History of the England cricket team to 1939
Encyclopedia
The History of the England Cricket Team can be said to date back to at least 1739, when sides styled "Kent" and "All England" played a match at Bromley Common. Over 300 matches involving "England" or "All England" prior to 1877 are known. However these teams were usually put together on an ad hoc basis and were rarely fully representative.
The history of the current England side can be traced to 1877 when England played in what was subsuequently recognised as the very first Test match
. Since then, up to 20 August 2006 they have played 852 Test matches, winning 298, losing 245 and drawing 309. During these 852 matches, they have been captained by 77 different players
.
The first match was at Bromley Common in Kent on Monday 9 July 1739. It was billed as between "eleven gentlemen of that county (i.e., Kent) and eleven gentlemen from any part of England, exclusive of Kent". Kent, described as "the Unconquerable County" won by "a very few notches".
The second match was at the Artillery Ground
in Bunhill Fields, Finsbury on Monday 23 July 1739. This game was drawn and a report includes the phrase "eleven picked out of all England".
In subsequent decades there were many more such matches between a side representing a county, or the MCC
, and a side drawn from the rest of England and described as "England" or "All England". As the next section describes, in 1846 the term "All England Eleven" would acquire a new, more precise, definition.
as a touring team of leading players to play matches at big city venues, mainly in the North of England. Clarke's team was a top-class side worthy of its title. The AEE lasted until 1880. In 1852, several players set up the United All-England Eleven as a rival to the AEE, and from 1857 to 1866 the annual match between these two teams was arguably the most important contest of the English season – certainly judged by the quality of the players.
The early overseas tours were organised as purely commercial ventures, as indeed were the first Test-playing tours. The first such tour
was to North America by a team of English professionals, departing England in September 1859. The team comprised six players from the All-England Eleven and six from the United All-England Eleven, and was captained by George Parr
. They played five matches, winning them all. There were no first-class fixtures.
With the outbreak of the American Civil War, attention turned to Australia. The inaugural tour of the country took place in 1861-2
, and was organised by Messrs Spiers & Pond. Led by HH Stephenson
, the English team played 12 matches, but none were first-class.
In 1863-4, the Melbourne Cricket Club
organised a tour by an English team under the captaincy of George Parr, which also visited New Zealand. The team played 16 matches, but none were first-class.
There were further tours of North America (taking in both the USA and Canada) in late 1868, led by Edgar Willsher
, and in late 1872, under R.A. Fitzgerald. The latter side included W.G.Grace.
In 1873-4, the Melbourne Cricket Club
organised a tour by a team under the captaincy of WG Grace, which played 15 matches, but none were first-class.
Most of the matches of these early touring teams were played "against odds", that is to say the opposing team was permitted to have more than eleven players (usually twenty-two) in order to make a more even contest.
, a professional with Sussex CCC, led a team which had sailed on the P&O steamship Poonah on 21 September 1876. They played in Australia and then New Zealand before returning to Australia to play a combined Australian XI, for once on even terms of XI a side. The match, starting on 15 March 1877 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground
, came to be regarded as the first Test match, although none of its participants could have guessed at its significance at the time. Charles Bannerman
, of Australia, faced the first ball and scored the first century, a glorious 165 before retiring hurt with a broken finger. The next highest score in this inaugural Test for Australia was Tom Horan
with 10. Alfred Shaw
of England bowled the first ball and took 5 for 38 in Australia's second innings. Tom Kendall
, born in England, took 7 English wickets for 55 to bring Australia victory by 45 runs. 100 years later, in the Centenary Test, the result and margin would be exactly the same. England won a second match to square the series.
In 1878/79 Kent captain and MCC luminary Lord Harris
took a team, consisting mainly of amateurs, to Australia where they lost by 10 wickets at Melbourne. Their batting was reasonably strong but the lack of professional bowlers cost them dear. The tour became famous for an unseemly incident in a tour game at Sydney where a near riot
broke out. One of the umpires was Edmund Barton
, who became Australia's first prime minister.
The 1880 Australian tourists were the first to play a Test match on English soil. Their 'demon' bowler, Fred Spofforth
, sustained a hand injury and, crucially, missed the game in which W.G. Grace scored 152 and Billy Murdoch
one run better. Lord Harris led the victorious England side at the Oval.
An all professional side, organised by Shaw, Shrewsbury and Lillywhite sailed to Australia for the 1881/82 campaign. The tour was bedeviled with scandal and allegations of fisticuffs, betting and heavy drinking. Tom Garrett
took 18 wickets in the three Tests played for Australia. Many of the tour matches were still against local '22's. Australia won the four Test series 2 – 0.
The developing rivalry took on a new turn in 1882, when England lost at home at The Oval
in the solitary Test of the summer. Spofforth took 7 for 46 and 7 for 44 and Ted Peate
, Yorkshire slow left armer who had taken 8 wickets, was out just 8 runs short of victory. Upset at this turn of events, The Sporting Times
printed an obituary to English cricket: "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."
When England toured Australia the following winter of 1882/83 and won 2–1, the England captain, the Hon. Ivo Bligh was presented with an urn that contained some ashes, which have variously been said to be of a bail
, ball
or even a woman's veil. And so The Ashes
series was born. Yorkshire stalwart Billy Bates
, who played all his 15 Tests on 5 tours to Australia, scored 55 and took 14 for 102 at Melbourne in the second Test, including the first Test hat-trick, to bring England the first innings victory in Test cricket. A.G. Steel made 135* at Sydney – although he did drop Bonner 4 times (out of 8 drops in total) as the giant Australian hitter scored 87.
England won 1–0 in the three Test series in 1884. Peate took 6 for 85 in Australia's first innings, and Ulyett 7 for 36, the second as England won by an innings Lord's where Steel made a wonderful 148 out of England's first innings of 379. Australia's captain Billy Murdoch
scored the first Test double hundred at the Oval where Walter Read
of England hit a century in 113 minutes after going in at number 10. All 11 Englishmen bowled in Australia's innings, including wicket keeper Lyttelton with underarm lobs.
England embarked on a long stretch of dominance. They won 14 and lost only 3 of the Tests played between 1884 and 1890. Billy Barnes
hit 134 in the opening Adelaide Test of the five Test 1884/85 series while Johnny Briggs
of Lancashire hit a two hour ton at Melbourne in the second, where Australia fielded a completely new team of 11 different players after a dispute over gate money. Wilfred Flowers
scored 56 and took 5 for 46 in the third Test at Sydney where Australia pulled back a game thanks to Bonner smashing a century in even time. England won the deciding fifth Test by an innings at Melbourne, Arthur Shrewsbury
making 105*.
W. G. Grace
scored 170 in the Oval Test of 1886, beating the individual Test innings record of 164 set by Arthur Shrewsbury
in the previous match on an evil pitch at Lords. England won by an innings on the third day after Australia were bowled out for 68 and 149m with George Lohmann
of Surrey taking 12 for 104. The Australian tourists, without Bannerman or Murdoch and often losing Spofforth to injuries, lost all three Tests.
Shrewsbury's England beat Australia in both matches on the 1886–87 tour, despite being bowled out for 45 on the first day at Sydney. Two England parties toured there in 1887–88, with Shaw and Shrewsbury's team sponsored by Melbourne CC and Lord Harris's team by the Sydney Association. The two sides joined up for one Test Match at Sydney which they won thanks to Lohmann's 9 wickets and Bobby Peel's 10. Australia made just 42 and 82 on a poor pitch in bad light.
The 1888 Australians won at Lords but lost at The Oval
and Old Trafford. Their bowling was penetrative, particularly Jack Ferris and the 'terror' Charlie Turner
, but their batting was too weak to withstand the English professionals in their home conditions. Bobby Peel
took 11 wickets at Old Trafford.
England won the first Test in South Africa, at Port Elizabeth in March 1889 by 8 wickets, despite fielding a less than first choice XI. W.H. Ashley
took 7 for 95 for South Africa in his only Test. Bobby Abel of Surrey scored 120 for England in the Second Test, the first hundred scored in South Africa. Bernard Tancred
of South Africa became the first Test batsman to carry his bat, for 26*, as South Africa collapsed to 47 all out. M.P. Bowden
remains the youngest man to captain England, at just 23 years and 144 days. Johnny Briggs
took 7 for 17 and 8 for 11 at Cape Town
, 14 bowled and 1 LBW.
carried his bat for 67 through Australia's second innings of 176 at Lord's. W. G. Grace
was out second ball in the first innings but saw England home in the second with 75*. Frederick Martin took 12 Australian wickets for 102 but 'Nutty' never played an Ashes match again. The third scheduled match, at Old Trafford, was the first Test to be abandoned without a ball being bowled.
W. G. Grace's tourists lost 2–1 on the 1891–92 tour, Australia winning at Melbourne and Sydney, where Bannerman batted for seven and a half hours and scored only three boundaries and England's Bobby Abel
carried his bat for 132. England claimed a consolation innings victory at Adelaide where Stoddard scored 134 and Peel 83 and Briggs took 6 wickets in each innings.
England won the only Test on the 1891/92 tour of South Africa at Cape Town, where Harry Wood, the Surrey wicket keeper made 134 not out and Ferris, who had earlier played for Australia, took 13 for 91. Billy Murdoch
was another Australian turned Englishman on the tour.
England regained the Ashes in 1893, with an innings win at The Oval and draws in the other two Tests. W. G. Grace
and A.E. Stoddart
made three consecutive century opening stands. William Gunn
of Nottinghamshire scored his only Test hundred, 102*, at Old Trafford, while Arthur Shrewsbury
scored 106 at Lord's. Future England great Ranjitsinhji was one of the unfortunate bowlers as Australia set a new record team score of 843 against 'Oxford and Cambridge Past and Present' in Portsmouth.
Andrew Stoddart
led England to a thrilling 3–2 victory on the 1894–1895 Ashes tour. Bobby Peel
took the final wickets in the first Test victory at Sydney and the second at Melbourne and hit the winning runs in the final and deciding Test at the MCG. England's amazing victory at Sydney, by 10 runs, came after they had followed on with Lancashire's Albert Ward hitting 75 and 117 in the game. J.T. Brown scored 140 for England at Melbourne where England were set 297 to win. He reached 50 in 28 minutes and put on a then record 210 with Ward as England won by six wickets. Tom Richardson
took 32 wickets in the Tests.
England won all three Tests of the 1895/96 tour of South Africa by resounding margins. Lohmann was unplayable, taking 7 for 38 and 8 for 7 at Port Elizabeth and finishing with a hat trick. He took 9 for 28 and 3 for 43 at Johannesburg and 7 for 42 and 1 for 45 at Cape Town.
Having been overlooked for the first Test at Lord's, where Australian captain Harry Trott
scored 143 and put on a record 210 with Syd Gregory
(103), Shri Ranjitsinhji burst into Test cricket with 62 and 154 at Old Trafford in 1896. His magical batting and Tom Richardson's 13 for 244 were not enough to prevent Australia running out winners by 3 wickets however. Five English professionals went on 'strike' for more money before the Oval Test. Abel, Hayward and Richardson relented, but Gunn and Lohmann never played for England again. England won the series 2–1.
