History of Test cricket (to 1883)

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Test matches in the 19th century in the period to 1883 were organised somewhat differently from international cricket matches today. The teams involved were rarely fully representative, and the 48-day boat trip between Australia and England was one many cricketers were not able or willing to undertake, and so the Home teams tended to enjoy a great advantage.

All of the 13 test matches in the period to 1883 were between Australian and English sides, but most of the games were not styled as "England v Australia"; this description was only being applied later by cricket statisticians. This is also true of the designation of these games as "Test matches", as the term "Test match" did not enter into the vernacular until 1885. 11 of the 13 matches played to 1883 were in Australia, who made the most of the home advantage, winning 7 of them; England won 4 times and 2 were drawn.

By 1883 the tradition of England-Australia tours was well established, with that year seeing the first Ashes series. In 1882 England lost in England for the first time. In a mock obituary, The Sporting Times lamented the death of English cricket and noted that 'the body will be cremated and the ashes taken to Australia'. Later in 1882, the Honourable Ivo Bligh led a team to Australia to recover them. After a three-match series, a group of Melburnian ladies presented Bligh with an urn with some ashes in them, a trophy England and Australia continue to contest to this day. However, also by 1883 a number of problems that continue to bedevil cricket had already surfaced: umpiring disputes, betting controversies, match-fixing, and even a riot in Sydney in 1879.

Genesis of Test cricket

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

It was not until the 19th century that strong "England" teams started to form. By the late 18th century there were many games played by sides called "England" - such as "England" vs "Hambledon" or "England" vs "Kent", but these were not true representative matches. By 1846, however, William Clarke, a bricklayer from Nottingham had formed "The All-England XI", a mostly professional team of top cricketers who toured the country taking on local sides, though leading amateurs, such as Alfred Mynn, occasionally played too. Usually they played against odds, with 11 men in their team against 22 for the opposition, to make it more of a game.

In 1852 John Wisden, together with his fellow Sussex-man, Jemmy Dean founded the rival "United England XI". The matches between these two rival England XI's became the highlight of the English cricket season, and these teams, both really business ventures, went a long way to popularising the game throughout England.

1859 saw the first main representative tour by an England team. It was captained by George Parr, and comprised six players from The All-England XI and six from the United England XI. They toured North America. Cricket was very popular in the United States and Canada; the match in New York was reportedly watched by 10,000 people, though this may be an exaggeration. Even more watched the team in Philadelphia. All these games were played against the odds. The tour was a success - the English team making £90 each.

1861 saw the first English side to tour Australia. North America was avoided because of the American Civil War. It was a weak side, dominated by Surrey-men, as George Parr and his Nottinghamshire men did not accept the £150 per head plus expenses on offer. The Englishmen won six matches, lost two and drew four more, all against odds. This tour was followed in 1863/4 by another one to both Australia and New Zealand. It was led by George Parr, and included the amateur EM Grace.

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

The first Test tour - 1876/7

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

Lillywhite's team was considered weak. It certainly did not include any of the leading amateurs, such as the Champion, WG Grace. The Australasian wrote:

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

The first match against a Combined Australia XI was billed as the "Grand Combination Match", and was to be held at the ground at East Melbourne, as the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) had been booked by GF Grace. But with Grace having pulled out, Lillywhite moved his matches to the larger, and more profitable, MCG. The Combined Australia XI included cricketers from New South Wales and Victoria cricketers, but there had some notable absentees too. For instance, Fred Spofforth, Australia's "Demon bowler" did not play in the first game in protest at the non-selection of Billy Murdoch, the New South Wales wicket-keeper. Also, despite the name, all but four of the Australian team were British-born.

The first Test match

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

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

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

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

The second Test match

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

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

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

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

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

Lord Harris's team 1878/9 and 1880

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Ashes legend

See also: The Ashes

England lose in England 1882

Billy Murdoch's Australian side only played one Test in their 1882 tour. As hosts, Surrey County Cricket Club asked Monkey Hornby to captain the side against them. But it turned out to be Spofforth's match, as Australia's "Demon bowler" took 14 wickets for 90 runs to give Australia victory by 7 runs.

