Marylebone Cricket Club in New Zealand in 1935–36

An English team raised by Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) toured New Zealand from December 1935 to March 1936 and played eight first-class matches including four against the New Zealand national cricket team. MCC also played the main provincial teams, Auckland, Wellington, Canterbury and Otago, and ten non-first-class matches against teams from minor cricket associations.[1]

The MCC team was captained by Errol Holmes. The overall tour included a short stopover in Ceylon, where a single minor match was played, and six first-class matches in Australia between October and December 1935.[1]

The team

[edit]

Bob Wyatt was offered the captaincy but declined, saying he needed a rest.[2] In order to limit the expense of the tour, MCC chose only six professionals (Barber, Hardstaff, Langridge, Parks, Sims and Smith), and there was no manager.[3] The team was the youngest-ever English touring team, with an average age of 26.[4] Holmes judged his team to be "just about representative of England's second XI at the time".[5]

Lyttelton, later known as Viscount Cobham, returned to New Zealand as Governor-General between 1957 and 1962.

First-class matches

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20-23 December 1935
Scorecard
v
164 (55.2 overs)
Jack Lamason 62
Jim Sims 8/53 (22 overs)
166 (55.1 overs)
Charles Lyttelton 35
Denis Blundell 3/29 (11.1 overs)
146 (37.5 overs)
Jimmy Ell 61
Jim Sims 4/47 (10.5 overs)
130 (56.4 overs)
Jim Sims 43
Denis Blundell 5/50 (22 overs)
Wellington won by 14 runs
Basin Reserve, Wellington
Umpires: Charles Moore and Charlie Webb
  • Marylebone Cricket Club elected to field

24-26 December 1935
Scorecard
v
243 (71.1 overs)
Jack Kerr 146*
Jim Sims 4/52 (16 overs)
364 (94.5 overs)
Wilf Barber 116
Ian Cromb 5/52 (14.5 overs)
172 (59.5 overs)
Jack Kerr 71
Hopper Read 6/61 (21 overs)
52/0 (16.1 overs)
Jim Parks 34*
Marylebone Cricket Club won by 10 wickets
Lancaster Park, Christchurch
Umpires: JT Forrester and R Coleman
  • Canterbury elected to bat

31 December 1935-2 January 1936
Scorecard
v
78 (37.1 overs)
Alec Knight 35
Jim Sims 3/11 (7.1 overs)
550 (128.4 overs)
Denis Smith 165
Lankford Smith 3/71 (16 overs)
357 (110.5 overs)
Vic Cavanagh 66
Hopper Read 3/99 (29.5 overs)
Marylebone Cricket Club won by an innings and 115 runs
Carisbrook, Dunedin
Umpires: Richard Torrance and William Butler
  • Otago elected to bat first

10-13 January 1936
Scorecard
v
81 (38 overs)
Lindsay Weir 21
Hopper Read 6/26 (9 overs)
653/5d (147 overs)
Wilf Barber 173
Cedric Elmes 2/129 (32 overs)
205/7 (65.1 overs)
Giff Vivian 87
Hopper Read 5/74 (27 overs)
Match drawn
Carisbrook, Dunedin
Umpires: Richard Torrance and William Butler
  • New Zealand elected to bat

17-20 January 1936
Scorecard
v
242 (95.3 overs)
Alby Roberts 75*
Jim Parks 4/46 (29 overs)
156 (54.5 overs)
Mandy Mitchell-Innes 57
Ian Cromb 4/52 (14 overs)
229/3d (55.1 overs)
Jack Kerr 105*
Jim Sims 2/70 (17 overs)
130/7 (59 overs)
James Langridge 61*
Alby Roberts 2/39 (22 overs)
Match drawn
Basin Reserve, Wellington
Umpires: Charles W. Moore and DL Ryan
  • New Zealand elected to bat

21-24 January 1936
Scorecard
v
306/6d (106 overs)
Merv Wallace 113
James Langridge 3/54 (28 overs)
329 (121.2 overs)
Jim Parks 88
Raoul Garrard 4/114 (43 overs)
Match drawn
Eden Park, Auckland
Umpires: DL Ryan and Oscar Montgomery
  • Auckland elected to bat
  • 23 February was taken as a rest day

28 February-2 March 1936
Scorecard
v
368 (116.1 overs)
Cedric Elmes 99
Jim Sims 4/92 (25 overs)
435 (167.5 overs)
Joe Hardstaff 147*
Bernard Griffiths 3/105 (28 overs)
128/3 (63 overs)
Mal Matheson 50*
Sandy Baxter 1/9 (6 overs)
Match drawn
Eden Park, Auckland
Umpires: DL Ryan and Oscar Montgomery
  • Toss not known
  • 1 March was taken as a rest day

6-9 March 1936
Scorecard
v
195 (68.1 overs)
Wilf Barber 60
Bernard Griffiths 4/60 (17 overs)
334 (96.1 overs)
Jack Kerr 132
Hopper Read 5/72 (21.1 overs)
142/2 (58 overs)
Denis Smith 40*
Ian Cromb 1/32 (15 overs)
Match drawn
Lancaster Park, Christchurch
Umpires: DL Ryan and JT Forrester
  • Marylebone Cricket Club elected to bat
  • 8 March was taken as a rest day
  • No play on 9 March due to rain

Assessments

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The tour made a financial loss for the New Zealand Cricket Council of £3,000, which was considered severe.[6]

References

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  1. ^ a b CricketArchive – tour itinerary
  2. ^ "M.C.C. Team for Dominion: Holmes Captain". Auckland Star: 7. 9 July 1935.
  3. ^ Errol Holmes, Flannelled Foolishness, Hollis & Carter, London, 1957, p. 109.
  4. ^ Holmes, pp. 112, 121.
  5. ^ Holmes, p. 111.
  6. ^ "Cricket". Otago Daily Times: 4. 9 December 1937.

Bibliography

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  • Errol Holmes, Flannelled Foolishness, Hollis & Carter, London, 1957, pp. 126–143
  • Don Neely & Richard Payne, Men in White: The History of New Zealand International Cricket, 1894–1985, Moa, Auckland, 1986, pp. 136–139
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