India in Great Britain, 1946 (cricket)

The India national cricket team toured England in the 1946 season and played 29 first-class fixtures with 11 wins, 4 defeats and 14 draws. The 1946 season marked a return to normal first-class cricket in England following the end of World War II. The Test series between England and India was the first to be played in England since 1939.

In its review of the 1946 season, Wisden Cricketers' Almanack remarked that "the Indians were the first postwar touring side, and although they were outplayed in the Tests they raised the status and the dignity of their country's sport". Wisden also mentioned that "the weather in 1946 might have been dreadful, but it didn't stop the crowds flocking to games".

The state of the weather was mentioned by John Arlott who wrote his first match report for The Guardian when the Indians played Worcestershire at New Road, Worcester on 4, 6 and 7 May. Arlott wrote that "New Road was bleak that Saturday morning... dark under the cloud, it was swept by a bitter gale howling across from Diglis".

The tour was the last by an India team before Partition the following year, but the players were on good terms with each other despite the tensions at home and they earned the respect and admiration of everyone with whom they came into close contact. The team's overall performance was better than those of the 1932 and 1936 tourists. But India had hoped to do better still given that first-class cricket had continued in India through the war years while very little cricket had been played in England since 1939. Although the team had some good batsmen, it was let down by a shortage of specialist bowlers and some very poor fielding. Wisden commented upon "an almost astonishing frequency of dropped catches".

Test series summary

England and India played three Tests between June and August. England won the series 1–0 with two matches drawn:

• First Test at Lord's: England won by 10 wickets
• Second Test at Old Trafford: match drawn
• Third Test at The Oval: match drawn

The three Tests were nos 276–278 in the Overall List of Test Matches and, apart from the one-off Test (no. 275) between New Zealand and Australia in March 1946, they were the first Tests played worldwide since the end of the war and constituted the first full Test series played since England's 1939 home series against West Indies.

Indian squad

India used a 16-man squad captained by Iftikhar Ali Khan, the Nawab of Pataudi, who was one of the few players to represent two countries in Test cricket, having played for England during the 1930s.

Squad details below state the player's age at the beginning of the tour, his batting hand, his type of bowling, and his Ranji Trophy team at the time:

Batsmen

• Nawab of Pataudi, 36, right-handed batsman (RHB), unattached
• Vijay Hazare, 31, RHB, right-arm medium pace (RM), Baroda
• Vijay Merchant, 34, RHB, RM, Bombay
• Rusi Modi, 21, RHB, RM, Bombay
• Syed Mushtaq Ali, 31, RHB, slow left-arm orthodox spin (SLA), Holkar

Bowlers

• Shute Banerjee, 34, RHB, right-arm fast medium pace (RFM), Bihar
• C S Nayudu, 32, RHB, leg-break and googly (LBG), Holkar
• Sadu Shinde, 22, RHB, LBG, Maharashtra
• Ranga Sohoni, 28, RHB, RFM and off-break (OB), Maharashtra

All-rounders

• Abdul Hafeez, 21, left-handed batsman (LHB), SLA, unattached
• Lala Amarnath, 34, RHB, RM, unattached
• Gul Mohammad, 24, LHB, left-arm medium pace (LM), Baroda
• Vinoo Mankad, 29, RHB, SLA, Gujarat
• Chandra Sarwate, 25, RHB, OB, Holkar

Wicket-keepers

• Dattaram Hindlekar, 37, RHB, wicket-keeper (WK), Bombay
• Raosaheb Nimbalkar, 30, RHB, WK, Baroda

The team relied heavily on all-rounders and some of those listed above as batsmen or bowlers had all-round ability. All except Banerjee and Nimbalkar played in the Test series. The team was largely inexperienced at international level as only six players had made their Test debuts before the Second World War: Pataudi, Amarnath, Hindlekar, Merchant, Mushtaq Ali and Nayudu. In the First Test, which India lost heavily, the team had six debutants: Abdul Hafeez, Gul Mohammad, Hazare, Mankad, Modi and Shinde. Sohoni and Sarwate made their debuts in the Second Test.

England selections

Test trials

England staged two Test trials, the first in June a week before the First Test and the second in July a week before the Second Test. It was seven years since England had last played a Test match and there was a winter tour of Australia and New Zealand to come so the selectors wanted to look at a large number of players to try and quickly establish the best possible team.

A total of 35 players were used in the two Test trials and, in the end, England used 19 players in the three Test matches, with as many as 10 making only a single appearance. The mainstays of the team who each played in all three Tests were middle order batsman and team captain Wally Hammond, opening batsmen Len Hutton and Cyril Washbrook, middle order batsman Denis Compton and opening pace bowler Alec Bedser.

