Australian cricket team in England in 1880

The Australian cricket team in England in 1880 played nine first-class matches including one Test, which was the first ever played in England. They were captained by W.L. Murdoch. The team had difficulty in arranging fixtures against the counties, and prior to the Test match in early September had played only four matches that are now rated as first-class (as well as a large number of fixtures against weaker opposition), despite having already been in England for almost four months.

The Test was a late addition to the programme, being arranged at the instigation of the Surrey secretary, C. W. Alcock, who asked Lord Harris to put together a side. A. N. Hornby, Tom Emmett and George Ulyett refused to play, having unpleasant memories of the Sydney Riot of 1879, but Australia were also seriously handicapped, being without their star bowler, Fred Spofforth.

The Australians won 4, drew 3 and lost 2 of their first-class fixtures. Their only loss other than to England was to Nottinghamshire. That defeat was by only one wicket and came in a match in which they played a man short.

Australian tour party

The Australian party consisted of: W.L. Murdoch (captain), A.C. Bannerman, J.McC. Blackham, G.J. Bonnor, H.F. Boyle, T.U. Groube, A.H. Jarvis, P.S. McDonnell, W.H. Moule, G.E. Palmer, J. Slight, F.R. Spofforth, G. Alexander (player-manager).

Tour matches

• 17 May 1880 Derbyshire v Australians County Ground, Derby - Australia won by 8 wickets in two days, and a fill-in match was played on the third day which ended in a draw
• 10 Jun 1880 Yorkshire v Australians Dewsbury and Savile Ground - Australia won by 5 wickets
• 22 Jul 1880 Yorkshire v Australians Fartown, Huddersfield - Match drawn
• 02 Aug 1880 Gloucestershire v Australians Clifton College Close Ground - Australia won by 68 runs
• 13 Sep 1880 Sussex v Australians County Ground, Hove - Match drawn
• 20 Sep 1880 Players of the North v Australians Park Avenue Cricket Ground, Bradford - Match drawn
• 23 Sep 1880 Nottinghamshire v Australians Trent Bridge, Nottingham - Nottinghamshire won by 1 wicket
• 27 Sep 1880 Players v Australians Crystal Palace Park - Australia won by 2 wickets

In addition the Australian tourists played 45 minor matches that were not of first class cricket status.

Test match

6–8 September 1880 Scorecard

England	v	Australia
420 (210.3 overs) W. G. Grace 152 (294) William Moule 3/23 (12.3 overs)		149 (75.1 overs) Harry Boyle 36* (47) Fred Morley 5/56 (32 overs)
57/5 (33.3 overs) Frank Penn 27* (46) Joey Palmer 3/35 (16.3 overs)		327 (f/o) (176.3 overs) Billy Murdoch 153* (358) Fred Morley 3/90 (61 overs)

England won by 5 wickets Kennington Oval, London Umpires: H. H. Stephenson (Eng) and Bob Thoms (Eng)

• England won the toss and elected to bat.
• George Alexander (Aus), George Bonnor (Aus), Thomas Groube (Aus), Percy McDonnell (Aus), William Moule (Aus), Joey Palmer (Aus), Jim Slight (Aus), Billy Barnes (Eng), E. M. Grace (Eng), Fred Grace (Eng), W. G. Grace (Eng), Alfred Lyttelton (Eng), Fred Morley (Eng), Frank Penn (Eng) and A. G. Steel (Eng) made their Test debut.

See also

• History of Test cricket from 1877 to 1883

External links

• CricketArchive

External sources

• CricketArchive – season summaries

Annual reviews

• James Lillywhite's Cricketers' Annual (Red Lilly) 1881
• John Lillywhite's Cricketer's Companion (Green Lilly) 1881
• Wisden Cricketers' Almanack 1881

Further reading

• Derek Birley, A Social History of English Cricket, Aurum, 1999
• Bill Frindall, The Wisden Book of Test Cricket 1877-1978, Wisden, 1979
• Chris Harte, A History of Australian Cricket, Andre Deutsch, 1993
• Ray Robinson, On Top Down Under, Cassell, 1975
• Ralph Barker & Irving Rosenwater, England v Australia: A compendium of Test cricket between the countries 1877-1968, Batsford, 1969, ISBN 0-7134-0317-9, pp6-7.

The Ashes
List of Ashes series (white – in England, yellow – in Australia)
1850	1884 1886 1888 1890 1893 1896 1899 1882–83 1884–85 1886–87 1887–88 1891–92 1894–95 1897–98
1900	1902 1905 1909 1912 World War I 1921 1926 1930 1934 1938 World War II 1948 1901–02 1903–04 1907–08 1911–12 1920–21 1924–25 1928–29 1932–33 1936–37 1946–47
1950	1953 1956 1961 1964 1968 1972 1975 1977 1981 1985 1989 1993 1997 1950–51 1954–55 1958–59 1962–63 1965–66 1970–71 1974–75 1978–79 1982–83 1986–87 1990–91 1994–95 1998–99
2000	2001 2005 2009 2013 2015 2002–03 2006–07 2010–11 2013–14 2017–18
Non-Ashes Australia v England Test series 1876–77 1878–79 1880 1881–82 1882 1945 1976–77 1979–80 1980 1987–88