Ashes History - 1861-1914
[1921-1938 |
1946-1970 |
1970-Present]
by Dave Liverman
1861-62
First English tour of Australia takes place under HH Stephenson.
Test matches are not to be played for another 16 years, and the
Ashes as such will not be contested until 20 years later. Most
games were played against odds. Charles Lawrence stays behind
after the tour and is instrumental in the first Australian tour
to England.
1863-4
Second English tour of Australia by
George Parr's team,
which is unbeaten in all games, none of which are on even strength.
1868
First Australian tour of England as an Aboriginal team
visits England. Promoter Charles Lawrence brings a team of 13 to
England, who play 47 games, despite losing one of their number
to tuberculosis, and the early departure of two others.
1873-74
Tour of mixed professional and amateur English team under
WG Grace.
All games are played against odds.
1876/77
Test cricket starts at
Melbourne
on the 15th March, 1877, as
the First Test Match is won by Australia.
Alfred Shaw bowls the
first ball to
Charles Bannerman,
who scores the first test run,
and later, the first Test century. Bannerman's innings of 165
composed 67% of his side's total, a record that stands to today.
The England team is entirely professionals, without such players
as WG Grace,
and the Australian team is composed entirely of
Sydney and Melbourne players.
Australia 1 England 1.
1878
First full Australian tour of England. No Tests are played.
The Australians beat the MCC in a single day.
Spofforth takes 6
for 4 and 4 for 16, and at the other end
Boyle
takes 3-14 and 6
for 3. Spofforth
takes 357 wickets on the tour at an average of 7.18
1878/79
A mostly amateur team under Lord Harris
tours Australia
Australia 1 England 0.
1880
The first Test match played in England is won by the hosts,
with WG Grace
scoring 152. His brother GF Grace
makes a "pair" and 4
weeks later dies from a fatal chill after sleeping in a damp
bed.
Spofforth
takes 391 wickets on tour at an average of 5.63.
England 1 Australia 0.
1881/82
Shaw's team to Australia is
well beaten in the Tests and rumours
of match fixing surround their return.
Australia 2 England 0.
1882
A sensational game at the
Oval is won narrowly by Australia, who
dismiss England for only 77 to win by 7 runs.
Spofforth
takes 14
for 90 in the match, and bowled his last 11 overs for 2 runs and
4 wickets. The first Australian win in England is marked by an
obituary for English cricket -
the origin of the Ashes.
Australia 1 England 0.
1882/83
Bligh's team "recover the Ashes" despite drawing the Test series
2-2. The fourth game was considered unofficial, and so the Ashes
Urn was presented to the
Hon. Ivo Bligh after winning the 3rd
Test.
Australia 2 England 2.
1884
Murdoch's
Australians tour England -
Spofforth
takes 207 wickets
at 13.25 on the tour. In the final game, all eleven England
players bowl in Australia's innings of 551, with the
wicket-keeper Lyttelton
taking 4-19, and his replacement
WG Grace
taking a catch from his first ball in Test cricket as a
wicket-keeper.
England 1 Australia 0.
1884/85
First 5 test series in Australia is played, with England winning
3-2 under Shrewsbury.
First test in Adelaide is played. The tour
is marred by disputes between the teams and between the
Australian players and their State Associations over money. The
entire Australian team from the previous team withdrew from the
Melbourne test,
thus allowing
Samuel Morris, born in Tasmania of
West Indian parents, to become the first black Test cricketer.
The England player
Barnes injured his hand in a fight with the
Australian captain
McDonnell
during the First Test, and England
with only 11 players on tour had to co-opt emigre
Reginald Wood
to play his only test.
England 3 Australia 2.
1886
First tour to England that is organized by Melbourne CC rather than speculation by the players.
George Giffen
heads bowling and
batting averages on the tour, but the Australians lose the Test
series badly. Spofforth's
last tour, injured in June, and took
no further part.
England 3 Australia 0.
1886/87
9th English team to tour Australia is all professional, with
Lohmann
taking 25 wickets for 189 runs in the Tests, won
comfortably by England.
England 2 Australia 0.
1887/88
Two English teams tour Australia simultaneously, joining to play
a single Test. The Australian teams are far from
representative, following further monetary disputes.
England 1 Australia 0.
1888
CTB "The Terror" Turner
and Ferris
take 534 wickets on the England tour, but
the weak Australian batting lets them down in the Tests. After
winning a low scoring First Test, they go down to innings
defeats in the remaining two.
England 2 Australia 1.
1890
Murdoch's team to England again is handicapped by weak batting
and Giffen's
absence, losing both Tests played to a strong
England side under
WG Grace's captaincy.
England 2 Australia 0.
1891/92
The 12th English team, under WG, is close to fully
representative, but loses narrowly in the 3 test series
after losing the first two.
WG Grace's return to Australia after 18
years absence provokes great public interest.
Australia 2 England 1.
1893
Blackham's team
loses one Test and draws two.
Trumble
leads the
bowling against a very strong England batting line up.
|