First Test

For the First Test at Lord's, England had only three debutants compared with India's six. Bedser and batting all-rounder Jack Ikin were the only "new" players in that they had made two and five first-class appearances respectively before the war and each of them was now in his first full season. The third debutant was veteran seam bowler Frank Smailes who had been playing regularly for Yorkshire since 1932. England's other four players in this match were also experienced pre-war players: batsman Joe Hardstaff junior, wicket-keeper Paul Gibb, leg spinner Doug Wright and pace bowler Bill Bowes.

Second Test

Team changes were made for the Second Test in view of the need to try out several players ahead of the winter tour of Australia. Pace bowler Dick Pollard was introduced, making his Test debut in place of Smailes. Like Smailes, Pollard was an experienced player active since 1933. Veteran pace bowler Bill Voce was recalled in place of his former bodyline series colleague Bowes.

Third Test

England made six changes for the Third Test, which was drawn after being ruined by rain. Batsmen Laurie Fishlock, Bill Edrich and James Langridge were recalled along with fast bowler Alf Gover. There were two debutants: wicket-keeper Godfrey Evans and veteran spinner Peter Smith. They replaced Ikin, Hardstaff, Gibb, Voce, Pollard and Wright.

Conclusion

The season-long bad weather not only ruined the cricket but also prevented the selectors from being able to fully assess the suitability of their players for Test cricket ahead of the coming winter's tour of Australia and New Zealand. In the end, they were largely satisfied with the players selected because 16 of them were included in the 17-man tour party, the exception being Yorkshire batsman Norman Yardley, who was being groomed for the captaincy.

Yardley was an amateur player who was by no means an outstanding performer but English cricket at this time still took the view that an amateur must captain the national team. The view was widely derided as outmoded and nonsensical, especially as Hammond was a former professional who had changed his status in order to "qualify" for the captaincy. But the ideal of the amateur captain would be discarded a few years hence when England's best batsman Len Hutton became the first professional captain since the 19th century. The concept of amateurism itself was demolished in 1962 after the final Gentlemen v Players match took place.

The one great "find" in 1946 was Alec Bedser who took 24 wickets in the series, including 22 in his first two Tests. Bedser fulfilled his potential and was easily England's best bowler for several seasons to come. Godfrey Evans, who played in one Test in 1946, was another new player who became an England regular and has often been hailed as England's best-ever wicketkeeper. But, in terms of long-term development of the national team, the 1946 series left England with more questions than answers. Pre-war players Hutton, Compton, Edrich, Washbrook and Wright all continued to represent England for many years but, as two forthcoming series against Australia would show, the England team in the immediate post-war period was not good enough.

For the 1946–47 tour, England retained the veteran Hammond as captain and sent the following party to Australia and New Zealand:

Batsmen

• Hammond (captain), Compton, Edrich, Fishlock, Hardstaff, Hutton, Langridge, Washbrook, Yardley

Wicketkeepers

• Evans, Gibb

Pace bowlers

• Bedser, Pollard, Voce

Spin bowlers

• Ikin, Smith, Wright

Some of the batsmen, particularly Edrich and Yardley, could do their share of bowling but it was in this key area that England were weak, especially when confronted by the top-class batsmen of Australia and West Indies. Although Bedser proved to be one of the world's best bowlers in the post-war period, he was often placed in the position of "carrying" the England attack whereas Australia had the formidable pairing of Ray Lindwall and Keith Miller who were well supported by additional good bowlers.

Of the players who took part in the 1946 series, England did not select Bowes, Gover or Smailes for the winter tour.

Matches

Opening fixture

The tour opened at New Road, Worcester on 4, 6 and 7 May where India played Worcestershire in bleak and windy conditions. This was a close-fought match with Worcestershire batting first, having been put in by Pataudi, and scoring 191 in their first innings. Captain Alexander Singleton top-scored with 47 and Vinoo Mankad took 4–26. India replied with 192, Modi scoring 34 and Reg Perks taking 5–53. Worcestershire made 284 in the second innings with future England player Dick Howorth scoring 105 while Shinde took 5–50. Needing the same total to win, India did not quite make it and were dismissed for 267, giving the county a 16-run victory. Howorth, bowling the kind of slow left-arm orthodox spin that is more usually associated with Indian bowlers, took 4–59 to complement his century while Modi was again the best Indian batsman with 84.

