CARMEL, Ind. -- Ricky Elliott always hoped he could be in the Ryder Cup, the dream of any aspiring golfer from Portrush in Northern Ireland.He finally got there as a caddie, which is not unusual.Except that hell be working for the other team.Ill be getting plenty of good needle, but its all in good fun, said Elliott, the caddie for American player Brooks Koepka for the last three years. Whenever Im out here, I stay with Kenny (Comboy), Billy (Foster) and all the other European caddies because we have the same things in common. I still am European. When it comes down to the matches, might they be a little wary in the team meeting? You just dont know. But its all about getting the cup back to this side of the pond.And Im working for the American team.The Ryder Cup is all about the flag, Europe against the United States, three days of frenetic golf and fanatical cheering.The PGA of America only began keeping records of Ryder Cup caddies in 1995, and no European caddie worked for the American team in the last two decades. The last European caddie to work for a U.S. player might have been Brian Bellenger of England, who caddied for Bill Rogers in 1981 at The Belfry. Bellenger, who died last year, holds the unique distinction of working on the winning side of both teams. He also worked for Ken Brown when Europe won in 1985.There are more stories of Europeans who didnt work.Terry Holt of England worked for Paul Azinger in 1993, but chose not to go with him to the Ryder Cup at The Belfry. Dave Musgrove of England declined to work for Lee Janzen in 1997 at Valderrama, fearing a conflict in interest. He didnt want to be in a bad situation. People might wonder about his loyalties, Janzen said then.The most recent example was Andy Sutton, the English caddie whom Ben Curtis hired when he won the British Open at Royal St. Georges. Curtis qualified for the Ryder Cup in 2008 at Valhalla, and Sutton didnt want to work for him that week.We had talked about it in the past and he said, `If you ever make the Ryder Cup, I cant work for you, Curtis said. When it came about, I remember saying to him, `Are you serious? He said: `I cant. Ill catch too much grief from the other European caddies. He decided it might be better for me to have someone else.Curtis hired Tony Navarro for the week. He said years later, Sutton regretted not working for him at the Ryder Cup.Whats in store for Elliott?I have no worries about him, said John Wood, who caddies for Matt Kuchar and will be working at his sixth Ryder Cup. There might be some out there I would be concerned about, but not Ricky. I think hell jump right into the feel of the team and be part of it. I think it would be difficult if you had somebody who had been on a European Ryder Cup team and then came into the U.S. room. But for Ricky, it will be a fresh experience for him.There have been examples of American caddies working for European players in the Ryder Cup -- Jerry Higginbotham for Sergio Garcia in 1999, and Lance Ten Broeck for Jesper Parnevik in 1999 and 2002.It was kind of weird in the beginning, Ten Broeck said. I remember I was kind of concerned about doing it, but the more I spoke to Hal Sutton, he said: `Why wouldnt you do it? Thats who you work for. And I spoke to Jesper about it a long time. This is a golf match, not a war. And its one of the great experiences.Elliott played college golf at Toledo, competing against Curtis at Kent State, and stayed in America. He lives in Florida near Graeme McDowell, one of his best friends from Portrush, and decided last year to become a U.S. citizen.I had to say a sentence in English and I had to spell a word, and I just squeaked by that, Elliott said in his sing-song Irish lilt. There was about 80 of us in the room and 2,000 people had come to watch. I was there on my own, sitting beside a wee Chinese man waving the flag. It was cool. Ive spent half my life over here. Youre still always where youre from, but Im pleased as punch to be an American citizen.Elliott was trying to find a golf pro job during the economic downturn in 2008 when he caddied for Maarten Lafeber on the European Tour, and then Curtis. He was between jobs when Koepka, who began his career on the European Tour, received an exemption to the 2013 PGA Championship and his regular caddie had visa problems.First time I ever met him was on the range at the PGA, Elliott said. Hes striping these shots and Im like, `Happy days. I was still in Europe, but you know what its like when you see a good player. He made the cut that week, played with Tiger (Woods) on Sunday and said to me in the locker room, `Do you fancy doing a few in Europe?Theyve been together ever since. Koepka won in Turkey in 2014 and won the Phoenix Open the following year. He is No. 22 in the world, playing in his first Ryder Cup. He never thought twice about having anyone but Elliott on his bag.Elliott never considered sitting out.The caddie lives at Lake Nona in Orlando, home to some of Europes finest in the Ryder Cup over the years -- McDowell, Justin Rose, Ian Poulter, Henrik Stenson.It will be fun for Ricky, said Curtis, who used to live at Lake Nona and won his most recent event with Elliott on the bag. Once you get into it, its the same as when youre playing against one of your good friends in the final round. You want to beat them. And this will be the same thing. 