Test Cricket Tours - West Indies to India 1966-67

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Tour of India 1966-67 Captain: Gary Sobers

Fifteenth official Test tour

Third Test-playing tour of India by West Indies

(November 1966 -

February 1967)

In 1964 the West Indies Board had arranged a three-month tour starting in mid-November 1965 but it was shelved after the Indian Government put in place severe currency restrictions on taking money out of India which would have affected the profitability (see cancelled 1965-66 tour). It was therefore a great disappointment that the rearranged tour did not run smoothly.

On New Year's Day, during the second Test at Calcutta, a riot occurred and members of the touring party considered returning home immediately. Frank Worrell, who was accompanying the team, and the Nawab of Pataudi helped persuade West Indies to continue the match and the tour. Worrell was unwell soon afterwards and had to return home where he was diagnosed with leukemia. He died at the age of 42, a month after returning to Jamaica.

It was the fifth meeting between India and West Indies and, as before, West Indies were a far stronger side, winning the series 2-0.

David Holford fell ill with pleurisy after the first Test and stayed in a nursing home until he was well enough to travel back home.

Other West Indies tours

Previous tour

England 1966

Next tour

Australia 1968-69

Next tour of India

1974-75

Members of the Test tour party (16)

Opening batsmen Robin Bynoe, Conrad Hunte,

Batsmen Basil Butcher, Bryan Davis, Rohan Kanhai, Clive Lloyd, Seymour Nurse, Gary Sobers.

Wicket-keepers Jackie Hendriks, Deryck Murray.

Spin bowlers Lance Gibbs, David Holford, Rex Collymore

Fast bowlers Charlie Griffith, Wesley Hall, Lester King

B F Butcher	G	33	RHB
M R Bynoe	B	25	RHB opener (LM)
R C Collymore	G	27	SLA
B A Davis	T	26	RHB reserve opener
L R Gibbs	G	32	OB
C C Griffith	B	28	RF
W W Hall	B	29	RF
J L Hendriks	J	32	WK
D A J Holford	B	26	RHB LBG
C C Hunte	B	34	RHB opener vice-captain
R B Kanhai	G	30	RHB
L A King	J	27	RFM
C H Lloyd	G	22	LHB
D L Murray	T	23	WK
S M Nurse	B	33	RHB
G S Sobers	B	30	LHB SLA captain

Representation of teams:

B - Barbados (7)

G - Guyana (5)

J - Jamaica (2)

T - Trinidad & Tobago (2)

British Guiana became the independent nation of Guyana on 26 May 1966

Average age of team at time of first Test match

(13 December 1966) :

29 yrs 1 month

Test Appearances made before the tour

Sobers 57, Kanhai 48, Hunte 41, Hall 38, Gibbs 31, Butcher 25, Griffith 16, Nurse 14, Hendriks 8, Holford 5, Murray 5, Davis 4, Bynoe 1, King 1, Collymore 0, Lloyd 0.

Team Officials

Prior Jones	Manager
	Physiotherapist

Selectors

G E Gomez (chairman), J D C Goddard, F M M Worrell, B B M Gaskin, A F Rae, G S Sobers.

Selection

The announcement of the first ten names, eight professionals plus Holford and Hendriks, came on 13 September 1966. The choice of the last six (Bynoe, Collymore, Davis, King, Lloyd and Murray) was deferred until 26 September.

The manager's name was given out on 25 September

Unavailable: None known

Tour Party Announced : 26 September 1966.

Not selected : Joe Solomon, Tony White, Teddy Griffith were all in the 1965-66 selection.

Travel

Hendriks and King Jamaica's two representatives on the tour flew out of Palisadoes Airport on 23 November for London via the United States. They joined other members of the touring party in New York and were diverted to Frankfurt. Take-off from Heathrow was then delayed because London was fogbound. After going via Moscow and Delhi the plane arrived sixteen hours behind schedule.

The tourists landed at Santa Cruz Airport, Bombay, at 02.30 in the morning of 28 November.

On-tour selection panel

Sobers, Hunte, Jones, Gibbs, Hall.

Reinforcements

None, although Holford became ill with pleurisy after the first Test and was sent to a nursing home. He arrived home from Madras on 10 January.

Fixtures/Results

Hyderabad	Indian Universities	Drawn
Ahmadabad	West Zone	Drawn
BOMBAY	INDIA First Test	WON 6 w
Delhi	Prime Minister's XI	Drawn
Indore	Central & East Zones	Lost inns 44 r
CALCUTTA	INDIA Second Test	WON inns 45 r
Bangalore	South Zone	Won 94 r
MADRAS	INDIA Third Test	DRAWN
Colombo (PSS)	Ceylon	Drawn
Nagpur	President's XI	Won 22 r

Test appearances on tour

3 - Butcher, Bynoe, Gibbs, Griffith, Hall, Hendriks, Hunte, Kanhai, Lloyd, Sobers

2 - Nurse

1 - Holford

0 - Davis, Collymore, King, Murray.

Highlights

- Sobers and Gibbs each took seven wickets on a sharply turning pitch at Calcutta which defeated India

- A partnership of 77 runs for the eighth wicket between Sobers and Griffith saved the third Test at Madras.

Tour Summary

	P	W	L	D	Aban
Test Matches	3	2	0	1	-
Other first-class matches	7	2	1	4	-
Minor matches	-	-	-	-	-
All Matches	10	4	1	5	-

Return to West Indies

The team left Madras on 19 January for Ratmalana Airport, Colombo's original international airport which is now used for domestic flights only; and left Ceylon again on 25 January for the Hazare benefit match in Nagpur.

At the end of the tour Sobers remained in India where he was planning to marry. Hunte also remained, engaged on moral rearmament work.

Fourteen players and the manager were in transit through London on Tuesday 31 January. Most flew on to New York on 1 February where Lloyd and manager Jones remained a few days. King and Hendriks landed in Jamaica on 2 February. Davis and Murray went to Trinidad on 3 February, Butcher and Collymore to Georgetown on 4 February, while Kanhai and Gibbs remained in England on business.

Finances

On 26 April 1967 Reuters reported that Kanhai and Gibbs were fined £25 each for bad behaviour on the tour of India and Ceylon, and Kanhai was dropped from the tour selection committee

Published accounts of the tour