History of Test cricket from 1877 to 1883

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The legendary WG Grace, who played Test cricket until he was aged 50.
The legendary WG Grace, who played Test cricket until he was aged 50.

Test matches in the Nineteenth Century in the period 1877 to 1883 were organised somewhat differently from international cricket matches today. The teams involved were rarely fully representative, and the 48-day boat trip between Australia and England was one that many cricketers were not able or willing to undertake. As such the home teams usually enjoyed a great selection advantage.

Thirteen test matches were played in this period (1877–1883) and all were between Australian and English sides. However most of the games were not styled as national representative "England v. Australia" matches; this description was applied later by cricket statisticians. This is also true of the designation of these games as "Test matches" - the term "Test match" did not enter into the vernacular until 1885. Eleven of the thirteen matches played to 1883 were in Australia, which made the most of its home advantage by winning seven, while England won four and two were drawn.

By 1883, the tradition of England-Australia tours was well established, with that year bringing the first Ashes series. In 1882 England lost at home for the first time, and, in a mock obituary, The Sporting Times lamented the death of English cricket and noted that 'the body will be cremated and the ashes taken to Australia'. Later in 1882, the Honourable Ivo Bligh led a team to Australia to recover these Ashes. After a three-match series, a group of Melburnian ladies presented Bligh with an urn with some ashes in them, and that became the symbol for which England and Australia continue to fight to this day, however, it is not, and never has been, the official trophy of the contest.

Also by 1883, however, a number of problems that continue to bedevil cricket had already surfaced: there were umpiring disputes, betting controversies, match-fixing, and even a riot in Sydney in 1879.

Contents

[edit] Genesis of Test cricket

There was a long build-up to what became the first Test tour. The first overseas visit of leading English cricketers was planned by John Frederick Sackville, 3rd Duke of Dorset, who was a strong player himself. Dorset, who had recently been an ambassador to France, where he had promoted cricket, arranged a tour to that country in 1789. Whilst it is unclear as to whom they were going to play against, the team did get as far as being assembled in Dover, ready for the cross-Channel trip to France. The Duke's timing was poor though: the French Revolution had just broken out, and his cricket tour became the first one to be abandoned for political reasons.

It was not until the Nineteenth Century that strong "England" teams started to form. By the late Eighteenth Century, there were many games played by sides called "England" - for example, "England" vs "Hambledon", or "England" vs "Kent" -, but these were not truly representative matches. By 1846, however, William Clarke, a bricklayer from Nottingham had formed "The All-England XI", a mostly professional team of top cricketers who toured the country, taking on local sides, although leading amateurs, such as Alfred Mynn, played too on occasion. Usually, they played against the odds, with eleven men in their team against 22 for the opposition, to make it more of an even contest.

In 1852 John Wisden, together with fellow Sussex-man Jemmy Dean, founded the "United England XI", providing both financial and sporting competition to Clarke's side. The matches between these two rival sides became the highlight of every English cricket season, and these teams, both essentially just business ventures, went a long way to popularising the game in England.

1859 saw the first main representative tour by an England team. It was captained by George Parr, and comprised six players from The All-England XI and another six from the United England XI. The team toured North America, where cricket was very popular - especially in the United States and Canada. The match in New York, for example, was said to have been watched by 10,000 people, although this might have been an exaggeration. Even more people watched the team when it played in Philadelphia, the spiritual home of North American cricket. All of the games were played against the odds, and the tour was a financial success, with the English players making £90 each.

1861 brought the first English side to Australia. North America was avoided this time because of the Civil War. It was a weak side, dominated by Surrey-men because George Parr and his Nottinghamshire players had not accepted the offer of £150 per head, plus expenses. The Englishmen won half of their twelve matches, losing two and drawing four, all of them against the odds. This tour was followed in 1863/4 by another one to both Australia and New Zealand. It was led by George Parr and included the amateur EM Grace, older brother of WG.

In 1868 a team of Australian Aborigines toured England (see 1868 Aboriginal cricket tour of England), becoming the first Australians to visit England; but that was really just a one-off. Also in that year, an English side, led by Edgar Willsher, toured North America and beat XXII of the United States and XXII of Canada. 1872 saw a third tour to North America, led by RA Fitzgerald. Among its number was WG Grace, who had already become recognised as the greatest cricketer in England. Then, in 1873/4, Grace himself led a tour to Australia which included four amateurs. The most important game was won against a XV of New South Wales and Victoria. Up to this time, all but one game was played against odds.

