Test Cricket Tours - India to England 1959

Test Cricket Tours - India to England 1959

Tour of England 1959 Captain: Datta Gaekwad

India’s eighth Test tour

Fifth Test-playing tour of England by India

(April -

September 1959)

After the captaincy fiasco of the 1958-59 season in which all the candidates for the post found themselves at some point leading the side against West Indies, the Indian Board’s choice of captain for the 1959 tour of England was Datta Gaekwad. He was an aide-de-camp to the Maharaja of Baroda, the tour manager. He proved unable to mould his players into a unified force or give them the determination to fight against the odds. Besides this, there were no players, apart from perhaps Gupte, better than their corresponding numbers on the home side, a very strong England XI.

Ghulam Ahmed was persuaded to delay his retirement and be included in the tour party but he withdrew on 22 March when he found that his selection had not been unanimous. Cota Ramaswamy felt obliged to resign from the selection committee in March, as had L P Jai earlier in the season. They were too unhappy with some of the choices made by other members of the panel.

Though given good weather and fair batting pitches, the Indians struggled against the pace of Statham and Trueman and as a team did not bat well until the fourth Test. Manjrekar, Umrigar and Borde were the ablest batsmen but Manjrekar’s knee failed him after the second Test. Defeat after defeat saw the tourists merely trying to prolong the Test matches into a fifth day, and they lost the series 5-0.

Other Indian tours

Previous tours

Pakistan 1954-55

Next tour

West Indies 1961-62

Next England tour

1967

Members of the Test tour party (17)

Opening batsmen: : Nari Contractor, Pankaj Roy, Arvind Apte

Middle-order batsmen: Datta Gaekwad, Polly Umrigar, Vijay Manjrekar, Kripal Singh, Jaisimha, J M Ghorpade, Abbas Ali Baig (r)

All-rounders: Chandu Borde, Bapu Nadkarni.

Wicket-keepers: Nana Joshi, Naren Tamhane

Spinners: Sabhash Gupte, Venatappa Muddiah, [plus Nadkarni, Borde]

Fast bowlers: Ramakant Desai, Surrendranath.

A L Apte	B	24	RHB opener	W
Played the most attractive innings by any in the touring party but failed in his solitary Test appearance.
C G Borde	Ba	24	RHB LBG	W
Almost completed the double and was the tourists' outstanding cricketer
N J Contractor	Rly	25	LHB opener	N
On the whole failed to impress that he was much more than an ordinary plodder
R B Desai	B	19	RFM	W
Rare attribute of being able to bowl outswingers but found himself terribly overworked in the Tests
D K Gaekwad	Ba	30	RHB captain	W
Never suggested he had the verve and personality to carry out his captaincy task. Needed a more active approach
J M Ghorpade	Ba	28	RHB LB	W
Most hardworking member of the party but another disappointment who, for his ability, fell below expectations
S P Gupte	B	29	LBG	W
Soon lost heart if support in the field was not 100% but his field placings were inadequate and cost him endless runs.
M L Jaisimha	Hd	20	RHB RM	S
Often asked to accomplish performances for which he was not qualified - as an opening bowler
P G Joshi	Mh	32	WK	W
Kept quite well throughout the tour but completely lost his batting form
A G Kripal Singh	Ms	25	RHB	S
Profound disappointment, unable to do any substantial bowling owing to his spinning finger soon becoming sore
V L Manjrekar	Raj	27	RHB	C
Always a struggle to keep him fit but he never failed, the one man likely to make runs against the England attack
V M Muddiah	Sv	29	OB	N
Never adapted himself successfully to turf pitches. Illness kept him out of the game for a month.
R G Nadkarni	Mh	27	LHB SLA	W
Most improved player in the side, he appeared to thrive on hard work and missed only two of the last 20 games.
Pankaj Roy	Bn	31	RHB opener vice-captain	E
Vulnerable to anything leaving him near off stump. The side showed better form when he took over from Gaekwad
R Surrendranath	Sv	22	RFM	N
A long time finding his touch. Stood up well to many long spells of bowling but spent hours on leg-side tactics.
N S Tamhane	B	27	reserve WK	W
Like Joshi- gave excellent support to the leg-spin bowlers but batting form well below his known Indian standard
P R Umrigar	B	33	RHB	W
A run machine against less powerful sides. Had a sticky run in Tests but a century at Manchester redeemed him.

Zonal representation

C: Central (1), E: East (1), N: North (3), S: South (2), W: West (10)

Ranji Trophy teams

Ba - Baroda (3)

Bn - Bengal (1)

B - Bombay (5)

Hd - Hyderabad (1)

Ms - Madras (1)

Mh – Maharashtra (2)

Raj - Rajasthan (1)

Rly - Railways (1)

Sv - Services (2)

Average age of team at time of first Test match

(4 June 1959):

27 yrs 1 months.

Test Appearances made before the tour

Umrigar 38, Roy 32, Manjrekar 30, Gupte 26, Tamhane 16, Contractor 10, Joshi 7, Kripal Singh 7, Gaekwad 6, Ghorpade 5, Borde 4, Nadkarni 2, Surrendranath 2, Desai 1, Apte 0, Jaisimha 0, Muddiah 0, Baig 0.

Tour Officials

Fatesinhrao Gaekwad	Tour Manager
George Duckworth	Baggageman / Scorer

The manager's name was given out on 8 March and the scorer's on 15 April.

