Australian cricket team in Ceylon and India in 1935–36

International cricket tour

An Australian cricket team toured Ceylon and India in 1935–36, playing 17 first-class matches between October 1935 and February 1936, including four unofficial Tests.

Background

This tour was privately organized, and was not endorsed by the Australian Board of Control. Australia's Test team were touring South Africa, and the Board, determined that the Sheffield Shield season should not be further affected by the absence of leading players, stipulated that no current Sheffield Shield players would be allowed to tour India.^[1]

The finance for the tour was provided by The Maharaja of Patiala, and the team was selected and organized by the Australian cricketer Frank Tarrant, who had long playing experience in Australia, England and India. The team's official title was "His Highness the Maharaja of Patiala's Team of Australian Cricketers".^[2]

The Australian team

The team chosen consisted largely of former Test players and fringe Sheffield Shield players.^[3] The players, with their ages at the start of the tour in late October 1935, were:

Jack Ryder (captain; 46)
Harry Alexander (30)
Arthur Allsopp (27)
Wendell Bill (25)
Frank Bryant (25)
John Ellis (45)
Hunter Hendry (40)
Bert Ironmonger (53)
Tom Leather (25)
Hammy Love (40)
Charlie Macartney (49)
Frederick Mair (34)
Ronald Morrisby (20)
Lisle Nagel (30)
Ron Oxenham (44)

As well, Frank Warne (29) played in three of the first-class matches, Frank Tarrant (54) and Joseph Davis (age unknown) each played in two, and Tarrant's son Louis (31) played in one. The Maharaja of Patiala also played in one match for the Australians, as guest captain against Patiala, who were captained by his son, the Yuvraj of Patiala.^[4]

The tour

The tour began in October 1935 in Colombo with one first-class match against Ceylon which the Australians won by an innings and 127 runs.^[5]

From November 1935 to February 1936, the team played 16 first-class matches in India, including four matches against an All-India XI:

1st international at Bombay Gymkhana – Australia won by 9 wickets^[6]
2nd international at Eden Gardens, Calcutta – Australia won by 8 wickets^[7]
3rd international at Bagh-e-Jinnah, Lahore – India won by 68 runs^[8]
4th international at M. A. Chidambaram Stadium, Madras – India won by 33 runs^[9]

References

^ "Third Man", "The Australians in India", The Cricketer, Annual 1935-36, pp. 85–86.
^ Ramachandra Guha, A Corner of a Foreign Field, Picador, London, 2002, p. 233.
^ "The Boys of the Old Brigade!". Mirror: 15. 19 October 1935.
^ "Patiala v Australians 1935-36". CricketArchive. Retrieved 23 February 2019.
^ "All Ceylon v Australians, 1935/36". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 17 July 2017.
^ "Australia in India, 1935/36, 1st Unofficial Test". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 17 July 2017.
^ "Australia in India, 1935/36, 2nd Unofficial Test". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 17 July 2017.
^ "Australia in India, 1935/36, 3rd Unofficial Test". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 17 July 2017.
^ "Australia in India, 1935/36, 4th Unofficial Test". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 17 July 2017.
^ "The Has-Beens and Never-Will-Bes". CricketMASH. Retrieved 12 December 2023.

External links

Australia in India: Nov 1935/Feb 1936 at ESPNcricinfo
Australia in India and Ceylon 1935-36 at CricketArchive
"The first encounter that ended on even keel" from ESPNcricinfo