[edit] The first Test tour - 1876/7

Originally two Englishmen tried to promote separate tours to Australia for 1876/7. James Lillywhite promoted a tour professional cricketers. GF Grace promoted a tour that would have included amateurs. Despite many initial preparations being made for Grace's tour, it fell through, leaving Lillywhite's team as the only one to go, first visiting New Zealand and then going on to Australia. The highlight of Lillywhite's tour was to be two games against a Combined Australia XI. These two games later became recognised as the first two Tests.

Lillywhite's team was considered weak. It certainly did not include any of the leading amateurs, such as the Champion, WG Grace. It was further handicapped by having had to leave its only specialist wicketkeeper, Ted Pooley, behind in New Zealand, facing a charge of assault.

The Australasian wrote, "...[Lillywhite's team] are by a long way the weakest side that have ever played in the colonies, notwithstanding the presence of Shaw, who is termed the premier bowler of England. If Ulyett, Emmett, and Hill are specimens of the best fast bowling in England, all we can say is, either they have not shown their proper form, or British bowling has sadly deteriorated."

The first match against a Combined Australia XI was billed as the "Grand Combination Match", and was to be held at the ground at East Melbourne, as the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) had been booked by G.F. Grace - but, with Grace having pulled out, Lillywhite moved his matches to the larger, and more profitable, M.C.G.. The Combined Australia XI included cricketers from New South Wales and Victoria, but there had some notable absentees too. For instance, Fred Spofforth, Australia's legendary "Demon bowler" did not play in the first game, in protest at the non-selection of Billy Murdoch, the New South Wales wicket-keeper to whom he attributed so many of his accomplishments, declaring that he would play only if Murdoch kept wicket. Jack Blackham, however, had already been chosen, and Spofforth's appeal was seen to be a display of insolence shocking in a man of only twenty-three. "As this could not be arranged," went the sardonic observation of the time, "this modest gentleman was left out."[1] In spite of the name, all but four of the Australian team were British-born.

[edit] The first Test match

Main article: 1877 Australia v England series

At 1pm on 15 March 1877, the first game began. It was dominated by Charles Bannerman. Bannerman scored the first single in Test history off Alfred Shaw's second ball, was dropped on 10, and had scored 27 by the time lunch was taken at 2pm, with the Combined XI 42 for 3. After lunch, Bannerman increased his scoring rate, and scored his century at 4.25pm, by which time the attendance was around 4,500. By close of play at 5pm, Bannerman had moved on to 126 and Combined Australia were on 166 for 6. He progressed his score to 165 before he was forced to retire hurt after getting the index finger of his right hand split after a delivery from George Ulyett. At that time Australia were 240 for 7, and they finished their innings for 245 all out.

Bannerman had scored 67% of the runs in a completed innings; this remains a record. His score is still the highest by an Australian on Test debut, and the ninth highest for all players. Bannerman's performance so impressed that a subscription was started that raised more than £80.

On the third day, the Saturday, play started earlier at 12.15pm; there were approximately 12,000 spectators, a figure helped by England having conceded a first innings lead. But Lillywhite's XI fought back. With 5 for 38 from Shaw and 3 for 39 from Ulyett, Combined Australia were reduced to 83 for 9 at close, a lead of just 132.

On the fourth morning, the Monday, Australia's last wicket partnership extended this lead to 153, before Lillywhite's XI collapsed to 108 all out in just over two hours. Australia had won by 45 runs, and the crowd was vociferous and congratulatory. Afterwards the captain, Dave Gregory, was given a gold medal by the Victorian Cricketers' Association, with the other members of the Combined Australia XI being given a silver medal. Losing captain, James Lillywhite was magnanimous in defeat, saying, "The win was...a feather in their cap and a distinction that no Englishman will begrudge them".

[edit] The second Test match

Following the success of the first game, a second one was quickly arranged, with the tourists getting a larger slice of the gate receipts. Also the Melbourne Cricket Club contributed £50 to the cost of bringing New South Wales players, such as Spofforth and Murdoch, down to Melbourne. Lillywhite's team proved itself to be stronger than the Australasian suggested, and went on to win the second match.