The Ashes were lost on Andrew Stoddart
's 1897/98 tour, with Australia thumping England 4–1. Australian Joe Darling
was the first batsmen to make 500 runs in a Test series, including 101 at Sydney, 178 at Adelaide and 160 in the final Sydney Test, where his hundred came up in 91 minutes. Stoddart's mother died just before the first Test and he was too distraught to play in either of the first two matches. Ranji, batting at number 7 after a throat infection, scored a brilliant 175 in the first Test and took England over 500 for the first time in a game won by 9 wickets but the Englishmen lost the next four heavily.
Lord Hawke
's tourists in 1898/99 played and won two Tests in South Africa, with sometime Australian Albert Trott taking 17 wickets. Plum Warner
carried his bat for 132 at Johannesburg in his maiden Test.
The 1899 series against Australia saw two significant developments. For the first time in England, five Tests were played rather than three, with Trent Bridge
and Headingley being added to the "traditional" venues of Lord's, The Oval and Old Trafford. Also MCC and the counties appointed a selection committee for the first time. It comprised three active players: Lord Hawke, W.G. Grace and H.W. Bainbridge who was the captain of Warwickshire. Prior to this, England teams for home Tests had been chosen by the club on whose ground the match was to be played. The peerless Australian Victor Trumper
dominated the series. He scored 1,500 runs on the tour, including 300 not out against Sussex and a breathtaking century in Australia's sole, but deciding, Test victory at Lords. W.G. Grace played his last Test at Trent Bridge. F.S. Jackson
and Tom Hayward
put on 185 at the Oval for the first wicket. England, scoring 576, forced Australia (352) to follow on, but the Australians played out the draw and with it retained the Ashes.
). Sydney Barnes
made his debut for England and took 19 wickets in the first two Tests before being injured in the third and talking no further part in the series.
There was a home series against Australia in 1902
which was won by the Australians (2–1). In the drawn First Test at Edgbaston Australia were dismissed for 36 in their first innings (Wilfred Rhodes
7 for 17) but rain meant that the match was drawn. Rain also ruined the following match at Lord's. Sydney Barnes returned to the England team and had immediate success, taking seven wickets in the third Test at Sheffield (the only Test ever to be played there). However England still lost the match. The final two Tests were amongst the most exciting of all time. A brilliant century by Trumper helped Australia to win the match at Old Trafford by three runs. England’s batting throughout the series was modest with only one innings of over 300 and with only three centuries scored. The last of these was a match-winning innings in the final Test at The Oval by Gilbert Jessop
, who went in at number seven in the second innings with England 48–5 and scored what was then the fastest century in Test cricket in 70 minutes, setting up an improbable England win by one wicket. The last wicket pair of Wilfred Rhodes and George Hirst nervelessly acquired the final fifteen runs needed for victory.
England toured Australia in 1903–1904, the first time that the MCC
had been responsible for an England tour overseas. England regained The Ashes
with a 3–2 series win under the captaincy of Plum Warner
. In the first Test R.E.Foster made his Test debut and scored 287 in his first ever innings – the then highest ever Test score and a record that was to stand for a quarter of a century. Wilfred Rhodes took 15 wickets in England's second Test win at the MCG
–a record that was to stand for thirty years. In the fifth Test England were dismissed for 61 in their first innings on a rain-affected pitch.
In 1905 Australia toured England and were beaten 2–0 with three matches drawn. Notable batting performances in the series included centuries by A.C. MacLaren, F.S. Jackson
(2), Johnny Tyldesley
(2) and C.B. Fry. B.J.T. Bosanquet
, the inventor of the googly
, took eight wickets in an Innings in the First Test.
In 1905–06 Plum Warner took an MCC team to South Africa for the first time and England were soundly beaten 4–1 in the series. England's batting faltered throughout the series with only one team innings in excess of 200 (successive innings of 184,190,148,160,295,196,198,160,187 and 130) and just one individual century (by F.L.Fane in the 3rd Test at the Wanderers
). England’s only win came at Newlands
where the left-arm slow bowler Colin Blythe
took eleven wickets in the match.
In 1907 there was a home three match Test series against South Africa which England, captained by R.E.Foster, won 1–0. Highlights included another sparkling innings by Gilbert Jessop
who scored 93 at Lord’s in a partnership of 145 for the sixth wicket with Len Braund
who scored a century. There was another fine bowling performance by Blythe, who took 15 wickets at Headingley on a rain-affected match in a match that England won despite having been bowled out for 76 in their first innings.
In England’s Test series in Australia in 1907–08 Australia won the first Test but England hit back well with a narrow win at the MCG in the 2nd Test in which Jack Hobbs
made his England debut scoring 83 and 28. England were outplayed by Australia in the next three Tests and lost the series and the Ashes 4–1. England's batting was fragile throughout the series with only Gunn (2) and Hutchings scoring hundreds. The bowling relied on Jack Crawford)
, Arthur Fielder
and Barnes, who took 79 wickets between them.
In a home series against Australia in 1909 England lost 2–1 (two draws) and no combination of players (England used 25 in total in the series) seemed to work. England failed to make 200 in an innings five times and there was only one individual century (by J. Sharp in the 3rd Test). The remarkable Colin Blythe delivered England's only victory by taking eleven wickets in the First Test at Edgbaston, but thereafter Australia, whilst never dominating the England attack, always had the edge.
England returned to South Africa in 1909–10 under H.D.G. Leveson-Gower, for a five match Test series and fared little better than on their first visit in 1905–06. The series was lost 3–2 but this disguises South Africa’s superiority. The main highlight was Jack Hobbs
first (of 15) Test century in the final Test at Newlands
, he put on a then record 211 for the first wicket with Wilfred Rhodes
. This was one of only two personal hundreds by England batsmen in the series. The bowling attack was weak – although the last of the great “lob” (underhand) bowlers George Simpson-Hayward
had field days in the first three Test matches when he took a total of 21 wickets. Colin Blythe bowled England to a consolation win in the fifth Test with ten wickets in the match. Legspin dominated on the matting pitches, with the ball often bouncing chest high. Vogler took 29 wickets for the home side and Faulkner 29.
England toured Australia in 1911/12 under Plum Warner, but Johnny Douglas
took over the captaincy when Warner fell ill prior to the first Test. Despite losing that first match at Sydney, a side which boasted Jack Hobbs, Frank Woolley
, Sydney Barnes
and Wilfred Rhodes
hit back to take the next four Tests in style. Frank Foster and Barnes dominated with the ball, sharing 66 wickets, while Hobbs, Rhodes and Woolley recorded centuries. Hobbs and Rhodes shared opening stands of 147 at Adelaide and a then record 323 at Melbourne in the next Test where Barnes dismissed Bardsley, Kelleway, Hill and Armstrong for 3 runs in his opening spell. Later in the game, when the crowd barracked Barnes for deliberating over a field setting, he threw the ball down in disgust and refused to continue until order was restored. Frank Woolley also hit 305* in 205 minutes in a tour game against Tasmania.
The 1912 home season saw a unique experiment with a 9 Test triangular tournament involving South Africa and Australia but it was an idea ahead of its time and was not repeated. C.B. Fry of Sussex captained the team against Syd Gregory
of Australia and Frank Mitchell
of South Africa. Jack Hobbs scored 107 against Australia at Lords in a rain ruined game. The Australia v South Africa match, at Lord's, was notable for a visit by King George V
, the first time a reigning monarch had watched Test cricket. Barnes took 34 wickets in his 3 Tests against the South Africans.
England's 1913/14 tour of South Africa was the last before the onset of World War I
, and England dominated the rubber, winning 4–0. Syd Barnes was once again unplayable, taking 49 wickets in four Tests before boycotting the last in a row over his wife's accommodation. Only Herbie Taylor
resisted for the home side, with skilful backfoot defence on the matting pitches, scoring 508 runs at 50.8.
England resumed the winning habit on the 1922/23 tour of South Africa, under F.T. Mann, winning a pulsating rubber 2 – 1. England lost the first Test but scraped to victory in the next, at Cape Town, by one wicket. Phil Mead scored 181 at Kingsmead, Durban, to ensure a draw and they won the fifth and final match, also at Durban, thanks to Jack Russell's twin centuries in his final Test. This dominance was underlined in England in 1924 with a 3–0 for England.
Hopes that the Ashes might be regained were dashed on the 1924/25 tour down under however, Australia thrashing England 4–1, although England scored 8 centuries to Australia's 6. Herbert Sutcliffe
scored 734 runs at 81.56 and Maurice Tate
broke Mailey's Ashes record with 38 wickets, bowling 2,528 balls in the Tests. England's only victory came at Melbourne, by an innings, after Captain Arthur Gilligan
won the toss for the only time. It was England's first Ashes Test win in 12 years.
England drew the first four Tests of the 1926
Ashes series and so the series rested on the Oval Test, for which Percy Chapman
replaced Arthur Carr as captain and both the 48 year old Rhodes and 21 year old Larwood were selected. Hobbs and Sutcliffe scored centuries and Australia lost by 289 runs. The South African team proved stronger than before however and drew the 1927/28 series 2–2.
A fourth team was, at last, introduced to Test cricket when the West Indies took their bow in 1928. England won each of the three Tests by an innings, Freeman taking 22 wickets, and a view was expressed in the press that their elevation had proved a mistake although 'electric heels' Learie Constantine did the double on the tour. The England team at this period was as strong as it has ever been and Australia were dispatched 4–1 on the 1928/29 Ashes tour. Hammond scored 44, 28, 251, 200, 32, 119*, 177, 38 and 16 – a total of 905 runs, a new record. Percy Chapman captained the team but barely played again.
England, under J. C. White and Arthur Carr, beat South Africa 2–0 at home in 1929 with Herbert Sutcliffe scoring a hundred in each innings at the Oval Bizarrely there were two concurrent England tours in 1929/30, one to New Zealand and one to the West Indies. Surrey paceman Maurice Allom
took four wickets in five balls in New Zealand's maiden Test match, including a hat trick, and his 8 for 65 swept England to victory in Christchurch by 8 wickets with the three later Tests drawn. At the same time another England team were drawing 1 -1 in the West Indies under F. S. G. Calthorpe. 40 year old Patsy Hendren
made 1,765 runs on this tour and Andy Sandham
scored 325 at Kingston (out of England's 849) in his final Test. The 'black Bradman' George Headley
followed twin centuries at Georgetown with 223 in the same Kingston game.
took only four wickets in the series although K. S. Duleepsinhji
made 173 at Lord's on debut.
England played five Tests in South Africa on the 1930/31 tour. Chasing 240 to win the first Test at the Old Wanderers ground in Johannesburg they were bowled out by E. P. Nupen
, a master on the matting wicket, and drew the next four.
New Zealand played their first Test in England in 1931 and their strong performance at Lord's led the authorities to arrange another two that summer, one of which England won. India played their first Test in England in 1932 at Lords, reducing England to 19 for 3 on the first morning before losing a competitive match when they were bowled out for 187 chasing 346.
