Test series
England and Pakistan played five Tests between May and August. England won the series 4–0 with one match drawn:
- 1st Test at Edgbaston – England won by an innings and 24 runs[41]
- 2nd Test at Lord's – England won by 9 wickets[46]
- 3rd Test at Headingley – England won by an innings and 117 runs[49]
- 4th Test at Trent Bridge – match drawn[54]
- 5th Test at The Oval – England won by 10 wickets[58]
First Test
31 May – 4 June 1962
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- England won the toss and decided to bat
- 5-day match ending in 4
England, captained by Ted Dexter, selected Colin Cowdrey as an opening batsman alongside Geoff Pullar; Cowdrey normally batted at three or four in the order. The team consisted of six specialist batsmen, wicket-keeper Geoff Millman, two spinners and two pace bowlers, supplemented by Dexter as a third seamer. Pakistan, captained by Javed Burki, selected seven batsman, including the keeper Imtiaz Ahmed. They surprisingly omitted Mohammad Farooq and left themselves with one pace bowler, Mahmood Hussain. Their other three bowlers were seamer Antao D'Souza, leg spinner Intikhab Alam and all-rounder Nasim-ul-Ghani who bowled a mixture of left arm seam and orthodox spin.[41]
Dexter won the toss, for only the second time in nine Tests as captain, and chose to bat first.[65] England promptly established a pattern for the whole series by accumulating a large score. Cowdrey and Peter Parfitt made centuries, Tom Graveney 97, David Allen 79 not out and Dexter 72. Parfitt's century was his second in successive innings against Pakistan, following 111 at Karachi in February.[41] All four Pakistan bowlers conceded 100-plus runs. Wisden commented on the "tremendous amount of work" that fell on Mahmood and D'Souza, given that the two slower bowlers were "terribly expensive".[41] England declared during lunch on the second day (Friday) at 544 for 5. Playfair noted that Imtiaz Ahmed, Pakistan's wicket-keeper, did not concede a single bye in this large total.[65] Playfair also recorded that there was a short delay before lunch on the first day, caused by the arrival of a mouse in the centre of the field.[65]
Apart from Mushtaq Mohammad, who made 63, none of the Pakistani batsmen reached a half-century and they were all out for 246 shortly before lunch on Saturday. With a deficit of 298, Dexter enforced the follow-on. Pakistan in their second innings made a better start with Hanif Mohammad and Ijaz Butt putting on 60 for the first wicket. Even so, four wickets fell before close of play and Pakistan went into the rest day on 158 for four, still 140 in arrears. On the fourth day (Monday), Brian Statham took two quick wickets and Pakistan's fate was sealed despite resistance by Saeed Ahmed, who scored 65. England's bowlers shared the wickets: Statham took six in the match, Allen and Tony Lock five each and Fred Trueman four. The match ended on Monday afternoon, Pakistan all out for 274 and England winning by an innings and 24 runs.[41]
Second Test
21 – 23 June 1962
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- Pakistan won the toss and decided to bat
- 5-day match ending in 3
England announced an unchanged team but, in the run-up to the match, the two Lancashire players Pullar and Statham were injured and had to withdraw. Their replacements were opening batsman Micky Stewart and fast-medium bowler Len Coldwell, who both earned their first Test cap. Pakistan brought Farooq into the team this time, replacing Intikhab, and preferred the veteran batsman Alim-ud-Din as opener to Butt. As in the first Test, Dexter and Burki were the team captains.[46]
Burki won a toss he "would probably have preferred to lose".[46] The conditions did not favour batting as there was heavy cloud and a "green" pitch. Nevertheless, Burki was uneasy about batting last and decided to bat first. They found Trueman almost unplayable and collapsed to 76 for six at lunch. They were all out within an hour of the resumption for exactly 100. Trueman, who took full advantage of the conditions, claimed six wickets for 31 and Coldwell, who provided good support on his debut, three for 25. Pakistan's best score was 17 by Nasim. As Wisden pointed out, Pakistan's undoing once again was their unpreparedness for the ball that "swings and lifts".[46] England took the lead without undue difficulty, largely thanks to a quick 65 by Dexter, and ended the first day on 176 for four.