On the first day, Australia won the toss, but got tied down completely by the English bowlers. Billy Midwinter top scored with 31 as Australia struggled slowly to 122 in 112.1 four-ball overs. However, Australia struck back immediately to leave England on 7 for 2 at close. The attendance on that first Saturday was poor, with only 4,500 paying spectators.

The second day was all England's, as a good all round performance left them 261 all out at close, a lead of 139. Lillywhite's XI was so dominant there were rumours that they had deliberately underperformed in the first game so as to secure better odds from bookmakers on winning the second. England were still on top in the third day, despite a better Australian performance. At stumps, Australia were 207 for 7, after Lillywhite himself had taken four wickets. By the time Lillywhite's XI were set 121 to win on the Wednesday, only 1,500 were watching. The English won by early afternoon on that fourth day.

The games, particularly the first one, excited the colonial press. But there was not significant coverage of them in the English press, and it was only later, once these games were recognised as Tests, that much note was taken of them in England.

England in Australia 1876/7. Match length: Timeless. Balls per over: 4. Series result: Drawn 1-1.

No. Date Home captain Away captain Venue Result
1 15,16,17,19 March 1877 Dave Gregory James Lillywhite Melbourne Cricket Ground AUS by 45 runs
2 31 March, 2,3,4 April 1877 Dave Gregory James Lillywhite Melbourne Cricket Ground ENG by 4 wkts

[edit] Lord Harris's team 1878/9 and 1880

The Australian team of 1878/9.
The Australian team of 1878/9.

After the success of Lillywhite's tour, the Australians decided to visit England in 1878. WG Grace and James Lillywhite both suggested promoting the tour themselves, but eventually leading Australian cricketers put up the money themselves, though Lillywhite helped them arrange the matches. The Australians acquitted themselves well, losing only 4 games they played on equal terms. They also beat a Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) side that included WG Grace by 9 wickets. Although this side was considered stronger than Lillywhite's team that had toured Australia, it has not been classified as a Test match. However the result of the match did much to increase the reputation of Australian cricket in England.[2]

The success of this tour encouraged Lillywhite and Shaw to raise another team to tour Australia, but they both withdrew when the MCC asked Lord Harris to lead a tour. The captaincy of this team was first offered to A N Hornby, but he demurred to his lordship. The team Harris took to Australia was originally intended to be all amateur, but in the end the professionals Emmett and Ulyett were added to the squad. Also Harris and Hornby both brought their wives with them.

The highlight of Harris' tour was a game billed as an "English XI" against "Dave Gregory's Australian XI"; it was this game that later got recognised as a Test. Lord Harris' side was weak, with a long tail. The game itself was largely unremarkable, being decided by the weather. After Harris elected to bat after thunderstorms struck on the morning before the first afternoon's play, which was a mistake as his side was soon all out for 113. It was during this innings that, Australian bowler, Fred Spofforth took the first Test hat-trick. In reply, Australia were 95 for 3 by stumps on the first day.

By the end of the second day, Australia were well ahead. Around 7,000 spectators, the same as on the first day, watched Australia make 256 and English bowler round-arm fast-bowler Tom Emmett take his Test career-best figures of 7 for 68. England were 103 for 6 at close, and it was clear that the third day would not last long. England made it to 160, and Australia scored the 19 runs they required quickly, taking only 11 balls to do it. The early finish to the game led to an impromptu second match between an MCC XI and a New Zealand team from Canterbury.

5 weeks after this match, one of cricket's early riots occurred. The riot led to the cancellation of the return match, The riot was widely reported in England, and it meant that the 1880 Australian side to tour England was guaranteed to get a frosty welcome. They found it difficult to find good opponents, with most county sides turning them down, although Yorkshire played two unofficial matches against them. However, the English public were more sympathetic towards the Australian captain Billy Murdoch than they were to his predecessor Dave Gregory, and this led to Harris being persuaded by the secretary of Surrey County Cricket Club, C. W. Alcock, to put a team together to play them at Surrey's home ground, The Oval.