Before the 1932-3 tour to Australia
, England had become used to the prolific run-scoring of Don Bradman. The England captain, Surrey's
Douglas Jardine
chose to develop the already existing leg theory
into fast leg theory, or bodyline, as a tactic to stop Bradman. Fast leg theory involved bowling fast balls directly at the batsman's body, and Jardine had two very fast accurate bowlers, Harold Larwood
and Bill Voce
to bowl them. The batsman would need to defend himself, and if he touched the ball with the bat, he risked being caught by one of a large number of fielders placed on the leg side. Main article: Bodyline
England won the series and the Ashes
4–1. But complaints about the Bodyline tactic caused crowd disruption on the tour, and threats of diplomatic action from the Australian Cricket Board, which during the tour sent the following cable to the Marylebone Cricket Club
in London:
Later, Jardine was removed from the captaincy and the laws of cricket
changed so that no more than one fast ball aimed at the body was permitted per over, and having more than two fielders behind square leg were banned.
England won two Tests on the 1933/34 tour of India, the first ever Tests held in the sub continent. England won by nine wickets at Bombay's Gymkhana ground with B. H. Valentine scoring 136 in his first Test innings. Morris Nichols and E. W. Nobby Clark
bowled so many bouncers at the Indian batsman that they wore solar topees instead of caps to protect themselves from the ball as much as the sun. Naoomal Jeoomal top edged a Clark bouncer into his head in the third Test, was unable to continue and didn't bat in the second innings.
Australia won the first Test of the 1934 Ashes series by 238 runs at Trent Bridge. Clarrie Grimmett
took 25 wickets in the series, and Bill O'Reilly
28 as England were spun to defeat. Bradman made 758 runs in the Tests and 2020 on the tour, with Stan McCabe
making 2078. Patsy Hendren
(132) and Maurice Leyland
(153) ensured a draw at Old Trafford and England did manage a rare Test win over Australia at Lord's
with Hedley Verity
taking 14 wickets in a day and 15 in the match. Bradman (304) and Ponsford (181) put on 388 at Headingley and then 451 at the Oval where England lost by a massive 562 runs. Ponsford scored 266 in his last Test. Nobby Clark
bowled some 'leg theory' against the Australians, with little success. Bill Voce
took 8 for 66 for Notts against the Australians but withdrew from the attack with a 'leg injury' after Woodfall raised discrete objections.
England toured the West Indies in 1934/5 and showed the folly of sending a weakened team as they lost the rubber 2 -1 with George Headley scoring 270 not out in the 4th Test at Sabina Park. South Africa won on English soil for the first time, taking the 5 Test series 1–0 in 1935 with a victory at Lord's by 157 runs thanks to Bruce Mitchell
's 164 and Jock Cameron
's quickfire 90. Cameron died at 30, of enteric fever, soon after returning home from this tour.
India used 22 players in three Tests in England in 1936. A then record 588 runs were scored on the second day of the Old Trafford Test and England too experimented with their team and took the rubber 2–0.
The 1936/37 Ashes tour, under Gubby Allen
, was a titanic struggle. England, helped by rain freshening the pitch, won by 322 runs in Brisbane and an innings in Sydney where Wally Hammond
scored 271 not out. Bill Voce
was their spearhead, taking 17 wickets in these two games. Bradman added a record 346 for the sixth wicket with Jack Fingleton at Melbourne and followed that with 212 at Adelaide where his team leveled the score at 2–2. Bradman, McCabe and Badcock all scored hundreds in the decider at Melbourne and Australian took the series 3–2.
England beat New Zealand 1–0 in a three Test rubber in 1937. Tom Goddard
took 6 for 29 in bowling out the visitors for 134 at the Old Trafford Test as they chased 265 to win. Jack Cowie
had taken 6 for 67 for New Zealand and 10 in the match. Len Hutton
scored a century after having begun his England career with 0 and 1 at Lords. Prospective tours of South Africa and West Indies fell through in the winter of 1937/38.
The 1938 Ashes series was a high scoring affair. Hutton, Barnett, Paynter (216*) and Compton made hundreds at Trent Bridge with the Australians scoring three including Stan McCabe
's brilliant 232. Hammond scored 240 in the Lord's Test while Bill Brown made a double ton and Bradman a match saving century for Australia. Old Trafford fell victim to the rain and Australia retained the Ashes with a win at Headingley, thanks to Bradman's century and 10 wickets for O'Reilly and 7 for Fleetwood-Smith. England won the final Test at the Oval thanks to a record Test score of 903 – 7 dec and Len Hutton's world record of 364 in 13 hours, 17 minutes. Bradman, whose score of 335 had been surpassed, was the first to congratulate the 22 year old Yorkshireman. Maurice Leyland
made 187 and the elegant Joe Hardstaff
169 not out. Australia subsided to 201 and 123, batting 2 short, and England won by an innings and 579.
Paul Gibb
scored 93 and 106 on debut at Johannesburg on England's 1938/39 tour. England scored 11 centuries in the series and South Africa 6. Paynter scored 117 and 100 in the first Test and 243 in the third at Durban. England, 1–0, in the series, returned to Durban to play a deciding 'timeless' Test to the finish. It was abandoned as a draw after 10 days as England had to catch the train to catch the boat home. Needing 696 to win they were, incredibly, 654 for 5, Gibb having scored 120, Hammond 140 and Edrich 219. A record 1981 runs were scored, and the concept of timeless Tests was abandoned.
The three Tests between England and the West Indies in 1939 were the last before the Second World War, although a team for an MCC tour of India was selected more in hope than expectation of the matches being played. Len Hutton
and Denis Compton
, leaders of the bright new batting generation, scored hundreds at Lords where the brilliant George Headley
scored a ton in each innings. Hammond became the first fielder to hold 100 Test catches at Old Trafford. England took the series 1–0 as the war clouds loomed over Europe.
The history of the current England side can be traced to 1877 when England played in what was subsuequently recognised as the very first Test match
Test cricket
Test cricket is the longest form of the sport of cricket. Test matches are played between national representative teams with "Test status", as determined by the International Cricket Council , with four innings played between two teams of 11 players over a period of up to a maximum five days...
. Since then, up to 20 August 2006 they have played 852 Test matches, winning 298, losing 245 and drawing 309. During these 852 matches, they have been captained by 77 different players
English national cricket captains
This is a list of all English national cricket captains, comprising all of the men, boys and women who have captained an English national cricket team at official international level. England played in the first Test match in 1877 and have played more Test matches, and had more captains, than any...
.
Early history
The term "All-England" was first used in reports of two Kent v All-England matches in July 1739.The first match was at Bromley Common in Kent on Monday 9 July 1739. It was billed as between "eleven gentlemen of that county (i.e., Kent) and eleven gentlemen from any part of England, exclusive of Kent". Kent, described as "the Unconquerable County" won by "a very few notches".
The second match was at the Artillery Ground
Artillery Ground
The Artillery Ground in Finsbury is one of London's most centrally located cricket grounds, situated just off the City Road immediately north of the City of London...
in Bunhill Fields, Finsbury on Monday 23 July 1739. This game was drawn and a report includes the phrase "eleven picked out of all England".
In subsequent decades there were many more such matches between a side representing a county, or the MCC
Marylebone Cricket Club
Marylebone Cricket Club is a cricket club in London founded in 1787. Its influence and longevity now witness it as a private members' club dedicated to the development of cricket. It owns, and is based at, Lord's Cricket Ground in St John's Wood, London NW8. MCC was formerly the governing body of...
, and a side drawn from the rest of England and described as "England" or "All England". As the next section describes, in 1846 the term "All England Eleven" would acquire a new, more precise, definition.
The All-England XI
In 1846 William Clarke formed the All-England ElevenAll-England Eleven
In cricket, the term All-England has been used for various non-international teams that have been formed for short-term purposes since the 1739 English cricket season and it indicates that the "Rest of England" is playing against, say, MCC or an individual county team...
as a touring team of leading players to play matches at big city venues, mainly in the North of England. Clarke's team was a top-class side worthy of its title. The AEE lasted until 1880. In 1852, several players set up the United All-England Eleven as a rival to the AEE, and from 1857 to 1866 the annual match between these two teams was arguably the most important contest of the English season – certainly judged by the quality of the players.
Early tours
England cricket team in North America in 1859
The English cricket team in North America in 1859 was the first ever overseas cricket tour.-Organisation:The idea for the tour came from WP Pickering , who had been captain of cricket at Eton College in 1837 and 1838. He had emigrated to Canada in 1852 and played for Canada against the United...
was to North America by a team of English professionals, departing England in September 1859. The team comprised six players from the All-England Eleven and six from the United All-England Eleven, and was captained by George Parr
George Parr (cricketer)
George Parr was an English cricketer, whose first-class career lasted from 1844 to 1870....
. They played five matches, winning them all. There were no first-class fixtures.
With the outbreak of the American Civil War, attention turned to Australia. The inaugural tour of the country took place in 1861-2
English cricket team in Australia in 1861-62
An England cricket team toured Australia in 1861–62. This was the first-ever tour of Australia by any overseas team and the second tour abroad by an English team, following the one to North America in 1859.-Organisers:...
, and was organised by Messrs Spiers & Pond. Led by HH Stephenson
HH Stephenson
Heathfield Harman "HH" Stephenson was a famous English cricketer during the game's roundarm era....
, the English team played 12 matches, but none were first-class.
In 1863-4, the Melbourne Cricket Club
Melbourne Cricket Club
The Melbourne Cricket Club is a sporting club based in Melbourne, Australia. It was founded in 1838 and is regarded as the oldest sporting club in Australia....
organised a tour by an English team under the captaincy of George Parr, which also visited New Zealand. The team played 16 matches, but none were first-class.
There were further tours of North America (taking in both the USA and Canada) in late 1868, led by Edgar Willsher
Edgar Willsher
Edgar "Ned" Willsher was an English cricketer who is famous for being the catalyst in the shift from roundarm to overarm bowling....
, and in late 1872, under R.A. Fitzgerald. The latter side included W.G.Grace.
In 1873-4, the Melbourne Cricket Club
Melbourne Cricket Club
The Melbourne Cricket Club is a sporting club based in Melbourne, Australia. It was founded in 1838 and is regarded as the oldest sporting club in Australia....
organised a tour by a team under the captaincy of WG Grace, which played 15 matches, but none were first-class.
Most of the matches of these early touring teams were played "against odds", that is to say the opposing team was permitted to have more than eleven players (usually twenty-two) in order to make a more even contest.
1877 to 1890
James LillywhiteJames Lillywhite
James Lillywhite was a first-class and Test cricketer and umpire. He was the first ever captain of the English cricket team in a Test match, captaining 2 Tests against Australia in 1876-77, losing the first, but winning the second.Lillywhite was born in Westhampnett in Sussex, the son of a...
, a professional with Sussex CCC, led a team which had sailed on the P&O steamship Poonah on 21 September 1876. They played in Australia and then New Zealand before returning to Australia to play a combined Australian XI, for once on even terms of XI a side. The match, starting on 15 March 1877 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground
Melbourne Cricket Ground
The Melbourne Cricket Ground is an Australian sports stadium located in Yarra Park, Melbourne and is home to the Melbourne Cricket Club. It is the tenth largest stadium in the world, the largest in Australia, the largest stadium for playing cricket, and holds the world record for the highest light...
