Port Phillip v Van Diemen's Land, 1851

On 11 and 12 February 1851, teams from Port Phillip, Victoria and Van Diemen's Land (now Tasmania) played a timeless cricket match at the Launceston Racecourse,^[1][2] known now as the NTCA Ground, in Tasmania.^[3] The match was held under the aegis of the Launceston Cricket Club, which represented the Van Diemen's Land cricket team as the home team, and the Melbourne Cricket Club, which represented the Port Phillip team as the visiting team.^[4] The match was organised in celebration of the separation of Victoria from New South Wales.^[4]

William Philpott was the captain of the Port Phillip team, while John Marshall led the Van Diemen's Land team. All overs bowled in the first first-class cricket match had only four deliveries each. The first ball bowled during the match was an underarm delivery by William Henty of Van Diemen's Land.^[5] Port Phillip's Thomas Ferrier Hamilton scored the most runs during the match, while Thomas Antill, again from Port Phillip, took the most wickets. There were a significant number of additional distinctions earned and records set during the match. The match ended in two days after both teams had played two innings each. Van Diemen's Land won the match by three wickets.^[6][7]

The match, which took close to a year in organising, became the first first-class cricket match in Australia and the first intercolonial cricket match in Australia.^[8][9][10] The match is considered to be amongst the most significant events in the cricketing history of Australia.^[1]

Background

NTCA Ground, previously known as the Launceston Racecourse

In the 1800s, cricket was not a widely popular sport in Australia, and interregional cricket matches in places like Tasmania were quite rare.^[10][11] The first recorded reference to cricket being played in Australia was on 8 January 1804, when the Sydney Gazette reported the playing conditions for a domestic cricket match involving amateurs.^[11] The first cricketing match under the aegis of the Melbourne Cricket Club was held on 15 November 1838 on the Royal Mint grounds.^[4] The earliest images capturing a cricketing game in progress in Australia are artist John Rae's three watercolour sketches of Hyde Park, painted in 1842.^[12]

After the Launceston Cricket Club was founded in 1841, there was an unsuccessful attempt that year to organise a match between the North and South of Tasmania.^[10][13] The match subsequently took place in 1850, when Launceston played Hobart at Oatlands; this match is considered to be the first North-South cricket match. After this match, Launceston cricketers become more interested in playing opponents from across the Bass Strait.^[10]

At around this time, William Philpott – an English immigrant who played cricket for the Melbourne Cricket Club and who would later captain the Victorian team in the match against Tasmania – proposed at a special Melbourne Cricket Club meeting on 12 January 1850 that a cricketing challenge be sent to Tasmania for an intercolonial match.^[14] The match was also proposed in celebration of the impending separation of Victoria from New South Wales in 1851.^[4]

Subsequently, in March 1850, the Launceston Cricket Club received an invitation challenge from Melbourne Cricket Club to organise a cricket match between Van Diemen's Land and Port Phillip's cricket teams. In reply, Launceston Cricket Club proposed that the match take place in Launceston in the month of April 1850. This communication from Launceston Cricket Club was delayed, resulting in the match being postponed.^[15]

The Cornwall Chronicle noted: "The match arose from a challenge having been sent in February last year by Victoria to the club newly formed in this town, which was then accepted to come off in the March following, and was only then prevented by the gentleman deputed to forward the acceptance forgetting to post his letter in time for the steamer. The Victorians with great courtesy repeating their challenge this spring. It was at once accepted and arranged to come off on the day it did."^[15] A few months later, Melbourne Cricket Club again proposed the match. This subsequently led to the match getting scheduled for the month of February 1851 in Launceston, Tasmania. The fixture came to be considered as the first first-class cricket match in Australia and also became the first intercolonial cricket match in Australia.^[4][11]

Match proceedings

Thomas Ferrier Hamilton, the highest scorer in the first first-class cricket match in Australia

John Marshall, winning captain of Van Diemen's Land team

The Melbourne Cricket Club decided that their players should have a uniform while playing the match. They chose the colours red, white and blue for the Victorian team's match jerseys. These remain the official colours of the Melbourne Cricket Club till date.^[14] The Victorian team, wearing the multi-coloured jerseys, and with friends and ladies in tow, reached Launceston on the SS Shamrock. The team was met with much fanfare on its arrival and the players were put up at the Cornwall Hotel, now known as the Batman Fawkner Inn.^[16] This was followed by considerable banqueting, which led to the team not having enough time to practice for the match.^[3]

