Test Cricket Tours - Australia to England 1890

 

 

 

Tour of England 1890                     Captain: Billy Murdoch

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sixth Australian Test tour

 

 

Sixth Test-playing tour of England by Australia

       

 

 

 

 (March -

         November 1890)

 

Harry Boyle became the organiser of the next tour. Billy Murdoch was re-instated as captain after six years.  Following his marriage he had played relatively little cricket as he was working in his law practice at Cootamundra, but on this tour he showed he had lost none of his skill and batted well enough to score most runs and top the batting averages.

Bannerman and Bonnor withdrew after agreeing to be part of the team, presumably because they disagreed with the other selections or the financial arrangements.

The ship taking the tourists to England, the 'Liguria', was in collision with two other ships at Gibraltar but none of the team came to harm.

Turner and Ferris were as formidable as in 1888.  On the whole tour they took 179 and 186 wickets respectively, the next best being Trumble with 52.  However, the team's batting was relatively weak. After a strong start winning five matches by the end of May, the Australians suffered the worst number of defeats in first-class matches (16) of any tour, including losing both Tests in which play was possible. Alarmingly for the players, since the tour was for them a  financial speculation, the spectating public mostly showed less interest the touring side's matches than they had done in the past or in the current county championship.

England won the first Test decisively but the second was hard-fought to the bitter end.

Both Barrett and Charlton were medical practitioners, though it was Roly Pope who served as the team's doctor in an honorary position.

At the last moment the Australians declined invitations to add tours of South Africa and Bombay to the programme.

A Parsee team was scheduled to tour England in 1890 but this fell through.

 

 

All Australian tours

 

 

Previous tour

England 1888

 

 

Next tour

England 1893

 

 

 

Members of the Test tour party (13)

 

 

 

Opening batsmen : Jack Barrett, John Lyons, Sammy Jones

Middle-order batsmen:  Billy Murdoch, Syd Gregory, Harry Trott, Frank Walters, Kenny Burn

Wicket-keeper: Jack Blackham

Slow bowler:Hugh Trumble

Fast bowlers:Jack Ferris, Charlie Turner, Percie Charlton.

 

 

 

Comments on players by Mid-on p 3, The West Australian 6 Oct 1890

 

J E Barrett

Vic

23

LHB opener

 A thoroughly conscientious and enthusiastic cricketer. As a stonewall, a worthy substitute for Bannerman.

J M Blackham

Vic

37

RHB   WK

 Has not performed well with the bat but remarkable retention of form shown behind the wickets.

E J K Burn

Tas

27

RHB

 Had few early opportunities but has performed very moderately considering the form shown in his native colony

P C Charlton

NSW

23

RFM

Early success under discouraging circumstances. Seldom found wanting and amply justified his inclusion in the team.

J J Ferris

NSW

23

LFM

 Pluck and determination with the bat. Fully maintained the high reputation made a couple of years previously

S E Gregory

NSW

20

RHB

 At the outset gave promise of a leading position in the batting averages but seemed to suddenly collapse

S P Jones

NSW

28

RHB  opener

 His performances have been woefully disappointing - a succession of failures at critical times

J J Lyons

SA

27

RHB  opener       RM

 Has done good service, rarely failing to make runs and frquently playing brilliant cricket

W L Murdoch

NSW

35

RHB      captain

 Several fine appearances justified the opinion that he has not lost form but patchy, the result of having responsibility

G H S Trott

Vic

23

RHB        LB

 The non-success of Trott and Jones had more than aught else to do with crippling the team.

H Trumble

Vic

23

OB

 Scored well on 2 or 3 occasions but deprived of the chance of making runs by going in last

C T B Turner

NSW

27

RFM

Bowling honours pretty evenly divided with Ferris.  When being punished, was too long persisted with.

