In late July 1971 the tour had been postponed for a year until 1972-73 because of the political situation in Pakistan. The Cricket Council, after seeking Government advice had cancelled the 1971-72 tour of India and Pakistan because of the Bangladesh war and fears of a cholera outbreak among refugees in Bengal.
Ray Illingworth and M.J.K.Smith made themselves unavailable for the captaincy and Tony Lewis stepped in. According to his own book Mike Denness was a last minute choice as player and vice-captain.
India's spinners, supported by outstanding close catchers, helped the home country to her third series victory in succession (1970-71, 1971 and 1972-73). After three Tests, the Indians stood two matches to one ahead and then adopted defensive tactics to maintain their lead.
During the Pakistan tour the Black December faction made threats against the players, singling out for some reason Dennis Amiss. The Indian trip, too, had to be conducted under tight security.
This was the last long tour of the Indian sub-continent by an English team. Future tours trimmed at least a month off the time away. On return, manager Donald Carr said that the team found making a tour of Pakistan arduous after the exciting series in India because of lifeless pitches, frequent crowd interruptions and very hot weather.
Opening batsmen:Dennis Amiss, Mike Denness, Barry Wood
Middle-order batsmenTony Lewis, Keith Fletcher, Graham Roope
Wicket-keeper:Alan Knott, Roger Tolchard
All-rounders:Tony Greig
Slow bowlers:Derek Underwood, Pat Pocock, Norman Gifford, Jack Birkenshaw
Fast bowlers: Chris Old, Geoff Arnold, Bob Cottam
D L Amiss
Wk
29
RHBopener
G G Arnold
Sy
28
RFM
J Birkenshaw
Le
32
OB
R M H Cottam
Nth
28
RFM
M H Denness
Kt
32
RHB opener vice-captain
K W R Fletcher
Ex
28
RHB
N Gifford
Wo
32
SLAasst manager
A W Greig
Sx
26
RHBRFM
A P E Knott
Kt
26
WK
A R Lewis
Gm
34
RHBcaptain
C Old
Yo
23
RFM
P I Pocock
Sy
26
OB
G R J Roope
Sy
26
RHB opener
R W Taylor w/d
Dy
WK
R W Tolchardadded
Le
26
second WK
D L Underwood
Kt
27
LM
B Wood
La
29
LHB opener.
County representation:
Ex-Essex (1)
Gm - Glamorgan (1)
Kt-Kent (3)
La - Lancashire (1)
Le -Leicestershire (2)
Nth - Northamptonshire (1)
Sy - Surrey (3)
Sx - Sussex (1)
Wk - Warwickshire (1)
Wo - Worcestershire (1)
Yo - Yorkshire (1)
Average age ofteam at time of first Test match
(20 December 1972) :
28 yrs 8 months
Test Appearances made before the tour
Knott 36, Underwood 27, Fletcher 15, Amiss 9, Gifford 9, Arnold 6, Greig 5, Pocock 4, Cottam 2, Wood 1, Denness 1, Birkenshaw 0, Lewis 0, Old 0, Roope 0, Tolchard 0.
Team Officials
Donald Carr
Tour manager
Norman Gifford
Player-assistant manager
Bernard Thomas
Physiotherapist
Govind Bawji
Baggageman
Selectors
Alec Bedser (chairman), Doug Insole, Don Kenyon, Alan Smith, Cyril Washbrook and Tony Lewis.
Selection
M.C.C. gave out the names of the captain on 4 August and the manager on 10 August.
42 players were asked whether they were available for the sixteen tour places.
Unavailable:Geoffrey Boycott (owing to health fears after a spleen operation), John Edrich, Richard Hutton,Ray Illingworth, Peter Parfitt,Mike Smith,John Snow.
Tour party announced :18 August 1972.
Not selected:Brian Luckhurst,John Hampshire.
Withdrawn:Bob Taylor withdrew and was replaced by Roger Tolchard.
Time between selection and departure from England
103 days
(18 August - 29 November)
Travel
LondonQBombay
The team flew from London on 29 November 1972, and landed in Bombay at dawn on 30 November after a 14-hour flight ; then went to Hyderabad for the first match.
