Test Cricket Tours - England to Australia 1876-77

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Tour of Australia 1876-77 Captain : James Lillywhite

First Test-playing tour of Australia by an English side

(September 1876 - March 1877)

There had been three previous tours by English sides on which no Test matches were played: 1861-62 under H.H. Stephenson; 1863-64 under George Parr; and 1873-74 led by W G Grace.

James Lillywhite, the 35 year-old Sussex cricketer, managed and captained the tour, England's fourth to Australia, but the first on which a Test match was played.

The Victorian James Conway suggested to him that he should bring out a professional team and acted as his agent in arranging matches. Arthur Hobgen, a wealthy young farmer, and Charles Stride, fellow member of Chichester's Priory Park cricket club, put up the finance for the tour. In spite of adding an unprofitable visit to New Zealand in the middle of the tour, Lillywhite was able to give his backers a satisfactory return on their investment, as well as paying the team members, professionals all, about twice the £150 fee they were promised.

James Lillywhite was a good cricket captain and a natural organiser. He approached players and they preferred his terms to those offered by rival Fred Grace, whose own proposed Australian tour under the Melbourne Club fell through. Unlike 1873/74 when the professionals were given second-class arrangements, Lillywhite ensured that they would all travel and stay first-class.

Ted Pooley and Alf Bramhall were detained in New Zealand after a brawl over a bet. They were eventually acquitted about six weeks later and made their own ways back to England. This meant that they missed the first ‘Test Match’ against a combined New South Wales and Victoria XI at Melbourne Cricket Ground.

Henry Jupp played in only the first match of the tour against South Australia because he was suffering from "sciatica or something of the kind" and "inflammation of the eyes". Once Pooley was arrested, Jupp had to appear in every remaining game.

Other England tours

Next Test tour

to Australia 1878-79

(Lord Harris’s team)

Members of the Test tour party

(12)

Opening batsmen John Selby, George Ulyett, Andrew Greenwood

Middle-order batsmen Henry Charlwood, Harry Jupp, Tom Armitage

Wicket-keeper Edward Pooley

Slow bowlers Alfred Shaw, James Southerton, James Lillywhite

Medium-fast bowlers Allen Hill, Tom Emmett

Armitage, T	Yo	28	RHB RM
Charlwood, H R J	Sx	30	RHB
Emmett, T.	Yo	35	LHB LM
Greenwood, A	Yo	29	RHB opener
Hill, A	Yo	31	RFM (round-arm)
Jupp, H	Sy	35	RHB opener reserve WK
Lillywhite, J	Sx	35	LSM captain & manager
Pooley, E	Sy	39	WK
Selby, J	Nt	27	RHB opener second WK
Shaw, A	Nt	34	RM assistant to captain
Southerton, J	Sx	49	SLA assistant to captain
Ulyett, G.	Yo	25	RHB opener RFM

County representation

Nt - Nottinghamshire (2)

Sy - Surrey (2)

Sx - Sussex (3)

Yo - Yorkshire (5)

Average age of team at time of first Test match

(15 March 1877) :

33 yrs 8 months.

Key to types :

LHB left-hand bat; LBG leg-break and googly bowler, OB off-break LSM Left-arm, slow medium SLA slow left-arm bowler, RFM right arm fast medium bowler

Test Appearances made before the tour

none

Tour Management

James Lillywhite	Player-Manager
Alfred Shaw	Assistant Manager

Selectors

James Lillywhite chose the team.

Selection

“Lillywhite’s eleven contained the cream of English professional cricket of the day; only Ephraim Lockwood… was missing from the ranks of the grizzled band of simple-hearted cricketers.”

- from an appreciation of James Lillywhite Jr in The Guardian after his death in 1929.

Tour Party Announced: ?

Travel

Southampton Adelaide

‘’Poonah’

On the way to Southampton Docks, the team stopped off at Chichester, home of Lillywhite and of the tour's financial backers, to play a match on 17 September.

