English cricket team in India, Pakistan and Ceylon in 1951–52

England in India 1951-52
England in India 1951-52
Dates	5 October 1951 – 2 March 1952
Test series
Result	5-match series drawn 1–1

A cricket team from England organised by the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) toured India from 5 October 1951 to 2 March 1952. During this tour England team also played first class matches in Pakistan and Ceylon. In the Test matches, the side was known as "England"; in other matches, it was known as "MCC".^[1]

Test series was drawn 1-1, with three matches being drawn.

Background[]

It was reported in April 1950 that the MCC would tour India, Pakistan and Ceylon in the 1951–52 season. The squad would play games over three-and-a-half months in India, over a month in Pakistan and over fifteen days in Ceylon.^[2]

The English team[]

Nigel Howard (captain)
Donald Carr (vice-captain)
Don Brennan
Tom Graveney
Malcolm Hilton
Don Kenyon
Eddie Leadbeater
Frank Lowson
Cyril Poole
Dusty Rhodes
Fred Ridgway
Jack Robertson
Derek Shackleton
Dick Spooner
Brian Statham
Roy Tattersall
Allan Watkins

The manager was Geoffrey Howard. The team was announced in late July 1951. Poole replaced Jack Ikin, who was injured, before the team left. Leadbeater replaced Rhodes, who was forced to return home with an injury, early in the tour.^[3]

Many of England's leading players made themselves unavailable for the tour, and the resultant team was widely regarded as a "second team".^[1]^[4] Eight of the touring team – Howard, Carr, Leadbeater, Kenyon, Poole, Rhodes, Ridgway and Spooner – had no Test experience, while none of the team had played more than nine Tests.^[3] None of the team had toured Australia and New Zealand in the Test series of 1950-51.^[5]^[1]

Test matches[]

1st Test[]

2–7 November 1951
Scorecard

England	v	India
203 (102.3 overs) Jack Robertson 50 Sadu Shinde 6/91 (35.3 overs)		418/6d (175 overs) Vijay Hazare 164* Roy Tattersall 2/95 (53 overs)
368/6 (221 overs) Allan Watkins 137 Vinoo Mankad 4/58 (76 overs)

Match drawn
Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi
Umpires: Balkrishna Mohoni and Mysore Vijayasarathi

England won the toss and elected to bat.
Pankaj Roy and Nana Joshi (Ind), and Don Kenyon, Donald Carr, Dick Spooner, Nigel Howard and Fred Ridgway (Eng) made their Test debuts.
5 November was a rest day.

2nd Test[]

14–19 December 1951
Scorecard

India	v	England
485/9d (139 overs) Vijay Hazare 155 Brian Statham 4/96 (29 overs)		456 (207.1 overs) Tom Graveney 175 Vinoo Mankad 4/91 (57 overs)
208 (83.1 overs) CD Gopinath 42 Allan Watkins 3/20 (13 overs)		55/2 (36 overs) Tom Graveney 25 CD Gopinath 1/11 (8 overs)

Match drawn
Brabourne Stadium, Bombay
Umpires: M. M. Naidu and Jamshed Patel

India won the toss and elected to bat
CD Gopinath and Madhav Mantri (Ind), and Eddie Leadbeater (Eng) made their Test debuts.
17 December was a rest day.

3rd Test[]

30 December–4 January 1952
Scorecard

England	v	India
342 (159.5 overs) Dick Spooner 71 Vinoo Mankad 4/89 (52.5 overs)		344 (149.1 overs) Dattu Phadkar 115 Fred Ridgway 4/83 (38.1 overs)
252/5d (120 overs) Dick Spooner 92 Ramesh Divecha 2/55 (25 overs)		103/0 (29 overs) Vinoo Mankad 71 Roy Tattersall 0/4 (4 overs)

Match drawn
Eden Gardens, Calcutta
Umpires: Bapu Joshi and Balkrishna Mohoni

England won the toss and elected to bat.
Buck Divecha, Subhash Gupte and Vijay Manjrekar (Ind), and Cyril Poole (Eng) made their Test debuts.
2 January was a rest day.

4th Test[]

12–14 January 1952
Scorecard

India	v	England
121 (61.5 overs) Pankaj Roy 37 Roy Tattersall 6/48 (21 overs)		203 (95.1 overs) Allan Watkins 66 Ghulam Ahmed 5/70 (37.1 overs)
157 (66.5 overs) Hemu Adhikari 60 Malcolm Hilton 5/61 (32 overs)		76/2 (19.2 overs) Tom Graveney 48 Ghulam Ahmed 1/10 (10 overs)

England won by 8 wickets
Modi Stadium, Kanpur
Umpires: Jamshed Patel and Mysore Vijayasarathi

India won the toss and elected to bat.

5th Test[]

6–10 February 1952
Scorecard

England	v	India
266 (121.5 overs) Jack Robertson 77 Vinoo Mankad 8/55 (38.5 overs)		457/9d (153 overs) Polly Umrigar 130 Donald Carr 2/84 (19 overs)
183 (75.5 overs) Jack Robertson 56 Vinoo Mankad 4/53 (30.5 overs)

India won by an innings and 8 runs
Madras Cricket Club Ground, Chepauk, Madras
Umpires: Balkrishna Mohoni and Mysore Vijayasarathi

England won the toss and elected to bat.
7 February was a rest day because of the death of King George VI being announced during the afternoon of Day 1.

This was India's first Test victory, after 20 years and 25 Tests.^[4]

References[]

^ Jump up to: ^a ^b ^c Leslie Smith, "M.C.C. Tour of India, Pakistan and Ceylon, 1951-52", Wisden 1953, pp. 773–809.
^ "M.C.C. Tour of India and Pak. in 1951-52". The Indian Express. 26 April 1950. p. 8. Retrieved 30 June 2019.
^ Jump up to: ^a ^b "England to India 1951-52". Test Cricket Tours. Retrieved 27 July 2019.
^ Jump up to: ^a ^b Mihir Bose, A History of Indian Cricket, Andre Deutsch, London, pp. 177–80.
^ Reg Hayter, "M.C.C. Team in Australia and New Zealand, 1950-51", Wisden 1952, pp. 783–835.

External links[]

Tour home at ESPNcricinfo
England to India 1951-52 at test-cricket-tours.co.uk
Marylebone Cricket Club in India, Pakistan and Ceylon 1951/52 at CricketArchive (subscription required)

[LS-1] Jump up to: ^a ^b ^c Leslie Smith, "M.C.C. Tour of India, Pakistan and Ceylon, 1951-52", Wisden 1953, pp. 773–809.

[2] "M.C.C. Tour of India and Pak. in 1951-52". The Indian Express. 26 April 1950. p. 8. Retrieved 30 June 2019.

[TCT-3] Jump up to: ^a ^b "England to India 1951-52". Test Cricket Tours. Retrieved 27 July 2019.

[MB-4] Jump up to: ^a ^b Mihir Bose, A History of Indian Cricket, Andre Deutsch, London, pp. 177–80.

[5] Reg Hayter, "M.C.C. Team in Australia and New Zealand, 1950-51", Wisden 1952, pp. 783–835.

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show v t International cricket in 1951–52
Preceding season: International cricket in 1951
October 1951	England in India West Indies in Australia
February 1952	West Indies in New Zealand
Following season: International cricket in 1952

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