In view of what had happened at Sydney, this was a generous gesture from his lordship; A N Hornby, Emmett and Ulyett, three players who were at Sydney for the riot refused to play. But Harris assembled a strong team that included the three Grace brothers. Australia, who had not faced strong opposition, were without star bowler Fred Spofforth.

The 1880 Test match was well attended, 20,814 paying spectators on the Monday, 19,863 on the Tuesday and 3,751 on the Wednesday. For the first two days it was a one-sided affair. WG Grace scored 152 as England put on 420, 410 of them made on the first day. Grace's brothers, EM and GF, also played for England, making it the first instance 3 brothers had played in a Test match.

On the second day Australia then scored 149 and had to follow-on. They slumped to 170 for 6 at close, still 101 behind. A fine innings by Murdoch, who had a chanceless and undefeated innings of 153 lifted Australia to 327, to make England bat again. Whilst England slumped to 31 for 5 chasing a target of 57, WG Grace came in and saw them through to a 5 wicket victory. Significantly, the animosity that arose from the Sydney Riot of 1879 were overcome, with this match helping to cement the custom of cricket tours between England and Australia.

England in Australia 1878/9. Match length: Timeless. Balls per over: 4. One-off Test. Result: Australia win.

No. Date Home captain Away captain Venue Result
3 2,3,4 January 1879 Dave Gregory Lord Harris Melbourne Cricket Ground AUS by 10 wkts

Australia in England 1880. Match length: Timeless. Balls per over: 4. One-off Test. Result: England win.

No. Date Home captain Away captain Venue Result
4 6,7,8 September 1880 Lord Harris Billy Murdoch The Oval ENG by 5 wkts

[edit] Lillywhite, Shaw and Shrewsbury's first tour 1881/2

Australian Test captain Billy Murdoch.
Australian Test captain Billy Murdoch.

After the 1876/7 tour Lillywhite invited Shaw to join him in promoting and managing a tour to Australia. Shaw was concerned that the financial burdens may be too great for two men, so Arthur Shrewsbury was brought in as a third backer. After Lord Harris's intervening tour, the three men put together their first tour to Australia in 1881, going via America. At the time Shaw was rated England's best defensive bowler and Shrewsbury England's best defensive batsmen. Lillywhite no longer played, but did umpire in a number of games. All the tourists were professional players.

They lost money on the American leg of the tour, and could only scrape together less than £1,000 to pay for their steamship journey to Sydney. This was made worse as the Americans refused to accept Bank of England banknotes as payment, and the captain of their ship, the SS Australia, a Sydneysider himself, personally agreed to guarantee their fare.

Betting scandals have been part of cricket from its earliest days, and it was in a match against Victoria before the first Test of the tour that they surfaced. There was very heavy betting on the match. Victoria needed 94 runs to win in the last innings when the tourists' boat was due to leave, meaning that the match would be a draw. The Victorians, anxious for a win, asked Shaw and Lillywhite to play out the game. They agreed, but only if the sailing of their boat was delayed till 7pm after the match; to their surprise, the boat company consented. However, there were rumours that two Englishmen had tried to throw the game. In response Shaw bet £1 on an England victory and made every other member of his team do likewise. Remarkably, the Victorians were bowled out for 75, leaving Shaw's side the winner by 18 runs. But the rumours of match-fixing did not go away: On the boat journey to Adelaide, Billy Midwinter, who is the only man to play Test cricket for England against Australia and Australia against England, made accusations that led to a scuffle with the two men believed to have been implicated. Discretion from those reporting the tour means that the names of the alleged match-fixers cannot be identified with any certainty, but it was suggested that one of the players had dropped the simplest of catches, the other taken a catch only after the ball got into his shirtsleeve and became stuck.

Later Shaw said, "It was a remarkably curious circumstance." The Australasian wrote, "Professional cricketers who keep late hours, make bets to some and are seen drinking champagne at an early hours with members of the betting tent cannot be surprised if people put a wrong construction on their conduct."

When the Test matches were played, for the first time a South Australian, George Giffen, was selected to play. The first Test saw the biggest crowds then on record: 16,500 on the Saturday; 20,000 on the Monday and 10,000 on the Tuesday. England had the better of a game that was drawn after the fourth day as Shaw's side needed to catch a steamship for New Zealand at 6.30pm. Chasing 277 Australia had made 127 for 3 by the end of the game.

