Tour of India 1984-85            Captain :  David Gower                  

England’s 65th Test tour

(October 1984 - March 1985)

Tenth Test-playing tour of India by England

  (previous tour 1981-82)

In the original tour plans a visit to Sri Lanka was to follow the Indian tour. The World Championship of Cricket to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the state of Victoria took its place.

When Mrs Indira Gandhi was assassinated on the morning of the touring party's arrival in New Delhi, the team was restricted to its hotel for five days while the tour itinerary was rescheduled. The team flew out to Sri Lanka in President Jayawardene's Tristar aircraft when he returned from Mrs Gandhi's funeral to play two hastily substituted matches. By the time the team returned to Bombay a week later, a new tour of India was arranged, initially with four Test matches but later restored to five.

However, there was another shock in store for the tourists when Mr Percy Norris, the British Deputy High Commissioner in India, was shot dead while being driven to his offices. Hours earlier he had entertained the England team at a High Commission party.

During the First Test England protested about decisions by umpire Swaroop Kishen and he did not stand in the remainder of the series. Fortunately the rest of the tour passed off smoothly and England won the Test series by two matches to one.

Other England tours

Previous Test tour

 Pakistan 1983-84

Next Test tour

West Indies 1985-86

Next tour of  India

1988-89  cancelled

1992-93

Members of the Test tour party (16  + 1)

Opening batsmen:  Graeme Fowler, Tim Robinson, Martin Moxon

Middle-order batsmen David Gower, Mike Gatting, Allan Lamb

All-rounder Chris Cowdrey

Wicket-keepers:  Paul Downton, Bruce French

Slow bowlers: Pat Pocock, Vic Marks, Phil Edmonds

Fast bowlers: Paul Allott (replaced by Jonathan Agnew), Norman Cowans, Neil Foster, Richard Ellison

County representation:

Ex  -  Essex (1)

Kt  -  Kent (2)

La - Lancashire (2)

Le  - Leicestershire (1)

Mx - Middlesex (4)

Nth - Northamptonshire (1)

Nt - Nottinghamshire (2)

Sm - Somerset (1)

Sy - Surrey (1)

Yo - Yorkshire (1)

Average age of  team at time of first Test match

(28 November 1984) :

  27 yrs  9 months

Test Appearances made before the tour

Gower 65,  Gatting 30,  Lamb 27,  Edmonds 23,  Pocock 20,  Fowler 16,  Cowans 13,  Downton 10,  Allott 9,  Marks 6,  Foster 6,  Agnew 2,  Ellison 2,  Cowdrey 0,  French 0,  Moxon 0,  Robinson 0.

Tour Officials

The manager's name was announced on 29 July during the Fourth Test ; the captain's name on 8 August, three weeks before anticipated ; the assistant manager was named along with the team on 12 September. Consideration was given to appointing Bob Taylor as assistant manager and deputy wicket-keeper.

Selectors

Peter May (chairman),  Alec Bedser,  Phil Sharpe,  Alan Smith,  Tony Brown (tourmanager),  David Gower (captain),  Charles Palmer (chairman of the Cricket Council), who took the place of Doug Insole (Chairman of the Cricket Committee of TCCB) who was absent.

Selection

The selectors met at Lord's on the evening of 11 September 1984.

Unavailable :   Ian Botham (announced 26 July);  Andy Lloyd and Paul Terry (injured).

Not considered:  all players under a three-year ban because of the 1982 rebel tour of South Africa. (Amiss, Boycott, Emburey, Gooch, Hendrick, Humpage, Knott, Larkins, Lever, Old, Sidebottom, Taylor, Underwood, Willey, Woolmer).

Tour party announced :  12  September 1982.

Pocock toured with both Cowdreys, father and son.

Not selected:  Kim Barnett,  Richard Williams,  Nick Cook

Time between selection and departure from England

   48 days

 (12 September - 30 October)

Travel

London  Q  New Delhi

Q   ColomboQ  Bombay

New Delhi   Q   Sydney

The tour party flew from Heathrow Airport on 30 October 1984 and arrived in New Delhi early next morning.

Because of Mrs Gandhi's assassination, the first fortnight of the tour was re-arranged. The players left Delhi for Colombo on 4 November

They returned to Bombay on 11 November after a short tour of Sri Lanka.  Matches in India began on 13 November.

On 8 February the team flew from Delhi to Sydney for a World Championship tournament in Australia.

Time spent in India and Sri Lanka

    100 days

(31 October -  8 February)

On-tour selection panel

David Gower (captain),  Mike Gatting (vice-captain),  Norman Gifford (assistant manager).

Reinforcements

Jonathan Agnew came in for Paul Allott, who returned home on 18 December for treatment to a back injury. Martyn Moxon returned home on 10 November because of his father's illness but his father died the following day. Moxon later rejoined the tour.

Original schedule

Rearranged Fixtures/Results

† not first-class

§ one-day internationals (Charminar Challenge Cup)

Time spent in India and Sri Lanka before First Test:

  28 days

(31 October - 28 November)

Test appearances on tour

(v India 1984-85)

5 -    Cowans,  Cowdrey,  Downton,  Edmonds,  Fowler,  Gatting,  Gower,  Lamb,  Pocock,  Robinson.

3 -    Ellison.

2 -    Foster.

0 -    Agnew,  Allott,  French,  Marks,  Moxon.

Match appearances

T  Test match

o  one-day international 

x other match 

W won  L lost  D drawn

N no result   A abandoned

u unknown result

England’s six previous Test tour results

Highlights

•  T

• 

• 

• 

Tour Summary

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

Return to England

Melbourne  Q  London

On 8 February the team flew to Australia for the Victoria State 150th anniversary World Championships sponsored by Benson & Hedges. Pocock and French did not go to Australia and flew home.

The team arrived home from Australia on 6 March. Gower returned a week later.

Time away from England

  127  days 

 (30 October - 6 March)

Finances

Accounts of the tour

"Marks Out of XI"   by Vic Marks  (Allen & Unwin, 1985)

“Good Enough?”   by Chris Cowdrey & Jonathan Smith  (Pelham Books, 1986)

Postscript