, came to be regarded as the first Test match, although none of its participants could have guessed at its significance at the time. Charles Bannerman
Charles Bannerman
Charles Bannerman was an Australian Test cricketer, a right-hand batsman, who played domestic cricket for New South Wales....
, of Australia, faced the first ball and scored the first century, a glorious 165 before retiring hurt with a broken finger. The next highest score in this inaugural Test for Australia was Tom Horan
Tom Horan
Thomas Patrick Horan was an Australian cricketer who played for Victoria and Australia, and later became an esteemed cricket journalist under the pen name "Felix". The first of only two Irish-born players to play Test cricket for Australia, Horan was the leading batsman in the colony of Victoria...
with 10. Alfred Shaw
Alfred Shaw
Alfred Shaw was an eminent Victorian cricketer and rugby footballer, who bowled the first ball in Test cricket and was the first to take five wickets in a Test innings . He who organised the first British Isles rugby tour to Australasia in 1888...
of England bowled the first ball and took 5 for 38 in Australia's second innings. Tom Kendall
Tom Kendall
Thomas Kingston Kendall was an Australian cricketer, who played in two Tests in 1877, including the inaugural Test which was played at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in March 1877....
, born in England, took 7 English wickets for 55 to bring Australia victory by 45 runs. 100 years later, in the Centenary Test, the result and margin would be exactly the same. England won a second match to square the series.
In 1878/79 Kent captain and MCC luminary Lord Harris
George Harris, 4th Baron Harris
George Robert Canning Harris, 4th Baron Harris, GCSI, GCIE was a British politician, cricketer and cricket administrator...
took a team, consisting mainly of amateurs, to Australia where they lost by 10 wickets at Melbourne. Their batting was reasonably strong but the lack of professional bowlers cost them dear. The tour became famous for an unseemly incident in a tour game at Sydney where a near riot
Sydney Riot of 1879
The Sydney Riot of 1879 was a civil disorder that occurred at an early international cricket match. It took place in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, at the Association Ground, Moore Park, now known as the Sydney Cricket Ground, during a match between a touring English team captained by Lord...
broke out. One of the umpires was Edmund Barton
Edmund Barton
Sir Edmund Barton, GCMG, KC , Australian politician and judge, was the first Prime Minister of Australia and a founding justice of the High Court of Australia....
, who became Australia's first prime minister.
The 1880 Australian tourists were the first to play a Test match on English soil. Their 'demon' bowler, Fred Spofforth
Fred Spofforth
Frederick Robert "Fred" Spofforth , also known as "The Demon Bowler", was arguably the Australian cricket team's finest pace bowler of the nineteenth century and was the first bowler to take 50 Test wickets, and the first to take a test hat-trick in 1879...
, sustained a hand injury and, crucially, missed the game in which W.G. Grace scored 152 and Billy Murdoch
Billy Murdoch
William Lloyd Murdoch was an Australian cricketer, who captained the Australian team on tours to England in 1880, 1882 , 1884 and 1890...
one run better. Lord Harris led the victorious England side at the Oval.
An all professional side, organised by Shaw, Shrewsbury and Lillywhite sailed to Australia for the 1881/82 campaign. The tour was bedeviled with scandal and allegations of fisticuffs, betting and heavy drinking. Tom Garrett
Tom Garrett
Thomas William Garrett was an early Australian Test cricketer and, later, a distinguished public servant.-Early life:...
took 18 wickets in the three Tests played for Australia. Many of the tour matches were still against local '22's. Australia won the four Test series 2 – 0.
The developing rivalry took on a new turn in 1882, when England lost at home at The Oval
The Oval
The Kia Oval, still commonly referred to by its original name of The Oval, is an international cricket ground in Kennington, in the London Borough of Lambeth. In the past it was also sometimes called the Kennington Oval...
in the solitary Test of the summer. Spofforth took 7 for 46 and 7 for 44 and Ted Peate
Ted Peate
Edmund Peate was an English professional cricketer who played for Yorkshire and England.-Overview:...
, Yorkshire slow left armer who had taken 8 wickets, was out just 8 runs short of victory. Upset at this turn of events, The Sporting Times
The Sporting Times
The Sporting Times was a weekly British newspaper devoted chiefly to sport, and in particular to horse racing...
printed an obituary to English cricket: "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."
When England toured Australia the following winter of 1882/83 and won 2–1, the England captain, the Hon. Ivo Bligh was presented with an urn that contained some ashes, which have variously been said to be of a bail
Bail (cricket)
In the sport of cricket, a bail is one of the two smaller sticks placed on top of the three stumps to form a wicket. The bails are used to determine when the wicket is broken, which in turn is one of the critical factors in determining whether a batsman is out bowled, stumped, run out or hit wicket...
, ball
Cricket ball
A cricket ball is a hard, solid leather ball used to play cricket. Constructed of cork and leather, a cricket ball is heavily regulated by cricket law at first class level...
or even a woman's veil. And so The Ashes
The Ashes
The Ashes is a Test cricket series played between England and Australia. It is one of the most celebrated rivalries in international cricket and dates back to 1882. It is currently played biennially, alternately in the United Kingdom and Australia. Cricket being a summer sport, and the venues...
series was born. Yorkshire stalwart Billy Bates
Billy Bates
Willie Bates, known as Billy was an English all-round cricketer. Excellent with both bat and ball, Bates scored over 10,000 first-class runs, took more than 870 wickets and was always reliable in the field...
, who played all his 15 Tests on 5 tours to Australia, scored 55 and took 14 for 102 at Melbourne in the second Test, including the first Test hat-trick, to bring England the first innings victory in Test cricket. A.G. Steel made 135* at Sydney – although he did drop Bonner 4 times (out of 8 drops in total) as the giant Australian hitter scored 87.
England won 1–0 in the three Test series in 1884. Peate took 6 for 85 in Australia's first innings, and Ulyett 7 for 36, the second as England won by an innings Lord's where Steel made a wonderful 148 out of England's first innings of 379. Australia's captain Billy Murdoch
Billy Murdoch
William Lloyd Murdoch was an Australian cricketer, who captained the Australian team on tours to England in 1880, 1882 , 1884 and 1890...
scored the first Test double hundred at the Oval where Walter Read
Walter Read
Walter William Read was an English cricketer, who was a fluent right hand bat. An occasional bowler of lobs, he sometimes switched to quick overarm deliveries. He captained England in two Test matches, winning them both...
of England hit a century in 113 minutes after going in at number 10. All 11 Englishmen bowled in Australia's innings, including wicket keeper Lyttelton with underarm lobs.
England embarked on a long stretch of dominance. They won 14 and lost only 3 of the Tests played between 1884 and 1890. Billy Barnes
Billy Barnes
William Barnes was a professional cricketer who played for Nottinghamshire between 1875 and 1894 and England between 1880 and 1890. In 1890 he was named as one of the Wisden Cricketers of the Year. Barnes also toured Australia three times and North America once...
hit 134 in the opening Adelaide Test of the five Test 1884/85 series while Johnny Briggs
Johnny Briggs (cricketer)
Johnny Briggs was a left arm spin bowler for Lancashire County Cricket Club between 1879 and 1900 who still stands as the second-highest wicket-taker in the county's history after Brian Statham...
of Lancashire hit a two hour ton at Melbourne in the second, where Australia fielded a completely new team of 11 different players after a dispute over gate money. Wilfred Flowers
Wilfred Flowers
Wilfred Flowers was a professional cricketer who played for Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club between 1877 and 1896....
scored 56 and took 5 for 46 in the third Test at Sydney where Australia pulled back a game thanks to Bonner smashing a century in even time. England won the deciding fifth Test by an innings at Melbourne, Arthur Shrewsbury
Arthur Shrewsbury
Arthur Shrewsbury was an English cricketer, and rugby football administrator, who organised the first British Isles rugby tour to Australasia in 1888, and who was widely rated as competing with W. G...
making 105*.
W. G. Grace
W. G. Grace
William Gilbert Grace, MRCS, LRCP was an English amateur cricketer who is widely acknowledged as one of the greatest players of all time, having a special significance in terms of his importance to the development of the sport...
scored 170 in the Oval Test of 1886, beating the individual Test innings record of 164 set by Arthur Shrewsbury
Arthur Shrewsbury
Arthur Shrewsbury was an English cricketer, and rugby football administrator, who organised the first British Isles rugby tour to Australasia in 1888, and who was widely rated as competing with W. G...
in the previous match on an evil pitch at Lords. England won by an innings on the third day after Australia were bowled out for 68 and 149m with George Lohmann
George Lohmann
George Alfred Lohmann is regarded as one of the greatest bowlers of all time...
of Surrey taking 12 for 104. The Australian tourists, without Bannerman or Murdoch and often losing Spofforth to injuries, lost all three Tests.
Shrewsbury's England beat Australia in both matches on the 1886–87 tour, despite being bowled out for 45 on the first day at Sydney. Two England parties toured there in 1887–88, with Shaw and Shrewsbury's team sponsored by Melbourne CC and Lord Harris's team by the Sydney Association. The two sides joined up for one Test Match at Sydney which they won thanks to Lohmann's 9 wickets and Bobby Peel's 10. Australia made just 42 and 82 on a poor pitch in bad light.
The 1888 Australians won at Lords but lost at The Oval
The Oval
The Kia Oval, still commonly referred to by its original name of The Oval, is an international cricket ground in Kennington, in the London Borough of Lambeth. In the past it was also sometimes called the Kennington Oval...
and Old Trafford. Their bowling was penetrative, particularly Jack Ferris and the 'terror' Charlie Turner
Charles Turner (cricketer)
Charles Thomas Biass Turner was a bowler who is regarded as one of the finest ever produced by Australia....
, but their batting was too weak to withstand the English professionals in their home conditions. Bobby Peel
Bobby Peel
Robert "Bobby" Peel was a Yorkshire and England cricketer: a left-arm spinner who ranks as one of the finest bowlers of the 1890s. He was also a capable batsman, who once hit 210 not out...
took 11 wickets at Old Trafford.
England won the first Test in South Africa, at Port Elizabeth in March 1889 by 8 wickets, despite fielding a less than first choice XI. W.H. Ashley
Gobo Ashley
William Hare 'Gobo' Ashley was a South African cricketer who played in one Test in 1889....
took 7 for 95 for South Africa in his only Test. Bobby Abel of Surrey scored 120 for England in the Second Test, the first hundred scored in South Africa. Bernard Tancred
Bernard Tancred
Augustus Bernard Tancred was a leading 19th century South African Test cricketer.Born in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, Tancred attended St...
of South Africa became the first Test batsman to carry his bat, for 26*, as South Africa collapsed to 47 all out. M.P. Bowden
Monty Bowden
Montague Parker Bowden was an English cricketer and wicket-keeper, who played two Test matches against South Africa in 1888/9....
remains the youngest man to captain England, at just 23 years and 144 days. Johnny Briggs
Johnny Briggs (cricketer)
Johnny Briggs was a left arm spin bowler for Lancashire County Cricket Club between 1879 and 1900 who still stands as the second-highest wicket-taker in the county's history after Brian Statham...
took 7 for 17 and 8 for 11 at Cape Town
Cape Town
Cape Town is the second-most populous city in South Africa, and the provincial capital and primate city of the Western Cape. As the seat of the National Parliament, it is also the legislative capital of the country. It forms part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality...
