The England cricket team in Australia in 1884–85 was generally known as Alfred Shaw's XI after its main organiser. The team played 8 first-class matches, including the five matches in the Test series, winning 6 and losing 2.

Squads

The party comprised 13 players, all of them professionals:

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 ...

, Billy Barnes,

William Attewell William Attewell (; commonly known as Dick Attewell) (12 June 1861 – 11 June 1927) was a cricketer who played for Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club and England. Attewell was a medium pace bowler who was renowned for his extraordinary accur ...

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 ...

Wilfred Flowers Wilfred Flowers (1856–1926) was a professional cricketer who played for Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club between 1877 and 1896. Cricket career born 7 December 1856 in Calverton, Nottinghamshire, England, Flowers was a slow bowler, who bow ...

and

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 ...

(all

Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated Notts.) is a landlocked county in the East Midlands region of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. The traditi ...

);

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 ...

, Joe Hunter, Bobby Peel and

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 ...

(all

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

); Johnny Briggs (

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...

);

Maurice Read John Maurice Read (9 February 1859 – 17 February 1929 in Winchester, Hampshire) was an English professional cricketer. Harry Altham wrote of him in ''A History of Cricket'', "Maurice Read had been recognised as a dashing player up to Test ma ...

(

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

); and

James Lillywhite James Lillywhite (23 February 1842 – 25 October 1929) was an English Test cricketer and an umpire. He was the first ever captain of the English cricket team in a Test match, captaining two Tests against Australia in 1876–77, losing the fir ...

(

Sussex Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the English ...

). Australia's team for the second Test showed eleven changes as a result of the 1884 touring team (who had contested the 1st Test) demanding fifty per cent of the gate money for this match. This ended

Jack Blackham John McCarthy Blackham (11 May 1854 – 28 December 1932) was a Test cricketer who played for Victoria and Australia. A specialist wicket-keeper, Blackham played in the first Test match at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in March 1877 and the fa ...

's run as a player in each of Australia's first 17 Test matches.

Matches

First Test

Second Test

Third Test

Fourth Test

Fifth Test

References

Bibliography

* Chris Harte, ''A History of Australian Cricket'', Andre Deutsch, 1993 * ''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack'' 1886 1884 in Australian cricket 1884 in English cricket 1885 in Australian cricket 1885 in English cricket 1884 1884-85 International cricket competitions from 1844 to 1888 1884-85 {{Australia-cricket-tour-stub