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Test Cricket Tours - England to India 1981-82

 

Tour of  India  1981-82             Captain :  Keith Fletcher                   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

England’s 62nd Test tour.

 

(November 1981 - February 1982)

 

 

 

Ninth Test-playing tour of India by England

  (previous tour 1979-80)    

 

 

 

The tour was under threat of cancellation because Indira Gandhi’s government objected to Geoff Boycott and Geoff Cook who were both on the United Nations blacklist for playing in South Africa. The Test & County Cricket Board (T C C B) would not countenance withdrawing either player from the team and it looked unlikely that the tour could be saved. The impasse was resolved less than a week before the team departed when the two players concerned let it be known they were opposed to apartheid.

The tour went ahead without demonstrations. However, Boycott then returned home with a stomach illness. Under intense publicity, it was suggested that he had lost interest in the tour after beating the Test run-scoring record. 

Mike Brearley was unavailable to continue as England captain and the selectors again turned back the clock, calling on Keith Fletcher who had last played for England in the 1977 Centenary Test.

Chris Tavare thrived in his role as a defensive opener, while David Gower showed consistency at last, and Ian Botham maintained his magnificent standard from 1981.  But overall the cricket provided poor entertainment and, after Bombay where England were ill-prepared and soundly beaten, India slowed down the progress of the games and ensured that all the remaining Test matches would be drawn.

Sri Lanka was admitted to the International Cricket Conference in 1981 and the first-ever Test match played there resulted in a comfortable victory for the tourists.

 

 

Other England tours

 

 

 

Previous Test tour

West Indies 1980-81

 

 

Next Test tour

Australia 1982-83

 

 

Next tour of India

1984-85

 

 

 

 

Members of the Test tour party (16)

 

 

Opening batsmen: Graham Gooch, Geoff Boycott, Geoff Cook.

Middle-order batsmen David Gower, Keith Fletcher, Chris Tavare, Mike Gatting,

Wicket-keepers: Bob Taylor, Jack Richards

All-rounder:  Ian Botham

Slow bowlers: John Emburey, Derek Underwood

Fast bowlers: Bob Willis, Paul Allott, John Lever, Graham Dilley

 

 

 

P J W Allott

La

25

RFM

 

 

I T Botham

Sm

26

RHB   RFM

 

 

G Boycott

Yo

41

RHB opener

 

 

G Cook

Nth

30

RHB opener

 

 

G R Dilley

Kt

22

RF

 

 

J E Emburey

Mx

29

OB

 

 

K W R Fletcher

Ex

37

RHB  captain

 

 

M W Gatting

Mx

24

RHB

 

 

G A Gooch

Ex

28

RHB opener

 

 

D I Gower

Le

24

LHB

 

 

J K Lever

Ex

32

LFM

 

 

C J Richards

Sy

23

second WK

 

 

R W Taylor

Dy

40

WK

 

 

C J Tavare

Kt

27

RHB

 

 

D L Underwood

Kt

36

SLA

 

 

R G D Willis

Wk

32

RF   vice-captain

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

County representation:

 

Dy – Derbyshire (1)

Ex  -  Essex (3)

Kt  -  Kent (3)

La - Lancashire (1)

Le -  Leicestershire (1)

Mx - Middlesex (2)

Nth - Northamptonshire (1)

Sm - Somerset (1)

Sy - Surrey (1)

Wk - Warwickshire (1)

Yo - Yorkshire (1)

 

 

  

Average age of  team at time of first Test match

(27 November 1981) :

 30 yrs 4 months

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Test Appearances made before the tour

 

Boycott 104,  Underwood 79,  Willis 63,  Fletcher 52,  Botham 40,  Gooch 35,  Gower 31,  Taylor 25,  Emburey 18,  Lever 18,  Gatting 14,  Dilley 12,  Tavare 4,  Allott 1,  Cook 0,  Richards 0.

 

 

 

 

 

Tour Officials

 

Raman Subba Row

Tour manager

 

Assistant manager

Bernard Thomas

Physiotherapist

Geoffrey Saulez

Scorer

Govind Bawji Vadolikar

Baggageman

 

 

 

 

 

 

Selectors

 

Alec Bedser (chairman),  Brian Close,  John Edrich,  Charlie Elliott, Keith Fletcher (captain) and Peter May

 

 

 

 

 

Selection

 

Unavailable :   Mike Brearley,  Alan Knott.

