England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

team toured

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 ...

between November 1920 and March 1921. The tour was organised by the

Marylebone Cricket Club Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) is a cricket club founded in 1787 and based since 1814 at Lord's Cricket Ground, which it owns, in St John's Wood, London. The club was formerly the governing body of cricket retaining considerable global influence ...

and matches outside the Tests were played under the MCC name. The tour itinerary consisted of 13 first-class matches, including a series of 5 Test matches against

in which

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 ...

were at stake.

Tour review

The tour was the first to have Test status after the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. It followed tours by the

Australian Imperial Forces cricket team When the First World War ended in November 1918, thousands of Australian servicemen were in Europe as members of the First Australian Imperial Force (AIF) and many remained until the spring of 1919. In England, a new first-class cricket seas ...

which played a number of first-class matches in England, South Africa and Australia immediately after the war. The last Ashes series had been the

1912 Triangular Tournament The 1912 Triangular Tournament was a Test cricket competition played between Australia, England and South Africa, the only Test-playing nations at the time. The ultimate winners of the tournament were England, with four wins in their six matches ...

held in England that year. Although the tourists were relatively successful in their first-class matches against the Australian state teams, losing only one, the Test series "resulted, as everyone knows, in disaster"''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack'' 1922 and England became the first team ever to lose every match in a five-Test series.Burton S (2021
The 1920-21 Ashes: typhus quarantine and unseemly barracking
''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', 2021-03-02. Retrieved 2021-03-02. ''Wisden'' commented that the chief cause of England's failure was the bowling, because all of the bowlers used were expensive and recorded high averages. Much has been made of Australia's ability to recover from the effects of the war more quickly than England and ''Wisden'' commented that "English cricket had not had time to regain its pre-war standard".

Test series summary

First Test

Second Test

Third Test

Fourth Test

Fifth Test

Summary of other first-class matches

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

(Adelaide Oval) &mdash
MCC won by an innings and 55 runs
*

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 ...

(Melbourne Cricket Ground) —
MCC won by an innings and 59 runs
*

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 ...

(Sydney Cricket Ground) —
New South Wales won by 6 wickets
*

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

( Brisbane Exhibition Ground) —
MCC won by an innings and 41 runs
* Australian XI (Brisbane Exhibition Ground) —

* Victoria (Melbourne Cricket Ground) —

* New South Wales (Sydney Cricket Ground) —

* South Australia (Adelaide Oval) —

England touring party

The England touring party consisted of 16 players led by Essex all-rounder Johnny Douglas. When the party was originally selected,

Reggie Spooner Reginald Herbert Spooner (21 October 1880 – 2 October 1961) was a cricketer who played for Lancashire and England. He also played Rugby Union for England. Biography The son of the Rev. G. H. Spooner, of Woolton, Spooner was educated at ...

was invited to be the team captain but he was obliged to stand down for domestic reasons.

Vallance Jupp Vallance William Crisp Jupp (27 March 1891 – 9 July 1960) was an amateur cricketer who played for Sussex and Northamptonshire. Jupp also played eight Test matches for England, and was named as one of the five Wisden Cricketers of the Year in ...

had been selected too but was unable to travel. Jupp's withdrawal was shortly before departure and meant that his replacement

Bill Hitch John William Hitch (7 May 1886 – 7 July 1965) was a cricketer who played for Surrey and England. A Lancastrian, Hitch was bowling for a club in Cambridgeshire when he was spotted by Surrey's batsman Tom Hayward and recommended to The Oval. ...

had to catch a later boat than the main party. There was another withdrawal when Jack Hearne was taken ill during the Second Test and could not play again that season. There was a controversy over Rockley Wilson who sent match reports by cable to the ''Daily Express''. As a result, MCC resolved at a meeting the following May to bar players from reporting on matches in which they were involved.

All-rounders

Johnny Douglas John William Henry Tyler Douglas (3 September 1882 – 19 December 1930) was an English cricketer who was active in the early decades of the twentieth century. Douglas was an all-rounder who played for Essex County Cricket Club from 1901 to 1 ...

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

(

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 ...

) *

Percy Fender Percy George Herbert Fender (22 August 1892 – 15 June 1985) was an English cricketer who played 13 Tests for his country and was captain of Surrey between 1921 and 1931. An all-rounder, he was a middle-order batsman who bowled mainly l ...

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. ...

J W Hearne John William Hearne (known as Jack Hearne, J. W. Hearne and Young Jack to distinguish him from his ''distant'' cousin, J. T. Hearne; 11 February 1891 – 14 September 1965) was a Middlesex leg-spinning all-rounder cricketer who played from 1909 ...

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, historic county in South East England, southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the Ceremonial counties of ...

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 ...

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 ...

* Rockley Wilson, Yorkshire *

Frank Woolley Frank Edward Woolley (27 May 1887 – 18 October 1978) was an English professional cricketer who played for Kent County Cricket Club between 1906 and 1938 and for the England cricket team. A genuine all-rounder, Woolley was a left-handed batsman ...

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

Batsmen

Patsy Hendren Elias Henry Hendren (5 February 1889 – 4 October 1962), known as Patsy Hendren, was an English first-class cricketer, active 1907 to 1937, who played for Middlesex and England. He also had a concurrent career as a footballer and had a long te ...

, Middlesex *

Jack Hobbs Sir John Berry Hobbs (16 December 1882– 21 December 1963), always known as Jack Hobbs, was an English professional cricketer who played for Surrey from 1905 to 1934 and for England in 61 Test matches between 1908 and 1930. Known as "The Mast ...

