The 1971 English cricket season saw a first series win by India in England. This was a huge surprise at the time because England, having just won the Ashes in Australia, had a very strong team.

Honours

• County Championship - Surrey
• Gillette Cup - Lancashire
• Sunday League - Worcestershire
• Minor Counties Championship - Yorkshire II
• Second XI Championship - Hampshire II
• Wisden - Geoff Arnold
  Geoff Arnold
  Geoff Arnold is an English cricketer who played 34 Tests and 14 One Day Internationals for England. His nickname of "Horse" was based on his initials of GG. He was a seam and swing bowler, who finished his first-class cricket career, which lasted from 1963 to 1982, with 1130 wickets at an average...
  
  , Bhagwat Chandrasekhar
  Bhagwat Chandrasekhar
  Bhagwat Subramanya Chandrasekhar is a former Indian cricketer who specialised in leg spin. Considered amongst the top echelon of leg-spinners, Chandrasekhar along with E.A.S. Prasanna, Bishen Singh Bedi and Srinivasaraghavan Venkataraghavan constituted the Indian spin quartet that dominated...
  
  , Lance Gibbs
  Lance Gibbs
  Lancelot Richard Gibbs is a former West Indies cricketer, one of the most successful spin bowlers in Test cricket history. He took 309 Test wickets, only the second player to pass 300, the first spinner to pass that milestone, and had an exceptional economy rate of under two runs per over...
  
  , Brian Taylor
  Brian Taylor (cricketer)
  Brian Taylor, born at West Ham on 19 June 1932, was a cricketer who played for and captained Essex.Known as "Tonker" Taylor for his forthright approach to batting and his evident enjoyment of the game, Taylor was a high-class wicketkeeper who was thought of in his early playing days as a potential...
  
  , Zaheer Abbas
  Zaheer Abbas
  Syed Zaheer Abbas Kirmani , popularly known as Zaheer Abbas, is a former Pakistani cricketer, regarded as one of the finest batsman produced by that country. He is widely known as the "Asian Bradman", a reference to former Australian great Sir Donald Bradman...
  
  

Test series

1971 saw India tour England for the second half of the domestic season. After drawing the first two tests at Lord's

Lord's Cricket Ground

Lord's Cricket Ground is a cricket venue in St John's Wood, London. Named after its founder, Thomas Lord, it is owned by Marylebone Cricket Club and is the home of Middlesex County Cricket Club, the England and Wales Cricket Board , the European Cricket Council and, until August 2005, the...

 and Old Trafford, India won the final test at The Oval

The Oval

The Kia Oval, still commonly referred to by its original name of The Oval, is an international cricket ground in Kennington, in the London Borough of Lambeth. In the past it was also sometimes called the Kennington Oval...

 by four wickets to claim the series 1-0.
For the first half of the season, England hosted Pakistan. The first two games were drawn, but this time England won the final test at Headingley by 25 runs to take the series 1-0.

Leading batsmen

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1971 English cricket season – leading batsmen by average
Name	Innings	Runs	Highest	Average	100s
Geoffrey Boycott Geoffrey Boycott Geoffrey Boycott OBE is a former Yorkshire and England cricketer. In a prolific and sometimes controversial playing career from 1962 to 1986, Boycott established himself as one of England's most successful opening batsmen...	30	2503	233	100.12	13
Zaheer Abbas Zaheer Abbas Syed Zaheer Abbas Kirmani , popularly known as Zaheer Abbas, is a former Pakistani cricketer, regarded as one of the finest batsman produced by that country. He is widely known as the "Asian Bradman", a reference to former Australian great Sir Donald Bradman...	31	1508	274	55.85	4
Keith Fletcher Keith Fletcher Keith Fletcher is a former English cricketer, who played for Essex and England. He later became England's team manager. His nickname was "The Gnome of Essex", so christened by his Essex team-mate, Ray East, because Fletcher's winklepickers had begun to curl up at the toes due to wear...	41	1490	164*	51.37	3
Pasty Harris Pasty Harris Michael John Harris is an English cricketer who played for various first class cricket teams. He played from 1964 until 1982 in a 344-game career which took him to South Africa and New Zealand...	45	2238	177	50.86	9
Mike Smith	48	1951	127	50.02	6