Tour Party Announced  : 8 September 1981.

Not selected: 

 

 

Time between selection and departure from England

   58 days

 (8 September - 5 November)

 

 

 

 

Travel

London  Q  Bombay

 

 

Geoff Boycott let Mrs Indira Gandhi know that he was opposed to apartheid and the Indian Board gave the tour the all-clear on 29 October.

On 5 November 1981 the team flew from Heathrow Airport, London, to Bombay, except Boycott who came later from his holiday in Hong Kong.

 

 

Time spent in India   93 days

(5 November -  6 February)

Time spent in Sri Lanka

 18 days

(6 February - 24 February)

 

 

 

On-tour selection panel

 

Keith Fletcher (captain),  Bob Willis (vice-captain), Ian Botham,  Raman Subba Row

 

 

 

 

 

 

Reinforcements

 

None although Geoff Boycott  returned early, flying from Calcutta to Heathrow after the 4th Test match. He was suffering from a virus and was "mentally and physically exhausted". 

Gooch was captain against East Zone.

 

 

 

 

 

Fixtures/Results

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(SSC)  Sinhalese Sports Club 

 

(PSS) Saravanamuttu Oval

 

 

a

ϯ Bombay

C.C.I. President's XI (50 overs)

Won 47 r

b

Pune

Indian Under-22 XI

Won 6 w

c

Nagpur

Board President's XI

Won 5 w

d

Baroda (Vadodara)

West Zone

Drawn

e

§ Ahmedabad

India (1st ODI)

Won 5 w

f

BOMBAY

INDIA  First Test

LOST 138 r

g

Hyderabad

South Zone

Drawn

h

BANGALORE

INDIA  Second Test

DRAWN

i

Jammu

North Zone

Drawn

j

§ Jullundur

India (2nd ODI)

Lost 6 w

k

NEW DELHI

INDIA  Third Test

DRAWN

l

CALCUTTA

INDIA  Fourth Test

DRAWN

m

Jamshedpur

East Zone

Drawn

n

MADRAS

INDIA  Fifth Test

DRAWN

o

Indore

Central Zone

Drawn

p

§ Cuttack

India (3rd ODI)

Lost 5 w

q

KANPUR

INDIA  Sixth Test

DRAWN

 

 

 

 

r

Kandy

President's XI

Drawn

s

§ Colombo (SSC)

Sri Lanka (1st ODI)

Won 5 r

t

§ Colombo (SSC)

Sri Lanka (2nd ODI)

Lost 3 r

u

COLOMBO  (PSS)

SRI LANKA  Test Match

WON 7 w

v

ϯ Trivandrum

Chief Minister of Kerala’s XI  (benefit match)

Lost 5 w

 

 

 

† not first-class

 

Time spent in India before First Test:

  22 days

(5 November - 27 November)

 

 

 

 

Test appearances on tour

   v India 1981-82

  v Sri Lanka 1981-82

 

 

7 -    Botham,  Fletcher,  Gooch,  Gower,  Tavare,  Taylor,  Underwood.

6 -    Willis.

5 -    Gatting.

4 -    Boycott,  Dilley,  Emburey.

3 -  

2 -    Allott,  Lever.

1 -    Cook.

0 -    Richards.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Match appearances

 

 

 

 

 

T  Test match

x other match 

 

 W won  L lost  D drawn 

T  tied

N no result   A abandoned

u unknown result

 

 

 

 I  N  D  I  A

S R I  L A N K A

 

a

b

c

d

e

f

g

h

i

j

k

l

m

n

o

p

q

r

s

t

u

v

P J W Allott

 

x

 

 

 

 

x

 

x

 

 

 

x

T

 

 

 

x

o

 

T

 

I T Botham

x

x

x

x

o

T

 

T

 

o

T

T

 

T

x

o

T

 

o

o

T

 

