ABSTRACT
The Australian team that toured India in 1935/36 comprised atypical cricket personnel. Their cultural and social unorthodoxy contributed to the tour being shunned by cricket officialdom in Australia. Tour manager, Frank Tarrant’s method of team selection was meritocratic unlike that of customary cricket practice where social and cultural hierarchy informed team composition. This article outlines the unorthodox team composition and argues that the official cricket body objected to the exercise because of the professional nature of the tour, social (particularly class) discrimination and preconceptions of racial prejudices. The Maharaja of Patiala’s generous financing of the tour identified it as a definitively professional exercise and encouraged participation considering the precarious status of the global economy following the Great Depression. The goodwill between Australia and India evidenced on tour challenged cricket protocol and reflects a pragmatic and growing recognition that diplomatic and economic unity was desirable in light of the imminent dissolution of the British Empire.
