English cricket team in Australia and New Zealand in 1881–82
The 1881–82 Australia v England Test series was part of a first-class cricket tour of Australia, New Zealand and the United States by an England team led by Alfred Shaw. The four matches between Australia and the England team were later classified as Test matches, but are included in The Ashes which began later in 1882. The English tourists also played three other first-class matches in Australia.
English cricket team in Australia and New Zealand in 1881–82 | |||
---|---|---|---|
Australia | England | ||
Dates | 31 December 1881 – 14 March 1882 | ||
Captains | Billy Murdoch | Alfred Shaw | |
Test series | |||
Result | Australia won the 4-match series 2–0 | ||
Most runs | Percy McDonnell (299)[1] | George Ulyett (438)[1] | |
Most wickets | Joey Palmer (24)[2] | Billy Bates (16)[2] |
The team travelled across the Atlantic first and played five matches in the USA during October. Their first match in Australia began on 23 November. Having played the first Test at the turn of the year, the team went to New Zealand and played seven matches before returning to Australia in February. The final match ended on 18 March.
Tour matches
Tour match: Gentlemen of Philadelphia XII vs Alfred Shaw's XI
Tour match: St George's Cricket Club XVIII vs Alfred Shaw's XI
Tour match: United States XVIII vs Alfred Shaw's XI
Test series
First Test
v |
||
- England won the toss and elected to bat.
- William Cooper (Aus), Edwin Evans (Aus), George Giffen (Aus), Hugh Massie (Aus), Dick Barlow (Eng), Billy Bates (Eng), Ted Peate (Eng), Dick Pilling (Eng), William Scotton (Eng) and Arthur Shrewsbury (Eng) made their Test debut.
- Billy Midwinter made his debut for England having played for Australia in the first two Test matches.
- This was the first Test match to end in a draw and the first Test match to have umpires from two different countries.
Whilst this match was designated as a timeless Test, the ship that was due to take the tourists to New Zealand was set to depart on the morning of 4 January. The authorities pushed back the ship's departure time to 3:45 pm in the hope that the match would yield a result. However, it was all in vain as after 55 overs in the fourth innings Australia were still 156 runs short of their target with three wickets down. The result was Test cricket's first ever draw.[3]
Second Test
v |
||
- England won the toss and elected to bat.
- Rain on day 2 at 5:30 pm suspended play for the rest of the day.[4]
- George Coulthard (Aus) and Sammy Jones (Aus) made their Test debut.
- This was the first Test match to be played at the Sydney Cricket Ground.
Third Test
v |
||
- England won the toss and elected to bat.
- Rain on day 2 at 1:15 pm briefly suspended play and later on day 2 shortly after 3 pm rain suspended play for the rest of the day.[5]
- This was the first Test match where no debutants played.
Fourth Test
v |
||
- England won the toss and elected to bat.[6]
- No play was possible on day 4 due to rain.[7] This was the first time an entire day's play of Test cricket was lost to rain.
- This was the second ever drawn Test match and the last in Australia until the third Test of the 1946–47 Ashes series.
- George Ulyett's 149 in the first innings was the first Test century for England in Australia and it was the highest individual innings score for England on the first day of a Test in Australia until Bob Barber scored 185 in the third Test of the 1965–66 Ashes series.
Whilst this match was designated as a timeless Test, the tourists were due to depart Melbourne on the evening on 14 March in order to play a two-day match in Dunolly the following day. With rain washing out the entire fourth day's play, this resulted in Test cricket's second ever draw and Australia taking out the series 2–0.
Note: 4 ball overs for whole series.
References
- "Records / England in Australia Test Series, 1881/82 / Most runs". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 28 December 2015.
- "Records / England in Australia Test Series, 1881/82 / Most wickets". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 28 December 2015.
- "First Test match - Australia v England 1881-82". Wisden Cricketers' Almanack. London: John Wisden & Co. 1883. Retrieved 12 December 2015 – via ESPNcricinfo.
- "Sport Intelligence - The International Cricket Match". The Sydney Morning Herald. John Fairfax and Sons. 20 February 1882. p. 6 – via Trove.
- "Sport Intelligence - The English Eleven v. the Australian Eleven". The Sydney Morning Herald. John Fairfax and Sons. 6 March 1882. p. 5 – via Trove.
- "Fourth Test match - Australia v England 1881-82". Wisden Cricketers' Almanack. London: John Wisden & Co. 1883. Retrieved 13 January 2016 – via ESPNcricinfo.
- "Sport Intelligence - The International Cricket Match". The Sydney Morning Herald. John Fairfax and Sons. 15 March 1882. p. 6 – via Trove.