Test Cricket Tours - England to India 1988-89

Test Cricket Tours - England to India 1988-89

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

Previous Test tour

Next Test tour

Next tour of India

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

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