English cricket team in Australia in 1903–04
International cricket tour
The English cricket team's tour to Australia in 1903–04 was the first time the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) took over responsibility for sponsoring and arranging an overseas tour representing England. England had not won the Ashes since the 1896 series in England. The MCC appointed Plum Warner to put together and captain a team, which was very much seen as the underdogs against Australia. Warner and his team, however, pulled off the upset the English were looking for and won the five-Test series 3–2. In the first Test at Sydney, R.E. "Tip" Foster scored 287 to set the world record for the highest individual Test innings; the innings remains the highest by a Test debutant.
Test series
First Test
11–17 December 1903 (Timeless Test) Scorecard |
v | England | |
285 (118.2 overs) MA Noble 133 EG Arnold 4/76 (32 overs) | 577 (181.2 overs) RE Foster 287 MA Noble 3/99 (34 overs) | |
485 (145.2 overs) VT Trumper 185* W Rhodes 5/94 (40.2 overs) | 194/5 (95.5 overs) TW Hayward 91 WP Howell 2/35 (31 overs) |
England won by 5 wickets Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney Umpires: RM Crockett and AC Jones |
Second Test
v | ||
- England won the toss and elected to bat.
- 3 January was taken as a rest day
- AE Knight and A Fielder (both ENG) made their Test debuts.
Third Test
v | ||
- Australia won the toss and elected to bat.
- 17 January was taken as a rest day
Fourth Test
v | ||
- England won the toss and elected to bat.
- 28 February was taken as a rest day.
- There was no play on the third day
- PA McAlister and A Cotter (both AUS) made their Test debuts.
Fifth Test
v | ||
- Australia won the toss and elected to bat.
- 6 March was taken as a rest day
- DRA Gehrs (AUS) made his Test debut.
Tour matches
South Australia v M.C.C.
7–11 November 1903 (4-day match) Scorecard |
v | ||
- MCC won the toss and elected to bat.
- 8 November was taken as a rest day
- Total attendance was about 19,000.
Victoria v M.C.C.
13–16 November 1903 (4-day match) Scorecard |
v | ||
MCC won by an innings and 71 runs Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne Umpires: E Barrass and RM Crockett |
- Victoria won the toss and elected to field.
- 15 November was taken as a rest day
- The match was scheduled for four days but was completed in three.
- Total attendance was about 23,500.
New South Wales v M.C.C.
20–23 November 1903 Scorecard |
v | ||
- MCC won the toss and elected to field.
- 22 November was taken as a rest day
- The match was scheduled for four days but was completed in three.
- Total attendance was 40,589.
Queensland v M.C.C.
27–30 November 1903 Scorecard |
v | ||
215 (53 overs) AE Knight 46 T Byrne 5/74 (24 overs) | ||
- Queensland won the toss and elected to bat.
- 29 November was taken as a rest day.
- Total attendance was about 19,000.
Northern District XVIII v M.C.C.
2, 3 December 1903 (2-day match) scorecard |
Northern Districts XVIII 283 (86.1 overs) & 241/6 (53.3 overs) | v | MCC 453 |
Newcastle XV v M.C.C.
Melbourne Colts XVIII v M.C.C.
Bendigo and District XVIII v M.C.C.
26, 28 December 1903 (2-day match) scorecard |
Bendigo XVIII 94 (46.4 overs) & 64/7 (28.4 overs) | v |
Ballarat XVIII v M.C.C.
8, 9 January 1904 (2-day match) scorecard |
v | Ballarat XVIII 197 (72 overs) |
Tasmania v M.C.C.
25–26 January 1904 (2-day match) Scorecard |
v | ||
- MCC won the toss and elected to bat.
Tasmania v M.C.C.
29–30 January 1904 (2-day match) Scorecard |
v | ||
- Tasmania won the toss and elected to bat.
- Total attendance was about 5,000.
Victoria v M.C.C.
5–9 February 1904 Scorecard |
v | ||
- Victoria won the toss and elected to field.
- 7 February was taken as a rest day
- There was no play on the second day.
- Total attendance was about 6,100.
New South Wales v M.C.C.
12–15 February 1904 Scorecard |
v | ||
- MCC won the toss and elected to bat.
- 14 February was taken as a rest day.
- The match was scheduled for four days but completed in three.
- Total attendance was 28,296.
Western District XV v M.C.C.
19, 20 February 1904 (2-day match) scorecard |
v |
South Australia v M.C.C.
12–15 March 1904 (timeless match) Scorecard |
v | ||
- South Australia won the toss and elected to bat.
- 13 March was taken as a rest day.
- Total attendance was about 7,500.
References
External sources
- CricketArchive match lists
Further reading
- H S Altham, A History of Cricket, Volume 1 (to 1914), George Allen & Unwin, 1962
- Bill Frindall, The Wisden Book of Test Cricket 1877–1978, Wisden, 1979
- David Frith, The Golden Age of Cricket 1890–1914, Lutterworth, 1978
- Chris Harte, A History of Australian Cricket, Andre Deutsch, 1993
- Plum Warner, How We Recovered The Ashes, Longman, 1905
- Roy Webber, The Playfair Book of Cricket Records, Playfair Books, 1951
- Wisden Cricketers' Almanack 1905
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Non-Ashes Australia v England Test series | |
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- Matches in white background were played in England, yellow – in Australia.