Tour of Pakistan 1982-83             Captain: Kim Hughes

46th official Test tour

Fifth Test-playing tour by Australia of Pakistan

 (September  - October 1982)

The Australian press wrote off this dismal tour as ill-conceived and concentrated instead upon coverage of the Commonwealth Games in Brisbane. 

Manager and former Test umpire Colin Egar denied Pakistan press comment that the team was gutless and stressed that the difficult environment, lack of practice and various stomach ailments had left the team lethargic. He also admitted that Pakistan beat Australia fair and square. Skipper Kim Hughes put Australia's ignominious 3-nil defeat down to the brilliance of leg-spinner Abdul Qadir who was man of the match in the first two Test matches.

It was Hughes's third disappointing tour as Australian captain, following India 1979 and England 1981, and he later lost the captaincy to Greg Chappell for the forthcoming Ashes series at home.

The tour ended in a shambles when the final one-day international at Karachi was abandoned. As in the Test match at the same ground, the crowd pelted the tourists with fruit and rocks and Hughes took his men from the field. Attempts to restore calm ended in a full-scale riot with baton charges and tear gas.

Other Australian Tours

Previous tour

New Zealand 1981-82

Next tour

Sri Lanka 1982-83

Next tour of Pakistan

1988-89

Members of the Test tour party  (15)

Opening batsmen: John Dyson, Bruce Laird, Graeme Wood.

Middle-order batsmen: Allan Border, Kim Hughes, Wayne Phillips, Greg Ritchie

Wicket-keepers: Rodney Marsh

Spin bowlers:  Ray Bright, Peter Sleep, Bruce Yardley

Fast bowlers : Terry Alderman, Ian Callen, Geoff Lawson, Jeff Thomson.

Comments taken from  ……

State representation

  Sheffield Shield teams

N -  New South Wales (2)

Q -  Queensland (3)

S -  South Australia (2)

T -  Tasmania (0)

V -  Victoria  (2)

W - Western Australia (6)

Average age of  team at time of first Test match

(24 September 1982) :

      28 yrs  3 months.

ODI  Played in Wills series one-day matches

Test Appearances made before tour

Marsh 83,  Hughes 48,  Border 42,  Thomson 42,  Wood 37,  Yardley 25,  Dyson 19,  Laird 18, Alderman 14,  Bright 14,  Lawson 4,  Sleep 3,  Callen 1,  Phillips 0,  Ritchie 0.

Background Team

Selectors

Phil Ridings (South Australia, chairman),  Alan Davidson (NSW),  Len Maddocks (Victoria) and  Ray Lindwall (Queensland) .

Selection

The Australian Cricket Board meeting appointed Colin Egar as manager. He made a familiarisation visit to Pakistan in July  to inspect conditions on and off the field. The tour itinerary was released on 29 July.

Kim Hughes was preferred to Marsh as skipper.  Rodney Marsh declined the vice-captaincy, saying he felt a younger man should be given the post. Allan Border was appointed, though not retained for the Sri Lankan tour where Hookes succeeded him.

Unavailable: Greg Chappell (for personal and business reasons), Dennis Lillee (announced on 3 March 1982 he needed to recover from surgery on cartilage of right knee), Len Pascoe.

Tour Party Announced :  26 March 1982. 

Not selected :   Rick Darling.

The surprise selection was Ian Callen who had not been picked since the West Indies tour in 1978. He had taken 31 wickets in the season whereas his rival Mike Whitney’s appearances were limited by a back problem.

Time between selection and departure from Australia

    167 days

(26 March 1982 - 9 September)

Travel

Perth   Q   Karachi 

The team had four days of intensive physical training and practice in Perth before leaving for Pakistan on 9 September.  The tour party flew from Perth, via Singapore, to Karachi, arriving on 10 September, and then took a connecting flight to Rawalpindi. 

Rodney Marsh, whose son was diabetic, left for Pakistan later because of his illness.

Time spent in Pakistan

  43 days

(10 September - 23 October)

On-tour selection panel

Kim Hughes,  Allan Border,  Bruce Laird  (as Rod Marsh declined to be vice-captain or selector).

Reinforcements

None.

Fixtures/Results

+  Match called off after 3 Australian fielders were struck by missiles thrown from the crowd.

† not first-class

§  one-day internationals

Time spent in Pakistan before First Test:    14 days

(10 September - 24 September)

Test appearances on tour

3 -   Border,  Dyson,  Hughes,  Laird,  Lawson,  Marsh,  Ritchie,  Thomson,  Wood.

2 -   Bright,  Yardley.

1 -   Alderman,  Sleep.

0 -   Callen,  Phillips.

Highlights

•    Greg Ritchie hit a defiant 106 not out in only his second Test appearance.

•    Geoff Lawson hit a six and nine 4s in his 57 not out at Lahore.

•  

Tour Summary

Return to Australia

Karachi   Q   Singapore   Q    ? 

Bruce Laird left Pakistan early from Karachi on 20 October to be with his wife who was expecting a baby.

The team flew home via Singapore from Karachi on the morning of 23 October 1982. They were seen off at the airport by their liaison officer, Talat Ali.

Time away from Australia

   45 days  

(9 September to 24 October)

Finances

Accounts of the tour

Postscript