The tour by the Australian cricket team in England in 1981 included the 51st

Ashes series The Ashes is a Test cricket series played between England and Australia. The term originated in a satirical obituary published in a British newspaper, ''The Sporting Times'', immediately after Australia's 1882 victory at The Oval, its first ...

of Test matches between Australia and England. Despite having been 1–0 down after two Tests, England won the next three to finish 3–1 victors (with two draws), thus retaining the Ashes.

Australian squad

Australia's regular captain

Greg Chappell Gregory Stephen Chappell (born 7 August 1948) is a former cricketer who represented Australia at international level in both Tests and One-Day Internationals (ODI). The second of three brothers to play Test cricket, Chappell was the pre-eminen ...

made himself unavailable for selection, and

Kim Hughes Kimberley John Hughes (born 26 January 1954) is a former cricketer who played for Western Australia, Natal and Australia. He captained Australia in 28 Test matches between 1979 and 1984 before captaining a rebel Australian team in a tour of ...

was re-instated. The Australian squad selected for the tour was as follows: *Batsmen –

(captain),

Allan Border Allan Robert Border (born 27 July 1955) is an Australian cricket commentator and former international cricketer. A batsman, Border was for many years the captain of the Australian team. His playing nickname was "A.B.". He played 156 Test ma ...

, Graeme Wood, John Dyson,

Graham Yallop Graham Neil Yallop (born 7 October 1952) is a former Australian international cricketer. Yallop played Test and One Day International cricket for the Australia national cricket team between 1976 and 1984, captaining the side briefly during the ...

, Martin Kent,

Dirk Wellham Dirk MacDonald Wellham (born 13 March 1959) is a former Australian cricketer who played in six Test matches and 17 One Day Internationals (ODIs) between 1981 and 1987. He is one of three players to score a century in both his first class and ...

Trevor Chappell Trevor Martin Chappell (born 12 October 1952) is a former Australian cricketer, a member of the South Australian Chappell family which excelled at cricket. He played 3 tests and 20 One Day Internationals for Australia. He won the Sheffield Sh ...

*Fast bowlers –

Dennis Lillee Dennis Keith Lillee, (born 18 July 1949) is Australian retired cricketer rated as the "outstanding fast bowler of his generation".

Terry Alderman Terence Michael Alderman (born 12 June 1956) is a former Australian international cricketer who played primarily as a right-arm fast-medium bowler. He began his first-class cricket career in 1974 with Western Australia in the Sheffield Shield ...

Rodney Hogg Rodney Malcolm Hogg (born 5 March 1951) is a former Victorian, South Australian and Australian cricketer. He was a fast bowler. Hogg played in 38 Test matches and 71 One Day Internationals between 1978 and 1985. In Tests he took 123 wicket ...

, Geoff Lawson *Spinners –

Ray Bright Raymond James Bright (born 13 July 1954) is a former Australian Test and One Day International cricketer from Victoria. He was a left arm spin bowler and lower order batsman who captained Victoria for a number of seasons. He was also an Austral ...

Graeme Beard Graeme Robert Beard (born 19 August 1950) is a former Australian cricketer who played in three Test matches and two One Day Internationals in 1980 and 1981. Beard was born in Auburn, New South Wales. He made his debut for New South Wales in 1 ...

*Wicketkeeper –

Rod Marsh Rodney William Marsh (4 November 1947 – 4 March 2022) was an Australian professional cricketer who played as a wicketkeeper for the Australian national team. Marsh had a Test career spanning from the 1970–71 to the 1983–84 Australian ...

Steve Rixon Stephen John Rixon (born 25 February 1954) is an Australian cricket coach and former international cricketer. He played in 13 Test matches and six One Day Internationals between 1977 and 1985. He has coached the New Zealand cricket team, New S ...

Selection controversies

Doug Walters Kevin Douglas Walters (born 21 December 1945) is a former Australian cricketer. He was known as an attacking batsman, a useful part-time bowler, and also as a typical ocker. In 2011, he was inducted into the Cricket Hall of Fame by the CA. ...

was overlooked despite a strong summer at home. This resulted in protests from fans and Walters' eventual retirement from first class cricket.

