England cricket team The England cricket team represents England and Wales in international cricket. Since 1997, it has been governed by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), having been previously governed by Marylebone Cricket Club (the MCC) since 1903. Engla ...

toured Australia, New Zealand and the United States between September 1881 and March 1882. The tour was privately organised by the professional players James Lillywhite, junior,

Alfred Shaw Alfred Shaw (29 August 1842 – 16 January 1907) was an eminent Victorian cricketer and rugby footballer, who bowled the first ball in Test cricket and was the first to take five wickets in a Test innings (5/35). He made two trips to North Ameri ...

and

Arthur Shrewsbury Arthur Shrewsbury (11 April 1856 – 19 May 1903) was an English cricketer and rugby football administrator. He was widely rated as competing with W. G. Grace for the accolade of best batsman of the 1880s; Grace himself, when asked whom he wo ...

. In all matches other than

Tests Test(s), testing, or TEST may refer to: * Test (assessment), an educational assessment intended to measure the respondents' knowledge or other abilities Arts and entertainment * ''Test'' (2013 film), an American film * ''Test'' (2014 film), ...

, the team was called A. Shaw's XI. In Australia, the tour itinerary consisted of seven first-class matches, including a four-match Test series against

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. The Test series was won 2–0 by Australia with two matches drawn.

The Ashes 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 Te ...

, which began later in 1882, were not at stake. None of the matches in either New Zealand or the United States have been ascribed first-class status. The team left England in September 1881 and sailed across the Atlantic first to play five matches in the United States during October. Their first match in Australia began on 23 November. After completing the first Test at the turn of the year, the team went to New Zealand for seven matches before returning to Australia in February and playing the last three Tests. The tour ended on 18 March. Besides the four Tests, two matches against

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

and one match against

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

have been recognised as first-class. The tour became the subject of a potential betting scandal after certain English players were implicated in rumours about receiving money to participate in match-fixing. The match in question was against Victoria at the

Melbourne Cricket Ground The Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), also known locally as "The 'G", is an Australian sports stadium located in Yarra Park, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, Victoria. Founded and managed by the Melbourne Cricket Club, it is the largest stadiu ...

, played 16–20 December 1881. In the end, nothing could be proven and the matter was eventually dropped, but not until after a degree of public discussion in English cricket.

Test series

Australia and England played four Tests between 31 December 1881 and 14 March 1882. Australia won the series 2–0 with two matches drawn: * 1st Test at

– match drawn * 2nd Test at Association Ground, Sydney – Australia won by 5 wickets * 3rd Test at Association Ground, Sydney – Australia won by 6 wickets * 4th Test at

– match drawn Throughout the series,

over Over may refer to: Places *Over, Cambridgeshire, England *Over, Cheshire, England *Over, South Gloucestershire, England * Over, Tewkesbury, near Gloucester, England ** Over Bridge *Over, Seevetal, Germany Music Albums * ''Over'' (album), by Pe ...

s consisted of four deliveries each.

First Test – Melbourne

Whilst this match was designated as a

timeless Test A timeless Test is a match of Test cricket played under no limitation of time, which means the match is played until one side wins or the match is tied, with theoretically no possibility of a draw. The format means that it is not possible to play ...

, the ship that was due to take the tourists to New Zealand was set to depart on the morning of 4 January. The authorities pushed back the ship's departure time to 3:45 pm in the hope that the match would yield a result. However, it was all in vain as after 55 overs in the fourth innings Australia were still 156 runs short of their target with three wickets down. The result was Test cricket's first ever draw.

Second Test – Sydney

Third Test – Sydney

Fourth Test – Melbourne

Whilst this match was designated as a timeless Test, the tourists were due to depart Melbourne on the evening on 14 March in order to play a two-day match in Dunolly the following day. With rain washing out the entire fourth day's play, this resulted in Test cricket's second ever draw and Australia taking out the series 2–0.

Controversy

A potential scandal arose following the match against Victoria in December when it was alleged that certain English players had agreed to take part in a betting scam and attempt to throw the match. Team captain

suspected there was a conspiracy but his team won by 18 runs and, as he later said: "Whatever the scheme actually was, it failed".Knox, pp. 87–88. The issue became the opening topic in the inaugural issue of '' Cricket: A Weekly Record of the Game'', published on 10 May 1882. The editor's first words were: "The new cricket season will probably begin with a scandal". He went on to bemoan his perception that, in Australia, "large sums are betted on matches" but admitted the same was true of England until about fifty years previously. After paying his respects to "the class of gentlemen of leisure" who run cricket in England, he concluded by saying that "it is worth no man's while to buy or sell a match; and we may trust that the colonial vice (''sic'') will never take firm root at Lord's or at the Oval". No details of the expected scandal were given at that time."Cricket Fifty Years Ago"
''Cricket'', issue 1, 10 May 1882, p. 2. The affair dragged on for a few weeks and

Lord Harris Colonel George Robert Canning Harris, 4th Baron Harris, (3 February 1851 – 24 March 1932), generally known as Lord Harris, was a British colonial administrator and Governor of Bombay. He was also an English amateur cricketer, mainly active f ...

