ABSTRACT
The absence of the 1935/36 first Australian cricket tour to India from the annals of sporting history is glaringly evident. Despite the substantial suite of theoretical literature on twentieth-century Indian cricket the 1935/36 tour is only fleetingly mentioned and the historical significance of the tour has been underplayed. The tour represents more than an idiosyncratic cricketing footnote that falls somewhere between a Boy’s Own adventure and a cross-cultural encounter during the interval between the two world wars. The tour appositely reflected the transitory state of the professional trajectory of cricket and the unique circumstances of Indian–Australian relations in the 1930s. Cricket was effectively promoted as a cultural conduit between Australia and India and was used to facilitate political and commercial negotiations. The tour represented a pivotal moment of historical significance in imperial affairs and the professional trajectory of the game. It equally challenged and redefined the increasingly politicized role of the cricketer himself.
