Marylebone Cricket Club Under-25 cricket team in Pakistan in 1966–67

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A team of English cricketers under 25 years of age, organised by Marylebone Cricket Club, toured Pakistan from early January to late February 1967 and played three four-day matches against a Pakistan under-25 team and four other first-class matches. [1]

Marylebone Cricket Club english Cricket Club

Marylebone Cricket Club is a cricket club founded in 1787 and based since 1814 at Lord's cricket ground, which it owns, in St John's Wood, London, England. The club was formerly the governing body of cricket in England and Wales and, as the sport's legislator, held considerable global influence.

Pakistan federal parliamentary constitutional republic in South Asia

Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the world’s sixth-most populous country with a population exceeding 212,742,631 people. In area, it is the 33rd-largest country, spanning 881,913 square kilometres. Pakistan has a 1,046-kilometre (650-mile) coastline along the Arabian Sea and Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by India to the east, Afghanistan to the west, Iran to the southwest, and China in the far northeast. It is separated narrowly from Tajikistan by Afghanistan's Wakhan Corridor in the northwest, and also shares a maritime border with Oman.

First-class cricket is an official classification of the highest-standard international or domestic matches in the sport of cricket. A first-class match is of three or more days' scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officially adjudged to be worthy of the status by virtue of the standard of the competing teams. Matches must allow for the teams to play two innings each although, in practice, a team might play only one innings or none at all.

Contents

The team

As England were not playing a Test series in 1966-67, the MCC were able to select a strong team. The touring team, with ages on 1 January 1967, was:

England cricket team Sports team

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Test cricket the longest form of the sport of cricket; so called due to its long, grueling nature

Test cricket is the form of the sport of cricket with the longest duration, and is considered the game's highest standard. Test matches are played between national representative teams with "Test status", as determined and conferred by the International Cricket Council (ICC). The term Test stems from the fact of the form's long, gruelling matches being both mentally and physically testing. Two teams of 11 players each play a four-innings match, which may last up to five days. It is generally considered the most complete examination of a team's endurance and ability.

John Michael Brearley OBE is a retired English first-class cricketer who captained Cambridge University, Middlesex, and England. He captained the international side in 31 of his 39 Test matches, winning 17 and losing only 4. He was the President of the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) in 2007–08. Since his retirement from professional cricket he has pursued a career as a writer and psychoanalyst, serving as President of the British Psychoanalytical Society 2008–10. He is married to Mana Sarabhai who is from India and they have 2 children together.

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Buss was not in the original team. He replaced Abberley, who suffered a broken finger from a high full toss in the second match. [2] The manager was the former Test player Les Ames. [3]

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The tour

It was a tightly-packed schedule. Once the team started playing their first match they had only one day free from either match-play or travel until the end of the last match. [2]

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Amiss top-scored in each innings for MCC Under-25 with 47 and 75. Hanif Mohammad, South Zone's captain, did the same for South Zone with 73 and 35 not out. Munawwar Hussain was the outstanding bowler, with 6 for 35 and 2 for 56. [4]

Abberley made the top score of the match with 92 in the first innings. Pocock took 4 for 44 and 5 for 70. Saeed Ahmed, Central Zone's captain, made 26 and 61 and took 3 for 91 and 5 for 60. [5]

"A pitch of funeral pace virtually guaranteed a draw from the first ball." [3] Mushtaq Mohammad batted nearly six hours for 120, Majid Khan made 100 not out, and Fletcher 124. [6]

Brearley scored 312 not out so rapidly that he was able to declare at stumps on the first day after five and a half hours of play. He put on 208 for the first wicket with Knott (101) and 234 unbroken for the fifth wicket with Ormrod (61 not out). North Zone succumbed to the bowling of Hutton, who took a hat-trick in the first innings, and Hobbs, who took 6 for 39 and 3 for 88. [3] [7]

Pocock took 4 for 56 and 4 for 36. Amiss made 102. [8]

Brearley (223) and Amiss (131) added 356 for the second wicket; Pervez Sajjad took 7 for 135 off 57.2 overs for Pakistan Under-25. Following on 212 behind, Pakistan Under-25 were 124 for 4 before a fifth wicket partnership of 167 in 145 minutes by Majid Khan (95) and the captain, Asif Iqbal (117). [3] [9]

Despite the fastest pitch of the series the play was slow, and MCC Under-25 did not attempt to reach their target of 255 in 215 minutes. Mushtaq Mohammad took 7 for 73. [3] [10]

Leading players

In the three-match series, Brearley was the highest scorer on either side with 364 runs at an average of 121.33; Amiss made 284 at 94.66. Pocock took most wickets for MCC Under-25, with 10 at 36.30, and Hobbs had 9 at 36.55.

For Pakistan Asif Iqbal made 305 runs at 50.83 and Majid Khan made 284 at 56.80. Pervez Sajjad took 11 wickets at 20.63, and Mushtaq Mohammad 10 at 17.60.

On the tour as a whole, Brearley made 793 runs in the first-class matches at an average of 132.16, and Amiss made 575 at 63.88. The leading wicket-taker was Pocock, who took 31 at 20.29, while Hobbs took 27 at 25.66.

Aftermath

Only Brown, Amiss and Underwood had played Test cricket before the tour. All except Abberley, Bissex, Buss, Ormrod and Windows played Tests after the tour.

On the Pakistan side, several of the team had already played Test cricket. Of the others, Wasim Bari played his first matches for Pakistan, and immediately established himself as his country's premier wicket-keeper, and Saleem Altaf also began his international career.

After the tour, Brearley predicted that Pakistan's lack of fast bowlers, their batting difficulties against pace bowling on fast pitches, and their lack of a settled pair of opening batsmen, would all present problems for them on their forthcoming tour of England a few months later. [2] All three predictions proved accurate, and Pakistan lost the Test series 2–0. [11]

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References

  1. ↑ "Marylebone Cricket Club Under-25s in Pakistan 1966-67". CricketArchive. Retrieved 3 April 2017.
  2. 1 2 3 Mike Brearley, "An Exhausting but Successful First Tour for Young England", The Cricketer , Spring Annual, 1967, pp. 61–64.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Alex Bannister, "M.C.C. Under 25 Team in Pakistan, 1967", Wisden 1968, pp. 889–98.
  4. ↑ "South Zone v MCC Under-25 1966-67". Cricinfo. Retrieved 29 November 2017.
  5. ↑ "Central Zone v MCC Under-25 1966-67". Cricinfo. Retrieved 29 November 2017.
  6. ↑ "Pakistan Under-25 v MCC Under-25, Lahore 1966-67". Cricinfo. Retrieved 29 November 2017.
  7. ↑ "North Zone v MCC Under-25 1966-67". Cricinfo. Retrieved 29 November 2017.
  8. ↑ "President's XI v MCC Under-25 1966-67". Cricinfo. Retrieved 29 November 2017.
  9. ↑ "Pakistan Under-25 v MCC Under-25, Dacca 1966-67". CricketArchive. Retrieved 29 November 2017. (Subscription required (help)).
  10. ↑ "Pakistan Under-25 v MCC Under-25, Karachi 1966-67". Cricinfo. Retrieved 29 November 2017.
  11. ↑ Qamaruddin Butt, "Pakistan in England, 1967", Wisden 1968, pp. 307–34.
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