An Australian team toured

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

and

Fiji Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists ...

from February to April 1905 to play four

first-class matches First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is one of three or more days' scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officiall ...

including two against

, which had not then attained

Test status Test cricket is a form of first-class cricket played at international level between teams representing full member countries of the International Cricket Council (ICC). A match consists of four innings (two per team) and is scheduled to last f ...

. Although it was the fifth Australian team to tour New Zealand, it was the first one to play matches on even terms, which therefore have first-class status. On previous tours all matches had been against teams of 15, 18 or 22 players. T. W. Reese, ''New Zealand Cricket: 1841–1914'', Simpson & Williams, Christchurch, 1927, pp. 93–94. As well as the two matches against New Zealand, the Australians played first-class matches against

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. ...

and

Otago Otago (, ; mi, Ōtākou ) is a region of New Zealand located in the southern half of the South Island administered by the Otago Regional Council. It has an area of approximately , making it the country's second largest local government reg ...

. The other games were non-first-class against

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

and

. The Australian team was captained by Monty Noble and included several notable Test players such as Warwick Armstrong,

Tibby Cotter Albert "Tibby" Cotter (3 December 1883 – 31 October 1917) was an Australian cricketer who played in 21 Test matches between 1904 and 1912. He served in World War I with the First Australian Imperial Force and was killed in action in the moun ...

Clem Hill Clement "Clem" Hill (18 March 18775 September 1945) was an Australian cricketer who played 49 Test matches as a specialist batsman between 1896 and 1912. He captained the Australian team in ten Tests, winning five and losing five. A prolifi ...

and Victor Trumper. After they left Fiji they proceeded on to their tour of England.

Joe Darling Joseph Darling (21 November 1870 – 2 January 1946) was an Australian cricketer who played 34 Test cricket, Test matches as a specialist batsman between 1894 and 1905. As captain (cricket), captain, he led Australia in a total of 21 Tests, wi ...

, who captained the team once it arrived in England, was unavailable for the tour of New Zealand and Fiji.

Don Neely Donald Owen Neely (21 December 1935 – 16 June 2022) was a New Zealand cricket historian, administrator and player. He served as president of New Zealand Cricket and wrote or co-wrote over 30 books on New Zealand cricket. Early life Neely wa ...

& Richard Payne, ''Men in White: The History of New Zealand International Cricket, 1894–1985'', Moa, Auckland, 1986, pp. 45–47. The Australians won the matches against Auckland, Canterbury and Otago and drew against Wellington. They were held to a draw in the first match against New Zealand, but they won the second match by an innings and 358 runs.

The team

* Monty Noble (

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

) *

(vice-captain) * Warwick Armstrong *

Reggie Duff Reginald Alexander "Reggie" Duff (17 August 1878 – 13 December 1911) was an Australian cricketer who played in 22 Tests between 1902 and 1905. Duff made his Test debut along with Warwick Armstrong, against England at Melbourne in 1901–02 an ...

Algy Gehrs Donald Raeburn Algernon Gehrs (29 November 1880 – 25 June 1953) was an Australian sportsman who played six Test matches for Australia from 1904 to 1911 and played Australian rules football for South Adelaide and North Adelaide Football Clubs. ...

* Syd Gregory * Bert Hopkins * Bill Howell *

Jim Kelly James Edward Kelly (born February 14, 1960) is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 11 seasons with the Buffalo Bills. He also spent two seasons with the Houston Gamblers of the United State ...

Frank Laver Frank Jonas Laver (7 December 1869 – 24 September 1919) was an Australian cricketer and baseball player. He played in 15 Test matches between 1899 and 1909 and visited England as a player and team manager on four occasions. An accomplished ph ...

Charlie McLeod Charles Edward McLeod (24 October 1869 – 26 November 1918) was an Australian cricketer who played in 17 Test matches between 1894 and 1905. McLeod was a patient batsman and accurate bowler who represented Victoria in first-class cricket from ...

Phil Newland Philip Mesmer Newland (2 February 1875 – 11 August 1916) was an Australian sportsman who excelled at Australian rules football, cricket and lacrosse. He played Sheffield Shield cricket for South Australia as a wicket-keeper and toured England ...

* Victor Trumper Laver was the player-manager, assisted by Newland.

