Tour of Pakistan & India 1959-60           Captain: Richie Benaud

27th Australian Test tour

Second Test-playing tour of Pakistan and India by Australia

 (November 1959 -

       March 1960)

Before arriving in Pakistan the team acclimatised by playing a four-day match in Brisbane as part of the Queensland centenary celebrations and two one-day fixtures in Singapore.

There was no representative from Western Australia on this tour but on every Test tour thereafter at least one player from that state was included.

Usually, members of the Australian Board were eager to manage Australian teams abroad but on this occasion none wished to do so, and Sam Loxton who had toured India with the Commonwealth XI in 1953-54, was invited to take the role.

They team was accompanied by Dr Ian McDonald, brother of Colin and a former Shield cricketer himself, but ironically he was the first member of the touring party to go down with stomach illness.

Stevens, Rorke and Kline were seriously affected by illness later on the tour, the latter two needing to be repatriated while Stevens had to stay in hospital in Madras where he was being treated for hepatitis.

Other Australian Tours

Previous tour

South Africa 1957-58

Next tour

England 1961

Next tour to Pakistan/India 

1964-65

Members of the Test tour party  (15)

Opening batsmen:  Les Favell, Gavin Stevens, Colin McDonald

Middle-order batsmen  Norman O'Neill, Neil Harvey, Ken Mackay, Peter Burge

Wicket-keepers   Wally Grout, Barry Jarman

Slow bowlers  Richie Benaud, Lindsay Kline

Fast bowlers  Alan Davidson, Ray Lindwall, Ian Meckiff, Gordon Rorke.

State representation

  Sheffield Shield teams

N   New South Wales (5)

Q  Queensland (4)

S   South Australia (3)

T   Tasmania (0)

V   Victoria (3)

W  Western Australia (0)

Average age of  team at time of first Test match

    (13 November 1959) : 

         28 yrs  7 months

Test Appearances made before the tour

Harvey 57,  Lindwall 57,  Benaud 37,  McDonald 31,  Davidson 23,  Mackay 16,  Grout 10,  Burge 10,  Favell 8,  Meckiff 8,  Kline 7,  O'Neill 5,  Rorke 2,  Jarman 0,  Stevens 0.

Tour officials

Dr Ian McDonald, brother of Colin, was granted leave by the Children's Hospital in Melbourne,

Selectors

Sir Donald Bradman (South Australia - chairman), Dudley Seddon  (New South Wales),  Jack Ryder (Victoria)

Selection

Unavailable :  Jim Burke.

Harvey and Davidson asked whether it was necessary for them to take part in the tour but withdrew their requests when told by Bradman it could have consequences for their Test futures.

Tour Party Announced :  6 March 1959.

The names of the captain and vice-captain were announced on 7 March.

Withdrawal   Len Maddocks withdrew and Barry Jarman took his place.

Not selected :   Bob Simpson.

Time between selection and departure from Australia    

  244 days

(6 March - 5 November)

Travel

Brisbane  Q   Singapore

Singapore  QCalcutta   QDacca

The team assembled at Brisbane for a four-day match.

They flew out of Brisbane on the night of 5 November, reaching Singapore International Airport next day and played two matches at The Padang on the Saturday and Sunday.  They then flew on via Calcutta (9 November) to Dacca (next day).

After the Pakistan tour they arrived in Delhi from Karachi on 10 December

Time spent in Pakistan

    30 days 

(10 November  - 10 December)

Time spent in India

    50 days 

(10 December - 29 January

On-tour selection

Richie Benaud  (captain),  Neil Harvey  (vice-captain),   Colin McDonald.

Reinforcements

None.  Sam Loxton was drafted into the side on one occasion to allow a player to rest.

Gordon Rorke was taken ill during the second Test with food poisoning after eating raw fish.  He went into the Salvation Army Hospital at Anand and lost nearly three stone in weight.  He was taken to Bombay Airport on 6 January and flew BOAC back to Sydney.

Gavin Stevens caught hepatitis A just before the fourth Test and was kept in the Lady Willingdon Hospital in Madras as he was too unwell to travel , while the team moved on to play the final Test.

Lindsay Kline then developed hepatitis and flew home out of Calcutta on 24 January, via Sydney to Melbourne.

Fixtures/Results

† not first-class

Time spent in Pakistan before First Test: 

  3 days

(10 November - 13 November)

Test appearances on tour

v Pakistan

3  -  Benaud,  Davidson,  Favell,  Grout,  Harvey,  Mackay,  McDonald, O'Neill

2  -  Burge,  Lindwall,  Meckiff,  Stevens

1  -  Kline,

0  -  Jarman,  Rorke.

v India

5 -  Benaud,  Davidson,  Harvey,  Mackay,  McDonald,  Meckiff,  O'Neill

4 -  Favell,  Grout, 

3 -  Burge,  Kline

2 -  Lindwall,  Rorke,  Stevens

1 -  Jarman

0 - 

Highlights

•   Ken Mackay took 6-42 with cutters on a matting pitch at Dacca showing skills equal to Fazal Mahmood’s.

•   Lindsay Kline took 7-57 in Lahore

•   Australia scored 123 to win at Lahore against the clock and some time-wasting tactics.

•   Richie Benaud took 3-0 (a unique bowling analysis in Tests) and 5-76 in the victory at Delhi.

•   Alan Davidson took twelve wickets in the match at Kanpur (5-31 and 7-93) bowling left-arm spinners.

•   A partnership of 207 between Neil Harvey (102) and Norman O’Neill (163) at Bombay was a record in India.

•   Les Favell (101) scored his only Test century at Madras and took the whole first day to accomplish it

•   Ray Lindwall made his final Test appearance at Calcutta, setting an Australian record of 228 wickets.

Tour Summary

Return to Australia

Calcutta   Q   Sydney

Thirteen of the team, including Stevens who was barely well enough to travel, flew out of Calcutta on 29 January and arrived at Mascot Airport, Sydney, early on the morning of 30 January where the players caught connecting flights to Melbourne, Brisbane and Adelaide.

Time away from Australia

  86 days  

(5 November - 30 January)

Finances

The players earned £A700 each from the tour ($A 1400) while the Australian Board earned £A7000 profit per Test from the tour.  Overall, the Board’s profit from the tour was  £49 000

Written accounts of the tour

"Cricket Cat and Mouse"  [Pakistan section of tour]  (1961)  by Qamaruddin Butt

"Near Death on the Sub-Continent"   (2009)  by David Jenkins (The Cricket Publishing Company)

Postscript