The Commonwealth XI cricket team played over 100 first-class cricket

First-class cricket

First-class cricket is a class of cricket that consists of matches of three or more days' scheduled duration, that are between two sides of eleven players and are officially adjudged first-class by virtue of the standard of the competing teams...

 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.

1949/50

The Commonwealth team, captained by Jock Livingston

Jock Livingston

Leonard "Jock" Livingston, born at Hurlstone Park, Sydney on 3 May 1920 and died there on 16 January 1998, was an Australian cricketer who played most of his first-class cricket in England.-Cricket career:...

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

1950/51

Les Ames

Les Ames

Leslie Ethelbert George Ames, CBE was an outstanding wicket-keeper and batsman for the England cricket team and Kent County Cricket Club. In his obituary, the Wisden of 1991 described him as the greatest wicket-keeper-batsman of all time...

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

1953/54

Australian Ben Barnett

Ben Barnett

Benjamin Arthur Barnett was an Australian cricketer who played in 4 Tests in 1938....

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

1964/65

Peter Richardson

Peter Richardson (cricketer)

Peter Edward Richardson is an English former cricketer, who played for Worcestershire, Kent and, in thirty four Tests, for England....

's Commonwealth team played just once 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

Richie Benaud

Richard "Richie" Benaud OBE is a former Australian cricketer who, since his retirement from international cricket in 1964, has become a highly regarded commentator on the game....

. Roger Prideaux

Roger Prideaux

Roger Malcolm Prideaux is an English former cricketer, who played in three Tests for England from 1968 to 1969.-Life and career:...

 and Tony Lewis

Tony Lewis

Anthony Robert Lewis CBE is a former Welsh cricketer, who went on to become the face of BBC Television cricket coverage in the 1990s, and become president of the MCC. Lewis attended Christ's College, Cambridge and played for Cambridge University. He also played county cricket for Glamorgan, and...

 captained the team in some matches.

Tour 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 a match against the touring Indians in 1952 and Essex

Essex County Cricket Club

Essex County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh national cricket structure, representing the historic county of Essex. Its limited overs team is called the Essex Eagles, their team colours this season are blue.The club plays most of its home games...

in 1953.