Test Cricket Tours - Pakistan to England 1954

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Tour of England 1954 Captain: A H Kardar

Second Test tour

First Test-playing tour of England by Pakistan

(April - September 1954)

On her first tour outside the Indian sub-continent Pakistan was again led by A H Kardar, elected to the captaincy unopposed after Mohammad Saeed had withdrawn. Some members of the team had been to England for coaching at Gover's indoor school or on Pakistan Eaglets tours in 1952 and 1953, and the squad was strengthened by Khan Mohammad who had league experience. But the team knew it was in England to learn.

Not only was 1954 the gloomiest summer of the century, according to a survey of English weather in Wisden’s Almanack, with less sunshine than in any other year; the tourists also suffered one of the wettest seasons on record, producing difficult pitch conditions which only helped to emphasise their inexperience. Nevertheless they were beaten in only three first-class matches and won an historic Test victory at The Oval to halve the series. No other team, not even Australia, had won a Test match on its inaugural tour of England. Skipper Kardar noted how " ... the Cricket Board's policy of pinning faith on the youth of the country has paid rich dividends". The batting understandably struggled on damp, seaming pitches but Pakistan's bowling attack - Khan and Fazal - made fine use of the conditions. In the final Test at The Oval a now legendary performance by medium-fast bowler Fazal Mahmood (12 for 99) dismissed the England batsmen as they chased a low target, to win the match by 24 runs.

Other Pakistan Tours

Previous tour

India 1952-53

Next tour

West Indies 1957-58

Next tour of England

1962

Members of the Test tour party (18)

Opening batsmen: Hanif Mohammad, Alimuddin

Middle-order batsmen: Maqsood Ahmed, Abdul Hafeez Kardar,  Waqar Hasan, Mohammad Aslam Khokar, Wazir Mohammad, Ebu Ghazali.

Wicketkeeper: Imtiaz Ahmed, Shakoor Ahmed.

Slow bowlers: Khalid Wazir, Khalid Hasan, Shajauddin, Zulfiqar Ahmed.

Fast bowlers: Fazal Mahmood, Ikram Elahi, Mahmood Hussain.

Alimuddin	23	RHB opener
Fazal Mahmood	27	RFM vice-captain
M E Z Ghazali	29	RHB RM
Hanif Mohammad	19	RHB opener
Ikram Elahi	21	RHB RFM
Imtiaz Ahmed	26	RHB opener WK
A H Kardar	29	LHB SLA captain
Khalid Hasan	16	LBG
Khalid Wazir	18	RM
Mahmood Hussain	22	RFM
Maqsood Ahmed	29	RHB RM
Mohammad Aslam	34	RHB LB
Shakoor Ahmed	25	RHB second WK
Shujauddin	24	SLA
Waqar Hasan	21	RHB
Wazir Mohammad	24	RHB
Zulfiqar Ahmed	27	OB

Average age of team at time of first Test match

(10 June 1954) :

24 yrs 10 months.

Test Appearances made before the tour

AH Kardar 5 + 3 for India, Fazal Mahmood 5, Hanif Mohammad 5, Imtiaz Ahmed 5, Maqsood Ahmed 5, Waqar Hasan 5, Mahmood Hussain 4, Zulfiqar Ahmed 3, Khan Mohammad 1, Wazir Mohammad 1, Alimuddin 0, Ghazali 0, Ikram Elahi 0, Khalid Hasan 0, Khalid Wazir 0, Mohammad Aslam 0, Shakoor Ahmed 0, Shujauddin 0.

Team Officials

(Syed) Fida Hussain	Manager
Masood Salahuddin Khan	Assistant Manager
George Duckworth	Baggage - scorer

To keep down costs, the tourists had brought no scorer and it was anticipated that members of the team would share the task, until Duckworth was invited to join the tour party. He and Geoffrey Howard also acted as liaison for the tourists.

Selectors

Syed Makdoomzada Hassan Mahmood, Chief Minister of Bahawalpur (chairman),  S Nazir Ali,  M I Merchant, Group-Captain M M A Cheema,  with A H Kardar (captain) co-opted.

Selection

The names of the captain (A H Kardar) and manager (S F Hussain) were given out on 31 January.

Fida Hussain, 45, from the Pakistan Civil Service, was Commissioner in Lahore Division. He was after independence the President of West Punjab Cricket Association, and became President of the B.C.C.P. in 1958.

The assistant manager, Salahuddin, had played for All-India in representative matches against Ryder's team back in 1935, and for Pakistan Railways.

Trials: On 9 February the selectors announced the names of 35 players for the two trial matches in Bahawalpur.

Unavailable: Mian Mohammad Saeed ; Khan Mohammad, a Lancashire League professional with Lowerhouse, was not available, except for the Test matches.

