The series between India
and England
passed without any risk of the five Test matches reaching a result. This may
be explained by the deadening mixture of lifeless pitches, India's dread
of defeat and M.C.C.'s illness and injury problems;blame could be laid at the door of all
these factors.
Yet it is possible that some good came from the series, not least
in a financial way. England
had picked a group of promising cricketers for the tour, amongst them Jeff
Jones and John Price, the fast bowlers, and batsmen John Edrich and Phil
Sharpe.Although their health was
tested, they came home with reputations improved.Of the established players, Titmus and
Cowdrey, when he arrived, made a lasting mark. Skipper Mike Smith emerged as
an astute and natural leader with the ability to motivate and maintain
morale, even as illness at Bombay was
decimating the side, and earned his position as captain on the next two England tours abroad to South Africa and Australia.
Opening batsmen:Brian Bolus, Micky Stewart, John Edrich
Middle-order batsmenKen Barrington, Mike
Smith, Phil Sharpe (+ Colin Cowdrey, Peter Parfitt replacements).
Wicket-keepers:Jimmy Binks, Jim Parks.
All-rounder:Barry Knight.
Slow bowlers: John
Mortimore, Fred Titmus, Don Wilson.
Fast
bowlers:Jeff Jones, John
Price, David Larter.
K F Barrington
Sy
33
RHB
J G Binks
Yo
28
WK
J B Bolus
Nt
29
RHB opener
J H Edrich
Sy
26
LHB opener
I J Jones
Gm
22
LFM
B R Knight
Ex
25
RHB RFM
J D F Larter
Nth
23
RF
J B Mortimore
Gs
30
OB
J M Parks
Sx
32
RHBWK
J S E Price
Mx
26
RF
P J Sharpe
Yo
27
RHB
M J K Smith
Wk
30
RHBcaptain
M J Stewart
Sy
31
RHB vice-captain
F J Titmus
Mx
31
OB
D Wilson
Yo
26
SLA
County representation:
Ex-Essex (1)
Gm - Glamorgan (1)
Gs - Gloucestershire (1)
Le -Leicestershire (
Mx - Middlesex (2)
Nth - Northamptonshire (1)
Nt - Nottinghamshire (1)
Sy - Surrey
(3)
Sx - Sussex (1)
Wk - Warwickshire (1)
Yo - Yorkshire
(3)
Average age ofteam at time of first Test match
(10 January 1964):
28 yrs4 months.
Test
Appearances made before the tour
Cowdrey 67, Barrington 45,
Smith 22, Titmus 16, Parfitt 14, Knight 12, Parks 11, Stewart 6, Mortimore 5, Larter 4, Edrich 3, Sharpe 3, Bolus 2, Binks 0, Jones 0, Price 0, Wilson 0.
Tour
Officials
D G Clark
Manager
No physio or doctor
Govind Bawji
Baggage
Selectors
The team was chosen on 18 August by Walter Robins (Chairman of Selectors),Alec Bedser,Freddie Brown, Doug Insole, Willie
Watson,Mike Smith and Colin Cowdrey;
but it was not announced for a further week.
Selection
Unavailable :Bob
Barber, Brian Close, Ted Dexter, Tom Graveney, Tony Lock and Brian Statham.
Fred Trueman (rested) was not considered.36 players had been asked if they were
available to tour.
The names of captain and vice-captain were announced on 21
August.
Withdrawal : Colin Cowdrey, the original choice as
captain, withdrew because of the risk of complications to his injured
forearm. He was replaced by Micky Stewart.
Tour party announced :27 August 1963.
Time between selection and departure from England
126 days
(27 August - 31 December)
Travel
LondonQBombay
On 31 December the team flew from Heathrow
Airport, London,
to Bombay.On arrival in India,
the team took net practice with Conrad Hunte, who was on a Moral ReArmament
tour of India.
Time spent in India
days
(1
January -
On-tour
selection panel
Mike Smith (captain), Micky Stewart (vice-captain;later Colin Cowdrey),David Clark (manager).
