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Tour of India & Australia 1976-77 Captain : Tony Greig
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England’s 57th
Test tour.
(November 1976 -
March 1977)
Sixth Test-playing tour
of India by England
(previous
tour 1972-73)
29th Test-playing tour
of Australia by England
(previous
tour 1974-75)
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The 1976-77 M.C.C. tour of
South Africa had been cancelled as long ago as 11 September 1975, and this
tour brought forward from 1977-78.
It was England's most
successful visit to India, the sixth on which England had played Test
cricket there. To the intense disappointment of the home supporters, the
Indians capitulated in the first three Tests and thus lost the series. Greig's strategy, apart from engendering high morale in
his team, was to use batsmen like Tolchard and himself determined to stay in and wear down the Indian
spinners (Bedi, Chandrasekhar and Prasanna) who
had baffled England on the previous tour in 1972-73.
India won a consolation
victory at Bangalore and played with confidence in the final Test, but by
then England's thoughts may already have been looking ahead to the
Centenary Test, and Greig's
to the launch of World Series Cricket.
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Other England
tours
Previous Test
tour
Australia 1974-75
Next Test tour
Pakistan 1977-78
Next tour of
India
1981-82
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Members of the
Test tour party (16)
Opening batsmen: Geoff Boycott, Brian Luckhurst,
John Edrich.
Middle-order batsmen Basil D’Oliveira, Keith Fletcher,
Wicket-keeper: Alan Knott, Bob
Taylor
All-rounders:
Slow bowlers: Ray
Illingworth, Don Wilson,
Fast bowlers: John Snow,
Peter Lever, Ken Shuttleworth
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D L Amiss
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Wk
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33
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RHB opener
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G D Barlow
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Mx
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26
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LHB
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J M Brearley
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Mx
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34
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RHB opener
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G A Cope
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Yo
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29
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OB
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K W R Fletcher
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Ex
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32
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RHB
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A W Greig
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Sx
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30
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RHB RFM/OB
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A P E Knott
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Kt
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30
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WK
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J K Lever
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Ex
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27
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LFM
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G Miller
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Dy
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24
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OB
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C M Old
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Yo
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27
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RFM
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D W Randall
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Nt
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25
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RHB
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M W W
Selvey
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Mx
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28
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RFM
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R W Tolchard
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Le
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30
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second WK
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D L Underwood
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Kt
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31
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LM
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R G D Willis
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Wk
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27
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RF
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R A Woolmer
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Kt
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28
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RHB RM
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County representation:
Dy – Derbyshire (1)
Ex - Essex (2)
Kt -
Kent (3)
Le - Leiscestershire (1)
Mx - Middlesex (3)
Nt - Nottinghamshire (1)
Sx - Sussex (1)
Wk - Warwickshire (2)
Yo - Yorkshire (2)
Average age of
team at time of first Test match
(17 December 1976) :
29 yrs
5 months
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Test Appearances
made before the tour
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Knott 78, Underwood 63, Fletcher 48, Greig 47, Amiss 42,
Old 26, Willis 18, Woolmer 7, Brearley
2, Selvey
2, Miller 1, Barlow 0,
Cope 0, Lever 0, Randall 0, Tolchard 0.
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Tour Officials
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Ken Barrington
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Manager
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Bernard Thomas
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Physiotherapist
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Govind
Bawji
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Baggageman
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The name
of the manager, Ken Barrington, was announced at Lord’s on 31 August. (He
had been given a trial run on the Derrick Robins tour of South Africa in
1975-76). Tony Greig
was chosen as captain at the same meeting of the MCC Committee by Gubby Allen, Alec Bedser,
Freddie Brown, Insole and Peter May.
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Selectors
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Alec Bedser (chairman) , Tony Greig (captain), Doug Insole, Len Hutton, Ken Barrington, Charlie Elliott and Freddie
Brown.
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Selection
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Unavailable : Geoff Boycott. When Boycott turned down the offer of the
vice-captaincy, Greig suggested it should be
given to Brearley.
Tour party announced : 8 September 1976.
Chris Old was
selected subject to a special fitness test on 3 November. Bedser let it be known that Mike Gatting
would have been the 17th player.
Not selected: David Steele was
particularly unlucky not to be chosen.
