England's record partnership is nothing like a dark day for Test cricket that it has surpassed

In that Test match, whenever Ramadhin hit the front pitch and appealed, the umpires gave the English batsman a no-out. He bowled 774 balls in the game, the most in any single innings up to that point, and he was known for bowling wicket to wicket, but umpires Charlie Elliott and Emrys Davies ruled that not a single ball hit the target would stumps after hitting the pad – not a single ball from Ramadhin or any of the other West Indian bowlers, by the way.

Ramadhin's method in this Edgbaston test was aptly summarized by Wisden editor Norman Preston: “Ramadhin kept his opponents guessing by his peculiar movement of the right wrist. No one could tell his intention whether he attempted an off-spin or a leg-spin. As always, he had the sleeves of his shirt buttoned at the wrists and it was difficult to see the ball leaving his right hand. He had very little spin and most of his wickets were taken with straight balls.” Straight balls, please note. Five of his nine wickets in this Edgbaston Test were clean.

The second consequence was not exactly fatal for Test cricket. Many more batsmen followed their example, having seen England's two best batsmen survive by cushioning away Ramadhin and never giving out a leg-before wicket. The practice of playing spinner with the pad in front of the bat arose: as long as you vaguely pretended to play a shot, you couldn't be dealt.