TheIndian cricket team touredEngland in the1974 English domestic cricket season. After matches against many ofcounty cricket and other minor teams, in April and May, the Indian team played threeTest matches and two One-day Internationals against theEngland cricket team. The tour was a total disaster for the Indian cricket team with England winning all five of the matches.
The season became known as the "Summer of 42",[1] referring to the number of runs scored by India in its second innings in the Second Test atLord's (also a reference to the filmSummer of '42 which won anOscar in 1972; a follow-up,Class of '44 had been released in 1973). Blamed for his team's poor showing, Indian captainAjit Wadekar retired from Test cricket after the tour.[2]
India could make a fair claim in the early 1970s to be the top Test-playing nation. In 1970–71, the team had beaten theWest Indies in the Caribbean; in the English season that followed, 1971, the team had won its first-ever victory on English soil and with it the first series victory in Anglo-Indian Tests in England; and that victory was repeated, with a 2–1 margin, whenMCC toured India in 1972–73.
The basis of India's success was thequartet of world-class spin bowlers –Bhagwat Chandrasekhar,Bishen Singh Bedi,Erapalli Prasanna andSrinivas Venkataraghavan – backed up by world-class batting fromSunil Gavaskar andGundappa Vishwanath.Ajit Wadekar was regarded as an astute captain, whileFarokh Engineer was an extrovert wicketkeeper-batsman.
6–11 June 1974 Scorecard |
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In the First Test, played from 6 June to 11 June atOld Trafford, England won the toss and batted first, scoring 328-9 declared, with a century forKeith Fletcher (123). Indian opening batsmanSunil Gavaskar scored 101 in India's reply of 246 all out, assisted by 71 added down the batting order byAbid Ali. England reached 213–3 in their second innings, declaring withJohn Edrich on 100 not out. India were bowled out a second time for 182, and England won by 113 runs.[1]
20–24 June 1974 Scorecard |
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In the Second Test, played from 21 June to 24 June atLord's, England again won the toss and batted first, scoring a monumental 629 all out, with centuries for opening batsmanDennis Amiss (188), captainMike Denness (118), andTony Greig (106); in addition, John Edrich was out for 96. Indian spin bowlerBishen Bedi took six wickets, but conceded 226 runs in 64.2 overs. In reply, India scored 302 all out. Called tofollow on, India were dismissed a second time for only 42, and England won by an innings and 285 runs inside 4 days.Chris Old took 5-21, to add to his 4–67 in the first innings, andGeoff Arnold took 4–19.[2]
4–8 July 1974 Scorecard |
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England won by an innings and 78 runs Edgbaston,Birmingham Umpires:Bill Alley (Eng) andCharlie Elliott (Eng) |
In the Third Test, played from 3 July to 8 July atEdgbaston, India won the toss and batted first, scoring 165 all out. Wicket-keeperFarokh Engineer top scored with 64 not out. English reached 459 for 2 declared in reply, withDavid Lloyd scoring 214 not out,Mike Denness dismissed for exactly 100. India were bowled out for 216 in their second innings, and England won by an innings and 78 runs.[3]
13 July 1974 Scorecard |
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England won by 4 wickets Headingley,Leeds Umpires:Bill Alley (Aus) andDickie Bird (Eng) Player of the match:John Edrich (Eng) |
The First ODI was played on 13 July atHeadingley. England won the toss and put India in to bat. India scored 265 all out, bowled out with 7 balls to bowl. England reached their victory target with 6 wickets down and 23 balls to spare.
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England won by 6 wickets The Oval,London Umpires:Charlie Elliott (Eng) andArthur Jepson (Eng) Player of the match:Keith Fletcher (Eng) |
In the Second ODI, played on 16 July atthe Oval, India won the toss and batted. They scored 171 all out in 47.3 overs. England reached their victory target with 4 wickets down and more than 6 overs to spare.
The match went into a second day because the weather interfered shortly after the completion of India's innings on [16 July].
