 = 300 | deliveries2 = 6,243 | wickets2 = 87 | bowl avg2 = 38.65 | fivefor2 = 2 | tenfor2 = 0 | best bowling2 = 5/21 | catches/stumpings2 = 176/– | date = 13 January | year = 2009 | source = http://www.cricinfo.com/ci/content/player/20406.html Cricinfo }} [[File:Medal, order (AM 2001.25.1086-3).jpg|thumb|right|140px|CBE neck decoration]] '''Raman Subba Row''' {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|CBE}} (29 January 1932 – 17 April 2024) was a 20th-century Anglo-Indian cricket player and administrator, who played Test cricket for England and captained Northamptonshire CCC (1958–61), later serving as Chairman of the Test and County Cricket Board (1985–90).<ref name="Cap"/>
==Life and career== Born in 1932 at Streatham, Surrey,<ref name="Cap">{{cite book |title=If The Cap Fits |last=Bateman |first=Colin |year=1993 |publisher=Tony Williams Publications |isbn=1-869833-21-X |page=[https://archive.org/details/ifcapfits0000unse/page/163 163] |url=https://archive.org/details/ifcapfits0000unse/page/163 }}</ref> to an Indian lawyer, Panguluri Venkata Subba Rao from Bapatla, Andhra Pradesh<ref>[https://www.siasat.com/raman-subba-row-son-of-an-andhra-man-changed-the-face-of-english-cricket-3012247/ www.siasat.com]</ref> and English mother, Doris Mildred ''née'' Pinner,<ref name="rediff_20050118">{{cite news|title=Misconduct deserves match penalty|url=http://www.rediff.com/cricket/2005/jan/18cinter.htm|work=Rediff.com|date=18 January 2005|access-date=27 February 2023|archive-date=11 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210411003110/https://www.rediff.com/cricket/2005/jan/18cinter.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> he was educated at Whitgift School before going up to Trinity Hall, Cambridge (MA).
A left-handed opening batsman and occasional leg-spin and googly bowler, Subba Row was a member of the powerful Cambridge University team of the early 1950s and played a few games for Surrey before joining Northamptonshire. In 1958 he succeeded Dennis Brookes as captain, leading the team for four seasons and achieved considerable success as a batsman, scoring Northants' then highest ever innings, 260 not out, in 1955 and bettering it with 300 against Surrey, the County Champions, at The Oval in 1958, where he shared a record sixth wicket stand of 376 with Albert Lightfoot.<ref>{{cite web |title=Surrey v Northamptonshire 1958 |url=http://static.espncricinfo.com/db/ARCHIVE/1950S/1958/ENG_LOCAL/CC/SURREY_NORTHANTS_CC_04-06JUN1958.html |publisher=ESPNcricinfo|access-date=24 January 2023 |archive-date=24 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230124004558/http://static.espncricinfo.com/db/ARCHIVE/1950S/1958/ENG_LOCAL/CC/SURREY_NORTHANTS_CC_04-06JUN1958.html |url-status=live }}</ref>
Subba Row won thirteen caps regularly opening the batting for England between 1958 and 1961, scoring 984 runs at an average of just under 47.<ref name="Cap"/> That included 94 in only his second Test against India at The Oval, a century in his third against the West Indies at Georgetown in Guyana, and two more hundreds in The Ashes 1961 series. Both his centuries against Australia, at Edgbaston<ref>{{cite web |title=1st Test, Birmingham, June 08 – 13, 1961, Australia tour of England |url=https://www.espncricinfo.com/series/australia-tour-of-england-1961-61331/england-vs-australia-1st-test-62893/full-scorecard |publisher=ESPNcricinfo|access-date=24 January 2023 |archive-date=24 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230124004558/https://www.espncricinfo.com/series/australia-tour-of-england-1961-61331/england-vs-australia-1st-test-62893/full-scorecard |url-status=live }}</ref> and The Oval,<ref>{{cite web|title=5th Test, The Oval, August 17 – 22, 1961, Australia tour of England|url=https://www.espncricinfo.com/series/australia-tour-of-england-1961-61331/england-vs-australia-5th-test-62897/full-scorecard|publisher=ESPNcricinfo|access-date=24 January 2023|archive-date=24 January 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230124004558/https://www.espncricinfo.com/series/australia-tour-of-england-1961-61331/england-vs-australia-5th-test-62897/full-scorecard|url-status=live}}</ref> helped save England from defeat.