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1971 English cricket season – leading batsmen by aggregate
Name	Innings	Runs	Highest	Average	100s
Geoffrey Boycott Geoffrey Boycott Geoffrey Boycott OBE is a former Yorkshire and England cricketer. In a prolific and sometimes controversial playing career from 1962 to 1986, Boycott established himself as one of England's most successful opening batsmen...	30	2503	233	100.12	13
Pasty Harris Pasty Harris Michael John Harris is an English cricketer who played for various first class cricket teams. He played from 1964 until 1982 in a 344-game career which took him to South Africa and New Zealand...	45	2238	177	50.86	9
John Edrich John Edrich John Edrich, MBE is a former English cricketer, who played for Surrey and England. He earned a reputation as a dogged and fearless batsman, and his figures show that he was amongst the best players of his generation...	44	2031	195*	47.23	6
Mike Smith	48	1951	127	50.02	6
Barry Richards	45	1938	141*	47.26	2

Leading bowlers

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1971 English cricket season – leading bowlers by average
Name	Balls	Maidens	Runs	Wickets	Average
Geoff Arnold Geoff Arnold Geoff Arnold is an English cricketer who played 34 Tests and 14 One Day Internationals for England. His nickname of "Horse" was based on his initials of GG. He was a seam and swing bowler, who finished his first-class cricket career, which lasted from 1963 to 1982, with 1130 wickets at an average...	3792	171	1421	83	17.12
Peter Sainsbury Peter Sainsbury Peter James Sainsbury, , is a retired cricketer who played for Hampshire from 1954 to 1976 and the Marylebone Cricket Club from 1955 to 1960....	5105	332	1874	107	17.51
Tom Cartwright Tom Cartwright Thomas William Cartwright MBE was an English cricketer. He played in five Tests for England in 1964 and 1965. His withdrawal from the 1968-69 tour to South Africa, and replacement in the touring team by Basil D'Oliveira, precipitated the sporting isolation of South Africa until apartheid was...	5860	407	1852	104	17.80
Don Wilson Don Wilson (cricketer) Donald Wilson is an English former cricketer, who played in six Tests for England from 1964 to 1971...	3164	210	1095	60	18.25
Norman Featherstone Norman Featherstone Norman George Featherstone was a South African cricketer.Smokey Featherstone was educated at King Edward VII High School in Johannesburg and toured England with the South African Schools team in 1967....	759	33	329	18	18.27

> > > > >

1971 English cricket season – leading bowlers by aggregate
Name	Balls	Maidens	Runs	Wickets	Average
Lance Gibbs Lance Gibbs Lancelot Richard Gibbs is a former West Indies cricketer, one of the most successful spin bowlers in Test cricket history. He took 309 Test wickets, only the second player to pass 300, the first spinner to pass that milestone, and had an exceptional economy rate of under two runs per over...	6145	296	2475	131	18.89
Peter Sainsbury Peter Sainsbury Peter James Sainsbury, , is a retired cricketer who played for Hampshire from 1954 to 1976 and the Marylebone Cricket Club from 1955 to 1960....	5105	332	1874	107	17.51
Tom Cartwright Tom Cartwright Thomas William Cartwright MBE was an English cricketer. He played in five Tests for England in 1964 and 1965. His withdrawal from the 1968-69 tour to South Africa, and replacement in the touring team by Basil D'Oliveira, precipitated the sporting isolation of South Africa until apartheid was...	5860	407	1852	104	17.80
Fred Titmus Fred Titmus Frederick John Titmus MBE was an English cricketer, whose first-class career spanned five decades. Although he was best known for his off spin , he was an accomplished lower-order batsman who deserved to be called an all-rounder, even opening the batting for England on six occasions...	6391	341	2355	104	22.64
Intikhab Alam Intikhab Alam Intikhab Alam Khan is a retired Pakistani cricketer who played in 47 Tests and 4 ODIs from 1959 to 1977. He also played in English county cricket for Surrey between 1969 and 1981....	6106	244	2950	104	28.36

External sources

• CricketArchive – season and tournament itineraries

Annual reviews

• Playfair Cricket Annual
  Playfair Cricket Annual
  Playfair Cricket Annual is a compact annual about cricket that is published in the United Kingdom each April, just before the English cricket season is due to begin. Its main purposes are to review the previous English season and to provide detailed career records and potted biographies of current...
  
   1972
• Wisden Cricketers Almanack 1972