In the second Test, England made a tortuous 133 in 115 four-ball overs, with Eugene Palmer taking 7 for 68. By close of play on the first day, Australia were in the driving seat at 86 for 1. Whilst England recovered to dismiss them for 197 and then made 232 themselves, they were never going to stop Australia getting the 169 runs they needed to win. The third Test was even more one-sided. England got 188. Then Australia made 262, with Percy McDonnell making 147, Alec Bannerman 70, and no other batsman scoring more than 7! England again collapsed to 134, and Australia won by 6 wickets.

Although the fourth Test was billed as being "timeless", in practice, because of Shaw's team's other engagements, the game could only last four days. After three days only 22 wickets had fallen, with the most notable performance being a Test-career best 149 for George Ulyett. The fourth day of the fourth Test was wiped out by rain, and so the Test was drawn. The Englishmen went to their other commitments, and the Australians set sail to England.

England in Australia 1881/2. Match length: Timeless. Balls per over: 4. Series result: Australia win 2-0.

No. Date Home captain Away captain Venue Result
5 31 December 1881, 2,3,4 January 1882 Billy Murdoch Alfred Shaw Melbourne Cricket Ground DRAWN by agreement
6 17,18,20,21 February 1882 Billy Murdoch Alfred Shaw Sydney Cricket Ground AUS by 5 wkts
7 3,4,6,7 March 1882 Billy Murdoch Alfred Shaw Sydney Cricket Ground AUS by 6 wkts
8 10,11,13,14 March 1882 Billy Murdoch Alfred Shaw Melbourne Cricket Ground DRAWN by agreement

[edit] The Ashes legend

See also: The Ashes

[edit] Australia win in England 1882

Billy Murdoch's Australian side only played one Test in their 1882 tour. As hosts, Surrey County Cricket Club asked A N Hornby to captain the side against them. It turned out to be Spofforth's match, however, as Australia's "Demon bowler" took fourteen wickets for ninety runs to bowl England out for 77 and give Australia victory by seven runs.

It rained for two days prior to the game and then again in the early hours of the first morning. When the Australian team came down to breakfast in its wonted lodgings at the Tavistock Hotel in Covent Garden, however, the heavens had closed again.

The crowd started to filter through the turnstiles under grey skies. The admission fee was a shilling, although those VIPs who filled the small pavilion and low-roofed, single-decked grandstand did so at no cost. The 20,000 in the ground that day constituted the largest crowd ever seen at a cricket match anywhere, beating the record set on Lord Harris's 1878/79 Australian tour.

A sky dark and overcast, and a pitch wet and damaged, greeted the two teams. The uncovered wicket had absorbed two successive days of rain, of course, and pundits believed that, once it had dried out, it would offer plenty of help to the bowlers of both sides who had the ability to make the ball break off the wicket.

The warning bell sounded at 11.45am, and the playing area was cleared accordingly. Rival captains Billy Murdoch and Monkey Hornby went out to toss the coin. Murdoch was very happy to win it and chose (in what was, by general consent, a mere formality) to bat first. Many believed that this result might prove vital: the Australians would be batting first on a rain-affected wicket that would only get worse as it dried up, and this meant that they had a definite advantage in taking first strike here: they had use of the pitch while it was still playable.

Play commenced at 12.10pm, which was a time usual for its defiance of the accustomed rules for the start of play on this tour - on either the hour, half-hour or quarter-hour: it had been made clear that the Australians wanted shortened hours of play on this tour.

The Englishmen entered the arena first. They were led on by their captain, Monkey Hornby, who was followed by a jolly-looking W. G. Grace. Allan Steel and Alfred Lyttelton, meanwhile, nattered conversationally together as they made their way out into the middle.

The Australian openers, Alec Bannerman and Hugh Massie, who trailed their opponents down the pavilion steps, were greeted by a loud cheer. It was reserved by many, though, solely for the big-hitting latter than the permanently passive former. Bannerman's barn-door defence and slow rate of scoring had made an unpopular name for itself in a few British circles.