The match started on 11 February 1851 at Launceston Cricket Club Ground, previously known as the Launceston Racecourse, currently known as the North Tasmania Cricket Association Ground.^[17] The match was scheduled as a timeless cricket match, in other words, a match that would be played without any limit on the number of days, till the match ended.^[18]

Expecting a sizeable audience, a number of spectator booths had been set up around the ground. The match was watched by around 2,500 spectators in all, including a thousand from across the Bass Strait – with 1,000 spectators on the first day and 1,500 spectators on the second day.^[19][5]

The two captains leading the respective teams were John Marshall, who captained the Tasmanian team, and William Philpott, who captained the Victorian team.^[20] The Tasmanian team comprised five players from Launceston and three from Hobart, while the Longford, Perth and Westbury clubs contributed one player each.^[21] All cricketers playing in the match had their first-class debuts in the match, with there being no twelfth man for either team.^[5] There were no boundaries at the Launceston Cricket Club Ground, and all overs bowled in the match had only four deliveries each – which was the norm in those days.^[3] By the very nature of this match, there were a significant number of distinctions earned and records set during the match.^[5]

Day one

The Victorian players, after a ground inspection, criticised the quality of the playing ground; the Tasmanian government apologised for the same, mentioning that they had had possession of the ground since only the past twelve months.^[14] As the cricket ground was rough, Charles Lyon and C. J. Weedon, the two umpires for the match, took some time to decide where the playing pitch would be.^[14] The toss was won by Marshall, who sent in Victoria to bat.^[19] The match started at 11 a.m.^[21][20]

First innings

While the predominant bowling style of the Victorians was roundarm fast, the Tasmanians preferred underarm bowling.^[14] Thus, with Tasmania bowling first, leading the series of many firsts was the very first ball bowled in the history of Australian first-class cricket, which was an underarm delivery.^[3] The first bowler in Australian first-class cricket was William Henty of Tasmania, an underarm bowler, who opened the Tasmanian attack.^[19] Victoria's Duncan Cooper, who opened the innings with William Philpott at the non-striker's end, became the first opening batsman in Australian first-class cricket.^[3] Tasmania's captain Marshal also kept the wicket for his team, and thus became the first wicket-keeper in Australia's first-class cricket history.^[21]

After Henty's first over, Tasmania's Robert McDowall bowled from the other end.^[19] The opening batting pair of Cooper and William Philpott took 22 minutes to make 14 runs, when, at his personal score of 4 runs, Cooper became the first batsman in Australian first-class cricket history to be dismissed and to be clean bowled.^[19][6] Tasmania's Robert McDowall, who dismissed Cooper, consequently became the first wicket-taking bowler and the first to effect a dismissal in this manner in Australian first-class cricket.^[20] Thomas Hamilton took Cooper's place at the wicket as the no. 3 batsman and soon ran the first four runs of Australian first-class cricket.^[19]

The next dismissal was of Victorian captain Philpott, who scored 17 before getting caught.^[20][3] Philpott became the first batsman in Australian first-class cricket history to reach double-figures, and jointly scored the highest runs with James Brodie.^[3][15] Philpott also became the first batsman in Australian first-class cricket to be dismissed by being caught, with Tasmania's George Maddox becoming the first cricketer to have taken a catch during a dismissal.^[19][22] Tasmania's McDowall earned the distinction of becoming the first bowler to effect a dismissal in this manner.^[19] Thomas Hamilton followed Philpott back to the stands soon after, getting bowled off McDowall's bowling after having scored 10 runs.^[15] When Hamilton's wicket fell at the turn of the first hour's play, the score was 31 runs for 3 wickets.^[21]