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Time between selection and departure from England
days
(8 September - 23 November)
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Travel
LondonQ Colombo
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The team
flew by Air India jumbo jet from Heathrow Airport, London, on 23 November 1976
and arrived at Santa Cruz Airport, Bombay, at 4:20 am on 24 November after
an 11-hour flight.
There were
three days of practice at Wankhede Stadium. Then they departed by rail for
the first match at Pune.
After the
Indian tour on 19 February the team flew from Bombay in an aged Avro plane
for Colombo. While in Sri Lanka Greig and Barrington were charged to report to the
I.C.C. on Sri Lanka's readiness for Test cricket.
After the
four matches in Sri Lanka, the team left Bandaranayeke
International Airport, and flew via Kuala Lumpur and Singapore to Perth,
arriving on 4 March.
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Time spent in India
87 days
(24 November -
19 February)
Time spent in Australia
14 days
(4 March - 18
March)
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On-tour
selection panel
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Tony Greig (captain), Ken Barrington (manager), Mike Brearley (vice-captain), Keith Fletcher, Alan Knott.
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Reinforcements
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None. Geoff Cope returned briefly to England on
the death of his father.
Alan Knott
was temporarily captain in the North Zone match and Keith Fletcher against
Sri Lanka.
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Fixtures/Results
The tour itinerary was announced by the BCCI on 31 March 1976
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a
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Pune
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West Zone
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Drawn
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b
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Jaipur
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Central Zone
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Drawn
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c
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Ahmedabad
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Board President's XI
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Drawn
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d
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Jullundur
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North Zone
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Drawn
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e
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NEW DELHI
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INDIA First Test
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WON inns 25 r
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f
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Guahati
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East Zone
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Drawn
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g
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CALCUTTA
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INDIA Second Test
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WON 10 w
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h
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Nagpur
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Universities &
under-22
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Won 143 r
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i
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MADRAS
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INDIA Third Test
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WON 200 r
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j
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Hyderabad
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South Zone
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Drawn
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k
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BANGALORE
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INDIA Fourth Test
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LOST 140 r
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l
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Indore
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Bombay(Ranji champions)
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Drawn
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m
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BOMBAY
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INDIA Fifth Test
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DRAWN
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n
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† Colombo
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Sri Lanka
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Won 23 r
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o
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† Galle
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President's XI
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Drawn
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p
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Colombo
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Sri Lanka
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Drawn
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q
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† Colombo
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Sri Lanka
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Lost 3 w
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r
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Perth
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Western Australia
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Drawn
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s
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MELBOURNE
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AUSTRALIA Centenary
Test
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LOST 45 r
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† not first-class
Time
spent in India before First Test: 23
days
(24 November - 17
December)
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Test appearances
on tour
(v India &
Australia 1976-77)
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6 - Amiss, Brearley,
Greig, Knott, Lever, Underwood, Willis.
5 - Old, Randall.
4 - Fletcher, Tolchard.
3 - Woolmer.
2 - Barlow.
1 - Selvey.
0 - Cope, Miller.
