RIP – CLIVE CLAY INMAN (1936-2022) – By Upali Obeyesekere
It is with profound sadness we learn of the recent demise of legendary Peterite cricketer CLIVE INMAN, 86. News has reached us that he passed away on Wed. 7th December in the U.K.
Born 29 January 1936, Clive Clay Inman had his baptism to school cricket playing for his alma mater, St. Peter’s College Colombo, in 1951, under the captaincy of former Ceylon cricketer H.I.K. Fernando. He played for St. Peter’s from 1951-1955, captaining in 1954 & 1955. He played under H.I.K. Fernando (1951 & 1952), and Harold Wittachy (1953). He captained the next two years.
Going by archives published by St. Peter’s College, Inman was the 6th player to captain his alma mater for two consecutive years. The others been A. Weerasinghe (1940 & 1941); Anton Perera (1944 & 1945); Dion Walles (1946 & 1947); and H.I.K. Fernando (1951 & 1952); and Roy Dias (1971 & 1972).
Clive Inman’s batting potential was seen from his early years since he was picked to play in the first eleven when he was 15. He batted left-hand and bowled right-arm off-break. Besides these two disciplines, Inman was a brilliant cover point fielder. As a cricketer he was endowed well in all three departments.
Besides the “big match” double century, Inman had 5 centuries, 17 fifties in his school career that spanned from 1951-1955. This writer does not know his bowling record.
To put things into perspective for the interest of our readers’, the following (in batting order) played for St. Peter’s College in the “Big Match” in the five years that Clive Inman was part of the team: 1951 – P.A.T. Kelly, H. Wittachy, Denzil Abeysekara, H.I.K. Fernando (Capt), Leonard Wettasinghe, Clive Inman, Tony Don Michael, H. Ranasinghe, Tudor Wijesinghe, H.A. Fernando, and Willhelm Hoffman.
Result: Match Drawn
1952 – Mark Pereira, Pat Muthumani, HIK Fernando (Capt), Denzil Abeysekara, Clive Inman, H. Ranasinghe, Tudor Wijesinghe, H. Wittachy, H.A. Fernando, Willhelm Hoffman, and Maurice Salgadoe.
Result: SJC Won by an Innings and 216 Runs
1953 – Mark Pereira, Pat Muthumani, B. Labrooy, Clive Inman, H. Ranasinghe, Wilhelm Hoffman, Tudor Wijesinghe, H. Wittachy (Capt), R. Ludowyke, Maurice Salgadoe, and H.A. Fernando.
Result: Match Drawn
1954 – Pat Muthumani, Jayantha Fernando, Wilhelm Hoffman, Clive Inman (Capt), Tudor Wijesinghe, H. Wittachy, Ken Duckworth, Maurice Salgadoe, Brian de Silva, Lakshman Serasinghe, and A. Adams.
Result: Match Drawn
1955 – Brian de Silva, Jayantha Fernando, Lakshman Serasinghe, Clive Inman (Capt), Roy Jayasinghe, Ken Duckworth, R. Saravanabhavan, Peter Ludowyke, Maurice Salgadoe, Russel Duckworth, and Maurice de Silva.
Result: SPC Won by 8 Wickets
Joe-Pete Series
History was created in 1954, when Clive Inman going in at No.4, scored a double century which still
stands as the highest individual score at the Josephian-Peterite “Big Match” Series. His brilliant innings of 204 (Retired Hurt), carved his name in the annals of “Battle of the Saints” history. A record that still stands tall after 68 years.
Inman joined Colts Cricket Club and then NCC after his final year at St. Peter’s and his batting grew in stature in P. Sara Trophy matches. Inman made his first-class debut in 1956, representing Ceylon against India at the Colombo Oval. Although Inman didn’t make an impact with the bat, he claimed the wicket of opener Nari Contractor. He would go on to play another 254 first-class matches, but it would remain his only wicket.
Inman made sporadic appearances for Ceylon in the Gopalan Trophy during the remainder of the decade before moving to England and joining his countryman Stanley Jayasinghe at Leicestershire.
His first match for the English club came against the touring Australian side in 1961 when he contributed 30 and 45 not out.
He had to wait until 1963 to make his County Championship debut and a few days later he scored his maiden first-class century on English soil against Cambridge University.