Reinforcements
M C Cowdrey
Kt
31
RHBvice-captain
P H Parfitt
Mx
27
LHB
Colin Cowdrey as vice-captain and Peter Parfitt
for Micky Stewart, who suffered
from severe stomach illness, and Ken Barrington
(broken bone in hand fielding at Ahmedabad).
Manager David Clark and journalist Henry Blofeld were standing by
to field in the second Test when most of the team were ill with stomach
complaints. Kripal Singh fielded for England in this match.
John Edrich missed the first three Test matches with a throat
infection.
Fixtures/Results
a
Bangalore
President's XI
Drawn
b
Hyderabad
South Zone
Won inns 27
c
MADRAS
INDIAFirst Test
DRAWN
d
Ahmedabad
West Zone
Drawn
e
BOMBAY
INDIASecond Test
DRAWN
f
CALCUTTA
INDIAThird Test
DRAWN
g
Nagpur
Central & East Zone
Drawn
h
NEW DELHI
INDIAFourh Test
DRAWN
i
KANPUR
INDIAFifth Test
DRAWN
j
Amritsar
North Zone.
Drawn
† not first-class
Time spent in India before First Test: 9 days
(1 January - 10 January)
Test
appearances on tour
(vIndia 1963-64)
5 -Bolus, Knight, Parks, Smith, Titmus, Wilson.
4 -Price.
3 -Cowdrey, Larter, Mortimore, Parfitt
2 -Binks, Edrich, Stewart
1 -Barrington, Jones, Sharpe.
0 -
Match
appearances
TTest match
x other match
∙ appearaed as substitute
W wonL lostD drawn
N no
resultA abandoned
u unknown
result
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
i
j
K F Barrington
x
x
T
x
J G Binks
x
x
T
T
x
x
J B Bolus
x
T
x
T
T
x
T
T
x
M C Cowdrey
T
x
T
T
J H Edrich
x
x
x
T
T
x
I J Jones
x
x
T
x
x
B R Knight
x
x
T
T
T
T
T
x
J D F Larter
x
T
x
T
T
x
x
J B Mortimore
x
T
x
x
T
T
J M Parks
x
T
x
T
T
x
T
T
P H Parfitt
T
x
T
T
x
J S E Price
x
x
x
T
T
T
T
P J Sharpe
x
x
T
x
x
x
M J K Smith
x
x
T
T
T
T
T
x
M J Stewart
x
x
T
x
T
F J Titmus
x
T
T
T
T
T
x
D Wilson
x
x
T
T
T
x
T
T
x
R E S U L T S
D
W
D
D
D
D
D
D
D
D
England’s six previous Test tour results
Highlights
•England's
makeshift team at Bombay,
chosen from the only fit men available, avoided defeat.
To general reading of The Times newspaper digital archive
(Gale Group);Jamaica Gleanor
archive;National Library of Australia
Trove; Papers Past NZ.
From former British Newspaper
Library, Colindale and online:The
Age, Melbourne Argus, Bangladesh Daily Star, Barbados Advocate, Canberra
Times, Daily Telegraph, Dawn, Eastern Daily Press, The Hindu, The Independent
(Dhaka), Indian Express, The Island (Lanka), Lahore Times, New Nation, New
Zealand Auckland Herald, Sri Lanka Daily News, Stabroek News, Straits Times,
Sydney Morning Herald, The Telegraph (Calcutta), Times of India , The Tribune
Chandigarh, Trinidad Guardian, The West Australian.
Magazines/periodicals including
Australian Cricket, B & H West Indies Annual, The Cricketer
International, Cricketer Quarterly, Indian Cricket, Indian Cricket Field
Annual, Playfair Cricket Monthly, Shell Cricket Almanack of New Zealand,
Wisden Cricket Monthly, Wisden Book of Test Cricket, Wisden’s Cricketers’
Almanack.
Men In White, A History of
Australian Cricket (Harte), A History of Indian Cricket (Bose), A History of West Indies Cricket (Manley)
Biography and tour books (own collection and at the M.C.C.
Library at Lord’s Ground)ALL CONTENTS OF THE
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