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Match
appearances
T Test match
o one-day
international
x other match
W won
L lost D drawn T tied
N no result A abandoned
u unknown result
C cancelled
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a
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b
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c
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d
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e
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f
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g
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h
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i
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j
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k
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l
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m
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n
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o
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p
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q
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r
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s
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D.L.Amiss
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x
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x
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x
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T
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T
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x
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T
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x
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T
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T
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x
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x
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x
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x
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T
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G.D.Barlow
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x
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x
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T
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x
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T
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x
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x
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x
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x
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x
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x
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x
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J.M.Brearley
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x
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x
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x
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x
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T
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x
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T
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x
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T
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T
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x
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T
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x
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x
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x
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T
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G.A.Cope
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x
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x
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x
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x
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x
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x
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x
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x
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x
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x
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K.W.R.Fletcher
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x
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x
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T
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x
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x
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T
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x
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T
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x
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x
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x
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T
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A.W.Greig
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x
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x
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x
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T
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x
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T
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T
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x
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T
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T
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x
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x
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x
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T
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A.P.E.Knott
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x
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x
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T
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T
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x
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T
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x
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T
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T
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x
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x
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T
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J.K.Lever
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x
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x
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x
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T
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T
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x
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T
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x
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T
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T
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x
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x
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x
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T
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G.Miller
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x
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x
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x
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x
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x
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x
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x
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x
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x
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x
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x
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x
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x
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C.M.Old
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x
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x
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x
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x
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T
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x
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T
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T
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T
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x
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x
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x
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x
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T
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D.W.Randall
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x
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x
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x
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x
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x
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T
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x
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T
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x
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T
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x
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T
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x
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x
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x
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x
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T
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M.W.W.Selvey
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x
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x
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x
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x
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x
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x
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x
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T
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x
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x
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x
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x
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R.W.Tolchard
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x
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x
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x
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T
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x
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T
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T
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x
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T
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x
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x
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x
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D.L.Underwood
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x
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x
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T
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T
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T
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T
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x
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T
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x
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x
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T
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R.G.D.Willis
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x
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x
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T
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x
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T
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T
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T
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T
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x
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x
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T
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R.A.Woolmer
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x
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x
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T
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x
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x
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T
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x
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x
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x
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x
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x
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x
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x
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T
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R E S
U L T S
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D
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D
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D
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D
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W
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D
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W
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W
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W
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D
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L
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D
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D
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W
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D
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D
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L
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D
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L
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England’s six
previous Test tour results
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Highlights
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• Dennis Amiss scored
179 at Delhi
• Roger Tolchard’s 67 at
Calcutta
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• It was the first time an England side
had won a series in India since Jardine’s tour in 1933-34.
• Derek Randall played his
greatest innings, 174, in the Centenary Test at Melbourne
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Tour Summary
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F
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W
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L
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D
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Aban
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Test Matches
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6
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3
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2
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1
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-
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Other
first-class matches
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10
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1
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0
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9
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-
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†Minor matches
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3
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1
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1
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1
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-
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All Matches
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19
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5
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3
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11
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-
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F Fixtures W
Won L Lost
D Drawn T Tied
Canc Cancelled
Aban abandoned
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Return to
England
Melbourne Q London
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The Centenary Test completed
the tour.
The MCC team flew out of
Melbourne on 18 March, reaching Heathrow on the morning of 19 March.
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Time away from England
115 days
(24 November -
19 March)
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Finances
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Accounts of the
tour
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"MCC in
India 1976-77" by Christopher Martin-Jenkins (Macdonald and Janes, 1977)
"Test
Commentary: India v England 1976-77" by Dicky Rutnagur.
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Postscript
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This was the last England
tour to take place under the name of M.C.C. In future, touring teams would
be known as "England". This decision was prompted by another team
under the name of M.C.C. touring Bangladesh in 1976-77.
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Other Test tours
in 1976-77
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Acknowledgements
To general reading of The Times newspaper digital
archive (Gale Group); Jamaica Gleanor archive;
National Library of Australia Trove; Papers Past NZ.
From former British Newspaper Library, Colindale and
online: The Age, Melbourne Argus,
Bangladesh Daily Star, Barbados Advocate, Canberra Times, Daily Telegraph,
Dawn, Eastern Daily Press, The Hindu, The Independent (Dhaka), Indian
Express, The Island (Lanka), Lahore Times, New Nation, New Zealand Auckland
Herald, Sri Lanka Daily News, Stabroek News,
Straits Times, Sydney Morning Herald, The Telegraph (Calcutta), Times of
India , The Tribune Chandigarh, Trinidad Guardian, The West Australian.
cricketweb.net; ESPN cricinfo;
cricket archive; www.cricketcountry; www.coverpoint
Magazines/periodicals including Australian Cricket, B & H
West Indies Annual, The Cricketer International, Cricketer Quarterly,
Indian Cricket, Indian Cricket Field Annual, Playfair
Cricket Monthly, Shell Cricket Almanack of New
Zealand, Wisden Cricket Monthly, Wisden Book of Test Cricket, Wisden’s
Cricketers’ Almanack.
Men In White, A History of Australian Cricket (Harte), A
History of Indian Cricket (Bose), A History of West Indies Cricket (Manley)
Biography and
tour books (own collection and at the M.C.C. Library at Lord’s Ground) ALL CONTENTS OF THE TEST-CRICKET-TOURS.CO.UK WEBSITE ARE COPYRIGHT
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