Test Cricket Tours - England to Pakistan and New Zealand 1977-78

Test Cricket Tours - England to Pakistan & New Zealand 1977-78

Tour of Pakistan & New Zealand 1977-78        Captain : Mike Brearley

England’s 55th Test tour.
(November 1977 - March 1978)

Fourth Test-playing tour of Pakistan by England
   (previous tour 1972-73)

11th Test-playing tour of New Zealand by England
   (previous tour 1974-75)

This was the first England Test tour not made under the name of the M.C.C. since 1903-04.
The tour took place against the background of Kerry Packer's World Series Cricket. The team happened to fly out of London on the same day that the first ball of a World Series Cricket match was bowled at VFL Park in Melbourne, where an Australian XI took on a World XI. Also on the same day, Justice Slade found in the High Court that the I.C.C. and T.C.C.B. had no right to ban Kerry Packer's players from taking part in Test cricket, which was an unlawful inducement to get the players to break their contracts with Kerry Packer, and a restraint of trade. Costs awarded against the cricket establishment were almost £200,000.
Mike Brearley had taken over from Tony Greig as captain but when Brearley had to go home with a broken arm, Geoff Boycott crowned his first tour since 1973-74 with the England captaincy he coveted.
Arriving in New Zealand England played on a poor Test pitch at ‘windy’ Wellington and Richard Hadlee’s ten wickets brought New Zealand’s first victory. Ian Botham’s maiden Test century at Christchurch and match figures of 8 for 111 runs (23 of which were no-balls) soon restored parity but the third Test was a bore draw notable only for Clive Radley’s 11-hour innings.

Other England tours

Previous Test tour
India & Australia 1976-77

Next Test tour
Australia 1978-79

Next tour of Pakistan and New Zealand
1983-84

Members of the Test tour party (16 + 1)

Opening batsmen:  Geoff Boycott, Mike Brearley, Brian Rose
Middle-order batsmen Mike Gatting, Derek Randall, Graham Roope (and replacement Clive Radley)
Wicket-keeper: Bob Taylor, Paul Downton
All-rounder: Ian Botham
Slow bowlers: Phil Edmonds, Geoff Cope, Geoff Miller
Fast bowlers: Bob Willis, Mike Hendrick, John Lever, Chris Old.

I T Botham
Sm
22
RHB           RFM

G Boycott
Yo
37
RHB opener          vice-captain

J M Brearley
Mx
34
RHB opener          captain

G A Cope
Yo
29
OB

P R Downton
Kt
20
WK

P H Edmonds
Mx
26
SLA

M W Gatting
Mx
20
RHB            RM

M Hendrick
Dy
29
RFM

J K Lever
Ex
28
LFM

G Miller
Dy
24
OB

C M Old
Yo
27
RFM

D W Randall
Nt
25
RHB

G R J Roope
Sy
31
RHB

B C Rose
Sm
27
RHB opener

R W Taylor
Dy
36
WK

R G D Willis
Wk
27
RF


County representation:

Dy – Derbyshire (3)
Ex - Essex (1)
Kt - Kent (1)
Mx - Middlesex (2)
Nt - Nottinghamshire (1)
Sm - Somerset (2)
Sy - Surrey (1)
Wk - Warwickshire (1
Yo - Yorkshire (3)


Average age of team at time of first Test match
(14 December 1977):
    28 yrs 6 months

Test Appearances made before the tour

Boycott 66, Old 33, Willis 29, Brearley 13, Hendrick 13, Roope 11, Randall 10, Level 9, Miller 3, Botham 2, Edmonds 2, Taylor 1, Cope 0, Downton 0, Gatting 0, Radley 0, Rose 0.

Tour Officials

Ken Barrington
Tour manager
Bernard Thomas
Physiotherapist
Geoffrey Saulez
Scorer

Selectors

Alec Bedser (chairman),   Doug Insole, David Clark, Ken Barrington, Charlie Elliott, John Murray and Mike Brearley (captain)

Selection

Unavailable: Dennis Amiss, Tony Greig, Alan Knott, John Snow, Derek Anderwood and Bob Woolmer, the latter declaring his unavailability only two days before the team was announced. All these players were contracted to World Series Cricket.
Boycott, Old, Randall, Willis and others turned down a W.S.C. contract.
Tour party announced : 5 September 1977.

Time between selection and departure from England
   80 days
(5 September - 24 November)

Travel
London Q Rawalpindi

Firstly, the tour party assembled as usual at Lord's, then flew from London to Rawalpindi on 24 November 1977.
After the Pakistan matches, they departed from Karachi on 24 January, Brian Rose had his wallet stolen but the Pakistan authorities compensated him with £180.
The team arrived in Auckland next day to find the hotel they were staying in had just been evacuated because of a fire.

Time spent in Pakistan   61 days
(24 November - 24 January)
Time spent in New Zealand 46 days
(25 January - 12 March)

On-tour selection panel

Ken Barrington (manager), Mike Brearley (captain), Geoff Boycott (vice-captain), Bob Willis (senior player).

Reinforcements

C T Radley
Mx
33
RHB

Clive Radley was called up in place of Mike Brearley, who fractured his arm defending a ball from Sikander Bakht of Sind in a one-day match before the Third Test on 15 January. Brearley went back to England immediately.
Geoff Boycott took over the captaincy and Bob Willis became vice-captain. Radley arrived in Karachi from Sydney on 17 January.
Old missed a few matches in Pakistan with a knee injury and later stomach illness, as did Miller and Hendrick.

