The English cricket team in Australia in 1901–02 lost the

Test 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), ...

series to Australia, who came from one down to win 4–1 and thus retained

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 ...

. The England side was a private venture of

Archie MacLaren Archibald Campbell MacLaren (1 December 1871 – 17 November 1944) was an English cricketer who captained the English cricket team, England cricket team at various times between 1898 and 1909. A right-handed Batting (cricket), batsman, he ...

at the invitation of the

Melbourne Cricket Club The Melbourne Cricket Club (MCC) is a sports club based in Melbourne, Australia. It was founded in 1838 and is one of the oldest sports clubs in Australia. The MCC is responsible for management and development of the Melbourne Cricket Ground ...

, after MCC had declined to send a team. Prior to this, all Test tours of Australia had been privately organised, but MCC took over the responsibility with the following tour in 1903–4.

George Hirst George Herbert Hirst (7 September 1871 – 10 May 1954) was a professional English cricketer who played first-class cricket for Yorkshire County Cricket Club between 1891 and 1921, with a further appearance in 1929. One of the best all-r ...

Wilfred Rhodes Wilfred Rhodes (29 October 1877 – 8 July 1973) was an English professional cricketer who played 58 Test matches for England between 1899 and 1930. In Tests, Rhodes took 127 wickets and scored 2,325 runs, becoming the first Englishman t ...

, KS Ranjitsinjhi,

Stanley Jackson Sir Francis Stanley Jackson Jackson's obituary in the 1948 ''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack''. This gives his full name as ''Francis'' Stanley Jackson, whereas Cricinfo and CricketArchive both give his full name as ''Frank'' Stanley Jackson. This ...

and

CB Fry Charles Burgess Fry (25 April 1872 – 7 September 1956) was an English sportsman, teacher, writer, editor and publisher, who is best remembered for his career as a cricketer. John Arlott described him with the words: "Charles Fry could b ...

were all unavailable. Only three centuries were scored in the series and only one team innings exceeded 400 (the first innings of England in the first Test).

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 ...

managed 521 runs at an average of 52.10, making successive scores of 99, 98 and 97, without scoring a century. England's most successful batsman was MacLaren, with 412 runs at 45.77.

Sydney Barnes Sydney Francis Barnes (19 April 1873 – 26 December 1967) was an English professional cricketer who is regarded as one of the greatest bowlers of all time. He was right-handed and bowled at a pace that varied from medium to fast-medium with ...

made his debut for England and took 19 wickets in the first two Tests before being injured in the third and taking no further part in the series. His selection for the tour was something of a coup for MacLaren, as Barnes had very little first-class experience behind him: a total of seven games. He had been playing in the Lancashire League during the 1901 English season, but appeared in one game for

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 ...

near the end of the season, taking 6/70 and 0/29.Scorecard of Lancashire v Leicestershire, 1901
Retrieved 25 July 2011 As a result of this performance MacLaren, who was the Lancashire captain, selected him for the touring party. For Australia,

Monty Noble Montague Alfred Noble (28 January 1873 – 22 June 1940) was an Australian cricketer who played for New South Wales and Australia. A right-hand batsman, right-handed bowler who could deliver both medium pace and off-break bowling, capable field ...

and

Hugh Trumble Hugh Trumble (19 May 1867 – 14 August 1938) was an Australian cricketer who played 32 Test matches as a bowling all-rounder between 1890 and 1904. He captained the Australian team in two Tests, winning both. Trumble took 141 wic ...

took 60 wickets between them.

Test series summary

Match length: Timeless. Balls per over: 6. Australia won the Test series 4–1.

First Test

Second Test

Third Test

Fourth Test

Fifth Test

References

External links

''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack'', 1903 edition, "England in Australia 1901-02"
1901 in Australian cricket 1901 in English cricket 1902 in Australian cricket 1902 in English cricket Australian cricket seasons from 1890–91 to 1917–18 1901-02 International cricket competitions from 1888–89 to 1918 1901-02 {{Australia-cricket-tour-stub