The match started after two days of rain, which helped England's two left-arm bowlers Barlow and Peate, who dismissed Australia for 63 in two and a quarter hours. England made 101 in reply, with Spofforth taking 7 for 46. After more rain on the second day, Australia lifted their score to 122, thanks to a quickfire 55 from Hugh Massie. The match was fiercely contested, as evidenced by WG Grace's gamesmanship in running out Sammy Jones when Jones left his crease to attend to a divot in the pitch. England made a good start chasing 85 to win, but then collapsed to 75 for 8, at which time Charles Studd, a batsman who had twice scored centuries against the Australians that summer came in. Studd had earlier been seen shivering, covered in a blanket in the pavilion.

England then lost their next wicket without further scoring, leaving Peate to come in as last man. Peate was bowled heaving at a ball from Boyle; batsman Studd had not even faced one ball. Peate, a Yorkshireman, later explained his actions by saying, "I couldn't trust Maister Studd". One spectator is said to have died of heart failure during the intense finish, another, an Epsom stockbroker called Arthur Courcy, is said to have bitten through his brother-in-law's umbrella handle. For the first time England had lost in England.

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

"In Affectionate Remembrance of ENGLISH CRICKET, which died at the Oval on 29th AUGUST, 1882, Deeply lamented by a large circle of sorrowing friends and acquaintances R.I.P.

N.B. - The body will be cremated and the ashes taken to Australia."

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

Bligh reclaims the Ashes 1882/3

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

Whilst Bligh's team was strong, it did miss 3 or 4 of the leading English cricketers, most notably WG Grace. On the way to Australia his side also survived a collision between their vessel, the SS Peshawaur and the Glen Roy 500km south of Columbo. Fast bowler Fred Morley suffered a broken rib and severe bruising, which limited his appearances on the tour and contributed to his early death 2 years later. Walter Read said, "It was altogether a terrible affair and it is a wonder we were not all drowned."

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

The second game was more controversial. As the pitch deteriorated there were arguments as to which bowlers were responsible for encroaching onto it. When Bates, an occasional spin bowler on the tour, took England's first Test cricket hat-trick, there were suggestions that he was aided by Barlow's footmarks. Bligh asked Barlow to change his shoes to calm down the situation, though later the English accused Spofforth of damaging the pitch too. However, England's success at the toss helped them enormously, with Australia capitulating to lose by an innings.

After the controversy in the second Test at Melbourne, it was agreed to use two pitches at Sydney in the third. On winning the toss, England made 247, and Australia made 218 in reply, with Alec Bannerman's 94 in just over 4 hours dominating the innings. 7 for 44 from Fred Spofforth helped England collapse to 123, before Dick Barlow's 7 for 40 saw Australia collapse themselves to 83 to lose by 69 runs. Bligh had won the three match series 2-1, and English pride was restored..

After the third game, the English team were guests of Sir William Clarke over Christmas, at his property "Rupertswood" at Sunbury, Victoria. A group of Victorian ladies headed by Lady Clarke burned what has variously been called a ball, bail or veil, and presented the resulting ashes to Bligh in an urn. She said, "What better way than to actually present the English captain with the very 'object' - albeit mythical - he had come to Australia to retrieve?" Bligh later married another of these Melburnian ladies. When he died in 1927 his widow presented the urn to the Marylebone Cricket Club, which keeps it in the museum at Lord's.

A fourth match was played against a "United Australian XI", which was even stronger than the Murdoch XI that had lost the Ashes. As an experiment, a separate pitch was prepared for each innings. Australia won this fourth match by 4 wickets, but it is not reckoned to be part of the Ashes series. England again won the toss and batted first, with 135 from Allan Steel seeing them to 263, with Australia then replying with 262. England's 197 in the second innings, however, did not set much of a target, and Australia won comfortably. A fifth match was talked about, but did not materialise.

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

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

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

References

• The Cricket Captains of England by Alan Gibson ISBN 1-85145-395-4
• Wisden Anthology 1864-1900 edited by Benny Green ISBN 0-356-10732-9
• Australia versus England, A Pictorial History of every Test Match since 1877 ISBN 0-670-90323-X
• Cricket's Colosseum, 125 Years of Test Cricket at the MCG by Ken Piesse ISBN 1-74066-064-1
• Joy Munns, Beyond Reasonable Doubt: The Birthplace of the Ashes, Sunbury, 1994, ISBN 0-646-22153-1, for the origin of the Ashes

• Cricinfo
• Cricket Archive

External Links

• Detailed scorecard of the 1880 Test