, first among the class of gentlemen of leisure, became involved by writing a letter to ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

'' in which he demanded "public refutation" of the rumours."Correspondence"
''Cricket'', issue 3, 25 May 1882, p. 38. According to Shaw, he was told that

Billy Midwinter William Evans Midwinter (19 June 1851 – 3 December 1890) was a cricketer who played four Test matches for England, sandwiched in between eight Tests that he played for Australia. Midwinter holds a unique place in cricket history as the only ...

had been approached by

George Ulyett George Ulyett (21 October 1851 – 18 June 1898) was an English cricketer, noted particularly for his very aggressive batsmanship. A well-liked man (who, in later years, kept a pub in his native Sheffield), Ulyett was popularly known as "Happy ...

and John Selby, who wanted Midwinter to take part in the scam. Victoria were in a strong position but the weather was against them and there was the strong probability that they would need to bat on a "

sticky wicket A sticky wicket (or sticky dog, or glue pot) is a metaphor used to describe a difficult circumstance. It originated as a term for difficult circumstances in the sport of cricket, caused by a damp and soft wicket. In cricket The phrase comes fr ...

" in their final innings. That is what happened and Shaw's XI surprisingly won by 18 runs after being obliged 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 ...

. Even so, Shaw was aware that "most extravagant odds" were being offered on Victoria to win and, although he was sceptical about the allegation, he refused to let either Midwinter or Ulyett bowl. He relied mainly on

Ted Peate Edmund Peate (2 March 1855 – 11 March 1900) was an English professional cricketer who played for Yorkshire County Cricket Club and the English cricket team. Overview Born on 2 March 1855 in Holbeck near Leeds in Yorkshire, Peate's career, whi ...

, who was the match-winner with a return of 6/30, and used four other bowlers in support: himself,

Billy Bates Willie Bates (19 November 1855 – 8 January 1900), known as Billy Bates, was an English cricketer. Skilled with both bat and ball, Bates scored over 10,000 first-class runs, took more than 870 wickets and was always reliable in the field. A ...

Tom Emmett Thomas Emmett (3 September 1841 – 29 June 1904) was an English cricket bowler in the late 1860s, the 1870s and the early 1880s. Cricket career Born in Halifax, West Riding of Yorkshire, Emmett first joined Yorkshire when almost 25 as a pro ...

and

Dick Barlow Richard Gorton Barlow (28 May 1851 – 31 July 1919) was a cricketer who played for Lancashire and England. Barlow is best remembered for his batting partnership with A N Hornby, which was immortalised in nostalgic poetry by Francis Thompson. He ...

. The tour had ended and the players were sailing home when the rumours became public. There were later reports of two fights on ship-board, both apparently involving Selby. In one of these, Selby allegedly assaulted Midwinter because he had refused to participate in the scam, but Midwinter got the better of him and Ulyett intervened. It is not clear if Ulyett attacked Midwinter or if he stopped the fight. The second fight allegedly involved

William Scotton William Henry Scotton (15 January 1856 – 9 July 1893) was a cricketer who played for Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club and England. Scotton played his first match at Lord's for Sixteen Colts of England against the Marylebone Cricket Club on ...

who had taken exception to something, and this may also have involved Selby. However, Scotton had known marital issues and his fight may well have been about that. In the end, after various denials had been publicly stated as demanded by Harris, nothing could be proved and the whole matter was dropped.

References

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:English cricket team in Australia and New Zealand in 1881-82 1881 in American sports 1881 in Australian cricket 1881 in English cricket 1882 in Australian cricket 1882 in English cricket 1882 in New Zealand cricket 1881 Cricket controversies 1881

1882 Events January–March * January 2 ** The Standard Oil Trust is secretly created in the United States to control multiple corporations set up by John D. Rockefeller and his associates. ** Irish-born author Oscar Wilde arrives in ...

1881 International cricket competitions from 1844 to 1888 New Zealand cricket seasons from 1863–64 to 1889–90 United States cricket in the 19th century