Subba Row was named one of the ''Wisden'' Cricketers of the Year in 1961. At the end of the 1961 season, he retired rather abruptly from first-class cricket at the age of 29, entering public relations<ref name="Cap"/> with WS Crawfords advertising agency at Holborn, where he became a director (1963–69).
Having returned to Surrey where he helped drive a programme of ground development, commercial sponsorship and creating long-term income at The Oval, Subba Row is celebrated as a pioneer in cricket marketing.<ref>[https://nccc.co.uk/news/remembering-raman-subba-row-cbe/ www.nccc.co.uk]</ref>
Chairman of Surrey CCC (1974–78) and an influential figure in the MCC at Lord's, Subba Row later served as Chairman of the TCCB, and as an ICC match referee (1992–2001).<ref>[https://www.icc-cricket.com/media-releases/icc-expresses-sadness-at-the-passing-of-raman-subba-row www.icc-cricket.com]</ref>
==Family== Subba Row married Anne ''née'' Harrison in 1960, having two sons and a daughter, as well as eight grandchildren and a great-grandchild.<ref>[https://www.kiaoval.com/raman-subba-row-obituary/ www.kiaoval.com]</ref>
He died on 17 April 2024, at the age of 92.<ref>{{cite news |title=Raman Subba Row obituary: England's oldest-surviving Test cricketer |url=https://www.thetimes.com/uk/article/raman-subba-row-obituary-englands-oldest-surviving-test-cricketer-frnzwbvfd |access-date=18 April 2024 |work=The Times |date=18 April 2024}}</ref> At the time of his death Subba Row was the oldest surviving England Test cricketer.<ref name="obit">{{cite news |title=Raman Subba Row obituary |url=https://www.kiaoval.com/raman-subba-row-obituary/ |access-date=18 April 2024 |publisher=Surrey County Cricket Club |date=18 April 2024}}</ref>
Predeceased by his elder son, Christopher, in 2021, his younger son is Alistair Subba Row, chairman of Farebrother<ref>[https://farebrother.com/team/ www.farebrother.com]</ref> and company surveyor to the Haberdashers' Company, who is also a committee member of Marylebone Cricket Club and chairman of Arundel Castle Cricket Foundation;<ref>[https://www.cricketatarundelcastle.co.uk/board-and-officers www.cricketatarundelcastle.co.uk]</ref> his daughter is Michele Subba Row.
==Awards and honours== Appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 1991 New Year Honours,<ref>United Kingdom list:{{London Gazette |issue=52382 |date=28 December 1990 |pages=8 |supp=y}}</ref> Whitgift School has named a conference room after Subba Row.<ref>[https://www.whitgift.co.uk/co-curricular/sport/why-whitgift/whitgift-environment www.whitgift.co.uk]</ref>
==See also== * Ashes tour of Australia in 1958–59 * Tallapragada Subba Row
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * {{cricinfo|id=20406}} * [https://www.surreycricketfoundation.org/subba-row-plate-and-conference-cup-victories-for-east-molesey/ www.surreycricketfoundation.org] * [https://nccc.co.uk/news/subba-row-and-sales-join-hall-of-fame/ Northamptonshire CCC Hall of Fame]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Subba Row, Raman}} Category:1932 births Category:2024 deaths Category:English people of Indian descent Category:People from Streatham Category:English cricketers Category:British Asian cricketers Category:20th-century English sportsmen Category:Surrey cricketers Category:Sportspeople of Indian descent Category:Cricketers from the London Borough of Lambeth Category:Cricketers from the London Borough of Merton Category:People educated at Whitgift School Category:Alumni of Trinity Hall, Cambridge Category:Gentlemen cricketers Category:Cambridge University cricketers Category:England Test cricketers Category:Commonwealth XI cricketers Category:Northamptonshire cricket captains Category:Northamptonshire cricketers Category:Combined Services cricketers Category:Wisden Cricketers of the Year Category:Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers Category:A. E. R. Gilligan's XI cricketers Category:English cricket administrators Category:Commanders of the Order of the British Empire