Matches before the First Test

Including the match at Worcester, India played 10 first-class matches prior to the First Test at Lord's, starting on 22 June. Their other opponents were:

• Oxford University at The Parks, Oxford – match drawn
• Surrey at The Oval – won by 9 wickets
• Cambridge University at Fenner's, Cambridge – won by an innings and 19 runs
• Leicestershire at Grace Road, Leicester – match drawn
• Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) at Lord's Cricket Ground – won by an innings and 194 runs
• Hampshire at County Ground, Southampton – won by 6 wickets
• Glamorgan at Cardiff Arms Park – match drawn
• Combined Services at United Services Recreation Ground, Portsmouth – match drawn
• Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge Cricket Ground, Nottingham – match drawn

So, apart from losing the opener by a narrow margin, the Indians were successful in the run-up to the First Test. Their win over Surrey was made possible by a remarkable performance in their first innings when, with the score at a modest 205–9, the last two batsmen Sarwate (scoring 124 not out) and Banerjee (121) put on 249 for the 10th wicket. Surrey collapsed and were made to follow-on but India had only to make 20 in their second innings to complete a celebrated victory.

Merchant made his mark with 111* and 57* against Leicestershire followed by a magnificent 148 against MCC. Mankad took 10 wickets in the match against MCC, whose team included Bill Edrich and Norman Yardley but was otherwise ordinary.

Against Hampshire, India converted a first innings deficit of 67 into a 6-wicket victory after a fine bowling performance by Hazare in the county's second innings. The next three matches were ruined by the bad weather although Amarnath scored a good century against Glamorgan.

First Test

England won the First Test at Lord's by 10 wickets in a little over two days. India batted first and, having been 87 for 6, recovered to make 200. Alec Bedser on his Test debut took 7 for 49. With Joe Hardstaff scoring 205 not out, England replied with 428. India made 275 in their second innings and England then won the match with 48 for no wicket. Bedser took 4 for 96 in the second innings to claim debut match figures of 11 for 145.

This was the first Test match in England since 1939 and the public welcomed it in large numbers. The gates had to be closed on both the first two days with over 30,000 spectators inside.

Matches before the Second Test

India played 6 first-class matches between the first two Tests and these included two matches each against Yorkshire and Lancashire:

• Northamptonshire at County Ground, Northampton – match drawn
• Lancashire at Aigburth Cricket Ground, Liverpool – won by 8 wickets
• Yorkshire at Park Avenue Cricket Ground, Bradford – lost by an innings and 82 runs
• Lancashire at Old Trafford Cricket Ground, Manchester – match drawn
• Derbyshire at Queen's Park Cricket Ground, Chesterfield – won by 118 runs
• Yorkshire at Bramall Lane, Sheffield – match drawn

Apart from the heavy defeat at Bradford where Len Hutton scored 183 not out and Arthur Booth took 10 for 91 in the match, India had another successful phase against the counties, although some of the matches were impacted by the poor weather.

Merchant made 110 and 72 not out at Northampton. After India had conceded first innings lead at Liverpool, Merchant and Pataudi added an unbeaten 161 for the 3rd wicket to complete the victory. At Old Trafford, Merchant made 242 not out as India scored 456 for 8 declared in their only innings. Mankad took 9 wickets in the match but the tourists ran out of time and Lancashire held on for the draw. Mankad was the pick of the bowlers at Chesterfield where Pataudi scored 113 and Modi was bowled on 99. At Sheffield, Hazare (244 not out) and Mankad (132) shared a 4th wicket stand of 322.

Second Test

The Second Test at Old Trafford was drawn but it had a tense climax as India's last wicket pair Sohoni and Hindlekar held on for the final 13 minutes of play to secure the draw with England 125 runs ahead. Bedser again took 11 wickets and Pollard weighed in with 7. Compton, with two half centuries, was the top scorer.

Matches before the Third Test

India played 5 first-class matches between the Second and Third Tests:

• Sussex at County Ground, Hove – won by 9 wickets
• Somerset at County Ground, Taunton – lost by an innings and 11 runs
• Glamorgan at St Helen's Cricket Ground, Swansea – won by 5 wickets
• Warwickshire at Edgbaston Cricket Ground, Birmingham – match drawn
• Gloucestershire at College Ground, Cheltenham – match drawn

Third Test

The Third Test at The Oval was drawn after being ruined by the rain.

Remaining matches

Following the final Test, India played 5 more first-class matches to conclude the tour:

• Essex at Southchurch Park, Southend-on-Sea – won by 1 wicket
• Kent at St Lawrence Ground, Canterbury – match drawn
• Middlesex at Lord's Cricket Ground – won by an innings and 263 runs
• South at Central Recreation Ground, Hastings – won by 10 runs
• H D G Leveson-Gower's XI at North Marine Road Ground, Scarborough – match drawn