Australian cricket team in England in 1956

The Australian cricket team toured England in the 1956 season to play a five-match Test series against England for The Ashes.

Australian cricket team in England in 1956
Date7 June 1956 – 28 August 1956
LocationEngland
ResultEngland won the 5-Test series 2–1
Teams
 England  Australia
Captains
PBH May IWG Johnson
Most runs
PBH May (453)
PE Richardson (364)		 JW Burke (271)
CC McDonald (243)
Most wickets
JC Laker (46)
GAR Lock (15)		 KR Miller (21)
RG Archer (18)

England won the series 2-1 with 2 matches drawn and therefore retained The Ashes.

The series is most notable for off-spinner Jim Laker's 46 wickets (a record for a 5-Test series) at an average of 9.60,[1] including all ten wickets in the second innings of the fourth Test at Old Trafford, the first time this had been achieved in Test cricket. In that Test, known as Laker's Match, Laker took 19 wickets for 90 runs, still the best match bowling analysis achieved in both Test and all first-class cricket. The cartoonist Roy Ullyett summed up the summer with the picture of a dazed kangaroo in Australian strip and the ditty: Here lie the Ashes of '56, skittled by Laker for next to nix. Never forgotten, sorry you thought our wicket rotten, signed "Love from the groundstaff".[2] The second line refers to the Australian complaints that the grass had been shaved off the Old Trafford wicket to help the England spinners.[3]

Test series summary

First Test: Trent Bridge
7–12 June 1956
scorecard
v
217/8 (dec) (103.4 overs)
PE Richardson 81
PBH May 73
KR Miller 4/69
148 (83.1 overs)
RN Harvey 64
JC Laker 4/58
188/3 (dec) (61 overs)
MC Cowdrey 81
PE Richardson 73
KR Miller 2/58
120/3 (86 overs)
JW Burke 58
JC Laker 2/29
Match drawn
Trent Bridge
Umpires: TS Bartley (ENG) and JS Buller (ENG)

Second Test: Lord's
21–26 June 1956
scorecard
v
285 (146.1 overs)
CC McDonald 78
JW Burke 65
JC Laker 3/47
171 (82 overs)
PBH May 63
KR Miller 5/72
257 (92.5 overs)
R Benaud 97
FS Trueman 5/90
186 (99.2 overs)
PBH May 53
KR Miller 5/80
RG Archer 4/71
 Australia won by 185 runs
Lord's Cricket Ground
Umpires: DE Davies (ENG) and FS Lee (ENG)

Third Test: Headingley
12–17 July 1956
scorecard
v
325 (167.4 overs)
PBH May 101
C Washbrook 98
RR Lindwall 3/67
RG Archer 3/68
R Benaud 3/89
143 (71.1 overs)
JW Burke 41
KR Miller 41
JC Laker 5/58
GAR Lock 4/41
140 (follow-on) (99.3 overs)
RN Harvey 69
JC Laker 6/55
GAR Lock 3/40
 England won by an innings and 42 runs
Headingley
Umpires: JS Buller (ENG) and DE Davies (ENG)

Fourth Test: Old Trafford
26–31 July 1956
scorecard
v
459 (158.3 overs)
DS Sheppard 113
PE Richardson 104
MC Cowdrey 80
IW Johnson 4/151
84 (40.4 overs)
CC McDonald 32
JC Laker 9/37
205 (follow-on) (150.2 overs)
CC McDonald 89
JC Laker 10/53
 England won by an innings and 170 runs
Old Trafford
Umpires: DE Davies (ENG) and FS Lee (ENG)

Fifth Test: The Oval
23–28 August 1956
scorecard
v
247 (109.2 overs)
DCS Compton 94
PBH May 83
RG Archer 5/53
KR Miller 4/91
202 (92 overs)
KR Miller 61
JC Laker 4/80
182/3 (dec) (61 overs)
DS Sheppard 62
RR Lindwall 1/29
27/5 (38.1 overs)
IWG Johnson 10
JC Laker 3/8
Match drawn
The Oval
Umpires: TJ Bartley (ENG) and DE Davies (ENG)

References
  1. Test Bowling Figures for England, 1956 Ashes
  2. Peter Arnold, The Illustrated Encyclopedia of World Cricket, p75, W.H. Smith, 1986
  3. E.W. Swanton (ed), The Barclays World of Cricket, p296, Collins, 1986

Annual reviews

Further reading
  • Bill Frindall, The Wisden Book of Test Cricket 1877-1978, Wisden, 1979
  • Chris Harte, A History of Australian Cricket, Andre Deutsch, 1993
  • Ray Robinson, On Top Down Under, Cassell, 1975
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