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Both will be unrestricted free agents this summer. Indias Test debut, at Lords on June 25, 1932, started in dramatic fashion when they reduced a strong England side to 19 for 3 inside the first hour. There was to be no fairytale ending. Douglas Jardine, who by the end of the year had become a figure of hatred in Australia, twice bailed England out and India, hit by injuries as well, lost by 158 runs. Jardine, however, might have played a completely different role in the match.The politics of India at the time meant that the captain of the All-India side had to be from nobility, much as the England captain had to be an amateur. This narrowed the field considerably as while there were eligible candidates, none of them were good enough as players. But the game needed the money and patronage the nobility brought with them.In 1929 India were admitted to the ICC and Anthony de Mello, the secretary of the Indian board, suggested that perhaps an Englishman could captain India, mainly to act as a neutral who might be able to bridge and handle ethnic and religious divides. The man suggested was Jardine, Bombay born, from a family with strong links to the country, and reportedly on the verge of going to settle back there. The idea never came to anything, and Jardine ended up leading England against them at Lords. Other candidates included KS Duleepsinhji, despite his education at Cheltenham and Cambridge, but it is widely believed that Plum Warner talked him out of any such thoughts and persuaded him to play for England.New Zealand had made their Test debut in 1926 and West Indies in 1928, so India was sure to follow. It should have happened in 1930-31 but a tour by MCC was cancelled because of a civil disobedience campaign, and another attempt the following season was scrapped when threats to boycott all matches in Bombay were made.And so it was that India were scheduled to tour England in 1932, but even then it was far from straightforward. Although arrangements began to be made in the first half of 1931, as late as August there were doubts as some provinces objected and threatened to boycott the trip.On February 4, it was announced that the Maharajah of Patiala, a massively rich and generous benefactor and keen player, would lead the side. A driving force in Indian cricket, he was a natural choice. Kumar Shri Ghanshyamshinhji was named vice-captain and the deputy vice-captain was the Maharajah of Vizianagram, equally rich and keen but no cricketer, and a bitter rival of Patiala. Vizianagram had been expected, or more likely had expected, to lead the side but was usurped when Patiala stepped in.It was expected that the Nawab of Pataudi would be included but the release announcing the team said he had not been considered as he informed the Board of Control he could not participate in the tour. This bland comment disguised anger that he had turned his back on India at the 11th hour. Even the reserved Times editorial said his decision had caused soreness as he had definitely promised to play ...he took part in all of the trials and accepted the captaincy of one of the sides in the last match.There wwas some speculation whether foreigners - primarily Englishmen - living in India would be eligible, but it was decided not to go down this route.dddddddddddd It is, said The Times, a thing for young India. Some were certainly good enough. Reggie Hudson, described by Wisden as the best services batsman of the inter-war years, was scoring so many hundreds that one fellow officer said he was becoming a nuisance. He was in England anyway in 1932 and in a first-class match at The Oval in August scored 217 in 225 minutes for the Army against the RAF, the second hundred coming in 70 minutes.Patialas selection caused raised eyebrows in The Times. It noted he had played little cricket in the preceding two years and had preoccupied himself with leading a group of princes who regarded democracy and the likelihood of a new constitution with a nervous eye.The side left Bombay - huge crowds turned out to see them off - on April 4 but by then Patiala and Vizianagram had withdrawn. Vizianagram was the first to pull out, ostensibly through illness but more likely he was put out at not only being overlooked as captain but even as vice-captain. His move was unwise, as soon afterwards Patiala himself withdrew, again because of ill health. The Maharajah of Porbandar stepped into the void, but Vizianagrams behaviour as captain of the 1936 tour indicated that India had a lucky escape.Whereas Vizianagram insisted on playing all the Tests in 1936, to the teams detriment, Porbandar knew his considerable limitations and only occasionally took to the field. To him, it was inconceivable that he would captain them at Lords, and so on the eve of the Lords Test he told his side that CK Nayudu would captain them.Porbandar was woken in the night by several players who told him they would not play under Nayudu. His vice-captain, Ghanshyamshinhji, was not with the tour party at the time, and so Porbandar sent a cable to Patiala in India. The no-nonsense response came back. They were to play.So several of the Indians were hardly in the best state of mind as they took to the field the next morning. Not that Englands openers were in any better state of mind. Herbert Sutcliffe and Percy Holmes, who ten days earlier had set a world record in an opening stand of 555 at Leyton, only arrived in London in the early hours as Yorkshires match against Sussex at Leeds had only ended at 6pm the night before.Within ten minutes both were back in the pavilion and India were finally underway.Fifty-one years later, to the day, Lords was the scene of possibly Indian crickets greatest day when Kapil Dev lifted the World Cup.Is there an incident from the past you would like to know more about? E-mail us with your comments and suggestions.BibliographyA History of Indian Cricket Mihir Bose (Andre Deutsch, 2002)Douglas Jardine: Spartan Cricketer Christopher Douglas (Methuen, 2002)The Cricketer Wisden Cricketers Almanack Martin Williamson is executive editor of Cricinfo ' ' '