The matches

First-class matches are indicated in bold. * Auckland v Australians,

Auckland Domain The Auckland Domain, also known as Pukekawa / Auckland Domain, is a large park in Auckland, New Zealand. It is the oldest park in the city, and at is one of the largest. Located in the central suburb of Grafton, the park land is the remains o ...

, 10, 11, 13 February 1905.

XV 175 and 107; Australians 442. Australians won by an innings and 160 runs. * Wellington v Australians, Basin Reserve,

, 20, 21, 22 February 1905.

XV 183 and 213 for 9; Australians 433. Drawn. * Canterbury v Australians, Lancaster Park,

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River / ...

, 24, 25, 27 February 1905. Canterbury 119 and 183; Australians 166 and 137 for 2. Australians won by eight wickets. After delays caused by rain, the Australians needed 137 to win in one hour, on a wet pitch. Trumper hit 87

not out In cricket, a batter is not out if they come out to bat in an innings and have not been dismissed by the end of an innings. The batter is also ''not out'' while their innings is still in progress. Occurrence At least one batter is not out at t ...

, giving the Australians victory off 18 overs with one minute to spare. His innings was described some years later as "almost universally recognised as the finest innings that has ever been seen in New Zealand". * Otago v Australians, Carisbrook,

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; mi, Ōtepoti) is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from , the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Th ...

, 3, 4 March 1905.

55 and 76; Australians 304. Australians won by an innings and 173 runs. * New Zealand v Australia, Lancaster Park, Christchurch, 10, 11, 13 March 1905. Australia 533; New Zealand 138 and 112 for 7. Drawn. Armstrong made 126

and took 5 for 27 and 5 for 25. Hill made 118, Trumper 84. For New Zealand,

Keith Ollivier Keith Morton Ollivier (2 August 1880 – 12 September 1951) was a New Zealand cricketer who played first-class cricket for Canterbury from 1901 to 1912. He played twice for New Zealand in the days before New Zealand played Test cricket. Person ...

took 5 for 113 and top-scored in each innings with 39 and 32 not out. Rain delayed the start of play on the final day. * New Zealand v Australia, Basin Reserve, Wellington, 16, 17, 18 March 1905. New Zealand 94 and 141; Australia 593 for 9 dec. Australia won by an innings and 358 runs. Trumper made 172, Hill 129. Together they added 269 in 110 minutes for the sixth wicket. Armstrong made 67 not out and took 6 for 51 in the second innings. The former Australian Test batsman and Test umpire

Charles Bannerman Charles Bannerman (3 July 1851 – 20 August 1930) was an English-born Australian cricketer. A right-handed batsman, he represented Australia in three Test matches between 1877 and 1879. At the domestic level, he played for the New South Wales ...

umpired both matches in partnership with a local umpire. The former Australian Test players

Sydney Callaway Sydney Thomas Callaway (6 February 1868 – 25 November 1923) was an Australian cricketer who played in three Test matches, all of them against England in Australia in the 1890s. He was born at Redfern, New South Wales in 1868. In 1891/92 he pl ...

and Harry Graham, both of whom had moved to New Zealand in recent years, represented New Zealand in both matches. The New Zealand captain was Arthur Sims, who later organised and captained the Australian team that toured New Zealand in 1913-14. When Sims was injured and had to leave the field during the second match, Graham acted as captain. * Fiji v Australians, Albert Park,

Suva Suva () is the capital and largest city of Fiji. It is the home of the country's largest metropolitan area and serves as its major port. The city is located on the southeast coast of the island of Viti Levu, in Rewa Province, Central Divi ...

, 27 March 1905.

XVIII 91; Australians 212. Howell took 5 for 6. The top-scorer was Hopkins with 54.

Leading players

Trumper was the highest scorer in the four first-class matches, with 436 runs at an average of 109.00. Hill scored 308 runs at 77.00, and Armstrong 254 at 127.00. Armstrong was the leading wicket-taker, with 21 wickets at an average of 6.90. Cotter took 15 wickets at 9.20, and Noble 15 at 12.20. Among the New Zealanders, the highest first-class score was 49 by James Lawrence for Canterbury. The best bowling figures were 5 for 84 by Joe Bennett, also in the Canterbury match.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Australian cricket team in New Zealand and Fiji in 1904-05 1905 in Australian cricket 1905 in New Zealand cricket New Zealand cricket seasons from 1890–91 to 1917–18 1904-05 International cricket competitions from 1888–89 to 1918