Bruce Yardley Bruce Yardley (5 September 1947 – 27 March 2019) was an Australian cricketer who played in 33 Test matches and seven One Day Internationals between 1978 and 1983, taking 126 Test wickets. Known to his teammates as 'Roo', Yardley was an off- ...

had been Australia's most successful spinner that summer with 47 wickets, followed by

Jim Higgs James Donald Higgs (born 11 July 1950) is a former Australian leg spinner who played in 22 Test matches between 1978 and 1981. In the words of Gideon Haigh "Jim Higgs was Australia's best legspinner between Richie Benaud and Warne. His misfo ...

with 38. The selectors preferred Ray Bright (22 wickets at 40) and Graeme Beard (29 wickets at 25).

Replacements

Mike Whitney was called up as a replacement during the tour.

Test series

Although the two teams were ranked below the mighty

West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greater ...

of that era, the 1981 Ashes is nevertheless widely regarded as one of the most entertaining Test series ever due to the see-sawing nature of both the individual games and the series as a whole. England won the series 3–1 despite being 1–0 down after the first two Tests. Before the third Test at

Headingley Headingley is a suburb of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, approximately two miles out of the city centre, to the north west along the A660 road. Headingley is the location of the Beckett Park campus of Leeds Beckett University and Headin ...

, the inspirational

Mike Brearley John Michael Brearley (born 28 April 1942) is a retired English first-class cricketer who captained Cambridge University, Middlesex, and England. He captained the international side in 31 of his 39 Test matches, winning 18 and losing only 4 ...

was reinstated as England captain, replacing

Ian Botham Ian Terence Botham, Baron Botham, (born 24 November 1955) is an English cricket commentator, member of the House of Lords, a former cricketer who has been chairman of Durham County Cricket Club since 2017 and charity fundraiser. Hailed as one ...

, whose 12-Test tenure as captain had been winless and whose previously excellent form with both bat and ball had fallen away (he had made a

pair Pair or PAIR or Pairing may refer to: Government and politics * Pair (parliamentary convention), matching of members unable to attend, so as not to change the voting margin * ''Pair'', a member of the Prussian House of Lords * ''Pair'', the Fren ...

in the second Test at

Lord's Lord's Cricket Ground, commonly known as Lord's, is a cricket venue in St John's Wood, London. Named after its founder, Thomas Lord, it is owned by Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) and is the home of Middlesex County Cricket Club, the England an ...

). The series turned around in the legendary third test at Headingly. A galvanised Botham took 6 for 95 in Australia's first innings and scored 50 in England's, but Australia nonetheless compiled 401 for 9 declared ( John Dyson scoring 102) and bowled England out for 174, thus forcing England to follow on 227 runs in arrears. Despite a stubborn 46 from

Geoff Boycott Sir Geoffrey Boycott (born 21 October 1940) is a former Test cricketer, who played cricket for Yorkshire and England. In a prolific and sometimes controversial playing career from 1962 to 1986, Boycott established himself as one of England's m ...

, in the second innings Botham came to the crease with England on 105 for 5, still requiring 122 runs to avoid an innings defeat. He played an outstanding innings of 149 not out, sharing partnerships of 117 with Graham Dilley for the eighth wicket, 67 with

Chris Old Chris Old (born Christopher Middleton Old, 22 December 1948) is a former English cricketer, who played 46 Tests and 32 ODIs from 1972 to 1981. A right-arm fast-medium bowler and lower order left-handed batsman, Old was a key feature of the Yor ...

for the ninth and 37 with

Bob Willis Robert George Dylan Willis (born Robert George Willis; 30 May 1949 – 4 December 2019) was an English cricketer, who represented England between 1971 and 1984. A right-handed fast bowler, Willis is regarded by many as one of the greatest f ...

for the tenth, to set Australia a target of 130. Australia then reached 56 for 1, seemingly well set, before Brearley switched Willis' bowling end to allow him to bowl down the slope. Willis bowled a superb spell of 8 for 43 to dismiss Australia for 111; England became only the second team in Test Match history to win a match after being made to

follow-on In the game of cricket, a team who batted second and scored significantly fewer runs than the team who batted first may be forced to follow-on: to take their second innings immediately after their first. The follow-on can be enforced by the team ...

