On her first tour outside the Indian sub-continent Pakistan was again led by A H Kardar, elected to the captaincy unopposed after Mohammad Saeed had withdrawn.Some members of the team had been to England for coaching at Gover's indoor school or on Pakistan Eaglets tours in 1952 and 1953, and the squad was strengthened by Khan Mohammad who had league experience. But the team knew it was in England to learn.
Not only was 1954 the gloomiest summer of the century, according to a survey of English weather in Wisden’s Almanack, with less sunshine than in any other year; the tourists also suffered one of the wettest seasons on record, producing difficult pitch conditions which only helped to emphasise their inexperience. Nevertheless they were beaten in only three first-class matches and won an historic Test victory at The Oval to halve the series.No other team, not even Australia, had won a Test match on its inaugural tour of England.Skipper Kardar noted how " ... the Cricket Board's policy of pinning faith on the youth of the country has paid rich dividends". The batting understandably struggled on damp, seaming pitches but Pakistan's bowling attack - Khan and Fazal- made fine use of the conditions.In the final Test at The Oval a now legendary performance by medium-fast bowler Fazal Mahmood (12 for 99) dismissed the England batsmen as they chased a low target, to win the match by 24 runs.
Fast bowlers:Fazal Mahmood, Ikram Elahi, Mahmood Hussain.
Alimuddin
23
RHBopener
Fazal Mahmood
27
RFMvice-captain
M E Z Ghazali
29
RHBRM
Hanif Mohammad
19
RHBopener
Ikram Elahi
21
RHBRFM
Imtiaz Ahmed
26
RHB openerWK
A H Kardar
29
LHBSLAcaptain
Khalid Hasan
16
LBG
Khalid Wazir
18
RM
Mahmood Hussain
22
RFM
Maqsood Ahmed
29
RHBRM
Mohammad Aslam
34
RHBLB
Shakoor Ahmed
25
RHBsecond WK
Shujauddin
24
SLA
Waqar Hasan
21
RHB
Wazir Mohammad
24
RHB
Zulfiqar Ahmed
27
OB
Average age ofteam at time of first Test match
(10 June 1954) :
24 yrs 10 months.
Test Appearances made before the tour
AH Kardar5 + 3 for India,Fazal Mahmood 5,Hanif Mohammad5,Imtiaz Ahmed 5,Maqsood Ahmed 5,Waqar Hasan 5,Mahmood Hussain 4,Zulfiqar Ahmed 3,Khan Mohammad1, Wazir Mohammad1,Alimuddin 0,Ghazali 0,Ikram Elahi 0,Khalid Hasan 0,Khalid Wazir 0,Mohammad Aslam 0, Shakoor Ahmed 0, Shujauddin0.
Team Officials
(Syed) Fida Hussain
Manager
Masood Salahuddin Khan
Assistant Manager
George Duckworth
Baggage - scorer
To keep down costs, the tourists had brought no scorer and it was anticipated that members of the team would share the task, until Duckworth was invited to join the tour party. He and Geoffrey Howard also acted as liaison for the tourists.
Selectors
Syed Makdoomzada Hassan Mahmood, Chief Minister of Bahawalpur (chairman), S Nazir Ali, M I Merchant, Group-Captain M M A Cheema, with A H Kardar (captain) co-opted.
Selection
The names of the captain (A H Kardar) and manager (S F Hussain) were given out on 31 January.
Fida Hussain, 45, from the Pakistan Civil Service, was Commissioner in Lahore Division. He was after independence the President of West Punjab Cricket Association, and became President of the B.C.C.P. in 1958.
The assistant manager, Salahuddin, had played for All-India in representative matches against Ryder's team back in 1935, and for Pakistan Railways.
Trials:On 9 February the selectors announced the names of 35 players for the two trial matches in Bahawalpur.
Unavailable: Mian Mohammad Saeed ; Khan Mohammad, a Lancashire League professional with Lowerhouse, was not available, except for the Test matches.
The following were excluded after the trials:Asghar Ali, Badaruddin Malik, Iqbal Quereshi, Mohammad Amin, Mohammad Jasim, Mohammad Nissar, Mohammad Ramzan, Munawarul Haq, Murowwat Hussain, Raees Mohammad, Sajjad Ahmed, Shuja-ud-din Butt, Yawar Saeed and Yousuf Jaffir.
Tour party announced : 18 February 1954.
Reserves :The three named reserves were Mohammad Amin, Munawarul Haq, Yawar Saeed.
Travel
There was a preparation camp at Bahawalpur between 6 and 25 March 1954.
The team assembled at Karachi on Sunday 11 April and sailed at 6pm the next day on the Polish ship 'Batory'.
The ship called at Bombay on 14 April and docked at Suez at 2am on 23 April. Following a brief visit to the Pyramids and Sphinx, the team breakfasted at the Gezira Club and played a match.After the 24-hour stay, the 'Batory' sailed on, arriving at Southampton on 2 May 1954.
On-tour selection
A H Kardar, Fazal Mahmood,Fida Hussain
Reinforcements
By prior arrangement, Khan Mohammad, 26, played in two of the Test matches. He was also available for three other games. It was unclear whether the selectors had intended that Khan should play in all four Test matches but he was in any case unfit for two of them with a leg injury.
•Khalid Hasan became the youngest Test cricketer (aged 16 years 352 days) on his debut at Nottingham.
•Fazal Mahmood took12 wickets for 99 runs, while Imtiaz Ahmed held seven catches, all off Fazal’s bowling, in the victory at The Oval.
Tour Summary
P
W
L
D
Aban
Test Matches
4
1
1
2
-
Other first-class matches
26
8
2
16
-
Minor matches
4
2
0
2
-
All Matches
34
11
3
20
-
Return to Pakistan
Khalid Wazir did not return to Pakistan but settled to live in England after the tour.
The team left Waterloo, London, by train for Southampton, where they embarked on the 'Batory' on 24 September.The ship berthed at Karachi on 11 October.
Finances
Written accounts of the tour
"Test Status on Trial"by A H Kardar
"Pakistan vs England"by M H Maqsood and M I Merchant