Tour of West Indies 1934-35                 Captain :  Bob Wyatt            

(M C C tour)

33rd England Test tour

(December 1934 -

                   April 1935)

Second Test playing tour of West Indies by England

   (previous tour 1929-30)

Many of England's best players were rested after the 1934 season and were not considered for a place in the touring party. Even Hendren, who arrived In Trinidad for a holiday with his wife a fortnight before the tour began, could not enlighten reporters about the composition of the touring side or the tour arrangements.

The tour proceeded well but resulted in defeat in the Test series by two matches to one.  It was West Indies’ first series win against any opposition, largely brought about by superior fast bowling which proved too much on this occasion for England’s senior batsmen, Hendren, Hammond and Leyland.

However, England had begun the series with a remarkable win in the first Test at Bridgetown. Wyatt sent the West Indies in to bat first on the awkward, saturated pitch and then declared behind forcing West Indies to bat again. West Indies, too, declared, challenging England to make 73 as the pitch dried, which was just achieved. When Wyatt gambled by putting West Indies in again in the second Test, the tactic did not come off and left England to bat last, which brought about a home win from the second last ball of the match.

West Indies dominated the final Test at Sabina Park. George Headley scored 270 not out and the England skipper and opening batsman Wyatt was put out of the match by a ball from Martindale that broke his jaw. Their innings’ victory brought the home team a first series win in Test cricket.

Other England tours

Previous Test tour

India 1933-34

Next Test tour

Australia 1936-37

Next tour of West Indies

1947-48

Members of the Test tour party (14  + 1)

Opening batsmen:  Bob Wyatt, David Townsend

Middle-order batsmen Wally Hammond, William Harbord, Patsy Hendren, Errol Holmes, Jack Iddon

Wicket-keepers:  Les Ames, Bill Farrimond

All-rounder   Morice Leyland

Slow bowlers: Eric Hollies, George Paine

Fast bowlers: Ken Farnes, Jim Smith plus Trevor Arnott (reinforcement)

County representation:

Ex  -  Essex (1)

Gs  - Gloucestershire (1)

Kt  - Kent (1)

La - Lancashire (2)

Mx - Middlesex (2)

Sy - Surrey (1)

Wk - Warwickshire (2)

Wo - Worcestershire (1)

Y - Yorkshire (2)

David Townsend who gained his blue at Oxford University in 1933 and ’34, never played in the county championship

Average age of  team at time of first Test match

(8 January 1935) : 29 yrs  11 months.

Key to type:

RHB Right-handed bat

RM  Right arm medium-paced bowler

RFM  Right-arm fast medium

OB   Off-break

WK  Wicket-keeper

Test Appearances made before the tour

Hendren 47,   Hammond 46,  Wyatt 28,  Leyland 26,  Ames 24,  Farnes 2,  Farrimond 2,  Holmes 0,  Harbord 0,  Hollies 0,  Iddon 0,  Paine 0,  Smith 0,  Townsend 0.

Tour Officials

L S Smith was present as Reuter's representative throughout the tour

Selectors

Sir Stanley Jackson (chairman), …..

Selection

By 17 September eleven players had indicated that they had accepted invitations to make the tour.

Withdrawal :  Cyril Walters withdrew in early October owing to a strained thigh muscle.

Hollies and Townsend were added to the team (30 October) then Iddon, and Harbord won the last place in November.

Also Unavailable :  F.C. de Saram (Oxford Univ),  Keeton, A. (Nt),  Mitchell, A. (Y),  Read, A.H. (Ex)  and A.B.Sellers (Y)

Tour Party Announced : 20 November 1934.

Time between selection and departure from England

   25  days

 (20 November - 15 December)

Travel

Avonmouth    T    Bridgetown

                ‘Cavina’

The tour party assembled for a lunch on Friday 14 December at the West India Club.  In his speech R E S Wyatt recalled that a previous captain of M.C.C. in West Indies had gone mad at dinner and had bitten the leg of the Governor under the table; he assured the company that no such thing would occur on this tour.

The team met up again next morning at London’s Paddington Station, apart from Hendren who was already holidaying in the Caribbean.  They took the train to Bristol and boarded the "Cavina", an Elder & Fyffes freighter, at Avonmouth.  

Suffering from rough seas throughout the Atlantic crossing, the ship arrived at Bridgetown, Barbados, on 27 December 1934.

Harbord flew to Miami on Wednesday 20 February and rejoined MCC in Jamaica.

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Time spent in West Indies

    82 days

(27 December -  19 March)

On-tour selection panel

 ....

Reinforcements

Trevor Arnott interrupted his holiday in Jamaica to play for M.C.C. which allowed Hammond to rest before the final Test.

Kenneth Farnes strained his neck muscle which kept him out of two Test matches.  In the final Test Bob Wyatt’s jaw was fractured by a rising ball from Martindale

Fixtures/Results

¹   Melbourne Park, Kingston

²   Sabina Park,  Kingston

† not first-class

Time spent in West Indies before First Test:  

 12 days

(27 December - 8 January)

Test appearances on tour

  (v West Indies 1934-35)

4 -  Ames,  Hammond,  Hendren,  Holmes,  Iddon,  Paine,  Smith,  Wyatt.

3 -  Leyland,  Hollies,  Townsend.

2 -  Farnes.

1 -  Farrimond.

0 -  Harbord.

Match appearances

T  Test match

x other match 

p  practice match

W won  L lost  D drawn

N no result   C  cancelled 

A abandoned

u unknown result

Wyatt and Holmes appeared in all matches.

Highlights

•  Ken Farnes took 4 for 40 in the first innings of the opening Test at Bridgetown, and Jim Smith 5 for 16 in the second.

•  Bob Wyatt took 9 wickets (5-10 and 4-42) in the second colony game against Trinidad.

•  Errol Holmes scored 85* in the second Test to draw out England’s innings after an earlier collapse.

•  Eric Hollies took 7 for 50 in the third Test at Bourda

•  Les Ames scored England’s sole century,126, in the final Test at Sabina Park.

•  David Townsend was the last player to represent England without appearing in the county championship. He played later for Durham.

Tour Summary

F  Fixtures   W  Won   L  Lost   D Drawn   T  Tied  Canc  Cancelled  Aban  abandoned

Return to England

Kingston      T      Avonmouth

                  ‘Carare’

The tour party left Kingston on 19 March 1935 on the "Carare"  and arrived at Avonmouth on 4 April 1935.

The team was reunited to play a match in the Scarborough Festival in September 1935, adding Wilf Barber to their side

Time away from England

  110 days  

(15 December - 4 April)

Finances

Accounts of the tour

Postscript

.

Other tours in 1934-35

None