The Commonwealth XI cricket team played over 100

first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is one of three or more days' scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officiall ...

matches from 1949 to 1968. The team started out as a side made up of mostly English, Australian and West Indian cricketers, that toured the subcontinent but later on played first-class fixtures in England. They also toured South Africa and Rhodesia.

Tours of the Subcontinent

1949/50

The Commonwealth team, captained by

Jock Livingston Leonard "Jock" Livingston (3 May 1920 – 16 January 1998) was an Australian cricketer who played most of his first-class cricket in England. Cricket career Livingston was a hard-hitting left-handed batsman and an occasional wicketkeeper. He p ...

, played 17 first-class matches in India and two each in Ceylon and Pakistan.

1950/51

Les Ames Leslie Ethelbert George Ames (3 December 1905 – 27 February 1990) was a wicket-keeper and batsman for the England cricket team and Kent County Cricket Club. In his obituary, ''Wisden'' described him as the greatest wicket-keeper-batsman of a ...

, another Englishman, led the team on this occasion and they appeared in 25 first-class matches in India as well as two in Ceylon.

1953/54

Australian

Ben Barnett Benjamin Arthur Barnett (23 March 1908 – 29 June 1979) was an Australian cricketer who played in four Tests in 1938. Life and career Barnett was educated at Scotch College in Melbourne. One of six siblings, he played cricket for Hawthorn- ...

captained the Commonwealth XI on this tour of India which consisted of 22 first-class matches.

1964/65

Peter Richardson's Commonwealth team played just one first-class match in India, against the Bengal Chief Minister's XI, but toured Pakistan for 14 first-class matches.

1967/68

A Commonwealth side toured Pakistan under the captaincy of

Richie Benaud Richard Benaud (; 6 October 1930 – 10 April 2015) was an Australian cricketer who, after his retirement from international cricket in 1964, became a highly regarded commentator on the game. Benaud was a Test cricket all-rounder, blending l ...

. Roger Prideaux and

Tony Lewis Anthony Robert Lewis CBE (born 6 July 1938) is a Welsh former cricketer, who captained England, became a journalist, went on to become the face of BBC Television cricket coverage between 1986 and 1998, and became president of the Marylebone C ...

captained the team in some matches.

Tours of South Africa and Rhodesia

In October 1959, the Commonwealth XI played three first-class matches in South Africa and in a tour of Rhodesia in September, 1962, they played a further two.

Matches in England

All other matches played by the Commonwealth team were in England and mostly against a side called the England XI. The only exceptions were matches against the touring Indians in 1952 and

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

in 1953.

References

{{reflist, 1

External links

First-Class Matches played by Commonwealth XI
at CricketArchive Commonwealth sports competitions First-class cricket teams