Inman was selected to tour England with the Ceylon team in 1968, but the tour was cancelled just before it was due to begin. He had his most prolific season in 1968, scoring 1735 runs at 36.91. Despite the high tally of runs he only scored one century that season. Only in his final county season, 1971, did he score four hundreds in a year.
Inman joined Colts Cricket Club and then NCC after his final year at St. Peter’s and his batting grew in stature in P. Sara Trophy matches. Inman made his first-class debut in 1956, representing Ceylon against India at the Colombo Oval. Although Inman didn’t make an impact with the bat, he claimed the wicket of opener Nari Contractor. He would go on to play another 254 first-class matches, but it would remain his only wicket.
Inman made sporadic appearances for Ceylon in the Gopalan Trophy during the remainder of the decade before moving to England and joining his countryman Stanley Jayasinghe at Leicestershire. His first match for the English club came against the touring Australian side in 1961 when he contributed 30 and 45 not out. He had to wait until 1963 to make his County Championship debut and a few days later he scored his maiden first-class century on English soil against Cambridge University.
Inman was selected to tour England with the Ceylon team in 1968, but the tour was cancelled just before it was due to begin. He had his most prolific season in 1968, scoring 1735 runs at 36.91. Despite the high tally of runs he only scored one century that season. Only in his final county season, 1971, did he score four hundreds in a year.
CLIVE INMAN MOVES TO ENGLAND
THE RUN-MACHINE!
He then went on to play it big in English County Cricket and his County was Leicestershire. He headed Leicestershire’s batting averages for many years – since he first played for them in 1963 – and who had a career record of over 10,000 runs, holds a stunning world record of scoring the fastest 50-51 to be exact in eight minutes.
The ‘Playfair Cricket Monthly’ (of June 1969) had a contribution of Edward Davey on ‘Championship cricketers from Pakistan and Ceylon’. Davey said: “two fine stroke-makers have given valuable service to Leicestershire. Stanley Jayasinghe made his county debut in 1961, at the late age of 30. He had first appeared for Ceylon in 1949 and for several years was professional at Colne.
INMAN – JAYASINGHE THE STARS
“Two years later, the lithe left-hander Clive Inman was qualified; and for three seasons – until Jayasinghe returned home – the most attractive of the county’s batting was provided by these two in partnership.
In each of those years Inman headed the county’s averages, followed in 1964 and 1965 by Jayasinghe. But one match he will remember with relish will be the Gillette Cup match between Leicestershire and Yorkshire in 1965.
In the Yorkshire team where England were England’s Test captain later, R. Illingworth and Test players Geoff Boycott, J. H. Hamshire, Phil Sharpe, Brian Close and Fred Trueman. Certainly, Inman has served Leicestershire well and a bumper benefit.
CLIVE INMAN – WORLD RECORD FOR FASTEST 50 IN 8 MINUTES!
Inman, playing for Leicestershire, made that stunning knock of 50 in eight minutes against Nottinghamshire at Nottingham in 1965. Full tosses were bowled to Inman to expedite a declaration.
In that match that took Inman right to the top, he was out for just 8 runs in the first innings. In the second innings when Leicestershire were 199 for 3 – and “Nottinghamshire were giving away cheap runs in the hope of a declaration” (according to Wisden) – he took a single off the last ball of an over from Bolus and then hit Norman Hill for 4, 4, no score in the next two balls, and 4, 6 – making 18 runs in the over.
32 RUNS IN ONE OVER
In Norman Hill’s next over, Inman cracked 4, 6, 6, 6, 4, 6 – totalling 32 in one over, equalling the all-time record of scoring five fours and five sixes off 10 balls! With that single off Bolus and the 18 and 32 in Hill’s two overs, Inman collected 51 – in just 8 minutes! He was unbeaten with 57 when Leicestershire declared at 258 for 3 wickets.
Wisden described Hill’s bowling as “slow, inviting deliveries which Inman pulled to, or over, the mid-wicket boundary.”
Inman, then was 34 years old and headed the county’s batting averages in every year from 1963 to 1969, except 1966 and 1969. In the latter year, he was fourth, scoring 900 runs (top score – 157) at an average of 30.03.
This was the rare exception when he failed to top 1,000 runs – a habit he formed in his very first year as a Leicestershire ‘cap’.
PHOTO GALLERY
• Clive Inman Profile
• St. Peter’s College Cricket XI 1954
• Ceylon Cricket XI
• Leicestershire Country Cricket Club
