Australian cricket team in England and the United States in 1882
| 1882 Australia v England Test | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date | 28 August 1882 – 29 August 1882 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Location | England | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Result | The one off Test was won by Australia | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Teams | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 England
|
 Australia
|
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| Captains | |||
| A N Hornby | Billy Murdoch | ||
| Most runs | |||
|
George Ulyett (37) W. G. Grace (36) |
Hugh Massie (56) Billy Murdoch (42) |
||
| Most wickets | |||
|
Ted Peate (8) Dick Barlow (5) |
Fred Spofforth (14) Harry Boyle (5) |
||
The 1882 Australia v England series was at the time considered to be part of another first-class cricket tour of England, by a combined team from the Australian colonies, but the match arranged between the Australians and an England side was later accepted to be a Test match. Although it was not known at the time, the one-off match played at The Oval in south London would become the birth of The Ashes.
The English side had lost the previous tour to Australia, but had remained undefeated at home by visiting Australian sides. Australian victory for the first time in England was widely condemned in the English press, including the publication of a satirical obituary which stated that English cricket had died, and the body will be cremated and the ashes taken to Australia. The English media then dubbed the next English tour to Australia in 1882–83 as the quest to regain The Ashes.
Despite the Australia v England match later receiving Test status, and being the match that triggered the birth of The Ashes, the 1882 match is not considered to be part of The Ashes since it precedes the introduction of the trophy.
Billy Murdoch won the toss for Australia and chose to bat first. The decision proved a poor one though, as Australia were easily skittled out for a meagre 63 in 80 overs, taking just over 2 hours. The captain himself tried to offer resistance with a slow defensive 13, and experienced wicket-keeper/batsman Jack Blackham top-scored with 17, but the only other batsman to reach double-figures was Tom Garrett with 10. Inspired bowling from opening bowler Ted Peate who took 4 for 31, and Dick Barlow who produced a devastating 5 for 19, ripped the Australian batting order apart on a greenish wicket that gave more assistance that it first seemed.
England began their run chase with openers Dick Barlow and WG Grace, but 'The Doctor' was unable to reproduce his usual heroics, clean bowled by the express pace of Fred Spofforth for 4. A steady succession of wickets followed with only George Ulyett (26 of 59 balls) and Maurice Read (19 off 54 balls) providing any real resistance as Spofforth's pure pace provided too much firepower for the England line-up to deal with. He collected 7 for 46 off 36.3 overs including an astonishing 18 maidens. Four of his seven dismissals were clean bowled. Despite Spofforth's excellent bowling, England had established a first-innings lead of 38, being all out for 101. Stumps were called at the end of England's first innings.
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