History of cricket in Pakistan from 1947 to 1970
Encyclopedia
This article describes the history of cricket in Pakistan from 1947 to 1970.

Early years: 1947 to 1950

The independent state of Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...

 was established in 1947 following the Partition of India
Partition of India
The Partition of India was the partition of British India on the basis of religious demographics that led to the creation of the sovereign states of the Dominion of Pakistan and the Union of India on 14 and 15...

. Major cricket was already established in the country as many clubs and local associations had previously been part of the Indian cricket scene.

Matches were played on an ad hoc basis in the 1947-48 and 1948-49 seasons before Pakistan's Board of Cricket Control (BCCP) was established on 1 May 1949. Games continued to be few and far between for several seasons until a national championship began in 1953.

1947-48 season

On 27–29 December 1947, the Punjab v Sind match at Lahore
Lahore
Lahore is the capital of the Pakistani province of Punjab and the second largest city in the country. With a rich and fabulous history dating back to over a thousand years ago, Lahore is no doubt Pakistan's cultural capital. One of the most densely populated cities in the world, Lahore remains a...

 marked the start of major cricket in Pakistan as an independent country. Later that season, on 6–8 February 1948, the Punjab Governor's XI v Punjab University match took place, also at Lahore. These were the only matches that season owing to disruption caused by the Partition.

1948-49 season

Another Punjab Governor's XI v Punjab University took place at Lahore in March 1949, but it was the only major domestic match in the second season.

The highlight of the 1948-49 season was the arrival of the West Indies team in November 1948. This was the first tour of Pakistan by an overseas team.

The Pakistan national cricket team made its inaugural overseas tour in April 1949 with a visit to Ceylon where the team played two matches versus Ceylon in Colombo
Colombo
Colombo is the largest city of Sri Lanka. It is located on the west coast of the island and adjacent to Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte, the capital of Sri Lanka. Colombo is often referred to as the capital of the country, since Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte is a satellite city of Colombo...

. Pakistan, captained by Mohammed Saeed, won the first match by an innings and the second by 10 wickets.

1949-50 season

There were no domestic matches at all in 1949-50 when two touring teams arrived. The first tour was by a Commonwealth XI
Commonwealth XI cricket team
The Commonwealth XI cricket team played over 100 first-class cricket matches from 1949 to 1968. The team started out as a side made up of mostly English, Australian and West Indian cricketers, that toured the subcontinent but later on played first-class fixtures in England...

 in November and December 1949. Then Ceylon, on a return tour in March–April 1950, played five major matches.

Pakistan's debut in Test Cricket

In October to December 1952, Pakistan’s Test debut was a five-match series in India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

, the matches played at New Delhi, Lucknow, Bombay, Madras and Calcutta. After India
Indian cricket team
The Indian cricket team is the national cricket team of India. Governed by the Board of Control for Cricket in India , it is a full member of the International Cricket Council with Test and One Day International status....

 had won the First Test by an innings, Pakistan won the Second Test by an innings thanks to Fazal Mahmood
Fazal Mahmood
Fazal Mahmood was a Pakistani cricketer, regarded as the finest pace bowler of his country's early years. He played in 34 Test matches and took 139 wickets at a bowling average of 24.70...

 who took 5-52 and 7-42. India won the Third Test and the other two were drawn.

National championships

The Qaid-i-Azam Trophy was launched in the 1953-54 season as Pakistan's national championship. The first winner was Bahawalpur
Bahawalpur cricket team
Bahawalpur cricket team were a first-class cricket side who played in Pakistani first class cricket. They were from the city of Bahawalpur and won the inaugural Quaid-i-Azam Trophy, with the team captained by Mohammad Saeed. His son in law Fazal Mahmood played beside him in that championship...

. The outstanding player in the inaugural season was the great opening batsman Hanif Mohammed who scored 513 runs at an average of 128.25 with a highest score of 174.