, 14 bowled and 1 LBW.
1890s
Four ball overs gave way to five ball overs in the 1890s and to six ball overs in Australia, as the game continued to develop quickly. England won the 1890 Ashes series 2–0, although Jack BarrettJack Barrett (cricketer)
John Edward Barrett was an Australian cricketer who played in 2 Tests in 1890. He became a doctor.-References:*...
carried his bat for 67 through Australia's second innings of 176 at Lord's. W. G. Grace
W. G. Grace
William Gilbert Grace, MRCS, LRCP was an English amateur cricketer who is widely acknowledged as one of the greatest players of all time, having a special significance in terms of his importance to the development of the sport...
was out second ball in the first innings but saw England home in the second with 75*. Frederick Martin took 12 Australian wickets for 102 but 'Nutty' never played an Ashes match again. The third scheduled match, at Old Trafford, was the first Test to be abandoned without a ball being bowled.
W. G. Grace's tourists lost 2–1 on the 1891–92 tour, Australia winning at Melbourne and Sydney, where Bannerman batted for seven and a half hours and scored only three boundaries and England's Bobby Abel
Bobby Abel
Robert Abel , nicknamed "The Guv'nor", was a Surrey and England opening batsman who was one of the most prolific run-getters in the early years of the County Championship...
carried his bat for 132. England claimed a consolation innings victory at Adelaide where Stoddard scored 134 and Peel 83 and Briggs took 6 wickets in each innings.
England won the only Test on the 1891/92 tour of South Africa at Cape Town, where Harry Wood, the Surrey wicket keeper made 134 not out and Ferris, who had earlier played for Australia, took 13 for 91. Billy Murdoch
Billy Murdoch
William Lloyd Murdoch was an Australian cricketer, who captained the Australian team on tours to England in 1880, 1882 , 1884 and 1890...
was another Australian turned Englishman on the tour.
England regained the Ashes in 1893, with an innings win at The Oval and draws in the other two Tests. W. G. Grace
W. G. Grace
William Gilbert Grace, MRCS, LRCP was an English amateur cricketer who is widely acknowledged as one of the greatest players of all time, having a special significance in terms of his importance to the development of the sport...
and A.E. Stoddart
Andrew Stoddart
Andrew Ernest Stoddart was an English cricketer and rugby union player. He was a Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1893.-Cricket career:...
made three consecutive century opening stands. William Gunn
Billy Gunn (cricketer)
William "Billy" Gunn was an English sportsman who played internationally in both cricket and football. In first-class cricket, Gunn played professionally for Nottinghamshire from 1880 to 1904 and represented England in 11 Test matches...
of Nottinghamshire scored his only Test hundred, 102*, at Old Trafford, while Arthur Shrewsbury
Arthur Shrewsbury
Arthur Shrewsbury was an English cricketer, and rugby football administrator, who organised the first British Isles rugby tour to Australasia in 1888, and who was widely rated as competing with W. G...
scored 106 at Lord's. Future England great Ranjitsinhji was one of the unfortunate bowlers as Australia set a new record team score of 843 against 'Oxford and Cambridge Past and Present' in Portsmouth.
Andrew Stoddart
Andrew Stoddart
Andrew Ernest Stoddart was an English cricketer and rugby union player. He was a Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1893.-Cricket career:...
led England to a thrilling 3–2 victory on the 1894–1895 Ashes tour. Bobby Peel
Bobby Peel
Robert "Bobby" Peel was a Yorkshire and England cricketer: a left-arm spinner who ranks as one of the finest bowlers of the 1890s. He was also a capable batsman, who once hit 210 not out...
took the final wickets in the first Test victory at Sydney and the second at Melbourne and hit the winning runs in the final and deciding Test at the MCG. England's amazing victory at Sydney, by 10 runs, came after they had followed on with Lancashire's Albert Ward hitting 75 and 117 in the game. J.T. Brown scored 140 for England at Melbourne where England were set 297 to win. He reached 50 in 28 minutes and put on a then record 210 with Ward as England won by six wickets. Tom Richardson
Tom Richardson
Tom Richardson was an English cricketer. A fast bowler, Richardson relied to a great extent on the break-back , a relatively long run-up and high arm which allowed him to gain sharp lift on fast pitches even from the full, straight length he always bowled...
took 32 wickets in the Tests.
England won all three Tests of the 1895/96 tour of South Africa by resounding margins. Lohmann was unplayable, taking 7 for 38 and 8 for 7 at Port Elizabeth and finishing with a hat trick. He took 9 for 28 and 3 for 43 at Johannesburg and 7 for 42 and 1 for 45 at Cape Town.
Having been overlooked for the first Test at Lord's, where Australian captain Harry Trott
Harry Trott
George Henry Stevens "Harry" Trott was an Australian Test cricketer who played 24 Test matches as an all-rounder between 1888 and 1898. Although Trott was a versatile batsman, spin bowler and outstanding fielder, "... it is as a captain that he is best remembered, an understanding judge of...
scored 143 and put on a record 210 with Syd Gregory
Syd Gregory
Sydney Edward Gregory , sometimes known as Edward Sydney Gregory, was a cricketer who played for New South Wales and Australia. At the time of his retirement, he had played a world-record 58 Test matches during a career spanning 1890 to 1912...
(103), Shri Ranjitsinhji burst into Test cricket with 62 and 154 at Old Trafford in 1896. His magical batting and Tom Richardson's 13 for 244 were not enough to prevent Australia running out winners by 3 wickets however. Five English professionals went on 'strike' for more money before the Oval Test. Abel, Hayward and Richardson relented, but Gunn and Lohmann never played for England again. England won the series 2–1.
The Ashes were lost on Andrew Stoddart
Andrew Stoddart
Andrew Ernest Stoddart was an English cricketer and rugby union player. He was a Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1893.-Cricket career:...
's 1897/98 tour, with Australia thumping England 4–1. Australian Joe Darling
Joe Darling
Joseph "Joe" Darling CBE was an Australian cricketer who played 34 Test matches as a specialist batsman between 1894 and 1905. As captain, he led Australia in a total of 21 Tests, winning seven and losing four. In Test cricket, he scored 1657 runs at an average of 28.56 per innings, including...
was the first batsmen to make 500 runs in a Test series, including 101 at Sydney, 178 at Adelaide and 160 in the final Sydney Test, where his hundred came up in 91 minutes. Stoddart's mother died just before the first Test and he was too distraught to play in either of the first two matches. Ranji, batting at number 7 after a throat infection, scored a brilliant 175 in the first Test and took England over 500 for the first time in a game won by 9 wickets but the Englishmen lost the next four heavily.
Lord Hawke
Martin Hawke, 7th Baron Hawke
Martin Bladen Hawke, 7th Baron Hawke of Towton , generally known as Lord Hawke, was an English amateur cricketer who played major roles in the sport's administration....
's tourists in 1898/99 played and won two Tests in South Africa, with sometime Australian Albert Trott taking 17 wickets. Plum Warner
Plum Warner
Sir Pelham Francis Warner MBE , affectionately and better known as Plum Warner, or even "the Grand Old Man" of English cricket was a Test cricketer....
carried his bat for 132 at Johannesburg in his maiden Test.
The 1899 series against Australia saw two significant developments. For the first time in England, five Tests were played rather than three, with Trent Bridge
Trent Bridge
Trent Bridge is a Test, One-day international and County cricket ground located in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England and is also the headquarters of Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club. As well as International cricket and Nottinghamshire's home games, the ground has hosted the Finals Day of...
and Headingley being added to the "traditional" venues of Lord's, The Oval and Old Trafford. Also MCC and the counties appointed a selection committee for the first time. It comprised three active players: Lord Hawke, W.G. Grace and H.W. Bainbridge who was the captain of Warwickshire. Prior to this, England teams for home Tests had been chosen by the club on whose ground the match was to be played. The peerless Australian Victor Trumper
Victor Trumper
Victor Thomas Trumper was an Australian cricketer known as the most stylish and versatile batsman of the Golden Age of cricket, capable of playing match-winning innings on wet wickets his contemporaries found unplayable. Archie MacLaren said of him, "Compared to Victor I was a cab-horse to a Derby...
dominated the series. He scored 1,500 runs on the tour, including 300 not out against Sussex and a breathtaking century in Australia's sole, but deciding, Test victory at Lords. W.G. Grace played his last Test at Trent Bridge. F.S. Jackson
Stanley Jackson
Sir Francis Stanley Jackson, GCSI, GCIE, PC, KStJ , known as the Honourable Stanley Jackson during his playing career, was an English cricketer, soldier and Conservative Party politician.-Early life:...
and Tom Hayward
Tom Hayward
Thomas Walter Hayward was a cricketer who played for Surrey and England between the 1890s and the outbreak of World War I. He was primarily an opening batsman, noted especially for the quality of his off-drive...
put on 185 at the Oval for the first wicket. England, scoring 576, forced Australia (352) to follow on, but the Australians played out the draw and with it retained the Ashes.
1900–1914: The "Golden Age"
The first Test series of the new century took place in Australia 1901–1902 and was won by Australia who came from one down to take the series 4–1. The England side was a private venture of Archie MacLaren (although the matches were all official Test matches). It was rather an attritional series of matches with only three centuries being scored and only one team innings over 400 (the first innings of England in the First Test at the SCGSydney Cricket Ground
The Sydney Cricket Ground is a sports stadium in Sydney in Australia. It is used for Australian football, Test cricket, One Day International cricket, some rugby league and rugby union matches and is the home ground for the New South Wales Blues cricket team and the Sydney Swans of the Australian...
). Sydney Barnes
Sydney Barnes
Sydney Francis Barnes was an English professional cricketer who is generally regarded as one of the greatest bowlers in the sport's history...
made his debut for England and took 19 wickets in the first two Tests before being injured in the third and talking no further part in the series.
There was a home series against Australia in 1902
Australian cricket team in England in 1902
The Australian cricket team toured England during the 1902 English cricket season. The five-Test series between the two countries has been fondly remembered; in 1967 the cricket writer A.A. Thomson described the series as "a rubber more exciting than any in history except the Australia v West...
which was won by the Australians (2–1). In the drawn First Test at Edgbaston Australia were dismissed for 36 in their first innings (Wilfred Rhodes
Wilfred Rhodes
Wilfred Rhodes was an English professional cricketer who played 58 Test matches for England between 1899 and 1930. In Tests, Rhodes took 127 wickets in and scored 2,325 runs, becoming the first Englishman to complete the double of 1,000 runs and 100 wickets in Test matches...