F H Walters

Vic

30

RHB

 Not himself when the occasion is one of importance. Evidently incapable of playing his best in big matches and unlikely to have another chance

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Average age of  team at time of first Test match

   (21 July 1890) : 

      27 yrs 0  months

 

 

Colonial representation

NSW -  New South Wales (6)

SA -  South Australia (1)

Tas -  Tasmania (1)

Vic -  Victoria (5)

 

 

 

 

Key to type:

RHB Right-handed bat

RM  Right arm medium-paced bowler

RFM  Right-arm fast medium

OB   Off break

WK  Wicket-keeper

 

 

 

Test Appearances made before the tour

 

Blackham 26,  Murdoch 16,  Jones 12,  Ferris 6,  Turner 6,  Trott 3,  Lyons 2,  Walters 1,  Barrett 0,  Burn 0,  Charlton 0,  Gregory 0,  Trumble 0.

 

 

 

 

 

Tour Officials

 

Harry Boyle

Tour manager

Dr Roland J Pope

Assistant

-  Batchelor

Scorer

 

 

 

 

 

 

Selectors

 

A group of senior players had agreed upon Harry Boyle as manager, and he alone chose the touring eleven. 

 

 

 

 

 

Selection

 

The preliminary selections were being made in June 1889, and some nine or ten names were already settled before the 1889-90 Australian season had started.

 

Unavailable: George Giffen refused to jon the group, thinking it unlikely the tour would be a sporting or financial success;  Harry Moses;  Affie Jarvis;  Charlie McLeod,  Bob McLeod (both Victorian all-rounders).

Billy Murdoch was persuaded to tour again.

Not selected:  James Burn.  Tasmania's Ken Burn, selected as wicket-keeper though he had never done the job in a serious match, was picked in preference to Sidney Deane (NSW), 24, who the New South Wales men wanted and Jack Harry (Victoria), who was the choice of the Victoria men.  It tuned out that the player Boyle had intended to pick was James Burn from Hobart.

Withdrawal :  Alick Bannerman (NSW), 36, and George Bonnor (NSW), 35, withdrew at the last moment on 7 March.

Syd Gregory was added to the team on 11 March.

 

 

Time between selection and departure from Australia       x days

(? - 14 March)

 

 

 

Travel

Melbourne  T   Tilbury

                ‘Liguria’

 

 

Murdoch left Australia with his wife some weeks before the rest of the team, arriving in London on 7 April.

The team left Melbourne on 14 March 1890 in the 'Liguria'.  On 22 April the ship collided with two others entering Gibraltar Harbour.  During the delay for repairs, the team played a match against Gibraltar Garrison, and Turner took nine wickets for fifteen runs.

The ship reached Plymouth on 26 April, and sailed on to Tilbury the next day.

 

 

Time spent in England

    156 days

(27 April - 7 October)

 

 

 

 

On-tour selection

 

Harry Boyle and Billy Murdoch.

 

 

 

 

Reinforcements

 

Jack Lyons fell off a trapeze while on board the Liguria  

Murdoch missed only two matches on the tour (and those because of a broken finger).  Sammy Jones was afflicted by illness for the second tour in a row  and did not play at all after the second Test.

Sammy Woods who had assisted the 1888 side was invited to join the tour party but declined to do so.

Roland Pope (NSW) 26 played in three matches and Harry Boyle, the manager, now 43, played in one match.

For the match in Ceylon on the way home the Australians called upon F S Symonds, Dr Cater, A T Pritchard and Captain White of the ship's company.

 

 

 

 

 

Fixtures/Results

 

†  Gibraltar

Gibraltar Garrison XVI

Won

 

 

 