Winners of the Qaid-i-Azam Trophy from 1954 to 1970 were:
  • 1953-54 – Bahawalpur
  • 1954-55 – Karachi
  • 1955-56 – no competition
  • 1956-57 – Punjab
    Punjab cricket team
    The Punjab cricket team is the official first-class cricket team that represents the Indian state of Punjab. They have qualified for three Ranji Trophy semi-finals in the last five seasons, and made it to the final in 2004–05 tournament, where they lost to Railways on first innings. They also play...

  • 1957-58 – Bahawalpur
  • 1958-59 – Karachi
  • 1959-60 – Karachi
  • 1960-61 – no competition
  • 1961-62 – Karachi Blues
  • 1962-63 – Karachi A
  • 1963-64 – Karachi Blues
  • 1964-65 – Karachi Blues
  • 1965-66 – no competition
  • 1966-67 – Karachi
  • 1967-68 – no competition
  • 1968-69 – Lahore
  • 1969-70 – PIA


In the 1960-61 season, the BCCP introduced a knockout competition called the Ayub Trophy. Winners to 1970 were:
  • 1960-61 – Railways-Quetta
  • 1961-62 – Karachi
  • 1962-63 – Karachi
  • 1964-65 – Karachi
  • 1965-66 – Karachi Blues
  • 1967-68 – Karachi Blues
  • 1969-70 – PIA

West Indies 1948-49

In the first international tour of Pakistan by an overseas team, West Indies played two major matches versus Sind at Karachi and a Pakistan XI at Lahore. Both matches were drawn.

The West Indies team included George Headley
George Headley
George Alphonso Headley was a West Indian cricketer who played 22 Test matches, mostly before the Second World War. Considered one of the best batsmen to play for West Indies and one of the greatest cricketers of all time, Headley also represented Jamaica and played professional club cricket in...

, Clyde Walcott
Clyde Walcott
Sir Clyde Leopold Walcott, KA, GCM was a West Indian cricketer. Walcott was a member of the "three W's", the other two being Everton Weekes and Frank Worrell: all were very successful batsmen from Barbados, born within a short distance of each other in Bridgetown, Barbados in a period of 18...

 and Everton Weekes
Everton Weekes
Sir Everton DeCourcy Weekes, KCMG, GCM, OBE is a leading former West Indian cricketer. Along with Frank Worrell and Clyde Walcott, he formed what was known as "The Three Ws" of West Indian cricket.-Youth and early career:...

.

Commonwealth XI 1949-50

The tourists played two matches against an All-Pakistan XI in Lahore and against a Karachi-Sind Combined XI in Karachi. The tourists won the first match by an innings and 177 runs; they won the second match by 6 wickets. Captained by Jock Livingston
Jock Livingston
Leonard "Jock" Livingston, born at Hurlstone Park, Sydney on 3 May 1920 and died there on 16 January 1998, was an Australian cricketer who played most of his first-class cricket in England.-Cricket career:...

, who also kept wicket in some games, the team had several well-known players including Frank Worrell
Frank Worrell
Sir Frank Mortimer Maglinne Worrell is sometimes referred to by his nickname of Tae and was a West Indies cricketer and Jamaican senator...

, George Tribe
George Tribe
George Edward Tribe was an Australian cricketer who played in 3 Tests from 1946 to 1947, as well as an Australian rules footballer with the Footscray Football Club in the VFL....

, Bill Alley
Bill Alley
William Edward Alley was a cricketer who played 400 first-class matches for New South Wales, Somerset and a Commonwealth XI....

, Cec Pepper
Cec Pepper
Cecil George Pepper was an Australian first-class cricketer. An allrounder, he was the first to complete the double twice in the Central Lancashire League. With the bat he once hit 38 runs off an eight ball over....

, George Dawkes
George Dawkes
George Owen Dawkes was a first-class cricketer who played for Leicestershire between 1937 and 1939 and for Derbyshire between 1947 and 1961 as a wicket keeper and a lower-order right-handed batsman...

 and George Pope.

Ceylon 1949-50

Ceylon in March–April 1950 played five major matches versus: Karachi-Sind at the Karachi
Karachi
Karachi is the largest city, main seaport and the main financial centre of Pakistan, as well as the capital of the province of Sindh. The city has an estimated population of 13 to 15 million, while the total metropolitan area has a population of over 18 million...

