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 wou ...

, 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 and

Alfred Shaw Alfred Shaw (29 August 1842 – 16 January 1907) was a 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 America and fo ...

(all

Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated ''Notts.'') is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. The county is bordered by South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. Th ...

);

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 Robert Peel (12 February 1857 – 12 August 1941) was an English professional cricketer who played first-class cricket for Yorkshire between 1883 and 1897. Primarily a left-arm spin bowler, Peel was also an effective left-handed batsman ...

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 ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...

); Johnny Briggs (

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

);

Maurice Read John Maurice Read (9 February 1859 – 17 February 1929) 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 match form, to say nothing o ...

(

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

); 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 (Help:IPA/English, /ˈsʌsɪks/; from the Old English ''Sūþseaxe''; lit. 'South Saxons'; 'Sussex') is an area within South East England that was historically a kingdom of Sussex, kingdom and, later, a Historic counties of England, ...

). 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 ...

'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 Events January * January 4 – The Fabian Society is founded in London to promote gradualist social progress. * January 5 – Gilbert and Sullivan's comic opera '' Princess Ida'', a satire on feminism, premières at the Savoy The ...

1884-85 International cricket competitions from 1844 to 1888 1884-85 {{Australia-cricket-tour-stub