7 for 17) but rain meant that the match was drawn. Rain also ruined the following match at Lord's. Sydney Barnes returned to the England team and had immediate success, taking seven wickets in the third Test at Sheffield (the only Test ever to be played there). However England still lost the match. The final two Tests were amongst the most exciting of all time. A brilliant century by Trumper helped Australia to win the match at Old Trafford by three runs. England’s batting throughout the series was modest with only one innings of over 300 and with only three centuries scored. The last of these was a match-winning innings in the final Test at The Oval by Gilbert Jessop
Gilbert Jessop
Gilbert Laird Jessop was an English cricket player, often reckoned to have been the fastest run-scorer cricket has ever known, he was Wisden Cricketer of the Year for 1898.Relations...
, who went in at number seven in the second innings with England 48–5 and scored what was then the fastest century in Test cricket in 70 minutes, setting up an improbable England win by one wicket. The last wicket pair of Wilfred Rhodes and George Hirst nervelessly acquired the final fifteen runs needed for victory.
England toured Australia in 1903–1904, the first time that the MCC
Marylebone Cricket Club
Marylebone Cricket Club is a cricket club in London founded in 1787. Its influence and longevity now witness it as a private members' club dedicated to the development of cricket. It owns, and is based at, Lord's Cricket Ground in St John's Wood, London NW8. MCC was formerly the governing body of...
had been responsible for an England tour overseas. England regained The Ashes
The Ashes
The Ashes is a Test cricket series played between England and Australia. It is one of the most celebrated rivalries in international cricket and dates back to 1882. It is currently played biennially, alternately in the United Kingdom and Australia. Cricket being a summer sport, and the venues...
with a 3–2 series win under the captaincy of Plum Warner
Plum Warner
Sir Pelham Francis Warner MBE , affectionately and better known as Plum Warner, or even "the Grand Old Man" of English cricket was a Test cricketer....
. In the first Test R.E.Foster made his Test debut and scored 287 in his first ever innings – the then highest ever Test score and a record that was to stand for a quarter of a century. Wilfred Rhodes took 15 wickets in England's second Test win at the MCG
McG
Joseph McGinty Nichol , better known as McG, is an American director and producer of film and television, as well as a former record producer....
–a record that was to stand for thirty years. In the fifth Test England were dismissed for 61 in their first innings on a rain-affected pitch.
In 1905 Australia toured England and were beaten 2–0 with three matches drawn. Notable batting performances in the series included centuries by A.C. MacLaren, F.S. Jackson
Stanley Jackson
Sir Francis Stanley Jackson, GCSI, GCIE, PC, KStJ , known as the Honourable Stanley Jackson during his playing career, was an English cricketer, soldier and Conservative Party politician.-Early life:...
(2), Johnny Tyldesley
Johnny Tyldesley
Johnny Tyldesley was a Lancashire and England cricketer and for many years the finest professional batsman in county cricket.-Life and career:...
(2) and C.B. Fry. B.J.T. Bosanquet
Bernard Bosanquet (cricketer)
Bernard James Tindal Bosanquet was an English cricketer best known for inventing the googly, a delivery designed to deceive the batsman. When bowled, it appears to be a leg break, but after pitching the ball turns in the opposite direction to that which is expected, behaving as an off break instead...
, the inventor of the googly
Googly
In cricket, a googly is a type of delivery bowled by a right-arm leg spin bowler. It is occasionally referred to as a Bosie , an eponym in honour of its inventor Bernard Bosanquet.- Explanation :...
, took eight wickets in an Innings in the First Test.
In 1905–06 Plum Warner took an MCC team to South Africa for the first time and England were soundly beaten 4–1 in the series. England's batting faltered throughout the series with only one team innings in excess of 200 (successive innings of 184,190,148,160,295,196,198,160,187 and 130) and just one individual century (by F.L.Fane in the 3rd Test at the Wanderers
Wanderers Stadium
BIDVest Wanderers Stadium is a stadium situated just south of Sandton in Illovo, Johannesburg in Gauteng Province, South Africa. Test, One Day and First class cricket matches are played here. It is also the home ground for the Highveld Lions, formerly known as Gauteng .The stadium has a seating...
). England’s only win came at Newlands
Newlands Cricket Ground
Newlands Cricket Ground in Cape Town is a South African cricket ground. It's the home of the Cape Cobras, who play in the SuperSport Series, MTN Domestic Championship and Standard Bank Pro20 competitions. It is also a venue for Test matches. Newlands is regarded as one of the most beautiful cricket...
where the left-arm slow bowler Colin Blythe
Colin Blythe
Colin Blythe , also known as Charlie Blythe, was a Kent and England left arm spinner who is regarded as one of the finest bowlers of the period between 1900 and 1914 - sometimes referred to as the "Golden Age" of cricket.-Career:Blythe first played...
took eleven wickets in the match.
In 1907 there was a home three match Test series against South Africa which England, captained by R.E.Foster, won 1–0. Highlights included another sparkling innings by Gilbert Jessop
Gilbert Jessop
Gilbert Laird Jessop was an English cricket player, often reckoned to have been the fastest run-scorer cricket has ever known, he was Wisden Cricketer of the Year for 1898.Relations...
who scored 93 at Lord’s in a partnership of 145 for the sixth wicket with Len Braund
Len Braund
Leonard Charles Braund, born October 18, 1875, at Clewer, Berkshire, and died December 23, 1955, Putney Common, London, was a cricketer who played for Surrey, Somerset and England....
who scored a century. There was another fine bowling performance by Blythe, who took 15 wickets at Headingley on a rain-affected match in a match that England won despite having been bowled out for 76 in their first innings.
In England’s Test series in Australia in 1907–08 Australia won the first Test but England hit back well with a narrow win at the MCG in the 2nd Test in which Jack Hobbs
Jack Hobbs
Sir John Berry "Jack" Hobbs was an English professional cricketer who played for Surrey from 1905 to 1934 and for England in 61 Test matches from 1908 to 1930....
made his England debut scoring 83 and 28. England were outplayed by Australia in the next three Tests and lost the series and the Ashes 4–1. England's batting was fragile throughout the series with only Gunn (2) and Hutchings scoring hundreds. The bowling relied on Jack Crawford)
Jack Crawford (cricketer)
John Neville Crawford was an English first-class cricketer who played mainly for Surrey. An amateur, he played as an all-rounder and was highly regarded from an unusually early age before a disagreement with his county curtailed his career. A right-handed batsman, Crawford had a reputation for...
, Arthur Fielder
Arthur Fielder
Arthur Fielder was the leading fast bowler in English cricket for the decade before World War I and one of the key contributors to Kent's four County Championship successes between 1906 and 1913.In some ways the founder of modern fast bowling, Fielder was the first fast bowler to rely on swing...
and Barnes, who took 79 wickets between them.
In a home series against Australia in 1909 England lost 2–1 (two draws) and no combination of players (England used 25 in total in the series) seemed to work. England failed to make 200 in an innings five times and there was only one individual century (by J. Sharp in the 3rd Test). The remarkable Colin Blythe delivered England's only victory by taking eleven wickets in the First Test at Edgbaston, but thereafter Australia, whilst never dominating the England attack, always had the edge.
England returned to South Africa in 1909–10 under H.D.G. Leveson-Gower, for a five match Test series and fared little better than on their first visit in 1905–06. The series was lost 3–2 but this disguises South Africa’s superiority. The main highlight was Jack Hobbs
Jack Hobbs
Sir John Berry "Jack" Hobbs was an English professional cricketer who played for Surrey from 1905 to 1934 and for England in 61 Test matches from 1908 to 1930....
first (of 15) Test century in the final Test at Newlands
Newlands Cricket Ground
Newlands Cricket Ground in Cape Town is a South African cricket ground. It's the home of the Cape Cobras, who play in the SuperSport Series, MTN Domestic Championship and Standard Bank Pro20 competitions. It is also a venue for Test matches. Newlands is regarded as one of the most beautiful cricket...
, he put on a then record 211 for the first wicket with Wilfred Rhodes
Wilfred Rhodes
Wilfred Rhodes was an English professional cricketer who played 58 Test matches for England between 1899 and 1930. In Tests, Rhodes took 127 wickets in and scored 2,325 runs, becoming the first Englishman to complete the double of 1,000 runs and 100 wickets in Test matches...
. This was one of only two personal hundreds by England batsmen in the series. The bowling attack was weak – although the last of the great “lob” (underhand) bowlers George Simpson-Hayward
George Simpson-Hayward
George Hayward Thomas Simpson-Hayward was an English cricketer who played in 5 Tests in 1910...
had field days in the first three Test matches when he took a total of 21 wickets. Colin Blythe bowled England to a consolation win in the fifth Test with ten wickets in the match. Legspin dominated on the matting pitches, with the ball often bouncing chest high. Vogler took 29 wickets for the home side and Faulkner 29.
England toured Australia in 1911/12 under Plum Warner, but Johnny Douglas
Johnny Douglas
John "Johnny" William Henry Tyler Douglas was a cricketer who was captain of the England team and an Olympic boxer.-Early life:...
took over the captaincy when Warner fell ill prior to the first Test. Despite losing that first match at Sydney, a side which boasted Jack Hobbs, Frank Woolley
Frank Woolley
Frank Edward Woolley was an English cricketer, one of the finest all-rounders the game has seen. In a career lasting more than thirty years, he scored more first-class runs than anyone but Sir Jack Hobbs, and took over 2,000 wickets at an average of under 20...
, Sydney Barnes
Sydney Barnes
Sydney Francis Barnes was an English professional cricketer who is generally regarded as one of the greatest bowlers in the sport's history...
and Wilfred Rhodes
Wilfred Rhodes
Wilfred Rhodes was an English professional cricketer who played 58 Test matches for England between 1899 and 1930. In Tests, Rhodes took 127 wickets in and scored 2,325 runs, becoming the first Englishman to complete the double of 1,000 runs and 100 wickets in Test matches...
hit back to take the next four Tests in style. Frank Foster and Barnes dominated with the ball, sharing 66 wickets, while Hobbs, Rhodes and Woolley recorded centuries. Hobbs and Rhodes shared opening stands of 147 at Adelaide and a then record 323 at Melbourne in the next Test where Barnes dismissed Bardsley, Kelleway, Hill and Armstrong for 3 runs in his opening spell. Later in the game, when the crowd barracked Barnes for deliberating over a field setting, he threw the ball down in disgust and refused to continue until order was restored. Frank Woolley also hit 305* in 205 minutes in a tour game against Tasmania.
The 1912 home season saw a unique experiment with a 9 Test triangular tournament involving South Africa and Australia but it was an idea ahead of its time and was not repeated. C.B. Fry of Sussex captained the team against Syd Gregory
Syd Gregory
Sydney Edward Gregory , sometimes known as Edward Sydney Gregory, was a cricketer who played for New South Wales and Australia. At the time of his retirement, he had played a world-record 58 Test matches during a career spanning 1890 to 1912...
of Australia and Frank Mitchell
Frank Mitchell
Frank Mitchell was a cricketer and rugby union player.-School, University and Yorkshire:...
of South Africa. Jack Hobbs scored 107 against Australia at Lords in a rain ruined game. The Australia v South Africa match, at Lord's, was notable for a visit by King George V
George V of the United Kingdom
George V was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 through the First World War until his death in 1936....
