On 15 December 1933 India played its first home Test, against Douglas Jardine's MCC at the Bombay Gymkhana Ground, a colonial members' club from which most Indians were excluded by membership rules. Lala Amarnath produced India's first Test century, 118 in 117 minutes on debut, and the new ground hosted only this single Test before the Brabourne Stadium took over Bombay's international cricket. England won by nine wickets; Indian Test cricket finally had a home address.
England's tour of India in 1933-34 was the first reciprocal series after India's 1932 tour. Jardine, freshly removed from the post-Bodyline blow-up, accepted the MCC's offer of the India captaincy. The Bombay Gymkhana was used because the Cricket Club of India's Brabourne Stadium would not open until 1937.
Jardine, six months on from his Bodyline knighthood-by-omission, captained the MCC tour of India in late 1933. Three Tests were scheduled: Bombay, Calcutta and Madras. The Bombay Gymkhana, founded 1875, was a Europeans-only club whose pavilion Indian players could enter only as players; even CK Nayudu, India's captain, could not be a member. The decision to play the country's first home Test there was politically uncomfortable but logistically inevitable: the ground had the only Test-standard facilities in Bombay.
India, captained by Nayudu, batted second after England's 438 (Bryan Valentine 136 on debut). Nayudu top-scored with 18 before falling cheaply, and India lurched to 5 for 130. Lala Amarnath, 22, on Test debut, then made history. He drove, cut and pulled the English seamers — Clark, Nichols, Verity and Langridge — for 21 fours and reached 100 in just 117 minutes, the first Test century by an Indian. He was eventually caught for 118.
India made 219 and were forced to follow on, but Amarnath's innings was the news. Bombay's stands rose for him; jewellery, gold sovereigns, and one heifer were reportedly presented to him at the close of play. India lost the Test by nine wickets but had its first Test centurion. The Bombay Gymkhana Test was the only one ever played at the ground; from 1948 the Brabourne Stadium and from 1975 the Wankhede have hosted Bombay's Tests.
Bombay Gymkhana hosts India's first home Test.
England 438 in first innings, Valentine 136.
India 5/130 when Amarnath comes in on debut.
Amarnath 100 in 117 minutes — India's first Test ton.
Out for 118; spectators rain coins, jewellery on the field.
India 219 and follow on; lose by 9 wickets.
Only Test ever played at Bombay Gymkhana ground.
15 Dec 1933
First home Test begins, Bombay Gymkhana.
16 Dec
Amarnath 118 — India's first Test century.
19 Dec
England win by 9 wickets.
1937
Brabourne Stadium opens, replacing Gymkhana.
“I just kept hitting them — they were good bowlers but the wicket was true.”
“A young man whose strokes off the back foot are already in the European class.”
Amarnath was made for life — locally, anyway; he would be cricket's most famous Indian for two decades. The Bombay Gymkhana never hosted another Test. The Brabourne Stadium, opened by the CCI in December 1937, took over Bombay's Test rota until the Wankhede's 1975 opening. Jardine ended the series 2-0 winners and never captained England again.
India's first home Test produced India's first Test century — Lala Amarnath, 118 on debut, against the captain of Bodyline. The colonial venue was a footnote nobody could quite explain.
Amarnath's 118 became the first century in a list that now runs to over 750 Indian Test centuries. The Gymkhana ground remains, a green Maidan oasis surrounded by Bombay traffic, and the spot where Amarnath drove cover for the first hundred is still pointed out by older members. India's first home Test was a one-off, but its symbolism — a colonial club, an Indian century, a home crowd — set the tone for everything that followed.
Yorkshire v Essex
1932-06-16
On 15-16 June 1932 Herbert Sutcliffe (313) and Percy Holmes (224*) put on 555 for the first wicket against Essex at Leyton, breaking the world first-class record for any wicket and adding a layer of folklore — including a scoreboard that read 554 for several minutes and a hastily reversed declaration — that has clung to the partnership ever since.
Australia v England
1933-02-14
With the fate of the Bodyline series in the balance and England 216 for 6 chasing 340, Eddie Paynter checked himself out of a Brisbane hospital where he was being treated for acute tonsillitis, taxied to the Gabba in pyjamas and a dressing gown, and batted for nearly four hours to score 83. England drew level on first innings, won the Test by six wickets and the series 4-1.
Australia
1934-09-25
Days after the 1934 Oval Test, Bradman fell seriously ill with appendicitis that progressed to peritonitis. With antibiotics not yet available, he was given little chance of survival; his wife Jessie left Adelaide on a sea voyage to England prepared for the worst. He recovered after weeks of intensive nursing in a London nursing home and returned to first-class cricket the following Australian summer.