LAST week saw the 50th anniversary of Derek Randall’s debut as a professional cricketer. He did not bat or bowl as Garry Sobers’ Nottinghamshire lost to Surrey in the John Player League in June 1971, but it probably did not matter because, as the BBC Nottinghamshire cricket commentator Dave Bracegirdle pointed out when remembering the anniversary, “no-one has ever looked happier on a cricket field”.
Like the rest of his career, Randall’s most famous moment – doffing his cap at Dennis Lillee during the Centenary Test of 1977 – cannot be remembered without a smile.
The slightly-built batsma...