| Tour of India 1988-89 Captain : Graham Gooch  | |
| | Tour Cancelled | | |
| Would have been seventieth English Test tour. (October 1988 - February 1989) Would have been the eleventh Test-playing tour of India by England (previous tour 1984-85) | Firstly, the proposed autumn tour of Sri Lanka was called off in June owing to political unrest on the island. There were already signs that the England team to India might not be acceptable owing to the South African connections of several English players. Graham Gooch was appointed tour captain on 29 August during the home Test against Sri Lanka at Lord's. However, when Indian politicians learned that he needed to obtain release from a winter contract with Western Province, the Indian government accused him of misleading them at the time of the 1987 Reliance World Cup about his intentions of playing again in South Africa. Consequently, he was regarded as unacceptable as captain. The tour was probably already doomed by then but the TCCB went ahead and chose a team. When it was announced, eight of those selected including Gooch were on the United Nations 'blacklist' because of their sporting links with South Africa. While Chief Executive Alan Smith admitted he could not see how the tour could proceed because eight of the team would be refused entry visas, the TCCB delayed cancelling it for a further two weeks. The tour was finally cancelled on 7 October. In due course an alternative tour to New Zealand to start in late February was substituted. The England party was to remain unchanged, although discussions did take place about changing the composition of the original team which had been picked for Indian conditions. The New Zealand tour itinerary included two Test matches and a one-day triangular series, for which the Pakistan Board soon announced it was refusing to let its players play against England. This rendered the whole tour financially unviable. On 22 December the New Zealand Cricket Council called it off. The Pakistanis then arranged their own separate tour of New Zealand. The Sri Lankans agreed in principle at the Asian Cricket Conference in Dhaka to tour India in place of England but, with no word from the Indian Board (BCCI), most of the Sri Lankan players took up ccontracts to play club cricket in Australia, Zimbabwe and Bangladesh and became unavailable | All England tours Previous Test tour New Zealand 1987-88 Next Test tour West Indies 1989-90 Next tour of India 1992-93 | |
| Proposed members of the Test tour party (16) Opening batsmen: Tim Robinson, Graham Gooch, . Middle-order batsmen Rob Bailey, Kim Barnett, David Gower, Allan Lamb, Robin Smith Wicket-keeper: Jack Russell, Steven Rhodes Slow bowlers: John Childs, John Emburey, Eddie Hemmings Fast bowlers: Graham Dilley, Neil Foster, David Lawrence, Phil Newport | R J Bailey | Nth | 25 | RHB | | | K J Barnett | Dy | 28 | RHB | | | J H Childs | Ex | 37 | SLA | | | G R Dilley | Wo | 29 | RF | | | J E Emburey | Mx | 36 | OB | | | N A Foster | Ex | 26 | RFM | | | G A Gooch | Ex | 35 | RHB captain | | | D I Gower | Le | 31 | LHB | | | E E Hemmings | Nt | 39 | OB | | | A J Lamb | Nth | 34 | RHB | | | D V Lawrence | Gs | 24 | RF | | | P J Newport | Wo | 26 | RFM | | | S J Rhodes | Wo | 24 | WK | | | R T Robinson | Nt | 30 | RHB opener | | | R C Russell | Gs | 25 | WK | | | R A Smith | Ha | 25 | RHB | | |
| County representation: Dy - Derbyshire (1) Ex - Essex (3) Gs - Gloucestershire (2) Ha - Hampshire (1) Le - Leicestershire (1) Mx - Middlesex (1) Nth - Northamptonshire (2) Nt - Nottinghamshire (2) Wo - Worcestershire (3) Average age of team at time of first Test match (November 1988): 29 yrs 10 months. | |
| Test Appearances made before the tour | Gower 100, Gooch 68, Emburey 57, Lamb 56, Dilley 39, Robinson 28, Foster 26, Hemmings 8, Smith 3, Childs 2, Bailey 1, Barnett 1, Lawrence 1, Newport 1, Russell 1, Rhodes 0. | | |
| Tour Officials | Peter Lush | Tour manager | Micky Stewart | Cricket manager | Laurie Brown | Physiotherapist | Peter Austin | Scorer |
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| Selectors | The selectors were Peter May (chairman), Phil Sharpe, Fred Titmus, M.J.Stewart (team cricket manager), Graham Gooch (captain), Alan Smith (Chief Executive of the TCCB), Ossie Wheatley, Raman Subba Row (Chairman of the TCCB - non-voting) | | |
| Selection | Unavailable : Ian Botham, Chris Cowdrey, Mike Gatting, Jack Richards. Tour party announced : 7 September 1988. | Time between selection and planned departure from England days (7 September - 17 August) | |
| Original Fixtures: Indian tour | a | Bombay | Indian Under-25 XI | cancelled | b | Guwahati | Duleep Trophy Winners | cancelled | c | CALCUTTA | INDIA First Test | cancelled | d | AHMEDABAD | INDIA Second Test | cancelled | e | Kanpur | President's XI | cancelled | f | MADRAS | INDIA Third Test | cancelled | g | DELHI | INDIA Fourth Test | cancelled | h | NAGPUR | INDIA Fifth Test | cancelled | i | § Pune | India (1st ODI) | cancelled | j | § Bangalore | India (2nd ODI) | cancelled | k | § Jamshedpur | India (3rd ODI) | cancelled | l | § Jodhpur | India (4th ODI) | cancelled | m | § Chandigarh | India (5th ODI) | cancelled | n | ϯ Delhi | day/night match | cancelled |
The Indian tour was cancelled on 7 October | § one-day internationals � not first-class Time to be spent in India before First Test: x days (7 September - x November) | |
| Original Fixtures: New Zealand tour | a | Tauranga | Northern Districts | cancelled | b | Wellington | Wellington | cancelled | c | ϯ Palmerston North | Central Districts | cancelled | d | ϯ New Plymouth | Central Districts | cancelled | e | § Auckland | New Zealand (1st ODI) | cancelled | f | § Dunedin | Pakistan (2nd ODI) | cancelled | g | Alexandra | Otago | cancelled | h | § Wellington | New Zealand (3rd ODI) | cancelled | i | § Hamilton | Pakistan (4th ODI) | cancelled | j | § Auckland | ODI final | cancelled | k | CHRISTCHURCH | NEW ZEALAND First Test | cancelled | l | NAPIER | NEW ZEALAND Second Test | cancelled |
The New Zealand tour was called off on 22 December. | | |
| Tour Summary | Indian tour | F | W | L | D | Aban | Canc | Test Matches | 5 | - | - | - | - | 5 | Other first-class matches | 3 | - | - | - | - | 3 | § One-day internationals | 5 | - | - | - | - | 5 | � Minor matches | 1 | - | - | - | - | 1 | All Matches | 14 | - | - | - | - | 14 |
New Zealand tour | F | W | L | D | Aban | Canc | Test Matches | 2 | - | - | - | - | 2 | Other first-class matches | 3 | - | - | - | - | 3 | § One-day internationals | 5 | - | - | - | - | 5 | � Minor matches | 2 | - | - | - | - | 2 | All Matches | 12 | - | - | - | - | 12 |
| F Fixtures W Won L Lost T Tied D Drawn Canc Cancelled Aban abandoned § one-day internationals | |
| Finances | Members of the England tour party were paid a “substantial portion” of their tour fee of £12,000 as contracted. | | |
| Postscript | | | |