 Gymkhana Ground; a Pakistan XI at the Bagh-e-Jinnah in Lahore; the Commander-in-Chief's XI at the Pindi Club Ground in Rawalpindi
Rawalpindi
Rawalpindi , locally known as Pindi, is a city in the Pothohar region of Pakistan near Pakistan's capital city of Islamabad, in the province of Punjab. Rawalpindi is the fourth largest city in Pakistan after Karachi, Lahore and Faisalabad...

; Pakistan Universities at Punjab University Ground in Lahore; and Pakistan XI again at Karachi's Gymkhana Ground.

MCC 1951-52

Only a handful of domestic matches were played in the next three seasons, during which the highlight was the arrival of the first touring team from England in November 1951. The tour was organised by MCC
Marylebone Cricket Club
Marylebone Cricket Club is a cricket club in London founded in 1787. Its influence and longevity now witness it as a private members' club dedicated to the development of cricket. It owns, and is based at, Lord's Cricket Ground in St John's Wood, London NW8. MCC was formerly the governing body of...

 and the team also visited Ceylon. MCC played four major matches in Pakistan versus:
  • Punjab at Jinnah Stadium in Sialkot – match drawn
  • Pakistan XI at Bagh-e-Jinnah in Lahore – match drawn
  • Bahawalpur-Karachi at Bahawal Stadium in Bahawalpur – match drawn
  • Pakistan XI at Karachi Gymkhana Ground – Pakistan won by 4 wickets


MCC had a strong team that featured the young Tom Graveney
Tom Graveney
Thomas William Graveney in Riding Mill, Northumberland, is a former English cricketer and was the President of the Marylebone Cricket Club for 2004/5. He went to Bristol Grammar School...

 and Brian Statham
Brian Statham
John Brian "George" Statham, CBE was one of the leading English fast bowlers in 20th-century English cricket. Initially a bowler of a brisk fast-medium pace, Statham was able to remodel his action to generate enough speed to become genuinely fast...

. Captained by Nigel Howard
Nigel Howard
Nigel David Howard was an English cricketer, who played for Lancashire and England. Born in Gee Cross, Hyde, Cheshire, he captained England for the tour to India in the only four Test matches he played in, winning one and drawing three, although the series was drawn after the fifth Test match was...

 it also included Derek Shackleton
Derek Shackleton
Derek Shackleton was a Hampshire and England bowler. He took over 100 wickets in 20 consecutive seasons of first-class cricket, but only played in seven Tests for England. As of 2007, he has the seventh-highest tally of first-class wickets, and the most first-class wickets of any player who...

, Jack Robertson
Jack Robertson
Jack Robertson was an English cricketer, who played county cricket for Middlesex, and in eleven Tests for England....

, Donald Carr
Donald Carr
Donald Bryce Carr is a former English cricketer who played for Derbyshire from 1946 to 1967, for Oxford University from 1948 to 1951, and twice for England in 1951/52. He captained Derbyshire between 1955 and 1962, and scored over 10,000 runs for the county...

, Roy Tattersall
Roy Tattersall
Roy Tattersall is an English former Lancashire cricketer, who played sixteen Tests for England as a specialist off spin bowler....

, Frank Lowson
Frank Lowson
Frank Anderson Lowson was an English cricketer, who played in seven Tests for England from 1951 to 1955. In first-class cricket, Lowson amassed 15,321 runs at an average of over 37, but had drifted away from the county game by his early thrties.-Life and career:Lowson was born in Bradford,...

, Don Brennan
Don Brennan (Cricketer)
Donald Vincent Brennan was an English cricketer, who played in two Tests in 1951. For his county Yorkshire he was their regular wicket-keeper between 1947 and 1953, taking a total of 380 dismissals in those seven seasons. A poor batsman, he averaged 10.52 in first-class cricket with only a single...

 and Dick Spooner
Dick Spooner
Richard Thompson Spooner was an English cricketer, who played for Warwickshire and England.A latecomer who did not play first-class cricket until he was 28, Spooner was a quick-witted left-handed batsman who could open the innings or bat further down the order, and a reliable wicket-keeper whose...

