An English cricket team captained by

Lord Harris Colonel George Robert Canning Harris, 4th Baron Harris, (3February 185124March 1932), generally known as Lord Harris, was a British colonial administrator and Governor of Bombay, best known for developing cricket administration via Marylebone ...

toured Australia and New Zealand in 1878–79 in a private tour organised by 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 Groun ...

. The team's match against

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

in January 1879 was retrospectively given Test match status, making it the third Test ever and the third between Australia and

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, though it was not part of

The Ashes The Ashes is a Test cricket series played biennially 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, ...

which began in 1882. Harris' tour party arrived in Australia just two months after the touring Australians had returned from England. They were scheduled to play five tour matches, two each against

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

and

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

and one against the combined Australians. Whilst in Sydney, the notorious

Sydney Riot of 1879 The Sydney Riot of 1879 was an instance of civil disorder that occurred at an early international cricket match. It took place on 8 February 1879 at what is now the Sydney Cricket Ground (at the time known as the Association Ground), during a ma ...

occurred as a result of the tourists match against New South Wales. The English team, which is sometimes referred to as Lord Harris' XI, also visited New Zealand where they played a single match in

Christchurch Christchurch (; ) is the largest city in the South Island and the List of cities in New Zealand, second-largest city by urban area population in New Zealand. Christchurch has an urban population of , and a metropolitan population of over hal ...

. From there, they travelled home via the Pacific and the US, stopping in

Hoboken Hoboken ( ; ) is a city in Hudson County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Hoboken is part of the New York metropolitan area and is the site of Hoboken Terminal, a major transportation hub. As of the 2020 United States census, the city's popula ...

''en route'' to play one further match there.

The touring team

( c) * Charlie Absolom *

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 p ...

* Leland Hone * Alfred Hornby * Alfred Lucas * Francis MacKinnon * Henry Maul * Frank Penn *

Vernon Royle The Reverend Vernon Peter Fanshawe Archer Royle (29 January 1854 – 21 May 1929) was an English first-class cricketer who played in a single Test match for England in Australia and later became a schoolmaster. Background and education He wa ...

Sandford Schultz Sandford Spence Schultz (29 August 1857 – 18 December 1937), known in later life as Sandford Spence Storey, was an English cricketer, who played for Uppingham Rovers, Cambridge University, and Lancashire and played in the third-ever Test matc ...

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 ...

* Alexander Webbe Henry Maul (1850–1940), a batsman, played in eight of the minor matches on the tour, and later had a long career with

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It is bordered by Staffordshire and Leicestershire to the north, Northamptonshire to the east, Ox ...

in their pre- first-class days, but never played first-class cricket. Frank Penn, the only other tourist not to play in the Test, played in the one-off Test against Australia in 1880.

The Test teams

Matches

Only Test

Records

Individual records

Team records

References

External links

* 1878 in Australian cricket 1878 in English cricket 1879 in American sports 1879 in Australian cricket 1879 in English cricket 1879 in New Zealand cricket

1878 Events January * January 5 – Russo-Turkish War: Battle of Shipka Pass IV – Russian and Bulgarian forces defeat the Ottoman Empire. * January 9 – Umberto I becomes King of Italy. * January 17 – Russo-Turkish War: ...

1879 Events January * January 1 ** The Specie Resumption Act takes effect. The United States Note is valued the same as gold, for the first time since the American Civil War. ** Brahms' Violin Concerto is premiered in Leipzig with Joseph Joachim ...

International cricket competitions from 1844 to 1888 New Zealand cricket seasons from 1863–64 to 1889–90 United States cricket in the 19th century January 1879 {{NewZealand-cricket-tour-stub