Parsee cricket team in England in 1886

The Parsee tour of England in 1886 was the first cricket tour of England by a team from India. While the tour was singularly unsuccessful in terms of results, it paved the way for another trip by the Parsees two years later and more tours by English teams to India in the next decade.

The Parsees were the earliest local community in India to take up cricket. They are known to have played the game since about 1840 and the first Parsee cricket club - the Oriental Cricket Club - was founded in 1848, the Parsees played their first match against Bombay Gymkhana. The earliest plan at a tour of England by a Parsee team was made by A.B. Patel in 1878. It fell through when Patel got involved in a libel suit and was unable to proceed with the plans.

A few years later Patel, with the help of B.B. Baria and Dr. Dhunjishaw Patel, made another attempt to organise the tour. C. W. Alcock, the Secretary of the Surrey Cricket Club served as the agent for the team in England. Robert Henderson, a Surrey professional, acted as the coach.

The members of the team were :

The Parsee team was essentially made of enthusiasts who were willing to pay their own expenses for the tour. Dhunjishaw Patel, a fast underarm bowler and decent batsman, captained the side. In terms of results, the team made little impression. Of the twenty eight matches, they won only one and lost 19.

After a three-week voyage, the Parsees played their first match on May 24 against the Lord Sheffield's XI. The second match of the tour was against M.C.C. for whom W. G. Grace played at the request of the tourists. Parsees went on to lose by an innings and 224 runs, Grace scored 65 and took 11 wickets for 44 runs in the match. Most of the matches were similarly one-sided. The Parsees crossed 200 only once and scored only four fifties between them. Two notable performances in bowling were Shapurjee Bhedwar's hat-trick and 6 for 27 against Chiswick and Ashton. The only victory was on first innings against Normanhurst in a one-day game.

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