International cricket tours of India

Test and LOI tours
Afghanistan	2016–17 2018 2019–20 2021–22 2023–24
Australia	1956–57 1959–60 1964–65 1969–70 1979–80 1984–85 1986–87 1996–97 1997–98 2000–01 2004–05 2007 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2012–13 2013–14 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2022–23 2023–24
Bangladesh	2016–17 2018 2019–20 2024–25
England	1933–34 1951–52 1961–62 1963–64 1972–73 1976–77 1979–80 1981–82 1984–85 1992–93 2001–02 2005–06 2008–09 2011–12 2012–13 2016–17 2020–21 2023–24
Ireland	2016–17 2018-19 2019–20
New Zealand	1955–56 1964–65 1969–70 1976–77 1988–89 1995–96 1999–2000 2003–04 2010–11 2012 2016–17 2017–18 2021–22 2022-23
Pakistan	1952–53 1960–61 1979–80 1983–84 1986–87 1998–99 2004–05 2007–08 2012–13
South Africa	1991–92 1996–97 1999–2000 2004–05 2005–06 2007–08 2009–10 2015–16 2019–20 2022 2022–23
Sri Lanka	1982–83 1986–87 1990–91 1993–94 1997–98 2005–06 2006–07 2009–10 2014-15 2015–16 2017–18 2019–20 2021–22
West Indies	1948–49 1958–59 1966–67 1974–75 1978–79 1983–84 1987–88 1994–95 2002–03 2006–07 2011–12 2013–14 2014-15 2018–19 2019–20 2021–22
Zimbabwe	1992–93 2000–01 2001–02

Tournaments hosted
World Cup	1987 1996 2011 2023
Men's T20 World Cup	2016 2021
Champions Trophy	2006
Asia Cup	1990–91
Multiple teams	1989 1993 1994–95 1996–97 1997 1997–98 1997–98 1998–99 2003–04

Other tours
Australian	1935–36 1945–46
Ceylonese/Sri Lankan	1932–33 1940–41 1952–53 1955–56 1957–58 1959–60 1961–62 1964–65 1966–67 1968–69 1970–71 1972–73 1974–75 1975–76
Dutch	1994–95 2012–13
English	1889–90 1892–93 1926–27 1937–38 1956–57 1963–64 1994–95 2005–06 2023–24
Kenyan	1999–00 2011–12
Multi-national	1930–31 1949–50 1950–51 1953–54 1961–62 1964–65 1967–68
Tanzanian	2006–07

International cricket tours of Sri Lanka

Test and LOI tours
Afghanistan	2022-23 2023–24
Australia	1982–83 1992 1999 2003–04 2011 2016 2022
Bangladesh	2002 2005 2007 2012–13 2016–17 2019 2020–21
England	1981–82 1992–93 2000–01 2003–04 2007–08 2011–12 2014–15 2018–19 2020–21
India	1985 1993 1997 2001 2006 2008 2008–09 2010 2012 2015 2017 2021 2024
Ireland	2022–23
New Zealand	1983–84 1984–85 1986–87 1992–93 1998 2003 2009 2012–13 2013–14 2019
Pakistan	1985–86 1994 1996–97 2000 2005–06 2009 2012 2014 2015 2022 2023
South Africa	1993 2000 2004 2006 2013 2014 2018 2021–22
West Indies	1993–94 2001–02 2005 2010–11 2015-16 2019–20 2021–22
Zimbabwe	1983–84 1996–97 1997–98 2001–02 2017 2020–21 2021–22 2023–24

Tournaments hosted
Multiple teams	1986 1986 1994 1996 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2001–02 2001–02 2002 2004 2009 2010 2010 2010 2011 2012 2018

Other tours
Afghan	2009–10 2024
Australian	1884 1890 1893 1896 1912 1926 1930 1934 1935–36 1938 1945 1948 1953 1961 1964 1969 1981
Bangladeshi	1985–86
Canadian	2000–01 2009–10 2011–12
English	1882–83 1889–90 1891–92 1892–93 1894–95 1911–12 1920–21 1922–23 1924–25 1926–27 1928–29 1929–30 1932–33 1933–34 1935–36 1936–37 1936–37 1950–51 1951–52 1954–55 1958–59 1961–62 1962–63 1965–66 1968–69 1969–70 1972–73 1976–77 1977–78 1984–85 2000–01
Indian	1925–26 1944–45 1956–57 1973–74 1975–76
Kenyan	2001–02 2013–14
Malaysian	1893–94 1971–72
Multi-national	1930–31 1949–50 1950–51 1967–68
New Zealand	1927 1937–38
Pakistani	1948–49 1972–73 1975–76 1978–79
Scottish	2011–12 2013–14
West Indian	1948–49 1966–67 1974–75 1978–79
Irish	2020–21
South Africa A	2023