Selectors

Lala Amarnath (chairman), M Dutta Ray, Cota Ramaswami, Datta Gaekwad.

The Board of Control announced in Madras on 23 February that Datta K Gaekwad would captain the touring party and he was invited to join the selection panel. Against West Indies India had used four captains and Gaekwad was not one of them.

Ramaswamy resigned as a selector on 11 March.

Selection

Unavailable: Ghulam Ahmed had said he was retiring but then withdrew his announcement.

Vinoo Mankad also originally asked not to be considered. In his letter of 6 October he said that, since no assurances had been given him about a place on the 1959 tour, he would be fulfilling his League contract with Stockport. On 6 January, after playing two Tests against West Indies, he made himself available for the tour by withdrawing the letter but in the event the selectors decided not to make use of his services.

Tour Party Announced : 25 February 1959.

Not selected : Vinoo Mankad, G S Ramchand.

Withdrawal: Ghulam Ahmed changed his mind and announced his retirement again, so Muddiah came in to the side.

Time between selection and departure from India

50 days

(25 February - 16 April)

Travel

Bombay Q London

The team flew from Bombay on the evening of 16 April and reached Heathrow Airport next evening, 17 April.

Time spent in England

153 days

(17 April - 17 September)

On-tour selection committee

Datta Gaekwad (captain), Pankaj Roy (vice-captain) and Fatesinh Rao Gaekwad (manager)

Reinforcements

Abbas Ali Baig	Hd	20	RHB
Summoned from Oxford University which proved a wise move; made three centuries in his 12 games for touring side

Vijay Manjrekar left the tour needing an operation on the cartilage in his knee. There were many other injuries which greatly weakened the team: Contractor broke a rib; Nadkarni, Kripal Singh and Borde damaged fingers; Muddiah fell ill, missing long periods of the tour.

Fixtures/Results

a	† Osterley	Indian Gymkhana	Drawn
b	† Arundel	Duke of Norfolk's XI	Abandoned
c	Worcester	Worcestershire	Drawn
d	† The Oval	Club Cricket Conference	Won 10 w
e	Cambridge	Cambridge University	Won inns 53 r
f	Leicester	Leicestershire	Drawn
g	The Oval	Surrey	Drawn
h	Cardiff	Glamorgan	Lost 51 r
i	Ilford	Essex	Drawn
j	Lord's	M.C.C.	Lost 147 r
k	Oxford	Oxford University	Won inns 53 r
l	Taunton	Somerset	Drawn
m	TRENT BRIDGE	ENGLAND First Test	LOST inns 59 r
n	Stoke-on-Trent	Minor Counties	Lost 6 w
o	Northampton	Northamptonshire	Won inns 9 r
p	LORD'S	ENGLAND Second Test	LOST 8 w
q	Manchester	Lancashire	Drawn
r	Chesterfield	Derbyshire	Drawn
s	HEADINGLEY	ENGLAND Third Test	LOST inns 173 r
t	Paisley	Scotland	Drawn
u	Sheffield	Yorkshire	Drawn
v	Hove	Sussex	Drawn
w	Lord's	Middlesex	Lost 4 w
x	MANCHESTER	ENGLAND Fourth Test	LOST 171 r
y	The Oval	Surrey	Drawn
z	Swansea	Glamorgan	Won 114 r
a’	Edgbaston	Warwickshire	Drawn
b’	Nottingham	Nottinghamshire	Lost 8 w
c’	Bradford	Yorkshire	Drawn
d’	Cheltenham	Gloucestershire	Lost 192 r
e’	THE OVAL	ENGLAND Fifth Test	LOST inns 27 r
f’	Bournemouth	Hampshire	Drawn
g’	Canterbury	Kent	Won 8 w
h’	Hastings	A E R Gilligan's XI	Drawn
I’	Blackpool	Lancashire	Drawn
j’	Scarborough	T N Pearce's XI	Lost 5 w
k’	† Sunderland	Durham	Drawn

† not first-class

Time spent in England before First Test:

48 days

(17 April- 4 June)

Test appearances on tour

5 - Desai, Gupte, Roy, Surrendranath.

4 - Borde, Contractor, Gaekwad, Nadkarni, Umrigar.

3 - Ghorpade, Joshi.

2 - Baig, Manjrekar, Tamhane.

1 - Apte, Jaisimha, Kripal Singh.

0 - Muddiah.

Highlights

•

• Abbas Ali Baig scored 112 on his Test debut at Old Trafford, Manchester.

•

Tour Summary

	P	W	L	D	Aban
Test Matches	5	0	5	0	-
Other first-class matches	28	6	6	16	-
Minor matches	4	1	0	2	1
All Matches	37	7	11	18	1

Return to India

Tilbury T Bombay

‘Iberia’

Fifteen players left St Pancras Station, London, on 17 September and took the 'Iberia' from Tilbury docks, landing at Bombay on 1 October.

The manager flew back to India in early October.

Apte flew to the United States on 18 September to study textile engineering; Gupte flew to Trinidad on 19 September to become coach for Sports & Games Ltd; Baig returned to Oxford University.

Time away from India

168 days

(16 April - 1 October)

Finances

India's total share of gate receipts was £30 000, which gave them a profit of £5 000.

Accounts of the tour

"Cricket Journal II" (1959) by John Arlott [Heinemann]

Postscript