, the first time a reigning monarch had watched Test cricket. Barnes took 34 wickets in his 3 Tests against the South Africans.
England's 1913/14 tour of South Africa was the last before the onset of World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, and England dominated the rubber, winning 4–0. Syd Barnes was once again unplayable, taking 49 wickets in four Tests before boycotting the last in a row over his wife's accommodation. Only Herbie Taylor
Herbie Taylor
Herbert Wilfred Taylor MC was a South African cricketer who played 42 Tests for his country including 18 as captain of the side. Specifically a batsman, he was an expert on the matting pitches which were prevalent in South Africa at the time and scored six of his seven centuries at home...
resisted for the home side, with skilful backfoot defence on the matting pitches, scoring 508 runs at 50.8.
1920s
England resumed their Test cricket after World War I with a tour of Australia in 1920/21 under Johnny Douglas. After the ravages of the war it was little surprise when England went down to a series of crushing defeats, the first 5–0 whitewash. Six Australians scored hundreds while Mailey spun out 36 English batsmen. Things were no better when Warwick Armstrong's men toured England in 1921. Australian fast bowlers Gregory and McDonald battered the English batsmen with a succession of bouncers and Jack Hobbs missed most of the season with first a leg injury then appendicitis. England used 30 players in all. Only one Australian made a century as opposed to 3 for England – A. C. "Jack" Russell scoring 101 and 102* and Phil Mead 182* – but Australia's 3–0 victory made it 8 Ashes defeats in succession.England resumed the winning habit on the 1922/23 tour of South Africa, under F.T. Mann, winning a pulsating rubber 2 – 1. England lost the first Test but scraped to victory in the next, at Cape Town, by one wicket. Phil Mead scored 181 at Kingsmead, Durban, to ensure a draw and they won the fifth and final match, also at Durban, thanks to Jack Russell's twin centuries in his final Test. This dominance was underlined in England in 1924 with a 3–0 for England.
Hopes that the Ashes might be regained were dashed on the 1924/25 tour down under however, Australia thrashing England 4–1, although England scored 8 centuries to Australia's 6. Herbert Sutcliffe
Herbert Sutcliffe
Herbert Sutcliffe was an English professional cricketer who represented Yorkshire and England as an opening batsman. Apart from one match in 1945, his first-class career spanned the period between the two World Wars...
scored 734 runs at 81.56 and Maurice Tate
Maurice Tate
Maurice William Tate was a Sussex and England cricketer of the 1920s and 1930s and the leader of England's Test bowling attack for a long time during this period...
broke Mailey's Ashes record with 38 wickets, bowling 2,528 balls in the Tests. England's only victory came at Melbourne, by an innings, after Captain Arthur Gilligan
Arthur Gilligan
Arthur Edward Robert Gilligan was an English cricketer who played for Cambridge University, Sussex, Surrey and England....
won the toss for the only time. It was England's first Ashes Test win in 12 years.
England drew the first four Tests of the 1926
Australian cricket team in England in 1926
England won the 1926 Ashes series against Australia. England won the last Test of the series after the first four matches were drawn:*1st Test — drawn - *2nd Test — drawn - *3rd Test — drawn -...
Ashes series and so the series rested on the Oval Test, for which Percy Chapman
Percy Chapman
Arthur Percy Frank Chapman was an English cricketer who captained England to a then English-record-equalling seven consecutive Test match wins, a record that was not surpassed until Michael Vaughan's team won eight in a row in 2004...
replaced Arthur Carr as captain and both the 48 year old Rhodes and 21 year old Larwood were selected. Hobbs and Sutcliffe scored centuries and Australia lost by 289 runs. The South African team proved stronger than before however and drew the 1927/28 series 2–2.
A fourth team was, at last, introduced to Test cricket when the West Indies took their bow in 1928. England won each of the three Tests by an innings, Freeman taking 22 wickets, and a view was expressed in the press that their elevation had proved a mistake although 'electric heels' Learie Constantine did the double on the tour. The England team at this period was as strong as it has ever been and Australia were dispatched 4–1 on the 1928/29 Ashes tour. Hammond scored 44, 28, 251, 200, 32, 119*, 177, 38 and 16 – a total of 905 runs, a new record. Percy Chapman captained the team but barely played again.
England, under J. C. White and Arthur Carr, beat South Africa 2–0 at home in 1929 with Herbert Sutcliffe scoring a hundred in each innings at the Oval Bizarrely there were two concurrent England tours in 1929/30, one to New Zealand and one to the West Indies. Surrey paceman Maurice Allom
Maurice Allom
Maurice James Carrick Allom was an English cricketer who played in five Tests from 1930 to 1931. Along with Peter Petherick and Damien Fleming, he is one of only three players to have taken a hat-trick on Test debut...
took four wickets in five balls in New Zealand's maiden Test match, including a hat trick, and his 8 for 65 swept England to victory in Christchurch by 8 wickets with the three later Tests drawn. At the same time another England team were drawing 1 -1 in the West Indies under F. S. G. Calthorpe. 40 year old Patsy Hendren
Patsy Hendren
Elias Henry Hendren better known as Patsy Hendren was an English cricketer. Patsy was one of the most prolific English batsmen of the period between the wars, averaging 47.63 in his 51 Test matches...
made 1,765 runs on this tour and Andy Sandham
Andy Sandham
Andrew Sandham was an English cricketer, a right-handed batsman who played 14 Test matches between 1921 and 1930. He scored over 40,000 first-class runs, but bowled only very rarely; he took just 18 wickets in his career.Sandham made his Surrey debut in 1911, and was capped in 1913...
scored 325 at Kingston (out of England's 849) in his final Test. The 'black Bradman' George Headley
George Headley
George Alphonso Headley was a West Indian cricketer who played 22 Test matches, mostly before the Second World War. Considered one of the best batsmen to play for West Indies and one of the greatest cricketers of all time, Headley also represented Jamaica and played professional club cricket in...
followed twin centuries at Georgetown with 223 in the same Kingston game.
1930s
The 21 year old Don Bradman dominated the 1930 Ashes series in England, scoring 974 runs in his seven Test innings. He scored 254 at Lord's, 334 at Headingley, when Chapman stuck to attacking fields all day, and 232 at the Oval. Australia regained the Ashes. Harold LarwoodHarold Larwood
Harold Larwood was an English cricket player, an extremely accurate fast bowler best known for his key role as the implementer of fast leg theory in the infamous "bodyline" Ashes Test series of 1932–33....
took only four wickets in the series although K. S. Duleepsinhji
Kumar Shri Duleepsinhji
Kumar Shri Duleepsinhji Jadeja was a cricketer who played for England. He was educated at the Rajkumar College, Rajkot, India.-Career:...
made 173 at Lord's on debut.
England played five Tests in South Africa on the 1930/31 tour. Chasing 240 to win the first Test at the Old Wanderers ground in Johannesburg they were bowled out by E. P. Nupen
Buster Nupen
Buster Nupen ; 1 January 1902 in Johannesburg, South Africa – 29 January 1977 in Johannesburg, South Africa) was one of the most enigmatic cricketers on the inter-war period....
, a master on the matting wicket, and drew the next four.
New Zealand played their first Test in England in 1931 and their strong performance at Lord's led the authorities to arrange another two that summer, one of which England won. India played their first Test in England in 1932 at Lords, reducing England to 19 for 3 on the first morning before losing a competitive match when they were bowled out for 187 chasing 346.
Australian cricket team
The Australian cricket team is the national cricket team of Australia. It is the joint oldest team in Test cricket, having played in the first Test match in 1877...
, England had become used to the prolific run-scoring of Don Bradman. The England captain, Surrey's
Surrey County Cricket Club
Surrey County Cricket Club is one of the 18 professional county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Surrey. Its limited overs team is called the Surrey Lions...
Douglas Jardine
Douglas Jardine
Douglas Robert Jardine was an English cricketer and captain of the England cricket team from 1931 to 1933–34.When describing cricket seasons, the convention used is that a single year represents an English cricket season, while two years represent a southern hemisphere cricket season because it...
chose to develop the already existing leg theory
Leg theory
Leg theory is a bowling tactic in the sport of cricket. The term leg theory is somewhat archaic and seldom used any more, but the basic tactic still plays a part in modern cricket....
into fast leg theory, or bodyline, as a tactic to stop Bradman. Fast leg theory involved bowling fast balls directly at the batsman's body, and Jardine had two very fast accurate bowlers, Harold Larwood
Harold Larwood
Harold Larwood was an English cricket player, an extremely accurate fast bowler best known for his key role as the implementer of fast leg theory in the infamous "bodyline" Ashes Test series of 1932–33....
and Bill Voce
Bill Voce
Bill Voce was an English cricketer. He played for the Nottinghamshire and England, and was an instrumental part of England's infamous Bodyline tour of Australia in 1932–1933.-Life and career:...
to bowl them. The batsman would need to defend himself, and if he touched the ball with the bat, he risked being caught by one of a large number of fielders placed on the leg side. Main article: Bodyline
Bodyline
Bodyline, also known as fast leg theory bowling, was a cricketing tactic devised by the English cricket team for their 1932–33 Ashes tour of Australia, specifically to combat the extraordinary batting skill of Australia's Don Bradman...
England won the series and the Ashes
The Ashes
The Ashes is a Test cricket series played between England and Australia. It is one of the most celebrated rivalries in international cricket and dates back to 1882. It is currently played biennially, alternately in the United Kingdom and Australia. Cricket being a summer sport, and the venues...
4–1. But complaints about the Bodyline tactic caused crowd disruption on the tour, and threats of diplomatic action from the Australian Cricket Board, which during the tour sent the following cable to the Marylebone Cricket Club
Marylebone Cricket Club
Marylebone Cricket Club is a cricket club in London founded in 1787. Its influence and longevity now witness it as a private members' club dedicated to the development of cricket. It owns, and is based at, Lord's Cricket Ground in St John's Wood, London NW8. MCC was formerly the governing body of...
in London:
- Bodyline bowling assumed such proportions as to menace best interests of game, making protection of body by batsmen the main consideration. Causing intensely bitter feeling between players as well as injury. In our opinion is unsportsmanlike. Unless stopped at once likely to upset friendly relations existing between Australia and England.
Later, Jardine was removed from the captaincy and the laws of cricket
Laws of cricket
The laws of cricket are a set of rules established by the Marylebone Cricket Club which describe the laws of cricket worldwide, to ensure uniformity and fairness. There are currently 42 laws, which outline all aspects of how the game is played from how a team wins a game, how a batsman is...
changed so that no more than one fast ball aimed at the body was permitted per over, and having more than two fielders behind square leg were banned.
England won two Tests on the 1933/34 tour of India, the first ever Tests held in the sub continent. England won by nine wickets at Bombay's Gymkhana ground with B. H. Valentine scoring 136 in his first Test innings. Morris Nichols and E. W. Nobby Clark
Nobby Clark
Nobby is the diminutive form of the name Norbert. It is also a nickname most commonly used in English for those with the surname Clark or Clarke.-Nobby Clark:...
bowled so many bouncers at the Indian batsman that they wore solar topees instead of caps to protect themselves from the ball as much as the sun. Naoomal Jeoomal top edged a Clark bouncer into his head in the third Test, was unable to continue and didn't bat in the second innings.
