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Under the name '''Lord Tennyson's XI''', a team of 15 English [[cricket]]ers led by [[Lionel Tennyson, 3rd Baron Tennyson|Lionel Tennyson]] toured India in the 1937–38 season. From late October 1937 to mid-February 1938 they played 15 [[first-class cricket|first-class matches]], including five against [[India cricket team|India]], as well as nine other matches. Lord Tennyson's XI won the series against India 3–2.

==The team==
As [[England cricket team|England]] had no [[Test cricket|Test]] tour during the 1937-38 season, Tennyson was able to select a strong team.
{{div col}}
*[[Lionel Tennyson, 3rd Baron Tennyson|Lord Tennyson]] (47, captain, Hampshire) 
*[[Bill Edrich]] (21, Middlesex)
*[[Paul Gibb]] (24, Yorkshire) 
*[[Alf Gover]] (29, Surrey)
*[[Joe Hardstaff Jr]] (26, Nottinghamshire)
*[[Tom Jameson]] (45, Hampshire)
*[[James Langridge]] (31, Sussex)
*[[Neil McCorkell]] (25, Hampshire)
*[[Jim Parks (cricketer, born 1903)|Jim Parks Sr]] (34, Sussex)
*[[Ian Peebles]] (29, Middlesex) 
*[[George Pope (cricketer)|George Pope]] (26, Derbyshire) 
*[[Peter Smith (English cricketer, born 1908)|Peter Smith]] (26, Essex) 
*[[Arthur Wellard]] (35, Somerset)
*[[Stan Worthington]] (32, Derbyshire)
*[[Norman Yardley]] (22, Yorkshire)
{{div col end}}
All the touring team except Jameson and McCorkell had played, or later played, Test cricket. Ages are at the start of the tour.

The manager was C. H. M. Barday. [[Alexander Hosie (cricketer)|Alexander Hosie]] (47, formerly of Hampshire), who was living in India, played in one of the first-class matches.

==The tour==
For much of the tour, injuries and illnesses prevented the team from fielding its best eleven. Tennyson, who turned 48 just after the tour began and weighed nearly 17 stone (that is, nearly 238 pounds), suffered a severe bout of dysentery early in the tour but returned to the team as soon as he could.<ref name="CB">C. H. M. Barday, "Lord Tennyson's Team in India", ''[[The Cricketer]]'', Spring Annual 1938, pp. 55–63.</ref><ref name="BE">[[Bill Edrich]], ''Cricket Heritage'', Stanley Paul, London, 1948, pp. 50–59.</ref>  

As well as the cricket and the constant travelling across India by train and around the coast by ship, the team were also treated to numerous banquets and were taken sight-seeing and game-shooting.<ref name="BE"/> Tennyson recalled that he made 157 speeches, each one as different from the others as he could contrive.<ref>[[Lionel Tennyson]], ''Sticky Wickets'', Christopher Johnson, London, 1950, pp. 129–34.</ref> The manager, C. H. M. Barday, thought it was the most popular team to have toured India so far, and singled out Tennyson, the diplomat ''par excellence'': "No matter how tired or busy he was, the English captain never refused to sign an autograph, an example which all members of the side emulated, thereby adding greatly to their popularity."<ref name="CB"/>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://static.espncricinfo.com/db/ARCHIVE/1930S/1937-38/TENNYSON_IN_IND/ Lord Tennyson's Team in India, 1937-38] at [[Cricinfo]]
* [https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Events/1/Lord_Tennysons_XI_in_India_1937-38.html Lord Tennyson's XI in India, 1937-38] at CricketArchive
*[https://www.gettyimages.com.au/detail/news-photo/lord-tennysons-cricket-team-during-their-tour-of-india-in-news-photo/468810942 Team photograph] from [[Getty Images]]

{{International cricket tours of India}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:English cricket team in India in 1937-38}}
[[Category:1937 in Indian cricket]]
[[Category:1938 in Indian cricket]]
[[Category:English cricket tours of India|1937-38]]
[[Category:Indian cricket seasons from 1918–19 to 1944–45]]
[[Category:International cricket competitions from 1918–19 to 1945]]