Calcutta: John Michael Brearley's first visit to the city was way back during the 1972-73 India vs England Test - not as a player, but as a journalist.

On Friday evening, Brearley and his wife Mana (whose roots are in Ahmedabad) arrived in Calcutta to deliver the fifth Tiger Pataudi Memorial Lecture, instituted by this newspaper.

In between, Brearley made two trips to the city: As part of Tony Greig's team in the 1976-77 India-England Test and in 1980-81, when he captained the Overseas XI in the Cricket Association of Bengal's Golden Jubilee match.

Respected as an extraordinary captain, Brearley (now 73) is best remembered for the 1981 Ashes, when he transformed England and Ian Botham, who'd actually captained in the first two of the six Tests, one of which was lost. Of the next four, England won three.

Brearley is currently chairman of the MCC's world cricket committee.

After two flights, from London and Dubai, there wasn't time for a detailed Q&A session. Instead, The Telegraph asked Brearley to list five cricketers he'd pay to watch - including those who'd retired in the past 12 months.

The five...

KUMAR SANGAKKARA: He's no longer playing international cricket, but has the perfect technique... Classical and pragmatic... Brave and solid, too.

BRENDON McCULLUM: He made Ian Botham look like a blocker... Brought fun and generosity of spirit into Test cricket.

DAVID WARNER: I'd pay to watch him across the three formats.

DALE STEYN: Admire his skill, determination and aggression.

JAMES ANDERSON: Love to watch him bowl when the ball swings.

Missed out: There's no Indian in this list... I'm sorry to have left out Virat Kohli, Ravichandran Ashwin, Kane Williamson and Joe Root... Sadly, there's no West Indian... There's no 'keeper, either, in my list but that's one area where the standard is lower than what it was in the days of Alan Knott and Rodney Marsh, Bob Taylor and Syed Kirmani.

Finally, if he follows T20 with much interest...

No, not particularly... However, I do realise that you need skill to score runs and take wickets in this format.