Ted Peate took the new ball from the gasometer end, waiting as his captain pointed the fielders to their respective positions: Grace went to his accustomed point position, Bunny Lucas deep cover-point, Steel slip, Charles Studd extra-cover, George Ulyett cover-point, Dick Barlow fly-slip, Billy Barnes mid-off, Maurice Read long-off and captain Hornby himself at silly mid-on. It was an eight-one off-side field, with Lyttelton taking the gloves...

The rain-damaged pitch helped England's two left-arm bowlers, Barlow and Peate, who dismissed Australia for 63 in two-and-a-quarter hours. England made 101 in reply, with Spofforth taking 7 for 46. After more rain on the second day, Australia lifted its score to 122, thanks to a quickfire 55 from Massie. The match was fiercely contested, as evidenced by WG Grace's gamesmanship in running out the naïve 21-year-old Sammy Jones, who had been batting well with his captain. Murdoch hit one into the legside, and Jones reached the other end comfortably in time to make the single. He then left his crease to go and attend to a divot on the wicket. Grace whipped off the bails and appealed. Square-leg umpire Bob Thoms delivered his verdict: "If you claim it, Sir! Out!"[3] Murdoch's protests fell on deaf ears; the run-out was quite legitimate, but Grace's unsporting behaviour irked the Australians, whose collective will to win was fired-up by it.

During the interval, Spofforth made an announcement to his team-mates in the dressing-room: "This thing can be done.!" In spite of being reduced to fifteen for two early on, England made a good start in its pursuit of a victory target of 85. The score rose to 51 for two, with Grace and Ulyett hitting out strongly. Spofforth changed ends, and Neville Cardus wrote thus of this move: "Now I was behind his arm; I could see his superb break-back. And he bowled mainly medium pace at this time. With each off-break I could see his right hand, at the end of the swing over, finish near the left side, 'cutting' under the ball. Sometimes his arm went straight over and continued straight down in the follow-through – and then the batsmen had to tackle fierce topspin. There was the sense of the inimical in his aspect now. He seemed taller than he was half an hour ago, the right arm more sinuous. There was no excitement in him he was ... cold-blooded."[4]

Spofforth presently claimed Ulyett, and Boyle had Grace caught by Bannerman at mid-off, making it 53 for four. Now, amidst great tension, Lucas and Lyttleton played out twelve maiden overs in succession. "Suddenly", wrote CP Moody (the man famous for compiling the first accepted list of Test Matches), "a new phase came over the innings. The batsmen could not get the ball past fieldsmen. Spofforth was bowling the most remarkable break-backs at tremendous pace; Boyle, from the other end, maintained a perfect length; Blackham with matchless skill took every ball that passed the batsmen ... every fieldsman strained his nerves to the utmost." It was now that Spofforth suggested to his captain Murdoch that they allow the batsmen to change ends. Alec Bannerman deliberately misfielded a stroke from Lyttleton, allowing the batsmen to take a single and end the monotony. "Something of the spirit of the struggle", wrote Moody, "pervaded the thousands of spectators, and their oppressive silence was punctuated by a mighty shout when Lyttleton broke the spell with a single."[5] This meant that Spofforth could now have a go at him. After four more runless overs, Spofforth knocked over Lyttleton's stumps. That made it 66 for five, England needing nineteen more to win.

"I observed the incoming batsmen", Tom Horan wrote later. "They had ashen faces and parched lips."."[6] England had collapsed to 75 for 8, at which time Charles Studd, a batsman who had twice scored centuries against the Australians that summer arrived at the wicket. Studd had earlier been seen shivering, covered in a blanket in the pavilion. Studd denied the story that was put about that he was the victim of nerves, saying that he was cold due to the freezing weather.[7]

"Now Boyle's perinacious accuracy was rewarded", wrote Moody. "Off the first ball of his over Barnes was caught off the glove by Murdoch at point."[8] Last man Ted Peate came to the wicket now. "The scorer's hand shook so that he wrote Peate's name like 'Geese'", Horan tells us.[9] Unfortunately, we cannot varify this, as the England scorecard has been lost, and the Australian one reads very clearly and certainly does not say "Geese".

"Peate", wrote Moody, "swished the first ball to leg for two, flukily played the next one, tried to hit the last ball of the over, but missed, and it bowled him. The game was won by seven runs."[10] Studd had not faced a delivery. Peate later explained his actions, although there are numerous accounts of his actual words. Thankfully, they do not vary much from "Ah couldn't troost Maister Stood!"