.

India 1954-55

Pakistan's inaugural home Test series was against neighbours India and all five matches were drawn:
  • 1st Test at Dacca Stadium
    Bangabandhu National Stadium
    Bangabandhu National Stadium, also known as Dhaka Stadium, and formerly known as Dacca Stadium is the national stadium and a multipurpose sports arena in Dhaka, Bangladesh. It is located in the Motijheel area in the heart of the city...

     – match drawn
  • 2nd Test at Bahawal Stadium, Bahawalpur
    Bahawal Stadium
    The Bahawal Stadium is a cricket ground in Bahawalpur, Punjab, Pakistan. Locally known as Dring Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium located in used mostly for Cricket games...

     – match drawn
  • 3rd Test at Bagh-e-Jinnah, Lahore
    Gaddafi Stadium
    Gaddafi Stadium is a cricket ground in Lahore, Pakistan. It was designed by Daghestani-born architect and engineer Nasreddin Murat-Khan who also designed Lahore's Minar-e-Pakistan and constructed by Mian Abdul Khaliq and Company in 1959. Following the ground's renovation for the 1996 Cricket World...

     – match drawn
  • 4th Test at Peshawar Club Ground
    Peshawar Club Ground
    The Peshawar Club Ground is a cricket ground in Peshawar, Pakistan, used for one Test match between India and Pakistan. It staged first class cricket matches from 1938 to 1987.-History of matches:...

     – match drawn
  • 5th Test at National Stadium, Karachi
    National Stadium, Karachi
    The National Stadium is a cricket stadium in Karachi, Pakistan. It is currently used for cricket matches, and is home to Karachi's domestic cricket teams. The stadium is able to hold 34,228 spectators, making it the second largest cricket stadium in Pakistan after Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore...

     – match drawn

New Zealand 1955-56

  • 1st Test at National Stadium, Karachi – Pakistan won by an innings and 1 run
  • 2nd Test at Bagh-e-Jinnah, Lahore – Pakistan won by 4 wickets
  • 3rd Test at Dacca Stadium – match drawn

Australia 1956-57

  • 1st Test at National Stadium, Karachi – Pakistan won by 9 wickets


Fazal Mahmood
Fazal Mahmood
Fazal Mahmood was a Pakistani cricketer, regarded as the finest pace bowler of his country's early years. He played in 34 Test matches and took 139 wickets at a bowling average of 24.70...

 was Pakistan's matchwinner with 13 wickets.

West Indies 1958-59

  • 1st Test at National Stadium, Karachi – Pakistan won by 10 wickets
  • 2nd Test at Dacca Stadium – Pakistan won by 41 runs
  • 3rd Test at Bagh-e-Jinnah, Lahore – West Indies won by an innings and 156 runs

Australia 1959-60

  • 1st Test at Dacca Stadium – Australia won by 8 wickets
  • 2nd Test at Gaddafi Stadium
    Gaddafi Stadium
    Gaddafi Stadium is a cricket ground in Lahore, Pakistan. It was designed by Daghestani-born architect and engineer Nasreddin Murat-Khan who also designed Lahore's Minar-e-Pakistan and constructed by Mian Abdul Khaliq and Company in 1959. Following the ground's renovation for the 1996 Cricket World...

    , Lahore – Australia won by 7 wickets
  • 3rd Test at National Stadium, Karachi – match drawn


The series took place in November and December 1959. In the Second Test, Norm O'Neill
Norm O'Neill
Norman Clifford O'Neill OAM was an cricketer who played for New South Wales and Australia. A right-handed batsman known for his back foot strokeplay, O'Neill made his state debut aged 18, before progressing to Test selection aged 21 in late 1958...

 scored 134 for Australia and Saeed Ahmed
Saeed Ahmed (cricketer)
Saeed Ahmed is a former Pakistani cricketer who played in 41 Tests from 1958 to 1972. He was a right-handed middle order batsman with a powerful drive and also a handy right arm offbreak bowler. He is the half brother of Younis Ahmed.He made his Test début on the 17th of January 1958 against the...

 scored 166 for Pakistan. Hanif Mohammed scored 101 in the Third Test for Pakistan.