As the match proceeded, Victoria's Charles Lister, who replaced William Philpott at the crease and scored 10 runs,^[15] became the first cricketer in Australian first-class cricket to be run out.^[19] Alfred Thomson quickly fell after that, making one run before getting clean bowled by McDowall, with the score standing at 42 runs for 5 wickets.^[21] Richard Philpott, the elder brother of Victorian captain William Philpott, made 12 runs to bring the score up to 54, before getting bowled out by Henty and becoming the sixth Victorian player to get out.^[19][21] The seventh dismissal, Thomas Antill, became the first cricketer in Australian first-class cricket history to have been dismissed after having scored a duck.^[19] Antill also became the first batsman in this genre of cricket to be dismissed by stumping.^[19] Tasmania's Henty and Marshall became the first bowler–wicket-keeper pair to effect a dismissal in this manner.^[19]

At the other end, Victoria's James Brodie ran four runs thrice for his 17 runs, eventually getting caught at slip by Henty off McDowall's bowling.^[19][22] The last two wickets fell cheaply, with Frederick Marsden and Matthew Hervey getting bowled by Henty at their individual scores of 2 and 0 respectively.^[15] Victoria's Melmoth Hall remained not out.^[15] Victoria was bowled out in the first innings after playing 26 overs in 2 hours and 5 minutes, scoring 82 runs.^[15] While Henty took four wickets, McDowall became the first bowler in this genre of cricket to reach a five-wicket haul.^[19]

For Tasmania, Gervase Du Croz opened the batting innings with captain Marshall at the non-striker's end.^[21] Charles Lister and Thomas Hamilton opened the Victorian bowling attack.^[21] Croz and Marshall batted resolutely for an hour, making 25 runs without losing any wicket, when a lunch break was announced by the umpires.^[21][19] When play resumed after lunch, Marshall and Croz maintained their pace to ensure that Tasmania reached 45 without loss.^[21] Croz made 27 runs, the highest in Tasmania's first innings, and became the first Tasmanian batsman to score four runs, which he did twice in his innings.^[21]

Victoria's Thomas Antill, who replaced Hamilton in the bowling attack, managed to break this partnership, sending Croz back to the pavilion with a delivery that took the bails off.^[19] William Field, who came out to bat after Croz, was bowled clean by Antill off the first ball he faced.^[19] George Maddox took Field's place at the crease and scored one run to hand over the strike to Marshall.^[19] Tasmanian captain Marshall lost his wicket off the very next ball, giving a catch to Lister at point off Antill's bowling.^[19] With Marshall's wicket, Antill had taken three wickets in four balls.^[19] Marshall made the second-highest score in the Tasmanian first innings, scoring 13 runs.^[15]

George Maddox departed next after scoring one run, with Antill taking his wicket.^[19] Tasmania's 5th wicket fell when George Gibson, who replaced Maddox, was sent back to the pavilion by Hamilton, getting clean bowled after scoring 8 runs.^[21] Walter Westbrook who came in after Gibson's wicket, became the first batsman in Australian first-class cricket history to score five runs in a single ball.^[19] He was clean bowled by Antill after having scored 10 runs in 40 minutes.^[22] While the next player in, Charles Arthur, departed to Antill's bowling after having scored one run, John Tabart made 2 runs before getting bowled out by Hamilton.^[22] Henty walked out to bat with eight wickets down for Tasmania, and was sent back to the pavilion almost immediately by Antill, after having scored a duck.^[21] Vincent Giblin and Robert McDowall, the last two Tasmanian players, brought up some rearguard action with a last wicket stand that pushed the team score above 100.^[19] McDowall was the last player out, when, after having scored 11, he was caught at wide on by Antill off Hamilton.^[22] Giblin remained not out on 7.^[20]

At the conclusion of their first innings, Tasmania had played 32 overs in 2 hours and 40 minutes, scoring 104 runs and gaining a lead of 22 runs over Victoria's first innings score.^[21] Before the match, the Tasmanians had been expected to struggle against the overarm attack of the Victorians, and Antill had indeed performed effectively; yet, the Tasmanians were helped by a large total of 24 extras (which included 11 byes and eight no-balls).^[23] For Victoria, Antill was the highest wicket-taker in the first innings with a seven-wicket haul.^[6]