, Surrey *

Harry Makepeace Joseph William Henry Makepeace (22 August 1881 – 19 December 1952) was an English sportsman who appeared for his country four times at each of cricket and football. He is one of just 12 English double internationals. Cricket Makepeace playe ...

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 ...

* Jack Russell, Essex

Bowlers

, Surrey * Harry Howell,

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, and the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Avon an ...

* Cec Parkin, Lancashire *

Abe Waddington Abraham "Abe" Waddington, sometimes known as Abram Waddington (4 February 1893 – 28 October 1959), was a professional cricketer for Yorkshire, who played in two Test matches for England, both against Australia in 1920–21. Between 191 ...

, Yorkshire

Wicketkeepers

Arthur Dolphin Arthur Dolphin (24 December 1885 – 23 October 1942) was an English first-class cricketer, who kept wicket for Yorkshire County Cricket Club between 1905 and 1927. He is part of a tradition of Yorkshire wicket-keepers, stretching from Ned Ste ...

, Yorkshire *

Bert Strudwick Herbert Strudwick (28 January 1880 – 14 February 1970) was an English wicket-keeper. His record of 1,493 dismissals is the third-highest by any wicket-keeper in the history of first-class cricket. Biography Born in Mitcham, Surrey, Strudwic ...

, Surrey

Australian players in Test series

Australia used 14 players in the Test series. Eight players took part in all five matches including the captain Warwick Armstrong.

All-rounders

Warwick Armstrong Warwick Windridge Armstrong (22 May 1879 – 13 July 1947) was an Australian cricketer who played 50 Test matches between 1902 and 1921. An all-rounder, he captained Australia in ten Test matches between 1920 and 1921, and was undefeated, winn ...

, Victoria (

) * Charles Kelleway, New South Wales * Jack Gregory, New South Wales

Batsmen

Warren Bardsley Warren "Curly" Bardsley (6 December 1882 – 20 January 1954) was an Australian Test cricketer. An opening batsman, Bardsley played 41 Tests between 1909 and 1926 and over 200 first-class games for New South Wales. He was Wisden's Cricketer of ...

, New South Wales *

Herbie Collins Herbert Leslie Collins (21 January 1888 – 28 May 1959) was an Australian cricketer who played 19 Test matches between 1921 and 1926. An all-rounder, he captained the Australian team in eleven Tests, winning five, losing two with another f ...

, New South Wales *

Charlie Macartney Charles George Macartney (27 June 1886 – 9 September 1958) was an Australian cricketer who played in 35 Test matches between 1907 and 1926. He was known as "The Governor-General" in reference to his authoritative batting style and his flamb ...

, New South Wales * Roy Park, Victoria *

Nip Pellew Clarence Everard "Nip" Pellew (21 September 1893 – 9 May 1981) was an Australian cricketer who played in 10 Test matches from 1920 to 1921. Pellew was also a leading Australian rules footballer who, due to permit problems, was only allowed ...

, South Australia * Jack Ryder, Victoria *

Johnny Taylor John Taylor, Johnny Taylor or similar may refer to: Academics *John Taylor (Oxford), Vice-Chancellor of Oxford University, 1486–1487 * John Taylor (classical scholar) (1704–1766), English classical scholar *John Taylor (English publisher) (17 ...

, New South Wales

Bowlers

Ted McDonald Edgar Arthur "Ted" McDonald (6 January 1891 – 22 July 1937) was a cricketer who played for Tasmania, Victoria, Lancashire and Australia, as well as being an Australian rules footballer who played with Launceston Football Club, Essendon Footb ...

, Victoria *

Arthur Mailey Alfred Arthur Mailey (3 January 188631 December 1967) was an Australian cricketer who played in 21 Test matches between 1920 and 1926. Mailey used leg-breaks and googly bowling, taking 99 Test wickets, including 36 in the 1920–21 Ashes ser ...

, New South Wales

Wicketkeepers

Sammy Carter Hanson "Sammy" Carter (15 March 1878 – 8 June 1948) was a cricketer who played for Australia national cricket team, Australia and New South Wales cricket team, New South Wales. Career Carter attended Sydney Boys High School in 1894. A wicket ...

, New South Wales * Bert Oldfield, New South Wales

Ceylon

The English team had a stopover in

Colombo Colombo ( ; si, කොළඹ, translit=Koḷam̆ba, ; ta, கொழும்பு, translit=Koḻumpu, ) is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. According to the Brookings Institution, Colombo me ...

''en route'' to Australia and played a one-day single-innings match there against the Ceylon national team, which at that time did not have Test status.

References

External links

Wisden online: tour review

Tour index at Cricinfo
{{DEFAULTSORT:English cricket team in Australia in 1920-21 1920 in English cricket 1920 in Australian cricket 1920 in Ceylon 1921 in English cricket 1921 in Australian cricket 1920-21 1920 Australian cricket seasons from 1918–19 to 1944–45 International cricket competitions from 1918–19 to 1945 Sri Lankan cricket seasons from 1880–81 to 1971–72 1920-21

Tour review

Test series summary

First Test

Second Test

Third Test

Fourth Test

Fifth Test

Summary of other first-class matches

England touring party

All-rounders

Batsmen

Bowlers

Wicketkeepers

Australian players in Test series

All-rounders

Batsmen

Bowlers

Wicketkeepers

Ceylon

References

Further reading

External links