Richie Benaud
Richie Benaud
Richard "Richie" Benaud OBE is a former Australian cricketer who, since his retirement from international cricket in 1964, has become a highly regarded commentator on the game....

 was the leading wicket taker of the series with 18.

Australia also played one three-day match against President's XI in Rawalpindi
Rawalpindi
Rawalpindi , locally known as Pindi, is a city in the Pothohar region of Pakistan near Pakistan's capital city of Islamabad, in the province of Punjab. Rawalpindi is the fourth largest city in Pakistan after Karachi, Lahore and Faisalabad...

 starting 28 November 1959. Australia won this match by 3 wickets.

England 1961-62

  • 1st Test at Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore – England won by 5 wickets
  • 2nd Test at Dacca Stadium – match drawn
  • 3rd Test at National Stadium, Karachi – match drawn

Commonwealth XI 1963-64

A Commonwealth XI cricket team
Commonwealth XI cricket team
The Commonwealth XI cricket team played over 100 first-class cricket matches from 1949 to 1968. The team started out as a side made up of mostly English, Australian and West Indian cricketers, that toured the subcontinent but later on played first-class fixtures in England...

 toured Pakistan in the 1963-64 season, playing six first-class matches including three against the Pakistan national team.

Captained by Peter Richardson
Peter Richardson (cricketer)
Peter Edward Richardson is an English former cricketer, who played for Worcestershire, Kent and, in thirty four Tests, for England....

, the Commonwealth XI included several famous or well-known players such as Tom Graveney
Tom Graveney
Thomas William Graveney in Riding Mill, Northumberland, is a former English cricketer and was the President of the Marylebone Cricket Club for 2004/5. He went to Bristol Grammar School...

, Rohan Kanhai
Rohan Kanhai
Rohan Bholalall Kanhai is a former West Indian Cricket player of Indo-Guyanese descent. He is widely considered as one of the best batsmen of the 1960s. Kanhai featured in several great West Indian teams, playing with, among others, Sir Garfield Sobers, Roy Fredericks, Lance Gibbs, and Alvin...

, Basil Butcher
Basil Butcher
Basil Fitzherbert Butcher is a former West Indian cricketer who played in 44 Tests from 1958 to 1969. He was a Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1970....

, Seymour Nurse
Seymour Nurse
Seymour MacDonald Nurse is a Barbadian former cricketer. Nurse played 29 Test matches for the West Indies between 1960 and 1969. A powerfully built right-hand batsman and an aggressive, if somewhat impetuous, shotmaker, Nurse preferred to bat in the middle order but was often asked to open the...

, Bill Alley
Bill Alley
William Edward Alley was a cricketer who played 400 first-class matches for New South Wales, Somerset and a Commonwealth XI....

, Khalid Ibadulla
Khalid Ibadulla
Khalid "Billy" Ibadulla is a former Pakistani cricketer and TVNZ cricket commentator. He played in four Tests between 1964 and 1967. Most of his cricket was played for Warwickshire, for whom he appeared between 1954 and 1972...

, Charlie Griffith
Charlie Griffith
Charles Christopher Griffith is a former West Indian cricketer who played in 28 Tests from 1960 to 1969. He formed a lethal fast bowling partnership with Wes Hall during the 1960s...

 and Keith Andrew
Keith Andrew
Keith Vincent Andrew was an English cricketer who played in two Tests, in 1954-55 and in 1963.-Life and career:...


Australia 1964-65

  • 1st Test at National Stadium, Karachi – match drawn


The teams played one 5 day Test
Test cricket
Test cricket is the longest form of the sport of cricket. Test matches are played between national representative teams with "Test status", as determined by the International Cricket Council , with four innings played between two teams of 11 players over a period of up to a maximum five days...

 starting on 24 October 1964 at the National Stadium
National Stadium, Karachi
The National Stadium is a cricket stadium in Karachi, Pakistan. It is currently used for cricket matches, and is home to Karachi's domestic cricket teams. The stadium is able to hold 34,228 spectators, making it the second largest cricket stadium in Pakistan after Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore...

 in Karachi
Karachi
Karachi is the largest city, main seaport and the main financial centre of Pakistan, as well as the capital of the province of Sindh. The city has an estimated population of 13 to 15 million, while the total metropolitan area has a population of over 18 million...

