CRICKET - WOOLMER MAKES SENTIMENTAL RETURN TO KANPUR .
KANPUR , India 1996-12-07
South Africa 's trip to Kanpur for the third test against India has given former England test cricketer Bob Woolmer the chance of a sentimental return to his birthplace .
Woolmer was born in the northern city of Kanpur when his father worked there for an insurance compnay and was himself an active cricketer .
" It 's been a sentimental journey ...
A visit to India is always an intriguing experience , " Woolmer , now the South African coach , said on Saturday .
Woolmer , 48 , played 19 tests for England between 1975 and 1981 .
His first cricketing sojurn to India was as a member of Tony Greig 's England side in 1976-77 .
His father Clarence Woolmer represented United Province , now renamed Uttar Pradesh , in India 's Ranji Trophy national championship and captained the state during 1949 .
Now aged 86 , Woolmer senior lives with his son in Cape Town .
Woolmer 's memories of Kanpur are few and blurred .
" I do n't remember much of the place , " he said . "
I came here on zero and left at three ( aged three ) when my father was transferred to Calcutta where I spent another four and half years .
" But I do remember we had a cobra snake in the basement of our house .
Also that my father bought a bicycle and when we rode over a hose pipe it broke into two . "
Woolmer said the hospital where he was born is close to the stadium where the India-South Africa test will be played .