The following were excluded after the trials: Asghar Ali, Badaruddin Malik, Iqbal Quereshi, Mohammad Amin, Mohammad Jasim, Mohammad Nissar, Mohammad Ramzan, Munawarul Haq, Murowwat Hussain, Raees Mohammad, Sajjad Ahmed, Shuja-ud-din Butt, Yawar Saeed and Yousuf Jaffir.

Tour party announced : 18 February 1954.

Reserves : The three named reserves were Mohammad Amin, Munawarul Haq, Yawar Saeed.

Travel

There was a preparation camp at Bahawalpur between 6 and 25 March 1954.

The team assembled at Karachi on Sunday 11 April and sailed at 6pm the next day on the Polish ship 'Batory'.

The ship called at Bombay on 14 April and docked at Suez at 2am on 23 April. Following a brief visit to the Pyramids and Sphinx, the team breakfasted at the Gezira Club and played a match. After the 24-hour stay, the 'Batory' sailed on, arriving at Southampton on 2 May 1954.

On-tour selection

A H Kardar, Fazal Mahmood, Fida Hussain

Reinforcements

By prior arrangement, Khan Mohammad, 26, played in two of the Test matches. He was also available for three other games. It was unclear whether the selectors had intended that Khan should play in all four Test matches but he was in any case unfit for two of them with a leg injury.

Fixtures/Results

“ Cairo	Gezira Sporting Club	Won 166 r
“ Osterley	Indian Gymkhana	Drawn
Worcester	Worcestershire	Won 8 w
Cambridge	Cambridge University	Drawn
Leicester	Leicestershire	Drawn
Oxford	Oxford University	Won 9 w
Lord’s	M C C	Drawn
Hove	Sussex	Drawn
Portsmouth	Hampshire	Drawn
“ Torquay	Devon	Drawn
Cardiff	Glamorgan	Drawn
LORD’S	ENGLAND First Test	DRAWN
Edinburgh	Scotland	Won 10 w
Trent Bridge	Nottinghamshire	Won 8 w
Catterick	Combined Services	Drawn
Sheffield	Yorkshire	Lost 7 w
TRENT BRIDGE	ENGLAND Second Test	LOST inns 129 r
Derby	Derbyshire	Drawn
Old Trafford	Lancashire	Won 6 w
Northampton	Northamptonshire	Drawn
Kennington Oval	Surrey	Drawn
OLD TRAFFORD	ENGLAND Third Test	DRAWN
Taunton	Somerset	Drawn
Swansea	Glamorgan	Drawn
Edgbaston	Warwickshire	Drawn
Cheltenham	Gloucestershire	Drawn
KENNINGTON OVAL	ENGLAND Fourth Test	WON 24 r
Lord's	Canada	Won inns 67 r
Southend	Essex	Drawn
Canterbury	Kent	Won 9 w
Lord’s	Middlesex	Won 140 r
“ Luton	Club Conference	Won 73 r
Hastings	An England XI	Drawn
Scarborough	T N Pearce’s XI	Lost 9 w

“ not first-class

§ one-day international

Test appearances on tour

4 - Fazal Mahmood, Hanif Mohammad, Imtiaz Ahmed, A.H.Kardar, Maqsood Ahmed, Waqar Hasan.

3 - Alimuddin, Shujauddin.

2 - M.E.Z.Ghazali, Mahmood Hussain, Khalid Wazir, Khan Mohammad, Wazir Mohammad, Zulfiqar Ahmed.

1 - Khalid Hassan, Mohammad Aslam.

0 - Ikram Elahi, Shakoor Ahmed.

Highlights

- Khalid Hasan became the youngest Test cricketer (aged 16 years 352 days) on his debut at Nottingham.

- Fazal Mahmood took 12 wickets for 99 runs, while Imtiaz Ahmed held seven catches, all off Fazal’s bowling, in the victory at The Oval.

Tour Summary

	P	W	L	D	Aban
Test Matches	4	1	1	2	-
Other first-class matches	26	8	2	16	-
Minor matches	4	2	0	2	-
All Matches	34	11	3	20	-

Return to Pakistan

Khalid Wazir did not return to Pakistan but settled to live in England after the tour.

The team left Waterloo, London, by train for Southampton, where they embarked on the 'Batory' on 24 September. The ship berthed at Karachi on 11 October.

Finances

Written accounts of the tour

"Test Status on Trial" by A H Kardar

"Pakistan vs England" by M H Maqsood and M I Merchant

"Shabash! Pakistan" by Sultan F Husain

"Pakistan on Cricket Map" by Qamaruddin Butt

Next Test series

v India 1954-5

v New Zealand 1955-6

v Australia 1956-7