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

International cricket tour

England in India 1951-52

	India	England
Dates	5 October 1951 – 2 March 1952
Captains	Vijay Hazare	Nigel Howard Donald Carr (5th Test)
Test series
Result	5-match series drawn 1–1
Most runs	Pankaj Roy (387)	Allan Watkins (450)
Most wickets	Vinoo Mankad (34)	Roy Tattersall (21)

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]

The 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

^ ^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.
^ ^a ^b "England to India 1951-52". Test Cricket Tours. Retrieved 27 July 2019.
^ ^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)

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

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

v t e International cricket tours of Pakistan
Test and LOI tours
Australia	1956–57 1959–60 1964–65 1979–80 1982–83 1988–89 1994–95 1998–99 2002–03 2009 2010 2012 2014–15 2018–19 (Sep18) 2018–19 (Mar19) 2021–22
Bangladesh	2003 2008 2019–20 2024
England	1961–62 1968–69 1972–73 1977–78 1983–84 1987–88 2000–01 2005–06 2009–10 2011–12 2015–16 2021–22 2022–23
India	1954–55 1978–79 1982–83 1984–85 1989–90 1997–98 2003–04 2005–06
New Zealand	1955–56 1964–65 1969–70 1976–77 1984–85 1990–91 1996–97 2002 2003–04 2009–10 2014–15 2018–19 2021–22 2022–23 (Dec22) 2022–23 (Apr23) 2023-24
South Africa	1997–98 2003–04 2007–08 2010–11 2013–14 2020–21
Sri Lanka	1981–82 1985–86 1991–92 1995–96 1999–2000 2004–05 2008–09 2011–12 2013–14 2017–18 2019–20
West Indies	1948–49 1958–59 1974–75 1980–81 1985–86 1986–87 1990–91 1991–92 1997–98 2001–02 2006–07 2008–09 2016–17 2017–18 2021–22 2022
Zimbabwe	1993–94 1996–97 1998–99 2007–08 2015 2020–21
Tournaments hosted
Multiple teams	1987 1994–95 1996 1997 2001–02 2004–05 2008 2023 2025
Other tours
Afghan	2000–01 2011 2012–13 2021–22
Bangladeshi	1985–86
Ceylonese/Sri Lankan	1949–50 1966–67 1973–74
English	1951–52 1955–56 1966–67 1997–98 1998–99
Multi-national	1949–50 1961–62 1963–64 1967–68 1967–68 1970–71 1970–71 1973–74 1976–77 1981–82 2017
Tours in italics have been played in the United Arab Emirates or other neutral venues, since 2009

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