On the second day (Friday), Graveney "batted beautifully", especially his cover driving, to score 153 despite receiving minimal help from his partners except Trueman, with whom he added 76 for the ninth wicket. Farooq was Pakistan's best bowler but he injured his ankle during the second day and could not bowl after that. Pakistan began the third innings of the match with a deficit of 270 and were soon reduced to 77 for four, leaving Burki and Nasim together at close of play.[46]
Most people expected an early finish on the Saturday but Burki and Nasim rallied and added 197 runs for the fifth wicket. At the time, it was a fifth wicket record for Pakistan in all Test cricket and their record stand for any wicket against England. Both batsmen scored 101. It was Nasim's first century and Burki's third against England in five matches. Pakistan were all out soon after tea for 370, leaving England to score 86 to win. Coldwell took six for 85 and finished his debut with nine wickets in the match, Trueman also taking nine. With ninety minutes left on the third day, England reached their target before the close for the loss of only Cowdrey's wicket.[46]
Third Test
5 – 7 July 1962
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- Pakistan won the toss and decided to field
- 5-day match ending in 3
Brian Statham was fit again and, despite his good performance at Lord's, Coldwell had to give way. England also recalled John Murray, replacing Geoff Millman as the keeper, and preferred Fred Titmus to Tony Lock who was expensive during the Burki-Nasim stand at Lord's. Pakistan, whose injury problems were beginning to mount up, made three changes because Imtiaz, Wallis Mathias and D'Souza could not play. Their replacements were Butt, who had played at Edgbaston but not at Lord's, fast-medium bowler Munir Malik and off-spinner Javed Akhtar who had literally just arrived from Pakistan, having been called up as a reinforcement. With the winter tour still more on the minds of the England selectors than anything else, they decided to let Cowdrey captain the team in this match. Javed Burki captained Pakistan as in the two previous Tests.[49]
Burki won the toss and asked England to bat first, the first time a Pakistan captain had ever taken that option in Test cricket. Burki had assessed the conditions well because there was a heavy sky and a "green" pitch to help his seamers Mahmood, Farooq and Munir. England struggled on the first day, reduced to just over four hours by rain, and were 194 for six at the close with Parfitt and Murray the not out batsmen. Wisden said that it was Pakistan's "best day of the tour so far".[49]
On the second day (Friday), England took charge again and Parfitt completed his third century in four Tests against Pakistan. Allen scored 62 and there were useful scores by Trueman and Statham as the "tail wagged". Pakistan's injury problem reached crisis point as both Mahmood and Farooq broke down and neither played again on the tour. Munir, left as the sole pace and seam bowler, was overworked and deservedly captured five wickets. Wisden questioned Burki's captaincy in the situation. England were all out before tea for 428, a much higher score than expected after their struggle on Thursday. Hanif had a hand injury so Alim was restored to his old job of opening the innings with Butt. Pakistan reached 73 for three at the close, losing the wickets of Butt, Saeed and Mushtaq.[49]
There was a complete collapse on Saturday morning with only Alim, who scored 50, playing with any confidence. Pakistan were all out for 131 and Cowdrey enforced the follow-on. England's best bowler was Dexter, nominally the third seamer, who took four for 10. Titmus, who bowled only four overs, took two for 3, including the key wicket of Alim. Alim again played well in the second innings but his only support came from Saeed. They both made half-centuries but the rest of the team were dismissed cheaply and they were all out for 180, Statham taking four for 50. As at Lord's, the match was completed in three days and England had won the series, three up and two to go.[49]
Fourth Test
26 – 31 July 1962
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- Pakistan won the toss and decided to field
- 5-day match; 10.5 hours lost due to rain
Ted Dexter was restored to the captaincy but it is not known if this would have happened anyway or if it was because Colin Cowdrey was unfit and could not play. Whichever, Dexter now held the England captaincy for the next two years until the end of the 1964 season. England having won the series, the selectors decided to make changes to help them decide who should go on the winter tour. Geoff Pullar, fit again, was recalled and his opening partner was the third tour captaincy candidate David Sheppard, who had recently revived his cricket career at Sussex. They replaced Cowdrey and Stewart. Tony Lock was brought back in place of Allen and all-rounder Barry Knight came in as an extra bowler, replacing the out-of-form Kenny Barrington. Pakistan's dire injury troubles necessitated changes in their lineup. They had flown their old master bowler Fazal Mahmood out as a reinforcement. Imtiaz was fit again, Intikhab was recalled and Shahid Mahmood was introduced, making his Test debut as opening batsman. They replaced Mahmood, Farooq, Butt and Akhtar.[54]