Uckfield

Lord Sheffield's XI

Won inns 34 r

†  Edgbaston

Warwickshire

Won 132 r

Westbury

W H Laverton's XI

Lost 181 r

Oxford

Oxford University

Won inns 61 r

Kennington Oval

Surrey

Won 8 w

Sheffield

Yorkshire

Lost 7 w

Old Trafford

Lancashire

Won inns 155 r

Lord's

M.C.C. and Ground

Lost 7 w

Cambridge

Cambridge University

Drawn

Lord's

Middlesex

Drawn

Trent Bridge

Nottinghamshire

Lost inns 26 r

Kennington Oval

South of England

Lost 97 r

Lord's

Players of England

Lost inns 263 r

Bradford

Yorkshire

Lost 8 w

Old Trafford

North of England

Drawn

†  Derby

Derbyshire

Drawn

Stoke-on-Trent

Staffordshire England XI

Won 88 r

†  Leicester

Leicestershire

Won inns 64 r

Bristol

Gloucestershire

Drawn

Sheffield

Players of England

Lost 9 w

Kennington Oval

Surrey

Drawn

LORD'S

ENGLAND  First Test

LOST 7 w

Brighton

Sussex

Won inns 45 r

Maidstone

Kent

Won 9 w

Barnes

Lyric Club & Ground

Lost 96 r

Canterbury

Kent

Lost 108 r

Leyton

Cambridge University Past & Present

Drawn

KENNINGTON OVAL

ENGLAND  Second Test

LOST 2 w

Portsmouth

Oxford and Cambridge Past & Present

Drawn

Trent Bridge

Nottinghamshire

Lost 20 r

Cheltenham

Gloucestershire

Won 8 w

OLD TRAFFORD

ENGLAND  Third Test

ABANDONED

†  Stoke-on-Trent

Staffordshire

Won inns 28 r

Headingley

North of England

Won 160 r

Scarborough

Lord Londesborough's XI

Won 8 r

Lord's

M C C  & Ground

Lost 4 w

East Moseley

Hurst Park Club

Lost 34 r

Hastings

South of England

Lost 10 w

Old Trafford

An England XI ¬

Drawn

 

 

 

†  Colombo

Ceylon

Drawn

 

¬The last fixture against An England XI was arranged to compensate for the third Test being abandoned

 

 

 

† not first-class

 

 

Time spent in England before First Test: 

  62 days

(27 April - 21 July)

 

 

 

 

Test appearances on tour

 

2 -   Barrett,  Blackham,  Burn,   Charlton,  Ferris,  Gregory,  Lyons,  Murdoch,  Trott,  Trumble,  Turner.

0 -   Jones, Walters.

 

 

 

 

 

Highlights

 

•   In the first Test at Lord's Barrett carried his bat for 67 not out..

•    Lyons captured 5 wickets for 30 runs at Lord's, having earlier hit fifty runs in a record 36 minutes.

•    Ferris took 4-25 and 5-49 in the Test match at Kennington Oval on a helpful pitch.

 

 

 

 

 

Tour Summary

 

 

 P

 W

 L

 D

Aban

Test Matches

  3

  0

  2

  0

1

Other first-class matches

32

10

14

  8

-

Minor matches

  6

  4

  0

  2

-

All Matches

41

14

16

10

1

 

 

 

 

 

 

Return to Australia

Gravesend    T    Sydney

                   ‘Ormuz’

                  ‘Oceana’

 

 

 

Murdoch and Dr Barrett remained in England at the end of the tour.

Leaving England on 25 September 1890, seven cricketers - Blackham, Boyle, Burn, Gregory, Lyons, Trott and Walters - returned home in the 'Ormuz',  After thick fog delayed them for a day at Gravesend, they sailed on to Naples and Colombo where they played a match against a Ceylon XI (21 October), The Ormuz called at Adelaide and Melbourne but the players remained on board until it reached Sydney on 11 November.

Turner, Ferris, Charlton and Trumble - the main bowlers in the team - departed from England later on the P & O liner ' Oceania', reaching Largs Bay on 10 November and arriving home in Sydney on 16 November.  

Jones had to remain in hospital in England for a further fortnight before he could leave for home on the ‘Sabraon’.

 

 

 

Time away from Australia

  228 days  

(28 March to 11 November)

 

 

 

 

Finances

 

 

 

 

 

Written accounts of the tour

 

 

 

 

 

 

Postscript

 

In 1891 Ferris settled in Bristol, was employed by a bank and later played for Gloucestershire and for England.