.

The Test (and series) was drawn. Khalid Ibadulla
Khalid Ibadulla
Khalid "Billy" Ibadulla is a former Pakistani cricketer and TVNZ cricket commentator. He played in four Tests between 1964 and 1967. Most of his cricket was played for Warwickshire, for whom he appeared between 1954 and 1972...

 top scored for Pakistan with 166 in the first innings. Australian captain Bob Simpson
Bob Simpson (cricketer)
Robert Baddeley Simpson AO is a former cricketer who played for New South Wales, Western Australia and Australia, captaining the national team from 1963–64 until 1967–68, and again in 1977–78. He later had a highly successful term as the coach of the Australian team...

 scored 153 and 115. Graham McKenzie
Graham McKenzie
Graham Douglas "Garth" McKenzie is a former Australian and Western Australian cricketer. He was a fast bowler. First selected to play for Australia at age of 19, he toured England in 1961 under Richie Benaud...

 was the top wicket taker with 8 wickets.

New Zealand 1964-65

  • 1st Test at Pindi Club Ground, Rawalpindi – Pakistan won by an innings and 64 runs
  • 2nd Test at Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore – match drawn
  • 3rd Test at National Stadium, Karachi – Pakistan won by 8 wickets

Commonwealth XI 1967-68

A Commonwealth XI cricket team
Commonwealth XI cricket team
The Commonwealth XI cricket team played over 100 first-class cricket matches from 1949 to 1968. The team started out as a side made up of mostly English, Australian and West Indian cricketers, that toured the subcontinent but later on played first-class fixtures in England...

 toured Pakistan in the 1967-68 season, playing eight first-class matches.

Captained by Tony Lewis
Tony Lewis
Anthony Robert Lewis CBE is a former Welsh cricketer, who went on to become the face of BBC Television cricket coverage in the 1990s, and become president of the MCC. Lewis attended Christ's College, Cambridge and played for Cambridge University. He also played county cricket for Glamorgan, and...

, the Commonwealth XI included several well-known players such as John Hampshire
John Hampshire
John Harry Hampshire John Harry Hampshire John Harry Hampshire (born 10 February 1941, Thurnscoe (near Barnsley, Yorkshire) better known as Jack Hampshire, is a former English cricketer, who played eight Tests and three ODIs for England between 1969 and 1975. He played first-class cricket for...

, Mushtaq Mohammed, Brian Luckhurst
Brian Luckhurst
Brian William Luckhurst was an English cricketer, who played his entire county career for Kent County Cricket Club. He played for Kent from 1958 to 1976, usually opening the batting, then in 1985, in an emergency, played in one more match against the Australians. He was cricket manager from 1981...

, John Murray
John Murray (cricketer)
John Thomas Murray MBE is a former English cricketer. He played in twenty one Tests for England between 1961 and 1967.-Life and career:...

, David Allen
David Allen
David Allen, Dave Allen, David Allan, or Dave Allan may refer to:-Acting, entertainment and broadcasting:* Dave Allen , Irish comedian* Dave Allen , American television and film actor...

 and Keith Boyce
Keith Boyce
Keith David Boyce played 21 Tests and 8 One Day Internationals for the West Indies in the 1970s, he died from the effects of chronic cirrhosis of the liver while sitting in a chair at a pharmacist in Speightstown, Barbados in 1996.Boyce was the first man to take eight wickets in a List A match; he...

.

England 1968-69

  • 1st Test at Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore – match drawn
  • 2nd Test at Dacca Stadium – match drawn
  • 3rd Test at National Stadium, Karachi – match drawn

New Zealand 1969-70

  • 1st Test at National Stadium, Karachi – match drawn
  • 2nd Test at Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore – New Zealand won by 5 wickets
  • 3rd Test at Dacca Stadium – match drawn

External sources

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