.Cricinfo – The great escape
/ref> The fourth Test at

Edgbaston Edgbaston () is an affluent suburban area of central Birmingham, England, historically in Warwickshire, and curved around the southwest of the city centre. In the 19th century, the area was under the control of the Gough-Calthorpe family a ...

was a similarly inspired comeback victory for England. England conceded a 69-run first innings deficit, and set Australia a target of only 151 in the fourth innings. Australia reached 105 for 4 before Botham took five for 11, including a spell of five

wicket In cricket, the term wicket has several meanings: * It is one of the two sets of three stumps and two bails at either end of the pitch. The fielding team's players can hit the wicket with the ball in a number of ways to get a batsman out. ...

s for a solitary run, to end Australia's second innings at 121 and give England victory by 29 runs. England also went on to win the fifth Test at

Old Trafford Old Trafford () is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,310 it is the largest club football stadium (and second-largest football stadium overall after Wemble ...

to retain the Ashes, including another century for Botham (who reached his hundred in 86 balls). Botham scored 118 from 102 balls, dominating a chalk-and-cheese partnership of 149 with

Chris Tavaré Christopher James Tavaré (;), (born 27 October 1954) is a retired English international cricketer who played in 31 Test matches and 29 One Day Internationals between 1980 and 1989. His style of play was characterised by long periods at the ...

, who blocked his way to 78 from 289 balls. Botham's innings included 6 sixes, which was an Ashes record until

Ben Stokes Benjamin Andrew Stokes (born 4 June 1991) is an English international cricketer who is the captain of the England Test team and plays for the England Twenty20 International (T20I) team. In domestic cricket, he represents Durham and has play ...

's innings of 135 at

in the

2019 Ashes series The 2019 Ashes series (officially the Specsavers Ashes Series for sponsorship reasons) was a series of Test cricket matches played between England and Australia for The Ashes in August and September 2019. The venues were Edgbaston, Lord's, Hea ...

. Second-innings centuries from

and

could not avert defeat. The sixth Test at

The Oval The Oval, currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Kia Oval, is an international cricket ground in Kennington, located in the borough of Lambeth, in south London. The Oval has been the home ground of Surrey County Cricket Club since it ...

was drawn, with

Dennis Lillee Dennis Keith Lillee, (born 18 July 1949) is Australian retired cricketer rated as the "outstanding fast bowler of his generation".

taking 11 wickets in the match and Botham taking 10.

First Test

Second Test

Third Test

Fourth Test

Fifth Test

Sixth Test

One Day Internationals (ODIs)

Three ODIs were played on this tour prior to the Test series. Australia won the Prudential Trophy 2–1, winning at

and

, after losing the first match at

1st ODI

2nd ODI

3rd ODI

Visit to Sri Lanka

The Australian team visited

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

in May 1981 en route to England. They played three limited-overs matches and one first-class match against the Sri Lanka national team, which at that time was on the brink of achieving Test status. The first-class match was played at

Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu Stadium Pakiasothy Saravanamuttu Stadium (Tamil: பாக்கியசோதி சரவணமுத்து மைதானம், si, පාකියසොති සර්වනමූත්තු ක්‍රීඩාංගනය) Colombo Oval o ...

in Colombo and ended in a draw after being badly affected by the weather.

References

External links

334notout.com

{{DEFAULTSORT:Australian Cricket Team In England In 1981 1981 in Australian cricket 1981 in English cricket 1981 in Sri Lankan cricket

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major offensiv ...

International cricket competitions from 1980–81 to 1985 Sri Lankan cricket seasons from 1972–73 to 1999–2000