The Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) tour of Bangladesh during the winter of 1976/77 marked the entrance of Bangladesh into international cricket. Though the tour was very short, it gave the Bangladeshi players their first taste of international cricket.
In May 1976 Bangladesh invited the MCC to tour. In June, the International Cricket Council discussed Bangladesh's membership and they decided to wait for the MCC tour before allowing Bangladesh membership.
Apart from Popplewell, whose first-class career was yet to begin, and Lofting, who never played first-class cricket,[1] all the team had had first-class careers, of varying lengths, but only Barclay and Vernon were still playing.
The MCC team arrived at Dhaka on December 27, 1976. On December 29, they left for Rajshahi for the first 2-day match against the North Zone. However, the main attraction of the tour was the three-day unofficial Test match at Dhaka against the Bangladesh national side, which drew a total attendance of some 90,000.[2]
| Date | Match | Venue | Result | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 31-Jan 1 | 2-Day Match | Rajshahi | North Zone: 119 (Omar Khaled Rumy 27, Faruk 23, Raquibul 15, Duff 4/19, Vernon 3/22) & 185/7 (Declared) (Raquibul 73, Faruk 40*, Piachaud 3/24, Barclay 3/26) | MCC 123/1 (Declared) (Barclay 60, Norman 55*) & 39/4 (Daulat 2/17) | Match Drawn | |
| 3-4 Jan | 2-Day Match | Chittagong | East Zone: 162 (Ashraful Haque 68, Shafiq-ul-Haq 26, Shakil Kashem 24, Piachaud 4/36) & 74 (Shamim Kabir 29, Piachaud 6/24) | MCC | MCC wins by an innings & 60 runs | |
| 7 - 9 Jan | 3-Day Match | Bangladesh 266/9 (Declared) (Yousuf Rahman Babu 78, Faruk 35, Shamim Kabir 30, Omar Khaled Rumy 28, Piachaud 3/38) & 152/6 (Rumy 32, Shamim Kabir 25) | MCC 347 (Mence 75*, Norman 74, Barclay 65, Lintu 4/54, Daulat 3/67) | Match drawn | ||
| 11-12 Jan | 2-Day Match | Jessore | MCC 204/5 (Declared) (Kinkead-Weekes 68*, Ted Clark 60, Yousuf Rahman Babu 4/37) & 117/4 | South Zone: 203/9 (Declared) (Raquibul Hasan 74, Piachaud 4/67) & 72/2 (Raquibul 33*) | Match Drawn |
Raquibul Hasan, one of the most respected cricketers in the country earned the distinction of leading the North Zone side.
Shamim Kabir led Bangladesh in the historic match at Dhaka. The other players were, Raquibul Hasan, Mainul Haque Mainu, Syed Ashraful Haque, Omar Khaled Rumy, SM Faruk, Shafiq-ul-Haq Hira (WK), Yousuf Babu, Daulatuzzaman, Dipu Roy Chowdhury & Nazrul Kader Lintu.
The positive report of the MCC about the condition of Bangladesh cricket helped Bangladesh get associate membership of the International Cricket Council in July 1977.[3] The interest created by the tour played a big part in the rise in popularity of cricket in Bangladesh through the 1980s.[4]