Second innings

Victoria's second innings featured James Brodie and Melmoth Hall opening the innings.^[21] Brodie made 5 and was the first out, caught at long off by Tabart.^[21] Thomas Hamilton came first down the batting and was soon joined by Lister, when Hall was adjudged out leg before wicket to McDowall after scoring 6.^[21] Lister could not score much, losing his wicket after scoring 3, getting caught by Maddox off Field.^[6] Thomson, who came in after Lister's wicket fell, could not better his first innings score of a single run; he fell for a duck to Henty.^[22] William Philpott, the highest scorer of Victoria's first innings, came in next.^[21] After taking three singles in 15 minutes of batting, Philpott was run out by a Tabart throw to Marshall when the team score stood at 28 runs.^[21] Next man in Cooper departed immediately for a duck, bowled Henty; this was the fifth wicket down for Victoria.^[21]

At the other end, Hamilton batted on resolutely.^[19] Despite his vanguard action, Victoria kept losing wickets regularly.^[19] Cooper's successor Roger Philpott, who made 12 runs in the first innings, could make only a single before getting caught by Westbrook off Henty.^[20] Marsden came in next, and lasted five minutes before getting dismissed by McDowall for 2.^[22] The next batsman Hervey lasted less than that, scoring a single in three minutes before Henty took the bails off.^[6]

After having carried his bat through the hour, Hamilton was the last man out, falling leg before wicket to McDowall.^[20] His 35 runs scored in 60 minutes included three fours.^[22] This was the highest individual score of both innings for both teams.^[15] While Antill remained not out without scoring any run, none of the other Victorian batsmen reached double-figures in the second innings.^[15] In the bowling department, Henty, McDowall and Field took 5, 3 and 1 wickets respectively for Tasmania in the second innings.^[15] With the Victorian team getting dismissed in 1 hour and 20 minutes after playing 17 overs and scoring 57 runs, Tasmania was left to score 36 runs for an outright win.^[22][21]

Despite it being late in the evening, the two teams were enthusiastic to carry on and decided to attempt a result that day itself.^[21] Thus, it was nearly half past five when Vincent Giblin opened the second innings for Tasmania with Croz at the non-striker's end.^[21] Brodie and Antill opened the bowling attack for Victoria.^[19] Giblin was the first one to go, getting dismissed by Antill after having scored just one run.^[20] Croz's wicket was the second; his score of six runs, before getting bowled out by Antill, ensured that he ended the match as the highest scorer for Tasmania with an aggregate score of 33 runs for both innings.^[22] Antill took the third wicket too, sending Westbrook back to the stands with Cooper taking the catch.^[6] Victoria's Brodie, who had not bowled during the first innings, got the wicket of the next man in; Field was caught by Thomson after making a single.^[20] Gibson and Marshall, who succeeded Westbrook and Field, were also sent back in quick succession by Antill.^[21]

While Gibson could only manage a single before getting bowled, Marshall was caught and bowled by Antill for a duck, making this the first caught and bowled instance in Australian first-class cricket.^[19][6] Tabart took Gibson's place at the crease, while Arthur replaced Marshall.^[21] Around this time, the umpires called off play due to bad light.^[24] At the end of the first day's play, Tasmania had lost six wickets scoring 15 runs.^[15] The Launceston Examiner wrote in its 19 February 1851 report: "The excitement was now very great, and neither side confident of victory."^[21]

Day two

The second day's proceedings started at 11 a.m., with Tabart and Arthur resuming batting for Tasmania.^[21] While Arthur was caught by Hervey off Antill's bowling without any addition to his overnight score, Tabart was dropped off the very second ball he faced.^[19] After getting this life, Tabart's subsequent big hitting swung the game in the Tasmanians' favour.^[24] McDowall, who replaced Arthur, and Tabart ensured that no further wickets fell while Tasmania successfully chased down the Victorian target.^[21]

Result

Needing to score 36 runs in the second innings to win the match, Tasmania scored the required runs taking an hour and 45 minutes in all, losing 7 wickets in 13 overs.^[21] Tasmania's Marshall became the first ever winning captain and Victoria's Philpott became the first ever losing captain in first-class cricket in Australia.^[22] At close of play, Tabart had made 15 runs including one four, while McDowall had scored four runs.^[6] Victoria's Antill had taken six wickets in all, becoming the first bowler in Australian first-class cricket history to take a five-wicket haul twice in the same match.^[19] Antill also became the highest wicket-taking bowler for the match amongst both the teams, with an aggregate haul of 13 wickets, both innings combined.^[19] For Tasmania, the highest wicket taker was Henty, having taken nine wickets in both innings.^[22] On account of having scored 10 runs in the first innings, Victoria's Hamilton became the highest scorer in the match amongst both the teams, with an aggregate score of 45 runs.^[19]