G Boycott

x

x

 

x

o

T

x

T

x

o

T

T

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

G Cook

x

 

x

 

o

 

x

 

x

o

 

 

x

 

x

o

 

x

o

o

T

 

G R Dilley

 

x

x

x

 

T

 

T

 

 

 

 

x

T

x

 

T

x

 

 

 

 

J E Emburey

 

x

x

x

 

T

x

 

x

 

 

T

x

 

x

 

T

x

o

 

T

 

K W R Fletcher

x

x

x

x

o

T

x

T

 

o

T

T

 

T

x

o

T

x

o

o

T

 

M W Gatting

x

x

x

 

o

 

x

T

x

o

T

T

x

T

x

o

T

x

o

o

 

 

G A Gooch

x

 

x

x

o

T

x

T

x

o

T

T

x

T

 

o

T

x

o

o

T

 

D I Gower

x

x

 

x

o

T

x

T

x

o

T

T

x

T

 

o

T

x

o

o

T

 

J K Lever

x

 

x

 

o

 

x

T

x

o

T

 

x

 

x

o

 

x

 

o

 

 

C J Richards

 

x

 

 

o

 

x

 

x

o

 

 

x

 

x

 

 

x

o

 

 

 

R W Taylor

x

 

x

x

 

T

 

T

 

 

T

T

x

T

x

o

T

 

 

o

T

 

C J Tavare

 

x

x

x

 

T

 

T

x

 

T

T

x

T

x

o

T

 

 

o

T

 

D L Underwood

x

 

x

x

o

T

 

T

 

o

T

T

 

T

x

o

T

x

o

o

T

 

R G D Willis

x

x

 

x

o

T

x

 

x

o

T

T

 

T

 

o

T

 

o

o

T

 

 R E S U L T S

W

W

W

D

W

L

D

D

D

L

D

D

D

D

D

L

D

D

W

L

W

L

 

 

 

 

 

England’s six previous Test tour results

 

 

 

 

 

Highlights

 

  T

 

 

               

 

 

 

 

 

Tour Summary

 

 

 F

 W

L

D

Aban

Test Matches

  7

 1

1

  5

-

Other first-class matches

  8

 2

0

  6

-

Minor matches

  2

 1

1

  0

-

§ One-day internationals

  5

 2

3

  0

-

All Matches

22

 6

5

11

-

 

 

 

 

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

 

 

 

 

Return to England

 

Colombo  Q  London Gatwick

 

 

Geoffrey Boycott went home on   Manager Raman Subba Row said “He was not sent home under any sort of disgrace. He was unwell and not in the right frame of mind to play cricket. With the short period of time left on the tour it was mutually agreed that it would be better if he went home and got himself well.” (The Times)

England left India for Sri Lanka on 6 February 1982.

After the Sri Lankan tour they flew to Trivandrum to play a limited-overs benefit match on 23 February. The match raised £3000 for the trust fund of the long-serving baggagman Govind Bawji.

Returning to Sri Lanka, the tourists made their final flight home on 24 February 1982 from Colombo to Gatwick Airport (London).

   

Time away from England

    111 days  

(5 November - 24 February)

 

 

 

 

Finances

 

 

 

 

 

 

Accounts of the tour

 

"Cricket Wallah"   by Scyld Berry  (Hodder & Stoughton, 1982)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Postscript

 

 

In March 1982 it was revealed that twelve players had arrived in South Africa to play a series of matches in contravention of the 1977 Gleneagles agreement which discourages sporting links with South Africa. Several of the “South African Breweries XI” had just been to India, including Geoffrey Boycott who had been accepted for the 1981-82 tour only after making statements expressing his disapproval of apartheid.

The British government condemned the tour as “a total deception which had undone a tremendous amount of goodwill.”  The T.C.C.B. banned the players from playing Test cricket for three years.

 

 

 

 

 

Other tours in 1981-82

 

 

Pakistanis in Australia 1981-82  -  captain  Javed Miandad

West Indians in Australia 1981-82  - captain Clive Lloyd

Sri Lankans in Pakistan 1981-82  -  captain Bandula Warnapura

Australians in New Zealand 1981-82  -  captain Greg Chappell

 

 

 

 




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