Fixtures/Results

a
Rawalpindi
B.C.C.P. Patron's XI
Drawn
b
Faisalabad
United Bank
Drawn
c
Peshawar
N.W.F.P.Governor's XI
Won 212 r
d
LAHORE
PAKISTAN First Test
DRAWN
e
§ Sahiwal
Pakistan (1st ODI)
Won 3 w
f
Lahore
Habib Bank
Abandoned
g
ϯ Lahore
Habib Bank (30 overs)
Won 65 r
h
§ Sialkot
Pakistan (2nd ODI)
Won 6 w
i
HYDERABAD
PAKISTAN Second Test
DRAWN
j
Bahawalpur
Punjab
Drawn
k
§ Lahore
Pakistan (3rd ODI)
Lost 36 r
l
Karachi
Sind(35 overs)
Lost 3 w
m
KARACHI
PAKISTAN Third Test
DRAWN

n
Auckland
Auckland
Drawn
o
ϯ Hamilton
Northern Districts (35 overs)
Won scoring rate
p
New Plymouth
Central Districts
Tied
q
Christchurch
Canterbury
Drawn
r
WELLINGTON
NEW ZEALAND First Test
LOST 72 r
s
Dunedin
Otago
Won 6 w
t
Temuka
Young New Zealand
Won inns 23
u
CHRISTCHURCH
NEW ZEALAND Second Test
WON 174 r
v
AUCKLAND
NEW ZEALAND Third Test
DRAWN

† not first-class
§ One-day internationals

Time spent in Pakistan before First Test:   20 days
(24 November - 14 December)

Test appearances on tour
(v Pakistan & NZ 1977-78)

6 - Boycott, Miller, Randall, Roope, Taylor, Willis
5 - Edmonds, Rose.
4 - Lever.
3 -   Botham, Cope, Old.
2 - Brearley, Gatting, Radley
1 - Hendrick.
0 - Downton.

Match appearances

T Test match
o one-day international
x other match

W won L lost D drawn T tied
N no result   A abandoned
C   cancelled u unknown result

Cope, Boycott, and Lever played for Lahore Gymkhana during the first one-day international at Sahiwal, as did Willis, Brearley and Hendrick during the second at Sialkot, owing to a lack of match practice.

P A K I S T A N
N E W   Z E A L A N D

a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
i
j
k
l
m
n
o
p
q
r
s
t
u
v
I T Botham

x
x

o

x
o

x
o
x

x
x

x
T
x

T
T
G Boycott
x
x
x
T

x
o
T

o
x
T
x

x
T
x
x
T
T
J M Brearley
x
x
x
T
o

x

T
x
o
x

G A Cope

x

T

x
o
T

o

T

x
x

x

P R Downton

x

o

x

x

x
x

x

P H Edmonds
x
x

o

x
o
T
x
o
x
T
x
x

x
T
x
x
T
T
M W Gatting

x

o

o

x
o
x
T
x
x
x
x

x

T
M Hendrick
x
x

o

x

x

x

x
T
x

J K Lever

x
T

x
o
T

o
x
T

x
x

x
x

T
G Miller
x

x
T
o

o
T
x

x
T
x
x
x
x
T

x
T
T
C M Old
x

x
T
o

x
o

x

x
x
T

x
T

C T Radley

x

x
x

x
x
T
T
D W Randall
x
x
x
T
o

x
o
T
x
o

T

x
x
x
T
x
x
T
T
G R J Roope
x
x
x
T
o

x
o
T
x
o

T
x
x
x

T
x
x
T
T
B C Rose
x
x
x
T
o

x
o
T
x

x
T
x
x
x

T

x
T

R W Taylor
x

x
T

x
o
T

o

T
x

x
T

x
T
T
R G D Willis
x

x
T

x

T

x
T

x
x
x
T

x
T
T
R E S U L T S
D
D
W
D
W
A
W
W
D
D
W
L
D
D
W
T
D
L
W
W
W
D

England’s six previous Test tour results

Highlights

• Geoff Miller just failed to score his first Test century with 98 not out at Lahore
• In the three Tests in Pakistan Geoff Boycott made successive scores of 63, 79 and 100*, 31 and 56
• Phil Edmonds took 7 for 66 in the Karachi Test, the best by an England Test bowler in Pakistan.
• Chris Old took 6-59 in the first Test v New Zealand at Wellington, and Bob Willis 5-32 in the second innings
• Ian Botham scored his first Test century (103) as well as eight wickets at Christchurch, helping England to win
• Botham took another five wickets on a far less helpful pitch (5-109) at Auckland.
• Clive Radley hit his maiden Test century (158) in the third Test, but it took almost eleven hours.

Tour Summary

F
W
L
D
T
Aban
Test Matches
6
1
1
4
0
-
Other first-class matches
10
3
1
5
1
1
†Minor matches
3
2
1
0
0
-
§ One-day internationals
3
2
1
0
0
-
All Matches
22
8
4
9
1
1

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

Return to England
Auckland Q London

The team flew out of Auckland, New Zealand, on 12 March 1978 and most players went on a short holiday, but manager Ken Barrington and six players returned direct to London and arrived on the same date.

Time away from England
  138 days
(24 November - 12 March)

Finances

The profit made in New Zealand was about £15,000.

Accounts of the tour

"The Packer Affair" by Henry Blofeld (Collins, 1978)

Postscript

Other Test tours in 1977-78

Indians to Australia 1977-78 - captain Bishan Bedi
Australians to West Indies 1977-78 - captain Bob Simpson

Acknowledgements
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.
cricketweb.net; ESPN cricinfo; cricket archive; www.cricketcountry; www.coverpoint
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 TEST-CRICKET-TOURS.CO.UK WEBSITE ARE COPYRIGHT