English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by str ...

team, under the auspices of

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 ...

(MCC), toured Australia from October to December 1935 before going to New Zealand for a three-month tour. It played

first-class matches First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is one of three or more days' scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officiall ...

against each of the five mainland state teams, and one match against an Australian XI.

Background

The

Bodyline Bodyline, also known as fast leg theory bowling, was a cricketing tactic devised by the English cricket team for their 1932–33 Ashes tour of Australia. It was designed to combat the extraordinary batting skill of Australia's leading batsman ...

tour of 1932-33 had caused such lingering ill-will in Australia that MCC decided to precede England's

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), ...

tour of Australia in 1936-37 with a non-Test tour in 1935-36 aimed at restoring good-will between the two cricketing nations. They chose the Surrey amateur

Errol Holmes Errol Reginald Thorold Holmes (21 August 1905 – 16 August 1960) was an English cricketer who played first-class cricket for Oxford University, Surrey and England between 1924 and 1955. A dashing right-handed batsman, Holmes believed that c ...

to captain the team, and instructed him to ensure the players' demeanour was "cheerful and pleasant" and that they would play the game "in the proper spirit". Each player was "carefully selected, not only for his cricketing abilities but, equally, for his ambassadorial potentialities".

The team

(captain) *

Charles Lyttelton Charles Lyttelton may refer to: * Sir Charles Lyttelton, 3rd Baronet (1628–1716), Governor of Jamaica *Charles Lyttelton (bishop) (1714–1768), Bishop of Carlisle and antiquary * Charles Lyttelton, 8th Viscount Cobham (1842–1922), English cric ...

(vice-captain) *

Wilf Barber Wilfred Barber (18 April 1901 – 10 September 1968) was a professional first-class cricketer who played for Yorkshire County Cricket Club from 1926 to 1947. He played two Test matches for England in 1935 against South Africa. An opening bat ...

* Sandy Baxter *

Billy Griffith Stewart Cathie Griffith, (16 June 1914 – 7 April 1993), known as Billy Griffith, was an English cricketer and cricket administrator. He played in three Test matches for England in 1948 and 1949. He played first-class cricket for Cambridge ...

* Joe Hardstaff *

John Human John Hanbury Human (16 January 1912 – 22 July 1991) was an English cricketer who played first-class cricket in the 1930s before moving to Australia. Cricket career John Human was educated at Repton and Clare College, Cambridge. He toured twi ...

* James Langridge * Mandy Mitchell-Innes * Jim Parks * Adam Powell * Hopper Read * Jim Sims * Denis Smith

Bob Wyatt Robert Elliott Storey Wyatt (2 May 1901 – 20 April 1995) was an English cricketer who played for Warwickshire, Worcestershire and England in a career lasting nearly thirty years from 1923 to 1951. He was born at Milford Heath House in Surrey ...

was offered the captaincy but declined, saying he needed a rest. In order to limit the expense of the tour, only six professionals (Barber, Hardstaff, Langridge, Parks, Sims and Smith) were chosen, and there was no manager. The team was the youngest-ever English touring team, with an average age of 26. Holmes judged his team to be "just about representative of England's second XI at the time".

The tour

The team arrived on 29 October and played the first match of the tour, a three-day game against

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

, beginning on 31 October. The match ended in a draw. The remaining Australian matches were all scheduled for four days. The next match, against

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 ...

, was Don Bradman's first match for South Australia. He scored 15 and 50, falling lbw in each innings, and MCC won by 36 runs. The match 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 ...

was drawn, and MCC then lost their only match of the tour by 10 wickets to

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 ...

, captained by

Alan McGilvray Alan David McGilvray (6 December 190917 July 1996) was an Australian cricketer who played several first-class seasons for New South Wales in the mid-1930s before becoming the doyen of Australian cricket commentators. He became identified as the ...

. MCC then beat

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 , establishe ...

by an innings, Human and Smith scoring MCC's first centuries of the tour. The final match was against an Australian XI in Sydney beginning on 6 December. As the Australian Test team was touring South Africa, this match was effectively between the two national second elevens. MCC batted first and declared at 9 for 411, Hardstaff making 230 not out. The Australian XI made 227, and MCC declared again at 9 for 207. Needing 392 to win, the Australian XI were dismissed for 188, giving MCC victory by 203 runs. Hardstaff was the leading batsman on the tour, with 634 runs at an average of 70.44. Sims was the leading wicket-taker, with 33 wickets at 25.27. In assessing the tour, Holmes believed the team had "carried out tsmission":

Not a single member of the side had put a foot wrong, and our cricket had been more than adequate. I genuinely believe that we had contributed not a little towards healing the wounds which undoubtedly existed, in the cricket world, between Australia and ourselves before our arrival.Holmes, p. 125.

References

External links

Marylebone Cricket Club in Australia, 1935-36
at Cricinfo
Marylebone Cricket Club in Australia and New Zealand 1935-36
at CricketArchive {{DEFAULTSORT:Marylebone Cricket Club cricket team in Australia in 1935-36 1935 in English cricket 1935 in Australian cricket Australian cricket seasons from 1918–19 to 1944–45 English cricket tours of Australia International cricket competitions from 1918–19 to 1945 Australia 1935–36