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Testing times In the last 60 years, spectators have witnessed near fatalities on the cricket field Kersi Meher-Homji During the tour of the West Indies in 1962, India’s 28-year-old cricket captain Nari Contractor received a near fatal injury from an extra quick short delivery from Charlie “Chucker” Griffith in the match against Barbados. Many of the players donated blood to save his life. Two operations were performed in the West Indies and one later in India when a steel plate was inserted inside the injured skull. A year later he played first-class matches but his Test career was cruelly aborted. Near death in 1962, Contractor is still with us 59 years later, aged 87. March 17, 1962 was one of the most shocking days in the history of cricket, the day Contractor nearly died on the pitch at Kensington Oval, Bridgetown. The cricket world held its breath in suspense as ...