Tour of  West Indies 1953-54        Captain : Len Hutton                      

England’s 41st Test tour.

(December 1953 - April 1954)

Fourth Test-playing tour of West Indies by England

  (previous tour  1947-48)

The first English Test tour party to fly to its destination left Heathrow Airport looking forward to tropical sunshine but engine trouble grounded the plane for nine hours in freezing weather at Gander in Canada.

The tour began with practice and minor matches on a 12-day ' goodwill tour' of Bermuda but got off to a poor start. A colour bar meant that white players would not join the other races in the home team. Following this, the main tour played out amongst the tension of independence movements across the Caribbean, demanding home rule from the British Empire.

Len Hutton was appointed as M.C.C.'s first professional captain overseas. He was leading a full-strength team to the Caribbean which had not happened before either. Hutton was supported by a surprise choice manager, mild-mannered Charles Palmer, who was also a member of the playing strength. However, it did not turn out as a happy tour. The poor conduct of young players, allegedly Trueman and Lock, and imaged slights to local dignitaries, were among the off-field problems. On the field expressions of disappointment at umpires' decisions would provoke a crowd reaction, at its worst a bottle-throwing riot at Georgetown. The team left West Indies with a clouded image, though politicians and journalists had made the most of any incidents for political reasons. The competence of the appointed umpires was in question but they could not be changed because of inter-island rivalry.

As far as the cricket was concerned, in the Test matches Hutton pulled his side round magnificently after losing the first two Tests by a wide margin of runs, to level the series, taking the third and fifth Tests each by nine wickets with the intervening fourth Test being drawn.

Other England tours

Previous Test tour

India 1951-52

Next Test tour

Australia 1954-55

Next tour of West Indies

1959-60

Members of the Test tour party (17)

Opening batsmen:  Len Hutton, Willie Watson.

Middle-order batsmen Denis Compton, Peter May, Tom Graveney, Charles Palmer, Ken Suttle.

Wicket-keeper: Godfrey Evans, Dick Spooner.

All-rounder:  Trevor Bailey

Slow bowlers: Jim Laker, Tony Lock, Johnny Wardle

Fast bowlers: Brian Statham, Freddie Trueman, Alan Moss,

County representation:

Ex  -  Essex (1)

Gs - Gloucestershire (1)

Kt  -  Kent (1)

La - Lancashire (1)

Le -  Leicestershire (1)

Mx - Middlesex (2)

Sy - Surrey (3)

Sx - Sussex (1)

Wk - Warwickshire (1)

Yo - Yorkshire (4)

Average age of  team at time of first Test match

(15 January 1953) :

  29 yrs 6 months

Test Appearances made before the tour

Hutton 65,  Compton 54,  Evans 49,  Bailey 19,  Laker 18,  Graveney 14,  Statham 9,   Watson 9, May 8,  Wardle 7,  Spooner 5,  Trueman 5,  Lock 4,  Moss 0,  Palmer 0,  Suttle 0.

Tour Officials

MCC turned down its tour sub-committee's request for Assistant Secretary Billy Griffith's appointment as manager. Yorkshire Secretary John Nash was also considered before Charles Palmer, secretary and captain of Leicestershire, was on 17 August asked as manager, later described by E.W.Swanton as "just about the worst decision ever to have come out of Lord's".

Essex masseur Harold Dalton was present in the West Indies but the Board of Control turned down M.C.C.'s request that they use his services on grounds of cost.

Selectors

Sir Pelham Warner (chairman),  Freddie Brown,  Norman Yardley,  Bob Wyatt,  Les Ames,  Gubby Allen and  Len Hutton.

Selection

Len Hutton was appointed captain on 29 July. Trevor Bailey became vice-captain on 10 November.

Not considered:  Alec Bedser (rested)

Unavailable : Bill Edrich (business) and Rev David Sheppard.

Tour party completed :  17 August 1953.

The panel chose their team in two parts. The first ten names were announced at the end of July and the last five names (Statham, Suttle, Spooner, Moss and Wardle) three weeks later, during the 5th Test against Australia.

The selectors added Charles Palmer as player-manager on 27 August. He was expected to play in only one or two of the colony matches. 

Not selected: 

Time between selection and departure from England

   129 days

 (7 August - 14 December)

Travel

London  Q  Bermuda  Q  Kingston

On 14 December 1953 the team flew from Heathrow Airport, London, to Bermuda, via Newfoundland, Canada.  It was the first English team to fly out for a Test tour.  Although expected to arrive before midnight, the plane was delayed nine hours by engine trouble at Gander.

Eventually, M.C.C. reached Civil Airport, Hamilton, Bermuda, at 9 o' clock on Tuesday 15 December. 

The team flew on to Kingston, Jamaica, on 26 December 1953.

Time spent in West Indies

    101 days

(26 December - 6 April) 

On-tour selection panel

Len Hutton (captain),  Trevor Bailey (vice-captain),  Denis Compton (senior professional),  Charles Palmer (manager).

Reinforcements

None.   Brian Statham pulled a rib muscle in the fourth Test and did not bowl again on the tour.

Peter May missed only one match in the whole tour.

Fixtures/Results

† not first-class

Time spent in West Indies before First Test:  

 20 days

(26 December - 15 January)

Test appearances on tour

(v West Indies 1953-54)

5 -   Bailey,  Compton,  Graveney,  Hutton,  Lock,  May,  Watson.

4 -   Evans,  Laker,  Statham.

3 -   Trueman.

2 -   Wardle.

1 -   Moss,  Palmer,  Spooner.

0 -   Suttle.  

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

•   Willie Watson scored a 2nd innings century (116) at Kingston

•   Tony Lock was no-balled for throwing at Bridgetown, after which he did not use his faster ball.

•   Peter May (135) and Denis Compton (133) added 166 together for the 3rd wicket at Port of Spain

•   Len Hutton's Test scores were: 24, 56, 72, 77, 169, 44, 30*, 205 : 677 runs at 96.71.

•   His innings of 205 in the final Test  the first double century by an England captain abroad.

•   Trevor Bailey took 7 wickets for 34 runs after England lost the toss and fielded first in the final Test.

Tour Summary

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

Return to England

Port Antonio   T     Avonmouth

                 ‘Ariguani’

On 6 April 1954 the team sailed from Port Antonio, Jamaica, on the 'Ariguani', which berthed at Avonmouth late on 20 April. The players had to go back on board the next morning to collect their luggage.

Time away from England

  127 days 

(14 December - 20 April)

Finances

Accounts of the tour

"Cricket Cauldron"  by Alex Bannister  (Stanley Paul, 1954;  reissued by Pavilion, 1990)

"West Indian Adventure - with Hutton’s M.C.C. team 1953-54"   by E.W.Swanton (Museum Press, 1954)

Postscript