MCC tour of Australia in 1958–59

The Marylebone Cricket Club tour of Australia in 1958-59 under the captaincy of Peter May was its twelfth since it took official control of overseas tours in 1903-1904. The touring team played as England in the 1958-59 Ashes series against Australia, but as the MCC in all other games. In all there were 20 matches; 5 Test matches (which they lost 4-0), 12 other First Class matches (which they won 4-0) and 3 minor matches (which they won 3-0). It was billed as the strongest MCC team ever to tour Australia and dominated the early matches, and its heavy defeat in the Test series was seen as one of the great upsets in cricket.

The MCC team arrived on the Iberia in Fremantle on 13 October and after a rest day found their three days practice severely reduced due to heavy rain.

This pencil-slim youngster bowled off-spinners in the first innings with a highly suspect and jerky action...but no one bothered much about him because of his comparatively modest success. The balloon really went up in the second innings when he used the new ball...I thought he looked less like a chucker when bowling quick but the M.C.C. were incensed.

Unlike previous (and subsequent) tours they did not face a match against a local Country XI, but went straight into a First Class game against Western Australia. Bush games were unpopular with the touring sides, although the Australian Board of Control saw them as a good advertisement for cricket and to be fair they were good practice. The home captain Ken Meuleman won the toss and put the tourists in on a fast wicket, covered with grass and freshened by the rain, though it proved less problematic than it looked. The batting was dominated by Tom Graveney, who had made 111 in his last innings in Australia and now hit 177 not out. He carefully played himself in on the first day, but struck the ball in fine form on the second. Only Peter May kept him company for long, cracking his first ball through the covers for four and nearly decapitating a spectator with a six into the member's enclosure. They added 91 for the third wicket and Graveney and Colin Cowdrey (28) 97 for the fourth. Jack Rutherford was brought on as seventh bowler and took 3/12 with his leg-spin to wrap up the innings as England collapsed from 345/7 to 351 all out. Graveney struck again in the Western Australian innings, catching Rutherford off the first ball from Fred Trueman (3/42). While his luck was in he visited the Gloucester Park Trotting Meeting that evening and was not disappointed with his wagers. With Peter Loader (3/40), Frank Tyson (2/59) and Tony Lock (2/46) all chipping in with wickets the hosts were out for 221 on the third morning, Bobby Simpson making 60 despite a bad start and Meuleman 42. In their second innings the MCC again had trouble with Keith Slater who took 4/33 - his best bowling in First Class cricket - and they collapsed to 44/4, with May out for a duck. Although Slater was bowling with a bent arm no complaint was made. Cowdrey (65 not out) and Trevor Bailey (34 not out) made an unbeaten stand of 102 and May declared on 146/4, 276 runs ahead. In a three-day game there was little chance of a win as the state players tried to impress the selectors with a responsible innings and the tourists could not afford a demoralising loss. Jack Rutherford was left unbeaten on 77 and Lock took 2/26, conceding only 72 runs off his 42 eight-ball overs in the match, leaving Western Australia on 124/3. After the complaints about Len Hutton's time wasting on the previous tour May was determined to keep the overs ticking over and succeeded in doing so.

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