The team left Bombay after the Indian section of the tour arriving in Colombo on 12 February for a brief visit to Sri Lanka until 22 February, when they flew out of Colombo to Karachi.
Time spent in India74 days
(30 November -12 February)
Time spent in Pakistan36 days
(22 February -30 March)
On-tour selection panel
Tony Lewis (captain), Mike Denness (vice-captain), Tony Greig, Donald Carr (manager).
Reinforcements
None although Pat Pocock returned briefly to England briefly (from Jamshedpur on 21 January) on the death of his father. Rumours that Boycott and Snow would be joining the tour were quashed on 25 January.
Alan Knott led England when Tony Lewis and Mike Denness were off the field unwell during the Test series.
Fixtures/Results
The Test match at New Delhi included play on Christmas Day
Colombo Oval is now the P Saravannamuttu Stadium (PSS)
a
Hyderabad
President's XI
Drawn
b
Indore
Central Zone
Drawn
c
Amritsar
North Zone
Drawn
d
NEW DELHI
INDIAFirst Test
WON 6 w
e
CALCUTTA
INDIASecond Test
LOST 28 r
f
Bangalore
South Zone
Drawn
g
MADRAS
INDIAThird Test
LOST 4 w
h
Jamshedpur
East Zone
Drawn
i
KANPUR
INDIAFourth Test
DRAWN
j
Ahmedabad
West Zone
Drawn
k
BOMBAY
INDIAFifth Test
DRAWN
l
ϯ Kandy
Central Province(50 overs)
Won 166 r
m
Colombo Oval
Sri Lanka
Won 7 w
n
ϯ Colombo Oval
Sri Lanka Board President’s XI (45 overs)
Lost 4 w
o
Peshawar
Governor's XI
Abandoned
p
LAHORE
PAKISTANFirst Test
DRAWN
q
Rawalpindi
President's XI
Won 4 w
r
HYDERABAD
PAKISTAN Second Test
DRAWN
s
KARACHI
PAKISTAN Third Test
DRAWN
� not first-class
Time spent in India before First Test:21 days
(30 November - 20 December)
Test appearances on tour
(vIndia & Pakistan 1972-73)
8 -Denness, Fletcher, Greig, Knott, Lewis.
7 -Arnold, Pocock.
6 -Amiss, Underwood.
5 -Old.
4 -Gifford, Roope, Wood.
3 -Birkenshaw.
2 -Cottam.
1 -
0 -Tolchard.
Match appearances
TTest match
x other match
∙played for opposition
W wonL lostD drawn
N no resultA abandoned
u unknown result
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
i
j
k
l
m
n
o
p
q
r
s
D L Amiss
x
T
T
x
T
x
x
x
x
x
T
x
T
T
G G Arnold
x
x
T
x
T
T
x
T
x
x
T
T
T
J Birkenshaw
x
x
x
x
T
x
T
x
x
x
T
R M H Cottam
x
x
T
T
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
M H Denness
x
x
x
T
T
T
x
T
T
x
x
T
x
T
T
K W R Fletcher
x
x
x
T
T
x
T
x
T
T
x
T
x
T
T
N Gifford
x
x
T
T
x
x
T
T
A W Greig
x
x
T
T
T
x
T
x
T
x
x
T
T
T
A P E Knott
x
x
T
T
x
T
x
T
T
x
T
x
T
T
A R Lewis
x
x
T
T
x
T
T
x
T
x
T
T
T
C M Old
x
x
T
T
T
x
T
x
x
T
P I Pocock
x
x
T
T
T
x
T
x
x
x
T
x
T
T
G R J Roope
x
x
x
x
x
T
x
T
x
x
T
x
T
R W Tolchard
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
D L Underwood
x
x
T
T
x
T
T
x
T
T
B Wood
x
x
T
T
x
T
x
x
x
x
x
x
T
D B Carr
x
R E S U L T S
D
D
D
W
L
D
L
D
D
D
D
W
W
L
A
D
W
D
D
Highlights
•Mike Denness (95) and Dennis Amiss (81) began the tour with an opening partnership of 180 at Hyderabad