Australia won the first Test of the 1934 Ashes series by 238 runs at Trent Bridge. Clarrie Grimmett
Clarrie Grimmett
Clarence Victor "Clarrie" Grimmett was a cricketer; although born in New Zealand, he played most of his cricket in Australia. He is thought by many to be one of the finest early spin bowlers, and usually credited as the developer of the flipper.Grimmett was born in Caversham a suburb of Dunedin,...
took 25 wickets in the series, and Bill O'Reilly
Bill O'Reilly (cricketer)
William Joseph "Bill" O'Reilly , often known as Tiger O'Reilly, was an Australian cricketer, rated as one of the greatest bowlers in the history of the game. Following his retirement from playing, he became a well-respected cricket writer and broadcaster.O'Reilly was one of the best spin bowlers to...
28 as England were spun to defeat. Bradman made 758 runs in the Tests and 2020 on the tour, with Stan McCabe
Stan McCabe
Stanley Joseph McCabe was an Australian cricketer who played 39 Test matches for Australia from 1930 to 1938. A short, stocky right-hander,...
making 2078. Patsy Hendren
Patsy Hendren
Elias Henry Hendren better known as Patsy Hendren was an English cricketer. Patsy was one of the most prolific English batsmen of the period between the wars, averaging 47.63 in his 51 Test matches...
(132) and Maurice Leyland
Maurice Leyland
Maurice Leyland , christened 'Morris Leyland', was an English cricketer who played 41 Test matches between 1928 and 1938 and proved himself one of the best left-handers of his generation....
(153) ensured a draw at Old Trafford and England did manage a rare Test win over Australia at Lord's
Lord's Cricket Ground
Lord's Cricket Ground is a cricket venue in St John's Wood, London. Named after its founder, Thomas Lord, it is owned by Marylebone Cricket Club and is the home of Middlesex County Cricket Club, the England and Wales Cricket Board , the European Cricket Council and, until August 2005, the...
with Hedley Verity
Hedley Verity
Hedley Verity was a professional cricketer who played first-class cricket for Yorkshire and England between 1930 and 1939. A slow left arm orthodox bowler, he took 1,956 wickets in first-class cricket at an average of 14.90 and in 40 Tests he took 144 wickets at an average of 24.37...
taking 14 wickets in a day and 15 in the match. Bradman (304) and Ponsford (181) put on 388 at Headingley and then 451 at the Oval where England lost by a massive 562 runs. Ponsford scored 266 in his last Test. Nobby Clark
Nobby Clark
Nobby is the diminutive form of the name Norbert. It is also a nickname most commonly used in English for those with the surname Clark or Clarke.-Nobby Clark:...
bowled some 'leg theory' against the Australians, with little success. Bill Voce
Bill Voce
Bill Voce was an English cricketer. He played for the Nottinghamshire and England, and was an instrumental part of England's infamous Bodyline tour of Australia in 1932–1933.-Life and career:...
took 8 for 66 for Notts against the Australians but withdrew from the attack with a 'leg injury' after Woodfall raised discrete objections.
England toured the West Indies in 1934/5 and showed the folly of sending a weakened team as they lost the rubber 2 -1 with George Headley scoring 270 not out in the 4th Test at Sabina Park. South Africa won on English soil for the first time, taking the 5 Test series 1–0 in 1935 with a victory at Lord's by 157 runs thanks to Bruce Mitchell
Bruce Mitchell (cricketer)
Bruce Mitchell was a South African cricketer who played in 42 Tests from 1929 to 1949. He was a right-handed opening batsman and played in every Test South Africa played in that period.By the end of his career he had 3471 Test runs to his name which at the time was a national record...
's 164 and Jock Cameron
Jock Cameron
Jock Cameron was a South African cricketer of the 1920s and 1930s...
's quickfire 90. Cameron died at 30, of enteric fever, soon after returning home from this tour.
India used 22 players in three Tests in England in 1936. A then record 588 runs were scored on the second day of the Old Trafford Test and England too experimented with their team and took the rubber 2–0.
The 1936/37 Ashes tour, under Gubby Allen
Gubby Allen
Sir George Oswald Browning "Gubby" Allen, CBE was a cricketer who played for Middlesex, Cambridge University, MCC and England. Australian-born, Allen was a fast bowler and hard-hitting lower-order batsman, who captained England in eleven Test matches...
, was a titanic struggle. England, helped by rain freshening the pitch, won by 322 runs in Brisbane and an innings in Sydney where Wally Hammond
Wally Hammond
Walter Reginald "Wally" Hammond was an English Test cricketer who played for Gloucestershire in a career that lasted from 1920 to 1951. Beginning his career as a professional, he later became an amateur and was appointed captain of England...
scored 271 not out. Bill Voce
Bill Voce
Bill Voce was an English cricketer. He played for the Nottinghamshire and England, and was an instrumental part of England's infamous Bodyline tour of Australia in 1932–1933.-Life and career:...
was their spearhead, taking 17 wickets in these two games. Bradman added a record 346 for the sixth wicket with Jack Fingleton at Melbourne and followed that with 212 at Adelaide where his team leveled the score at 2–2. Bradman, McCabe and Badcock all scored hundreds in the decider at Melbourne and Australian took the series 3–2.
England beat New Zealand 1–0 in a three Test rubber in 1937. Tom Goddard
Tom Goddard
Tom Goddard was the fifth highest wicket taker in first-class cricket....
took 6 for 29 in bowling out the visitors for 134 at the Old Trafford Test as they chased 265 to win. Jack Cowie
Jack Cowie
John Cowie OBE was a New Zealand cricketer who played in nine Tests from 1937 to 1949. His Test opportunities were restricted by New Zealand's limited programme, and his cricket career was interrupted by World War II from 1939 to 1945...
had taken 6 for 67 for New Zealand and 10 in the match. Len Hutton
Len Hutton
Sir Leonard "Len" Hutton was an English Test cricketer, who played for Yorkshire County Cricket Club and England in the years around the Second World War as an opening batsman. He was described by Wisden Cricketer's Almanack as one of the greatest batsmen in the history of cricket...
scored a century after having begun his England career with 0 and 1 at Lords. Prospective tours of South Africa and West Indies fell through in the winter of 1937/38.
The 1938 Ashes series was a high scoring affair. Hutton, Barnett, Paynter (216*) and Compton made hundreds at Trent Bridge with the Australians scoring three including Stan McCabe
Stan McCabe
Stanley Joseph McCabe was an Australian cricketer who played 39 Test matches for Australia from 1930 to 1938. A short, stocky right-hander,...
's brilliant 232. Hammond scored 240 in the Lord's Test while Bill Brown made a double ton and Bradman a match saving century for Australia. Old Trafford fell victim to the rain and Australia retained the Ashes with a win at Headingley, thanks to Bradman's century and 10 wickets for O'Reilly and 7 for Fleetwood-Smith. England won the final Test at the Oval thanks to a record Test score of 903 – 7 dec and Len Hutton's world record of 364 in 13 hours, 17 minutes. Bradman, whose score of 335 had been surpassed, was the first to congratulate the 22 year old Yorkshireman. Maurice Leyland
Maurice Leyland
Maurice Leyland , christened 'Morris Leyland', was an English cricketer who played 41 Test matches between 1928 and 1938 and proved himself one of the best left-handers of his generation....
made 187 and the elegant Joe Hardstaff
Joe Hardstaff junior
Joseph Hardstaff junior was an English cricketer, who played in twenty three Tests for England from 1935 to 1948...
169 not out. Australia subsided to 201 and 123, batting 2 short, and England won by an innings and 579.
Paul Gibb
Paul Gibb
Paul Gibb was an English cricketer, who played in eight Tests for England from 1938 to 1946. He also played first-class cricket for Cambridge University and Yorkshire, mostly as a batsman but occasionally also keeping wicket.Gibb was educated at St Edward's School, Oxford, and played first-class...
scored 93 and 106 on debut at Johannesburg on England's 1938/39 tour. England scored 11 centuries in the series and South Africa 6. Paynter scored 117 and 100 in the first Test and 243 in the third at Durban. England, 1–0, in the series, returned to Durban to play a deciding 'timeless' Test to the finish. It was abandoned as a draw after 10 days as England had to catch the train to catch the boat home. Needing 696 to win they were, incredibly, 654 for 5, Gibb having scored 120, Hammond 140 and Edrich 219. A record 1981 runs were scored, and the concept of timeless Tests was abandoned.
The three Tests between England and the West Indies in 1939 were the last before the Second World War, although a team for an MCC tour of India was selected more in hope than expectation of the matches being played. Len Hutton
Len Hutton
Sir Leonard "Len" Hutton was an English Test cricketer, who played for Yorkshire County Cricket Club and England in the years around the Second World War as an opening batsman. He was described by Wisden Cricketer's Almanack as one of the greatest batsmen in the history of cricket...
and Denis Compton
Denis Compton
Denis Charles Scott Compton CBE was an English cricketer who played in 78 Test matches, and a footballer...
, leaders of the bright new batting generation, scored hundreds at Lords where the brilliant George Headley
George Headley
George Alphonso Headley was a West Indian cricketer who played 22 Test matches, mostly before the Second World War. Considered one of the best batsmen to play for West Indies and one of the greatest cricketers of all time, Headley also represented Jamaica and played professional club cricket in...
scored a ton in each innings. Hammond became the first fielder to hold 100 Test catches at Old Trafford. England took the series 1–0 as the war clouds loomed over Europe.
See also
- England Cricket Team
- History of the England Cricket Team since 1945
- All-England ElevenAll-England ElevenIn cricket, the term All-England has been used for various non-international teams that have been formed for short-term purposes since the 1739 English cricket season and it indicates that the "Rest of England" is playing against, say, MCC or an individual county team...
- History of Test cricket (to 1883)History of Test cricket (to 1883)Test matches in the period 1877 to 1883 were organised somewhat differently from international cricket matches today. The teams were rarely representative, and the boat trip between Australia and England, which usually lasted about 48 days, was one that many cricketers were unable or unwilling to...
- History of Test cricket (1884 to 1889)History of Test cricket (1884 to 1889)The history of Test cricket between 1884 and 1889 was one of English dominance over the Australians. England won every Test series that was played. The period also saw the first use of the word "Test" to describe a form of cricket when the Press used it in 1885...
- History of Test cricket (1890 to 1900)History of Test cricket (1890 to 1900)Test matches in the 19th century were somewhat different affairs than what they are today. Many of them were not designated as Test matches for many years afterwards, and it is possible that some Test players never knew they had played in a Test. Before 1888 there had been 26 Test matches, all...
- History of Test cricket from 1901 to 1914
- List of Test matches (1918–1939)
- The AshesThe AshesThe Ashes is a Test cricket series played between England and Australia. It is one of the most celebrated rivalries in international cricket and dates back to 1882. It is currently played biennially, alternately in the United Kingdom and Australia. Cricket being a summer sport, and the venues...
- England Cap Numbers