One spectator died of heart failure at the end of the Australian innings (rather than during the tense finishing stages, as has often been claimed); another, an Epsom stockbroker named Arthur Courcy, is said to have bitten through his brother-in-law's umbrella handle.[11] For the first time, an England side had lost a Test Match in England.

Spofforth, having taken seven for 44 in this innings (making it fourteen for ninety in the match), bowled his last eleven overs for two runs and four wickets, those two runs and four wickets coming off his last seven deliveries. He was carried shoulder-high from the field. His break-backs had been almost unplayable on this wicket; indeed, Giffen believed that every single one of them would have destroyed the stumps had not the bat got in the way.

After the match, a mock obituary was famously inserted in the Sporting Times, which read:

"In Affectionate Remembrance of ENGLISH CRICKET, which died at the Oval on 29th AUGUST, 1882, Deeply lamented by a large circle of sorrowing friends and acquaintances R.I.P.
N.B. - The body will be cremated and the ashes taken to Australia."

Australia in England 1882. Match length: 3 days. Balls per over: 4. One off Test. Result: Australia win.

No. Date Home captain Away captain Venue Result
9 28,29 August 1882 A N Hornby Billy Murdoch The Oval AUS by 7 runs

[edit] Bligh reclaims the Ashes 1882/3

Bligh originally intended to tour Australia in 1882/3 with a team comprising only of Cambridge University cricketers. (Oxford and Cambridge Universities had very highly-rated teams at the time.) This plan did not come fully to fruition, however, and Bligh ended up taking a team of eight amateurs and four professionals on the long voyage. Bligh was contracted to play three games against the same team that had beaten A N Hornby's side in England during the 1882 season, and he responded to the joke about the Ashes at dinner parties by saying his team would "beard the kangaroo in his den and try and recover those ashes". In response, at a banquet at the Melbourne Town Hall, Australian captain Billy Murdoch said, "Our boys fairly won the ashes and we confidently rely on them to retain possession or at least for the present. When, as we hope, we have shown our visitors that they cannot recover the ashes, we can then place the sacred dust in a suitable urn in our Public Library, as a curiosity to be shown to visitors with respect and esteem as the result of the Australian prowess in the cricket field."

Whilst Bligh's team was strong, it did miss three or four of the leading English cricketers, most notably WG Grace. On the way to Australia the side also survived a collision between their vessel, the SS Peshawaur and the Glen Roy 500 km south of Columbo. Fast bowler Fred Morley suffered a broken rib and severe bruising, which limited his appearances on the tour and contributed to his early death two years later. Walter Read had this to say: "It was altogether a terrible affair, and it is a wonder we were not all drowned."

The first two representative games were styled as the "Honourable Ivo Bligh's Team versus Mr Murdoch's XI". The Aussies took £200 per player in each of these games as record-breaking crowds poured into the M.C.G., and the New Year's Day attendance was 23,000. The highlight of the first Test was an innings of 85 in 135 minutes from George Bonnor as Australia made 291 in its first innings. Rain came down during the England innings, making the pitch more difficult than it had been. England, struggling to cope with this, made only 177 and was forced to follow on 114 runs behind. Mr Murdoch's XI won easily by 9 wickets, and the Colonial press saw the victory as confirmation of Australia's superiority. Bligh, however, later commented, "Some of us still cherished the hope that our turn was yet to come."

The second game was more controversial. As the pitch deteriorated there were arguments as to which bowlers were responsible for encroaching onto it. When Bates, an occasional spin bowler on the tour, took England's first Test cricket hat-trick, there were suggestions that he had been aided by Barlow's footmarks. Bligh asked Barlow to change his shoes to pacify things, although the English later accused Spofforth of damaging the pitch too. Bligh's success at the toss helped England enormously, however, and Australia capitulated to an innings defeat.

After the controversy in the second Test at Melbourne, it was agreed to use two pitches at Sydney in the third match of the series, which stood at one-all now. After winning the toss, England made 247, and Australia replied with 218. In the latter innings, Alec Bannerman batted just over four hours to score 94. Figures of seven for 44 from Fred Spofforth saw England collapse to 123, before Dick Barlow's seven for 40 had the Australians collapsing themselves to 83 and losing by 69 runs. Bligh had won the three match series 2-1, and England's pride was restored...