While the general level of fielding was considered very high throughout the match, Tasmanian players Marshall, Westbrook and Tabart were specifically praised for their admirable fielding attempts, which drew the crowd's appreciation.^[21] The spectators were also noted to have displayed high levels of sportsmanship throughout the match, noticeably refraining from cheering the fall of the opponent team's wickets or celebrating scoring shots from their own team.^[21]

Aftermath

There was high camaraderie witnessed between the two teams and the organising clubs throughout the Victorian's stay. After the first day's proceedings, around a hundred people from Tasmania and Victoria, including the cricketers, had dinner together, and post that attended a ball.^[14] Similarly, after the match, a public ball organised by the Tasmanian hosts was held on the Thursday night at the Cornwall Hotel, where the visiting cricketers were staying. The event – which was attended by more the 350 people, including the Victorians and many of the supporters that had accompanied them – continued into the very early morning before the visitors were instructed to leave.^[24] On the day of leaving, the Tasmanian and Victorian players proceeded arm-in-arm to the departure wharf, walking from the Cornwall Hotel with the Launceston Brass Band playing along.^[14]

Noted Australian journalist Edmund Finn wrote in the book The Chronicles of Early Melbourne: "Everybody invited everybody, and the difficulty was how to contrive so as to partake of all that was offered. From the time of landing to the time of embarking the same spirit continued – dinners, balls, musical parties, picnics and every description of entertainment was got up to give a hearty welcome to the strangers from Port Phillip."^[14][15]

Post their return, the Victorians praised the Tasmanian cricketers and invited their opponents to play a return match in Victoria in the subsequent season. The match, which was held on 29–30 March 1852 at the Melbourne Cricket Club ground situated on the south bank of Yarra River, was lost by Tasmania by 61 runs. This became the first intercolonial match played in Victoria.^[4][25] Two years later, Tasmania beat Victoria in a dead rubber match played at Launceston on 3–4 March 1854.^[25]

Two more years later, Victoria played New South Wales on 26–27 March 1856 at Melbourne Cricket Club's new ground based at Richmond Paddock, now known as Yarra Park.^[26] This match, which was won by New South Wales, became the first first-class match between two Australian mainland colonies,^[27] and the first first-class match at the current site of Melbourne Cricket Ground.^[4]

The Victorians, with nine English migrants as a part of their team, returned to tour Tasmania in the 1857–58 season and played a two-match fixture, both of which they won.^[1] In the first match, held at Launceston Racecourse in February 1858, Gideon Elliott of Victoria played a significant part in their victory, taking 9 wickets for 2 runs in the first innings. Elliott's figures put him in the record books with the most economical 9-wicket haul, a record which is yet to be surpassed. Tasmania – represented primarily by amateurs – scored 33 runs in the first innings and were defeated by an innings. The second match, which was played at Battery Ground, Hobart on 4–5 March 1858, again was won comfortably by the Victorian team. The Tasmanian team, through the series of matches, found it difficult to comprehend the roundarm bowling of the professional and skilled Victorian bowlers.^[1] After these fixtures, Victoria and Tasmania played three additional matches between 1869 and 1873, with Victoria winning all three.^[10]

The visit of the Victorian team is credited to have provided a significant encouragement to the sport of cricket in Tasmania, and to the formation of the Southern Tasmanian Cricket Club, which came into existence on 28 April 1858 with 136 members. The club was rechristened as the Southern Tasmanian Cricket Association on 1 February 1866 and became the vanguard of future intercolonial and interregional matches.^[1]

In February 2015, the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery named its cricket memorabilia exposition "164-Not Out" as a mark of remembrance of the number of years that had passed since the historic match.^[7] The match by itself is now considered to be one of the most significant events in the cricketing history of Australia, drawing rave mention during the 150th anniversary celebration of Cricket Tasmania in 2015.^[1]

See also

• Intercolonial cricket in Australia

References

External links

• Scorecard at ESPNcricinfo
• The NTCA Ground official website