Burki repeated his tactic at Leeds by putting England in to bat after winning the toss. At that time, the pitch was "green" and the sky overcast so Burki hoped that Fazal and Munir would benefit from the conditions. Unfortunately, heavy rain began before play could start and the entire day was lost. Play began promptly on Friday morning when the conditions were better for batting, so Pakistan really were not having much luck. After Pullar was soon out, the Sussex pairing of Sheppard and Dexter added 161 for the second wicket. Significantly for the winter tour, Dexter batted brilliantly but Sheppard was struggling to find his touch. Both were out within a few minutes of each other and Graveney was joined by Parfitt. They shared a partnership of 184 for the fourth wicket which ended when Graveney was dismissed for 114, his fourth century of the summer against the Pakistanis. The innings ended just before lunch on Saturday when a heavy shower began with Parfitt close to his century. He faced one more ball with heavy rain falling and managed to reach 101 not out. Dexter promptly declared at 428 for five. It was Parfitt's fifth century of the summer against the Pakistanis (he had just scored two in one match against them for Middlesex) and his sixth in seven innings including the one in Karachi.[54]
Pakistan's batsmen struggled again, Hanif being dismissed by Trueman off only the second ball of the innings, and they were 127 for six at the close on Saturday. Only Mushtaq and Saeed could offer any resistance. Nasim made 41 on Monday morning and almost saved the follow-on but they were all out for 219, 209 behind. In the second innings, Hanif was again dismissed quickly and Pakistan were 11 for one at close of play on Monday. As the final day got under way, another collapse looked inevitable until Mushtaq and Saeed held England at bay with a stand of 107 for the fourth wicket. With 65 minutes to go on Tuesday evening, Pakistan with five wickets left needed 22 runs more to avoid the innings defeat, Mushtaq and Shahid batting. There was then a dramatic over bowled by Trueman which could have won the game for England. First, Mushtaq was missed by substitute fielder Cyril Poole at long leg and then Shahid, who had not scored, was dropped by Titmus at slip. Pakistan batted on and Mushtaq completed a deserved century just before the close, scoring exactly 100 not out. It was his second Test century and he became the first player in Test history to achieve a second century before the age of 20. Pakistan ended on 216 for six, a lead of just seven runs, and the match was drawn.[54]
Fifth Test
16 – 20 August 1962
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27–0 (8.3 overs)
J. T. Murray 14* |
- England won the toss and decided to bat
- 5-day match ending in 4
For a match of academic interest, England made six changes. Pullar was unfit and they left out Graveney, Lock, Statham, Titmus and Trueman in order to give a chance to other tour contenders and, it was said, "to avoid calling too heavily on the counties (i.e., Surrey, Warwickshire, Worcestershire and Yorkshire) engaged in the fight for the County Championship".[58] This latter reason was an odd one because while they allowed Trueman to play for Yorkshire, they selected Ray Illingworth; while they allowed Graveney to play for Worcestershire, they recalled Coldwell; while they allowed Lock to play for Surrey, they recalled Barrington; and they did not pick anyone from Warwickshire. The Championship ended with Yorkshire narrowly ahead of Worcestershire, the other two losing ground in the last week of August.[66] Besides Barrington, Coldwell and Illingworth, England brought back Allen and Cowdrey and gave a first cap to pace bowler David Larter. Pakistan's team changed again with Butt and Imtiaz opening the innings. Hanif batted at number six and Shahid was left out. Alim was injured and replaced by Mathias. D'Souza was recalled in place of Munir. [58]
The selection of Illingworth for this match was ironic in one sense. All through the summer, there had been speculation about which of Cowdrey, Dexter or Sheppard (amateurs all) would lead England in Australia to try and recover The Ashes.[3][4] In the final Test against Pakistan, they occupied the first three positions in the England batting order.[58] England failed to recover The Ashes on the 1962–63 tour and it was not until the 1970–71 tour that they finally succeeded, under the leadership of the professional Ray Illingworth.[67]
Dexter won the toss and decided to bat first. Following a slow start by Sheppard and Cowdrey, the run rate accelerated in the afternoon via a second wicket partnership of 248 between Cowdrey and Dexter. Cowdrey made his highest Test score of 182 in this innings and Dexter scored 172. Barrington, who had surprisingly scored few runs in the series so far, made an unbeaten half-century. England declared at 480 for five and Pakistan again struggled against pace and seam. Imtiaz, Mushtaq and Hanif all scored 40-plus but then got out. Dexter wisely decided to use the giant Larter in short bursts and he claimed nine wickets in his debut Test (just as Coldwell had done in his debut at Lord's). Pakistan were all out in their first innings for only 183 and, on Saturday morning, were asked to follow on. Imtiaz played a fine innings on Saturday but, sadly, was out only two short of a century. Mushtaq, Burki and Mathias all put up resistance but Pakistan were 289 for six at the close and, after Mathias was run out in the first over on Monday, the end soon came. England won by an innings with well over a day to spare.[58]