They departed the Southampton quayside on 21 September 1876, sailing on the three-masted P & O ship ‘Poonah’, via Gibraltar, Malta, Suez and Colombo (Ceylon). After a six-week voyage, they arrived at King George’s Sound, Albany (Western Australia) on 2 November, and at Glenelg (South Australia) four days later. Here they disembarked and were driven to Adelaide by horse-drawn coach.

They broke off their Australian tour on 17 January 1877 to sail from Sydney to New Zealand for eight matches. During this time Conway arranged for a combined New South Wales-Victoria team to play them on level terms.

The team returned to Australia from Bluff, Invercargyll, leaving on the ‘Alhambra’ on 9 March and reaching Melbourne on 15 March.

Time spent in Australia

159 days

(6 November - 6 April)

Reinforcements

None used.

Fixtures/Results

The two Sydney matches were played at the Albert Cricket Ground, Renshaw.

a	† Chichester	18 of Priory Park C.C.	Drawn
b	† Adelaide	South Australia	Won inns 46 r
c	† Sydney	New South Wales	Lost 2 w
d	† Newcastle	Newcastle	Won 74 r
e	† Goulburn	Goulburn	Won 95 r
f	† Melbourne	Victoria	Lost 31 r
g	† Ballarat	Ballarat	Drawn
h	† Geelong	Geelong	Won inns 103 r
i	† Sydney	New South Wales	Lost 13 w
j	Sydney	New South Wales	Drawn
k	† Auckland	Auckland	Won inns 22 r
l	† Wellington	Wellington	Won inns 121 r
m	† New Plymouth	Taranaki	Won inns & 1 r
n	† Nelson	Nelson	Won inns 163 r
o	† Greymouth	Westland	Drawn
p	† Christchurch	Canterbury	Won 23 r
q	† Dunedin	Otago	Drawn
r	† Invercargyll	Southland	Won inns 65 r
s	MELBOURNE	AUSTRALIA First Test	LOST 45 r
t	† Bendigo	Bendigo	Drawn
u	† Ballarat	Ballarat	Drawn
v	† Ararat	Ararat	Drawn
w	MELBOURNE	AUSTRALIA Second Test	WON 4 w
x	† Adelaide	South Australia	Drawn

† not first-class

Test appearances on tour

2 - Armitage, Charlwood, Emmett, Greenwood, Hill, Jupp, Lillywhite, Selby, Shaw, Southerton, Ulyett.

1 -

0 - Pooley.

Match appearances

T Test match

x other match

∙ played for opposition

W won L lost D drawn

N no result A abandoned

u unknown result

AUSTRALIA

NEW ZEALAND

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Highlights

• Alfred Shaw's 5-38 in the first Test at Melbourne was the first five-wicket haul by an English bowler.

• In the second match George Ulyett (63) steered England to their victory target.

Tour Summary

† includes odds matches, limited overs, and any other non first-class.

	P	W	L	D	Aban
Test Matches	2	1	1	0	-
Other first-class matches	1	0	0	1	-
ϯ Minor matches	20	10	3	7	-
All Matches	23	11	4	8	-

Return to England

Adelaide T Brindisi

‘Bangalore’

Brindisi t London

On 19 April, a farewell dinner was held for the English side at the Globe Hotel in Adelaide and Lillywhite presented John Conway with a locket to thank him for carrying out the arrangements for the tour.

Accompanied by the Australian player William Midwinter, the team sailed home from Australia on the steam ship 'Bangalore' leaving Adelaide on Tuesday 17 April, reaching Galle (Ceylon) on 8 May, and then Brindisi.

From Italy the players travelled overland across Europe and reached London on 2 June.

Pooley travelled home alone, by way of the United States, arriving back in England on 9 July 1877.

Time away from England

254 days

(21 September - 2 June)

Accounts of the tour

“Cricket Reminiscences” by Alfred Shaw.

“The First Test Match” by John Arlott.

Postscript