After the third game, the amateurs of the side were guests of Sir William Clarke over Christmas, at his property "Rupertswood" at Sunbury, Victoria. Bligh's men and some of Clarke's other guests had there a cricket match, which the former side won. Afterwards, a group of Victorian ladies, headed by Mrs. Janet Clarke (William's wife), burned what has variously been called a ball, bail and veil. The ashes (which, according to other accounts, were those of King Cole, an Aboriginal cricketer) were presented to Bligh in an urn. Said Lady Clarke, "What better way than to actually present the English captain with the very 'object' - albeit mythical - he had come to Australia to retrieve?" Bligh later married another of these Melburnian ladies, Florence Morphy. When he died, in 1927, his widow presented the urn to the Marylebone Cricket Club, which now keeps it in the museum at Lord's, aside from the very occasional Australian visit.

A fourth match was played against a "United Australian XI", which was even stronger than Murdoch's team that had lost the Ashes. As an experiment, a separate pitch was prepared for each innings. Australia won the game by 4 wickets, but it was (and still is) not recognised as a part of the Ashes series of 1882/83. England won the toss once again and batted first, 135 Allan Steel scoring 135 to see the tourists to 263. Australia's response was one less at 262, but England's 197 in the second innings did not set much of a target, and Australia won comfortably. A fifth match was proposed and discussed, but it did not materialise.

England in Australia 1882/3. Match length: Timeless. Balls per over: 4. Series result: England win 2-1.

No. Date Home captain Away captain Venue Result
10 30 December 1882,1,2 January 1883 Billy Murdoch Ivo Bligh Melbourne Cricket Ground AUS by 9 wkts
11 19,20,22 January 1883 Billy Murdoch Ivo Bligh Melbourne Cricket Ground ENG by Inns&27 runs
12 26,27,29,30 January 1883 Billy Murdoch Ivo Bligh Sydney Cricket Ground ENG by 69 runs

England in Australia 1882/3. Match length: Timeless. Balls per over: 4. One off Test. Result: Australia won.

No. Date Home captain Away captain Venue Result
13 17,19,20,21 February 1883 Billy Murdoch Ivo Bligh Sydney Cricket Ground AUS by 4 wkts

Continued on: History of Test cricket (1884 to 1889)

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Barker, Ralph: Ten Great Bowlers (Chatto & Windus, 1967), p. 7.
  2. ^ Barclay's World of Cricket - 2nd Edition, 1980, Collins Publishers, ISBN 0-00-216349-7, p259.
  3. ^ Quoted in a Charles Pardon article in Bell's Life. Pardon thought it to be "unlikely" that Thoms would have said this and promised his readers that he would find the truth later. Indeed, he "took the first opportunity of asking Thoms what he really did say, telling him at the same time what I had heard. He, as I expected, denied having said anything more than the necessary word. 'Out!' Thoms told me the point was a very simple one, the ball was not dead, and the batsman was run out. If Grace, instead of going up to the wicket and putting off the bails, had thrown at the stumps and missed them, the batsman could, and probably would, have run again, and then everyone would have said what a smart thing the Australians had done. Jones did a foolish, thoughtless thing in going out of his ground, and he paid the penalty of rashness. "
  4. ^ Cardus, Days in the Sun. (Cardus, of course, was not even born when this match took place. Nevertheless, his reconstruction of events, probably based on old newspaper accounts and interviews, is one of the best-recognised of the many that have been compiled on this game.)
  5. ^ Quoted in Pollard, Jack: Australian Cricket: The Game and the Players (Hodder and Stoughton, 1982), pp. 371–372.
  6. ^ Horan article in The Australasian
  7. ^ Norman P. Grubb: C.T. Studd: Cricketer and Pioneer (Lutterworth Press, 2003), p. 29.
  8. ^ Quoted in Hutchinson; Ross: 200 Seasons of Australian Cricket, p. 372.
  9. ^ Horan article in The Australasian
  10. ^ Quoted in Hutchinson; Ross: 200 Seasons of Australian Cricket, p. 372.
  11. ^ Green, Benny (ed.): Wisden Anthology 1864–1900 ISBN 0-356-10732-9, p. 655.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

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